CAPE COLON y A FRUIT COUNTRY. 



141 



space would permit, and it must be inferred 

 that the enemies are numerous. The owner 

 who takes great care of his trees — along^ the 

 lines laid down in these articles — will be 

 abundantly rewarded in seeing^ his trees 

 '• thinjjs of beauty and joys forever," while 

 his careless neig^hbor will probably be lament- 

 ing his "hard luck." Shade trees must be 

 treated as living-, organic beings — fed with 



abundant nutritious food, and cared for by 

 attending- to their wounds — if they are to 

 furnish that refreshing shade in summer, that 

 peculiar beauty all their own, and that pro- 

 tection from the blasts of winter, which are 

 so much to be desired. 



VVm. Lochhead. 



m. w. doherty. 

 Ontario Ag-ricultural Colleg-e, Guelph. 



CAPE COLONY A FRUIT COUNTRY. 



•■T WOULD appear that this land of 

 favored climatic conditions has solved 

 the question of shipping tender fruits 

 ^^ to Great Britain, and bids fair to have 

 the most excellent success. The Gardeners' 

 Chronicle gives the following note, viz. : 



" During last month there were several 

 arrivals from the Cape, per the Union line, 

 the first, per the Dunveg-an Castle, a small 

 consignment of peaches*, which sold well. 

 The second, per the Guelph, was twelve 

 cases of peaches, in fine order, which sold 

 well. The third ship was the Norman, with 

 704 cases of fine plums, and 33 of peaches. 

 There was a splendid bloom on the plums, 

 all of which were quickly taken off, at g-ood 

 prices, as also were the peaches. Tantallon 

 Castle arrived on the 3rd inst. , broug^ht 392 

 cases o{ plums, 141 cases of grapes, and 

 138 cases of peaches. Plums, some were 

 Simoni, large red, in g-ood condition, 

 boxes of 24 running- up to 12s. per box. 

 Others were Golden Drop, fair sized yellow, 

 also in good condition, going as high as 12s. 

 per box of 24. Grapes were small, and 

 slightly hard. They were the first consign- 

 ment of the season, and must have been 

 picked too early. They were practically 

 given aw^ay at Covent Garden, 2d. per pound 



being the highest price. This shows that 

 care must be taken to send home only fruit 

 in good condition and thoroughly ripe. This 

 lot of grapes were brought home by a pas- 

 senger who must have little knowledge of 

 the trade. Peaches : Some were in capital 

 condition, running up to 12s. per box of 24. 

 N. B. — All the above fruit was sold privately 

 at Covent Garden, not by public auction. 

 Some peaches were sold at public auction, 

 and, although first-class fruit, realized very 

 low prices. The result does not seem to 

 recommend the public auction sales. The 

 last arrival to note here is that of the ss. 

 Mexican, which arrived on Sunday, nth 

 inst, bringing 196 cases of peaches, 290 

 boxes of plums, 102 boxes of nectarines and 

 60 boxes of grapes." 



Oi course these fruits from South Africa 

 will not compete with ours, because their 

 summer is our winter ; but if they can suc- 

 ceed, and cross the tropics, why can we not 

 succeed with less distance and cooler air ? 



There is no doubt a great deal of truth in 

 the point made about the private sale of the 

 goods. Ours are always sold by public auc- 

 tion, and this may count again.st our best 

 success, especially while our goods are 

 looked upon as novelties. 



