52 THE FRUIT INDUSTRY 



In their report the Departmental Committee ex- 

 pressed the view that, instead of the fruit industry in 

 Great Britain having been overdone, 'there would 

 appear to be room for a further extension,' and they 

 found it ' evident that the profits from fruit-growing, 

 taking one year with another, are far greater than those 

 from ordinary farming,' while it is * undoubtedly the 

 case that the planting of fruit greatly increases the 

 value of land.' Then, they continued, the planting of 

 fruit leads to great additional employment of labour, 

 and ' no better means can be devised for bringing 

 people back to the land than an extension of the fruit 

 industry, where it can be done profitably.' There 

 could be but little doubt, they thought, that there is 

 abundance of land, in addition to the areas already 

 under cultivation, where fruit-growing might be profit- 

 ably undertaken. 



Reverting to the question of jam production, I may 

 mention that there are in the United Kingdom between 

 200 and 300 jam-makers, large and small, and that the 

 quantity of fruit required every year by five alone of 

 the leading firms represents a total of 20,000 tons. 



Down to a few years ago the jam-makers who use up 

 such large quantities of fruit as these figures suggest 

 depended mainly on foreign supplies, partly because 

 they may have been somewhat cheaper, but more 

 especially because the British production was not 

 equal to requirements. To-day there is an increas- 

 ing tendency among British jam-makers to depend 

 on British fruit for the bulk of their supplies. I am 

 told by those in a position to know that the discus- 

 sions which have arisen during the past two years 

 concerning the general industrial and commercial posi- 

 tion of this country have especially appealed to the 

 patriotic instincts of the preservers, and inclined 



