1 4 Fruits and Fruit- Trees. 



the annals of British commerce. Cherries and pears 

 were supplied from the Netherlands at a very early 

 period. When the cathedrals were building, when 

 Venice was in its glory, there came from the ports in the 

 Mediterranean dates, oranges, lemons, almonds, chest- 

 nuts, pomegranates. In the Elizabethan age, the banana 

 and the coco-nut made their appearance, only as curiosi- 

 ties an item, nevertheless, of no little significance in the 

 record. The pine-apple was first seen in the reign of 

 Charles II. Which shall we put down as the latest intro- 

 duction ? The fruit, it would seem, of the " tree-tomato," 

 Cyphomandra betacea, to be spoken of by-and-by. 



The aggregate of the present imports, until the actual 

 figures are seen, is almost inconceivable. According to 

 the Government Blue-book "Annual Statement of the 

 Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries 

 and British Possessions," the quantities of the different 

 kinds of fruit landed upon the shores of England, and 

 the declared values, were in 1883 as follow : 



Value. 

 Almonds ........................ 61,654 cwts. ... ^232,260 



Apples (raw) ..................... 2,251,925 bushels... 553,488 



Nuts .............................. ... 455.124 



Oranges and lemons ............ 4,477,043 ,, ... 1,704,826 



Various fruits, not specified J 2j66o>475 . 1,380,952 



(raw; ..................... ) 



Do. do. (dried) ... 299,866 cwts. ... 303,337 



, ... ,47,6,3 

 37, 168 cwts. ... .,4,088 

 Currants ........................... 1,026,584 ,, ... 1,423,062 



