BRITISH OPPORTUNITIES 6r 



shillings per ton e.g.) apples, 1900,^11 los. per ton, and in 

 1904, 2n 5s. per ton. 



Beyond those quantities and values the main fact of public 

 interest is the price per cvvt., which the Blue- Books fail to record. 

 We have therefore worked them out on Table C. 



The prices given in Table C are derived from values declared 

 by Continental senders who would rather under than over declare, 

 and as those prices do not include over-sea and railway carriage, 

 commissions, cost of exchange, remittances, etc., we may be sure 

 that the values realized in Covent Garden (London) and other 

 markets were considerably higher. However, they are useful as 

 indicating the comparative prices at Continental ports from year 

 to year, when considered in connection with the quantities and 

 values in Tables A and B. 



The great fact which the values in Table B should bring home 

 to British growers is, that we are sending about 11,000,000 

 per year to their competitors abroad, for fruit and vegetables 

 which could be better grown on English soil, to the profit of 

 English growers. 



The fruit market is not a stationary one. It is extending. 

 Take one instance tomatoes. A few years ago tomatoes were a 

 luxury for the wealthy ; now they are to be found in the homes of 

 the workers in our cities, etc. The demand is yearly increasing. 

 Has the British grower met the demand ? The following figures 

 show that he has not : 



In 1900 the Continental growers sent us 833,030 cwt. of 



tomatoes, value ,792,339. 

 In 1904 they sent us 1,134,721 cvvt. of tomatoes, value 



^ i, 007,274. 



Most of that ; 1,007,274, which went abroad might have gone 

 to the British growers if they had kept abreast of foreign improved 

 methods, and made the best use of our growing markets. 



The home grower has, it is true, made encouraging progress in 

 some directions during recent years, notably in the culture of 

 strawberries, and to some extent in tomatoes, etc., but the enormous 

 sums which still go abroad to pay for foreign-grown fruit point a 

 telling lesson to the British grower. This is most noticeable in 

 the case of the ,2,000,000 worth of apples we annually purchase 

 abroad, although we could better grow them in England. The 

 foreigner is getting more of our money every year. Are we going 

 to let this go on until we become too impoverished to control our 

 home markets ? 



