IRISH GARDEMNG 



171 



Fruit Conference 



A conference of fruit growers under the auspices 

 of the Department of Agriculture was held in 

 connection with the Fruit Show at Ballsbridge 

 on Wednesday, October 22nd. Mr. T. W. Russell, 

 M.P.. Vice-President of the Department, presided. 



The Chairman announced that His Excellency 

 had another engagement. He therefore called on 

 His Excellency to make a statement. 



The Lord Lieutenant, who was cordially re- 

 ceived, said he was very much obliged to the 

 chairman for giving him an opportunity for offer- 

 ing an expression of hearty greeting and good 

 wishes regarding the assemblage and its objects. 

 These greetings might, he thought, well take the 

 form of congratulation because of the manifestly 

 important character and the admirable arrange- 

 ments generally of the show which had been 

 opened that afternoon. Even a cursory glance 

 was enough to bring before their minds its value 

 and significance. He was told that the number 

 of entries was slightly smaller than that of last 

 year, but against that it was stated that the 

 quality of the exhibits in the main was if anything 

 superior to that of previous years. Those who 

 had paid any attention to fruit culture in 

 Ireland would be able to take a sanguine view 

 regarding this important branch of industry. 

 They all knew how keen competition was in 

 fruit as in other matters, but he was assured 

 that the Irish fruit grower could hold his 

 own with that serious item — American and 

 Canadian competition. He wished to extend 

 cordial good wishes for the success of the show 

 and conference — a conference which was sure to 

 evoke many practical suggestions and contribu- 

 tions to the thorough understanding of this most 

 interesting and far-reaching form of enterprise. 



The ChairmanTstated that the importation of 

 fruit, as well as of preserves, into Ireland was very 

 considerable, and had been increasing steadily in 

 each case for a number of years. Much of the 

 fruit so imported, and certainly the greater part 

 of that which came to them in the shape of 

 preserves, could be produced in this country. 



Results of Experiments. 



In many parts of Ulster, more particularly in 

 County Armagh, fruit is now regarded as one of 

 the ordinary farm crops. With a view to develop- 

 ing a similar situation in other parts of Ireland, 

 the Department had conducted throughout the 

 country demonstrations on the growing of fruit 

 on a commercial scale. The results of these ex- 

 periments had indicated that many parts of the 

 country were particularly suited for the pro- 

 duction of the best class of fruit on a remunerative 

 basis, but that the apple was likely to prove the 

 most profitable class of fruit, market and labour 

 conditions being too often unfavourable to the 

 production of soft fruits. The result of all this 

 work had been an enormous demand for the 

 services of the County Instructors and of the 

 Department's officers, and the Department had 

 found themselves unable to deal with individual 

 applications for assistance. They had accordingly, 

 for some time past, recommended the formation 

 of local associations or societies of fruit-growers, 

 and had expressed their readiness to grant loans 

 to such bodies for the purchase of fruit trees. 

 Through these bodies they were also prepared to 

 facilitate the grading and packing of the produce, 

 and to assist in its marketing. In this connection, 



he would like to emphasise the importance of a 

 proper system of grading of every class of fruit, 

 and of its despatch to market in suitable packages. 



Loans for Planting. 



Another subject which would probably be dealt 

 with was the question of loans for the planting 

 of fruit trees. At the last conference he pointed 

 out that farmers could obtain loans for this 

 purpose from the Board of Works. He regretted 

 to say that the facilities from this source had not 

 been very fully availed of, whilst the demands 

 on the Department's loan system, intended to deal 

 with much smaller amounts, had been steadily 

 increasing. This might, perhaps, be accounted for 

 by the fact that fruit growers borrowing from the 

 Department were entitled to a large amount of 

 technical advice. In the case of loans granted 

 by the Board of Works the Department were 

 prepared to afford similar assistance. He re- 

 iterated the opinion which he expressed two years 

 ago — that the farmers of Ireland were still to a 

 very great extent neglecting a great opportunity 

 in not giving time and attention to fruit growing, 

 which might easily lie made one of the great 

 industries of the country. 



Mr. James Donnelly (Moy) read a paper * on 

 "' Apples for Market. Varieties and Cultivation," 

 in which he drew attention to the fact that Irish 

 fruit growers were in competition with those of 

 the United States. Canada. Tasmania, and other 

 countries. As far as Irish growers were concerned, 

 they should either keep pace with the times or 

 stand aside. He agreed with a Tasmanian grower 

 who said : " If you want to save your souls, 

 watch and pray : if you want to save your 

 orchards, wash and spray." Although Ireland 

 could produce cooking apples that could not be 

 excelled, they did not command second or third 

 place in the English market. That was chiefly 

 due to faulty packing and grading. He had seen 

 buyers in Glasgow passing by Irish apples, which 

 had to be sold for 3s. per cwt. less than English 

 apples, although the latter were distinctly inferior. 



Mr. Logan (Cork) said that he did not believe 

 in the cultivation of the land so much. He 

 himself was cultivating apples under grass, and 

 he could show a fine collection of fruit. Any 

 amount of fruit was lost in orchards because 

 liquid manure was allowed to go astray. As 

 regards the type of apple, he believed it was better, 

 to select a few sorts and get a suitable apple to 

 sell. A green apple was no good to anyone, and 

 would only be a disgrace. Therefore it is better 

 to grow a coloured apple. There were only three 

 flavours in American apples. The Bed Bramley 

 was. he believed, the coming apple, and he thought 

 that the smaller grades would be well able to 

 compete against American apples. By getting 

 quality in the smaller grades a good price could 

 be obtained. His advice was : " Get as near to 

 the American grade of apples as you can. If 

 you do you will find them very profitable." He 

 hated to see a man for ever going round with a 

 knife cutting off branches. Better get a full- 

 grown tree, and if it wanted cutting occasionally 

 cut it moderately. Trees should not be grown 

 too tenderly when young, as they would require 

 fine treatment afterwards-. Another good apple, 

 in his opinion, was the Viscount Wolseley, and 

 also the Hector MacDonald. 



* The three papers read at the Conference are soon to be 

 published in full in the Proceedings of the Royal Horticul- 

 tural Society of Ireland, and may be obtained from the 

 Secretary, .5 Molesworth St., Dublin ; price 7d. post free. 



