Nurseryman Brings His Own Load from Holland
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AFIRST attempt by a British nurseryman to collect flower bulbs from Holland with his own transport won through by a matter of minutes last week. Mr. David Maitland, Great Coxwell, Faringdon, Berkshire, made the trip in his 1955 Morris 2-3-tonner, because normal transport methods could not deliver pre-coolcd bulbs within the necessary 10 days.
All documentation had been carried out in the normal way by the A.A., and shipping agents 'had undertaken preparation of the commercial papers. Mr. Maitland used the Tilbury-Antwerp crossing of the Transport Ferry Service.
To save time and possible trouble at Customs posts, he had arranged to have his cargo inspected by Dutch Customs officials as it was loaded. But despite all his efforts to obey regulations, the Dutch officials regarded a canvas sheeted truck as a bad security risk, and refused to seal the load.
Mr. Maitland then decided to take an additional load of bulbs from a merchant in another town, and immediate steps were taken to prepare all the necessary documents. The papers were prepared in three hours, instead of the normal three days.
For the return journey, with an unsealed load, time was against him. With a load of more than 3 tons he had to travel nearly 100 miles to the frontier in the two or three hours left
before the barriers were' closed to commercial transport. But meticulous by-pass routeing from the bulb merchants enabled the frontier to be reached in time.
However, because this method of collecting bulbs had not been used before, no regulations existed. But Mr. Maitland eventually managed to get his load signed through the Customs.
At Antwerp, he found the "Empire Celtic" waiting for him. The weather proved kinder than expected and the load got to London .Docks before they closed at noon on Saturday. The bulbs were planted nearly a week earlier than if they had been transported by conventional methods.