Postharvest press from the archives

The batteries lasted about eight hours and were recharged at night. "During the peak of the deciduous season, no less than 31 of these trucks are employed, and staff have to be kept on duty all night to ensure that the whole fleet is fully charged and ready for work each morning."

A battery truck could be bought for £450 in 1937, but the price had risen to over £2 000 by 1951. That's equivalent to about £80 000 – or R1.8 million – today.

Costs of export

For those readers who came after metrification, 10 7½ in the table below means 10 shillings and 7 pence (there were 12 pence to a shilling and 20 shillings to the pound). The South African pound was at parity with sterling from 1933 – 1961, when it was replaced with the rand at a rate of R2 per South African pound.

In other words, the total export cost of a case of apples in 1951 was just over 10 shillings, which was half a pound. That would be worth just over £20 today.

Russia redux

"The supply of packing materials for the present fruit season has presented the Boxboard Department with many difficulties, but the problem of supplying for the next season is becoming more complicated than one could have imagined several months ago," laments Mr S Tross, Official Buyer at the Deciduous Fruit Board, in The Deciduous Fruit Grower in 1951.

Prices of most raw materials had risen after World War II, but wood and paper were especially hard hit, thanks to the expansion of the Soviet Union. Many pulp mills in Eastern Europe had come under Russian control.

"It is estimated in authoritative quarters that not less than 1 500 000 and probably 2 000 000 tons of pulp have been lost to the rest of Europe since Russia took over these territories," writes Tross.

Other global economic and political factors also played a role. Most of these were negative, but at least one represented good news. "It must be realised that increased literacy among the masses since the war has increased the demand for paper."

Paper shortages pushed up timber prices, which were already high due to post-war construction.

"During the last six months, the spiral reached such heights that one simply does not wish to believe that this unprecedented rise in prices can continue," reports Tross, dismayed that the cost of 1 000 apple boxes had rocketed from £26 5s in 1938 to £111 10s in 1950 – roughly R51 000 and R111 000 respectively in inflation-adjusted 2023 money.

On top of all this, packing material imports suffered from shipping capacity shortages resulting from the Korean War between the Communist-backed North and the US-backed South.

"The carefully worked-out shipping schedule had to be altered several times," writes Tross, "resulting in delays and increased costs of shipping."

More than 70 years later, Russian aggression is again hurting our fruit industry – history really does repeat itself.

Packing materials pre-metrification

The boxboards used annually by the industry will, if placed flat on the ground, cover a road 20 feet [6.5 metres] wide for a distance of 688 miles [1 107 km].

Over 63 000 000 sq. yds. [53 million m²] of paper are used by the industry, which is equivalent to the floor area of 375 000 houses of average size (1 500 sq. ft. [140 m². Average South African house sizes are still in this ballpark today.]).

The nails and wire used by the industry, when joined together, will cover a distance of 7 900 miles [12 700 km], or more than one-third of the distance around the world. [It's actually slightly less than a third.]

Sufficient woodwool is used annually to stuff 336 000 military mattresses [World War II was still very fresh in 1951].

Note: This is an excerpt fromrom The Deciduous Fruit Grower, 1951, 1(7) p24.

[Figures in brackets are conversions based on units in use in 1951. These may differ from current units.]

Acknowledgement

Thanks to Dr Ian Crouch and the friendly staff at ExperiCo Agri-Research Solutions for assistance and access to their collection of The Deciduous Fruit Grower.

Featured Image: Transport technology in 1954 (DECIDUOUS FRUIT BOARD. THE DECIDUOUS FRUIT GROWER, 1954, 4(6) P134.)