i64 



IRISH GARDENING 



NOVEMBER 



ot prizes tor orchards as a uliok-. Vhc losi o\ 

 inspection is, however, j^-real ; so hca\ y incLcel 

 that it has had to he undertaken b\ tlio Doj-iart 

 niciit ilsch. Another acti\ ity o\ onr nortlKMi\ 

 triends, and one wortliy ot tlie attention ot this 

 society, is tlie competition in coninKrcial pack- 

 ini^. The fruit is packed at the orchard, 

 despatched on a iourne\', and subseciuentl\ 

 collected and judged. The 1 K'l^arlnient delVa} 

 the expenses and provide the prize nione\ . 



I ha\e now loterred l->rielly to some oi tlie 

 chief ot the educational methods employed by 

 the Department to encourai^e the i^rowinj;" ot 

 fruit. Time does not admit of tToing- into 

 further detail, but enoui^h has been said. 1 hope, 

 to direct your attention to them and to evoke 

 criticism and sug'g^estions. 1 need hardly say 

 that any such will be welcomed by the Depart- 

 ment and will recei\e full consideration. 



MAKKirnxe;. 



Let me now turn for a moment to the 

 question of maiketini^-. This is a more difticull 

 problem, and the way is not so clear. 'Jhere 

 are those who see in railway rates a complete 

 bar to all future prog^ress, and I have no doubt 

 we shall be told that the Department need not 

 further encourage fruit g-rovving unless they can 

 effect a radical change in the cost of carriage. 

 But railway rates are not of the Department's 

 making. We must except them for the present, 

 at all events, and see what else can be done to 

 tacilitate marketing. I do not think we can do 

 better than enquire into the system adopted in 

 Ulster, where, despite difficulties, including rail- 

 way rates, fruit growing is on the increase and 

 the marketing question is being successfully 

 tackled. 



Where several classes of fruit are grc^wn, and 

 where no single individual produces a large 

 quantity of any one kind, local markets must be 

 relied upon or farmers must combine for the 

 purpose of sale. There is no other alternative. 

 On this point lessons to be derived from the 

 experimental centres and from the experience 

 of northern fruit growers are, in my opinion, 

 definite. It was found impossible to market 

 economically the small and varied lots of pro- 

 duce from separate acre plots, while substantial 

 profits are made in the north where growers 

 concentrate on a few kinds of fruit, of each of 

 which they consequently have a sufficient bulk 



to market at an advantage. lC\en here growers 

 ha\e found it lienelicial to form themselves into 

 a society — the I'lster l""ruit Cirowers' .Associa- 

 tion — lor the purpose of protecting their 

 eommoti inteiests. The}' ha\e adopted grading, 

 they appointed agents in large centres, they 

 market their produce with a special label, and 

 thev use the Department's standard packages. 

 If growers in other districts will apply the 

 same methods, theie is no reason why the same 

 success should not attend their efforts in finding 

 markets and in minimising the difiiculties and 

 cost of transit. At any rate, until they do 

 something on these lines only partial good can 

 result from an_\- wi^rk oi the Department on 

 their behalf. 



TiiK BicsT ^.\^l^^■ 1-ki rr Croi\ 



As to the class of fruit growing which is likely 

 to be most successful in Ireland we also have 

 the lessons to be derived from the experimental 

 plots and from the experience of the northern 

 growers. I'Vom those it appears to me that it is 

 to the cultivation of the apple, and particularly 

 early and late varieties of cooking apples, that 

 attention should be chiefly directed. It is not 

 asserted that other varieties of fruit will not 

 sometimes pay, but that success is more likely 

 to be achieved along these lines. For eating 

 apples there is less scope, and it is only w here 

 the land is very good and suitable that they can 

 be profitably cultivated. 



It is not sufficient to restrict attention to 

 the apple. We must concentrate upon certain 

 \ arieties, avoiding those which have to be sold 

 in mid-season when markets are usually over- 

 stocked. A few of the best first earlies, such as 

 Early Victoria and Grenadier, and a few of the 

 late varieties, particularly good keeping ones, 

 such as Bramley's Seedling and Lane's Prince 

 Albert, are what experience directs us to aim 

 at. Several English buyers have testified that 

 for cooking there is no apple grown that equals 

 in quality the Irish Bramley. It is very 

 important that the most should be made ot 

 those kinds which keep well, as the best prices 

 are got when apples can be held over until 

 markets are depleted. 



Packages for Apples. 



Packing and the packages for apples are 

 considerations of the very first importance. 



