1624 



The flovvers are sent away by parcels post, in reed packages lined with 

 paper or wadding to keep out the cold. The very' delicate fruits 

 buried in wood packing, travel in boxes, while the more hardy vegetables 

 content themselves with baskets and even sacks. Only the very earliest 

 spring crops, fruits or vegetables, benefit by more dainty packing in little 

 boxes or quite small flats, which are forwarded by parcels post. The journey 

 is very rapid, the goods reach Paris in 20 ^/g hours, Frankfort on-Main 

 in 33 hours, London in 38 14 hours, Brussels in 39 hours, Petrograd in 87 

 hours and Moscow in 95 hours. 



From the agricultural point of view, flowers and early produce have 

 taken the place of wheat, which used to be grown in the rows between 

 the vines. The olive trees have begun to be neglected ; only the vine 

 holds its own. The change of crops has had a great influence on the life 

 of the region and has modified the distribution of the population, hitherto 

 crowded together in the villages and old towns ; today these old villages 

 are replaced by scattered dwellings in proximity to the gardens and the 

 transport centres. The influence of the new method has also made itself 

 felt by developing relations with other countries and by giving an impulse 

 to cooperation. 



The growing of flowers and early crops has greatly increased the 

 wealth of the country, the value of the products sold each year reaching 

 £ 2 200 000 ; it has also resulted in the creation or development of such in- 

 dustries as perfumery, distilling, confectionery and the manufacture of pack- 

 ing materials. Finalty it has exercised an ethnographical influence by 

 encouraging the immigration of foreign labourers who frequently settle 

 down to live in the country. 



FRUIT 1 185 - Mountain fruit Growing in Switzerland: Varieties Introduced from Russia^ 



GROWING Sweden and Denmark. — See No. 1158 of this Bulletin. 



1 186 - Banana Growing in New South Wales. — The Fruit World of A ustraiasia, vol. xvii 



Xo. 8, p. 270. Melbourne, August i, 1916. 



The cultivation of the banana is extending rapidly in the districts 

 of Tweed and Brunswick River. Orchards of commercial importance 

 planted with the variety Cavendish, which is much superior to the ordi- 

 nary banana in quality and aroma, occur chiefl)'' at Terranora, Piccabeen, 

 Bilambil and Cobaki. 300 to 400 plants are grown per acre, and the planta- 

 tions are usually from 10 to 25 acres in extent, but some are much larger. 

 The first crop of i cluster of bananas per plant is gathered from 16 to 24 

 months after planting ; the following year the crop increases to 4 or 5 

 clusters per plant. In 1915, at Bilambil, the crop from one plantation was 

 valued at £ 2320, a gross return of £ 232 per acre. 



