1G8 BRITISH APPLES AND FRUIT-GROWING. [Jan. 



BRITISH APPLES, AND FBUIT-GBOWING FOE PROFIT. 



THE cultivation of fruit for supplying a wholesome article' of 

 food to the teeming populations of our cities and manufactur- 

 ing districts, must form a much more important branch of our rural 

 industry in the future than it has ever done in the past. Except 

 in the south and west of England, where for a century or two 

 fruit - growing has been extensively carried on, there is not a 

 county in the United Kingdom which produces anything like 

 a full supply of fruit for home consumption, and far less for supply- 

 ing the enormous wants of populous places in our midst. From 

 North America it is estimated that we are importing fruit to the 

 value of about £2,000,000 a year, and this chiefly for fruit 

 which could be easily produced at home, and of as good cpialit}' 

 too, if proper means are taken to grow it, and the right kinds only- 

 are gTown. Still, much of the hardy fruit imported from America 

 is of a sound quality and good flavour, which cannot be said of 

 the greater portion of that imported from the continent of Europe, 

 which is too often of a coarse nature and insipid taste. 

 In point of size much of the imported fruit compares favourably 

 with what we see generally grown outside gardens and the English 

 " fruit " counties ; but that is more the fault of the indifferent 

 kinds grown, and the neglect of ordinary cultivation, than any 

 deficiency in the soil or climate to grow large and fine fruit. In the 

 primary points of flavour and quality, our home-grown fruits are 

 decidedl}' superior to that of any of the same kinds which reach us 

 from abroad, and these points are certainly of the first importance 

 in an article of food. But by growing the proper kinds under good 

 cultivation, we can produce them equal in size, and superior in all 

 other qualities to any that are imported from abroad. 



In the matter of Apples, the most important of British fruits, this 

 was clearly demonstrated by the magnificent display of them 

 exhibited at the Apple Congress held at Chiswick, London, in October 

 1883, under the auspices of the Eoyal Horticultural Society. All 

 who saw that remarkable exhibition of the produce of the apple trees 

 of Britain, must have been convinced of the immense importance of 

 selecting only the best kinds for cultivation, if a profitable result is 

 expected. That most of the kinds which proved best and most 

 remunerative in the south of England should also be found in the 

 same high position in the north, and in Scotland, was the subject of 

 some surprise. Samples of Stirling Castle, Blenheim Orange, 

 Ecklinville, Warner's King, Lord Suffield, King of the Pijipins, and 

 suchlike thrifty apples, stood as prominently out in collections sent 



