6g4 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST, [April i, 1887. 



the Statistical Department of Her Mvjasty's Cus- 

 toms, to place before you a comparative statement 

 showing the value of fruit of all kinds imp )rtei1 into 

 the United Kingdom ia the years 1S45, ISSo and 1835 

 respectively : — 



Total £886,388 £3.135,984 £7,587,523 



This table explains itself. The trade iu foreign 

 fruits iu 1865 was nearly four times what it was in 

 1845, while that of 1S85 was nearly double that of 

 1865. With the increased and improved steam com- 

 munication which we now have with all parts of the 

 world, the probability is that the United Kmgdom 

 Vr-ill take still larger supplies of fruit from abroad, 

 and the indications are strongly in favour of much 

 of that fruit coming from our Australian, Canadian, 

 and West Indian Colonies, which can supply us with 

 fruit equal to any now seen here. I do not wish, 

 however, to confiue my remarks solely to what the 

 Colonies can do as regards supplying the Eaglish 

 market. Although great interest is taken, as a result 

 of the Colonial Market at the Colonial and Indian 

 Exhibition, in the possibility of the Colonies supply- 

 ing fruit to the Eaglish market it must be remembered 

 that this does not cover the whole of the giound. 

 Many Colonies, such as the West Indies and British 

 Honduras, have developed a large trade in supply- 

 ing the United States with bananas, oranges, and pine- 

 apples; others, like Fiji, in supplying trtpical fruits 

 to the sister Calonies of Australia and New Zealand. 

 Tasmania exports its surplus fruits to Victoria, while 

 Queeusland sends its bananas and pineapples to New 

 South Wales. In the East Indies the Straits Settle- 

 ments export choice fruits to India, and so on through- 

 out our Colonial Empire interest has been awakened 

 iu the commercial value of fruits which a few years 

 ago were little thought of. While, tlierefore, in my 

 remarks this evening, attention is specially devoted 

 to the possibilities of the Colonies supplying the 

 English market with fresh and preserved fruits, I 

 shall at the same time endeavour to place before you 

 any local or intercolonial trade which may have been 

 developed in fruit, and then give a general idea of 

 the importance which fruit as a factor in colonial 

 commerce is fast assuming, and the promise it holds 

 out of still greater importance in t lie future. 



If we turu to the second table of returns given 

 above, we find that apples at present are imported 

 to this country to the value of over 700,0007. 

 annually. The chief supply, to the value of nearly 

 500,000?., comes to us from the United States of 

 America. Growers in the States have practically 

 monopolised our market by shipments of this fruit, 

 which, whatever its special merit of cheapness may be, is 

 certainly, as sold here, inferior in flavour and juiciness to 

 the best Euglish-grown apples. Unfortunately, however, 

 the quantity of really good English-grown apples is 

 quite inadequate to meet the demand, and hence 

 we are compelled to fall back on foreign supplies. 

 The next largest supply of apples from abroad comes 

 to us from continental countries through Belgium to 

 the value of 100,000^. annually, while the Dominion 

 of Canada occupies third rank, and supplies apples to 

 the value of 91,0007. annually. As regards oranges and 

 lemons, the quantity consumed in these islands is very 

 large. We import annually about 500 million oranges 

 and lemons, which is at the rate of 10 per head of 

 population. More than one-half of this quautity, equal 

 to a value of nearly a million sterling, comes to us 

 from Spain. The remainder comes from Italy (Sicily), 

 to the value of nearly half a million sterling ; from 

 Portugal and the Azires, to the value of 130,000/.., 

 and from Turkey, to the value of 1,90007. The value 

 of oranges imported from Malta an I all other British 

 possessions taken together is only 7,0007. auinially. 



The large class of fruit included in the Customs 

 iteturns under " unenumerated raw fruit," is composed 



of grapes, French pears, apricots, plums, pineapples, 

 melons, bananas, prickly pears, forbidden fruit, cheri- 

 moyer, pomegranate, and other sub-tropical and tropi- 

 cal fresh fruit from the Mediterranean region, from 

 Madeira, the Azores, and latterly from the West Indies. 

 France is the largest contributor under this head, to 

 the value of nearly half a million sterling. Spain ranks 

 second, and supplies us with such large quantities of 

 Almeria grapes that 20,000 to 30,000 barrels of this 

 fruit alone are sometimes disposed of in the Londoa 

 market in a single day. The other uuenumerated raw 

 fruits are supplied by Holland, to the value of 212,0697.; 

 Belgium, to the value of 150,8827. Germany, to the 

 value of 96,1747. ; and Portugal to the value of 80,0967. 

 The value contributed by all the British possessions 

 is less than either of these — the e-vact amount beintr 

 51,0047. 



Fruit, dried and pre.served, 558,7777., consists of dates, 

 canned Californian fruits, preserved ginger, tamarinds, 

 and a miscellaneous supply pretty equally distributed 

 amongst most countries of the world. Of nuts used 

 as fruits we import the walnut, sweet or Spanish 

 chestnut, filbert — Smyrna, black Spanish, and Barcelona 

 — Brazil-nut, coconut, monkey-nut, butter-nut, cashew- 

 nut, pistachio-nut, pecan-nut, and occasionally other nuts 

 more or less rare. It may be mentioned, in passing, 

 that these are not true nuts in the strict acceptance of 

 the term; some are seeds, others are fruits. France and 

 Spain, again, supply the largest quantity of these nuts, 

 while the West Indies and Brazil and some portions of 

 the East Indies supply such as are specially confined to 

 the tropics. The almond of commerce consists of the 

 kernel of a peach like fruit, probably native of the 

 warm and dry portions of the Levantine Mediterranean. 

 The tree appears to flourish where the olive grows, 

 and, although often seen in England, and found 

 hardy in the neighbourhood of towns, it only 

 bears in exceptional seasons, and after a 

 mild and uninterrupted spring. Our chief supply of 

 almonds, which reaches an aggregate quantity of 400 

 tons, and a value of nearly a quarter of a million 

 sterling, comes from Italy, Spain, and Morocco. 

 "Jordan almonds" come from Malaga in Spain, 

 while bitter almonds come chiefly from Mogador in 

 Morocco, which, by the way, possesses one of the 

 most charming and equable climates iu the world. 

 The well-known fruit called grocers' currants are the 

 produce of the Corinth vine, which is a seedless variety 

 of common grape. This particular vine is almost ex- 

 clusively cultivated in the Morea portion of the small 

 kingdom of Greece and in the Ionian Islands. We 

 imported in the year 1885 nearly 60,000 tons of currants, 

 of the value of about a million ami a half sterling. 

 The vineyards of Corinth grapes are near the sea and 

 cultivated with great care. It is somewhat remark- 

 able that when tried elsewhere, for instance at Sicily 

 an! Malta, this usually seedless grape has developed 

 berries so charged with seed as to be useless for 

 commercial purposes. The imports of raisins, or dried 

 grapes, are nearly 30,000 tons annually, of the value 

 of nearly a raiilioa sterling. Muscatels, or the better 

 class of stalk raisins, come from Malaga, in Spain, 

 and are in demand all the year round, except during 

 the short English fruit season. Valeutia, or loose 

 raisins, on the other hand, are chiefly used during the 

 three winter mouths v^hen the British housewife is 

 concerned with plum-pudding. Figs, in a preserved 

 state, are consumed to the extent of 0,000 tons annually, 

 of the value of 200,0007. They are imported chiefly 

 from Turkey, while the remainder comes from Greece, 

 Portugal and Spain. 



Such, in brief, is an outline of the English trade in 

 foreign fruit. Summarising the results, we find that 

 we pi-ocure supplies of fruit from Spain to the value 

 of nearly two millions sterling; from Greece to the 

 value of one and a half million sterling; from Italy 

 and Turkey to the value of three-quarters of a million 

 i^terling each ; from France, United States, and Ger- 

 many fincluding Holland and Belgium), to the value 

 of half a million sterling each. The total value of 

 fruit obtained from all British possessions, as noted 

 above, is less than from either of these, and is only 

 a little over a quarter of a million sterling. 



