32 Commercial Gardening 



Fruit Growing in the Valley of the Teme. The Teme valley is 

 probably the most beautiful part of the county of Worcester as well as 

 one of the most fertile in England. It is roughly 20 miles in length and 

 varies from a few hundred yards to a mile and more in width at the lower 

 levels, with steep hills on each side rising to 500 and 800 ft. in places. In 

 this valley are grown practically the whole of the Worcestershire Hops. 

 Here also are grown large quantities of Apples of very good quality, as 

 well as a proportion of Cherries, Pears, Plums, Currants, Gooseberries, and 

 Raspberries, chiefly by farmers and Hop growers, and a large portion of 

 the land is the freehold of the growers. On one small estate there are 

 nearly 250 ac. of fruit; on one farm there are 150 ac., 80 ac. on another, 

 and from 20 to 50 ac. on other farms. It is impossible to give more 

 than an estimate of the area devoted to fruit, but from Tenbury to 

 Worcester where the Teme joins the Severn it would hardly be safe to 

 say there are less than 1500 ac., nearly one-half of which are owned by 

 four growers. 



The Apples are mainly standard trees on grass ; some are on arable 

 land, and a few are grown as half-standards and bushes. The owners 

 are mainly men of brains and capital with up-to-date methods, and they 

 promptly give trial to things that are new if they appear to possess merit 

 of their own. Pruning and spraying receive special attention, and the trees 

 are given care and attention generally. 



Another fruit-growing district is that around Ombersley, a district on 

 the east bank of the Severn. Here there are numerous plantations of 

 Plums, Apples, Cherries, Gooseberries, Strawberries, Currants, and Rasp- 

 berries, and probably about 1000 ac. of land may be accounted for in this 

 way. The methods of cultivation are the same as generally practised else- 

 where, and the varieties of fruit are the same. 



Thus it will be seen that the total area of land in Worcestershire de- 

 voted to fruit culture is very great, the districts already mentioned account- 

 ing for about 19,000 ac. If to that be added the smaller areas devoted 

 to the same purpose and distributed all over the county, a total of about 

 24,000 ac. of fruit will represent the proportion contributed by Worcester- 

 shire to the food, wealth, and pleasure of the nation. [j. u.] 



