April i, 1887.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



6^3 



made their homes, we shall draw the future supply 

 of fruit in quantity and quality probably exceeding 

 that of any fruit industry that the world has ever seen. 



I believe it is Leigh Hunt who has drawn attention 

 to the beauty as well as the agreeableness of a well- 

 arranged group of fruit. He says: — "Here are the 

 round piled-up oranges deepening almost into red, 

 and heavy witli juice ; the apple with its brown red 

 cheek as if it had slept in the sun; the pear swelling 

 downwards and provocative of a huge bite in the side ; 

 thronging grapes, like so many tij^ht little bags of wine ; 

 the peach, whose handsome leathern coat strips off so 

 finely ; the pearly or ruby-like currants, heaped in light 

 long baskets; the red little moutbfuls of strawberries, 

 ditto ; the larger purple ones of plums ; cherries, whose 

 eld comparison with lips is better than anything new ; 

 mulberries dark and rich with juice, fit to grow over 

 what Homer calls the deep black-watered fountains; 

 the swelling pomp of melons; the rough inexorable- 

 looking coconut, milky at heart ; the elaborate elegance 

 of walnuts; the quaint cashew-nut ; almonds, figs, raisins 

 — in short, 



' Whatever Earth, all-bearinij mother, yields, 

 Rough or smooth rind, or bearded husk or shell.' " 



It will not do however, to spend time over the mere 

 question of beauty or attractiveness in fruit. We have to- 

 night to discuss the practical and economic aspects 

 of fruit and to express sympathy with a young industry 

 which will afford such a confederation of interests as 

 will be mutually beneficial to our Colonies and our- 

 selves. 



In spite of a fairly large home industry in 

 the cultivation of fruit, and to which we are 

 naturally prepared to give due sympathy and 

 support, the fact is established that we are very 

 far from supplying our wants. "Whether we wish it 

 or not, we are compelled to import annually fruit 

 raw and preserved, as will be shown below, to the 

 value of nearly tight millions sterling. There is, I 

 believe, plenty of room for an extension of fruit in- 

 dustries in the United Kingdom, if only in apples 

 alone ; and farmers would do well to turn their attention 

 to the cultivation of choice fruit as a means of supple- 

 menting their returns from other produce. But, for 

 many kinds of fruit, such as oranges, lemons, pine- 

 apples, dates, figs, grapes, consumed during the winter 

 mouths, we must depend largely upon warmer and 

 sunnier lands ; and here it is that our tropical aud sub- 

 tropical Colonies have the opportunity to come forward, 

 each with its specis'l production, and seek a share in 

 what foreigners look upon as the best fruit market in 

 the world. 



I mentioned just now that the United Kingdom 

 draws supplies of fruit from abroad to the value of 

 nearly eight millions sterling per annum. The actual 

 figures as given in the trade returns for 1885 are 

 as follows : — 



Kind Value 



Apples, oranges, &c £3,619,788 



Nuts, almonds, &c 701,910 



Currants, raisins, figs, &c 3,265,825 



Total £7,587,523 



I have taken the trouble to analyse carefully these 

 returns of imported fruits, and I find that not quite 

 4 per cent of such fruits are received from British 

 Possessions. The bulk is produced and supplied to 

 us by foreign States. The exact proportions in res- 

 pect of each class of fruit will appear from the 

 following table : — 



RETURN OF FRUIT IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KING- 

 DOM IN 1885. 



(Published by the Custom House, May, ^1886.) 



From From 



foreign British 

 countries. Possessions. Total. 



Apple.s, raw ,£623,319 £93,712 £717,031 



Oranges aud lemons ... 1,474.191 6,819 1,481,010 

 Fruit, raw funenumerated) 1,370,743 51,004 1,421,747 

 Fruit, dried and preserved 488.020 70,757 558,777 



Nuts, used as fruit 363,275 79,020 417,2!:)5 



Almonds 254,524 91 254,616 



*Currants 



*Figs 



*Plums, prunes, &c. 

 *Kaisins 



From 



foreign 



countries. 



. I,4f8,182 



187,895 



94,738 



965,237 



From 

 British 

 Possessions. 



Total. 



1 l,458,18e 



8 187,903 



4 94,742 



983 966,220 



Total ... £7,285,124 £302,399 £7,587,523 



Fruits from British Possessions equal about one- 

 twenty-fifth of the whole, or 4 per cent nearly. The 

 second of the above tables .shows very clearly what 

 a large proportion of our imported fruit is drawn 

 from foreign countries. The figures are : — Annual value 

 from foreign countries, 7,285,124i!. ; from British pos- 

 sessions, 302,399i. This is a very striking and suggest- 

 ive comparison, which it would be well for the Colonies 

 to carefully weigh and consider. If they can grow aud 

 ship, at a fair price, any of the fruit which is now 

 supplied to us by foreign States— and of this there 

 can be little doubt — they have here a fair field for 

 commercial enterprise, and one in which they will 

 receive every encouragement, on the sole ground, if 

 no other, ot the boud of mutual sympathy and sup- 

 port which binds together every portion of the Empire. 

 Apart from the mere increase of population, the Eng- 

 lish are, I believe, becoming more and more a fruit- 

 eating community, and this tendency is to be encouraged , 

 not merely as a sign of advance in civilisation aud in 

 the use of lu.^uries, but also as a direct incentive 

 to more rational and healthful modes of living, and 

 to a departure from the strongly heated foods and 

 strong drinks which characterise our habits as north- 

 erners, and which are responsible, in some degree at 

 least, for the prevalence amongst us of intemperance 

 and vice. This is a phase of the subject which can 

 only be touched upon here. All I wish to point out, 

 in passing, is that an increase in our supply of whole- 

 some and refreshing fruit, both at home and abroad, 

 is one which is entirely free from objection, either 

 on the ground of health, morals, or political expedi- 

 ency. A fruit such as the banana is in itself a valuable 

 food, but others, such as the orange, grape, and 

 pineapple, are especially valuable on account of the 

 potash salt, the citrate, malate, and tartrate which 

 they contain. When fish, or meat preserved with 

 salt, forms an important article of diet, we are told 

 the blood loses much of its potash compounds and 

 becomes unhealthy, unless the loss is made up. Now 

 fruits, notably those of the orange family, supply 

 these essential salts in a most effective manner. Fruits 

 also by their flavour and juiciness serve to stimulate 

 a weak appetite, to give variety and lightness, no 

 less than elegance and beauty to an otherwise solid 

 diet, and they contribute in a palatable and refresh- 

 ing form much of the water required for the daily 

 needs of digesting and assimilation. 



ENGLISH TRADE IN FOREIGN FRUIT. 



It may be interesting, not only for fruit-growers in 

 the Colonies, but for home people as well, to review 

 the character of the dift'erent fruits that are now im- 

 ported into the Uniied Kingdom, to trace their origin, 

 as well as the special circumstances of the countries 

 which now hold the monopoly of supplying them. 

 This will afford the best means for ultimately deciding 

 which of these fruits can be grown in our colonial 

 possessions, and what are the special points to be 

 kept in view before a successful trade in fruit can be 

 maintained between the Colonies and the Mother 

 Country. 



In the first table of statistics placed before you 

 to-night, I summarised the total value of fruits 

 imported into the United Kingdom during the year 

 1885. As showing the gradual but substantial " de- 

 vir-lopment of the trade in foreign fruit 

 which has taken place in this country, I urn. en- 

 abled, by the courtesy of Mr. Seldou. Chief of 



* Subject to a duty of 7s. per cwt. imposed March 

 7, I860, yielding a revenue (in 1885) of 513,740. 



