6 Fruitgrowing under Irrigation 



of all the fruits sent away from the Murray Valley 

 in the fresh state is the Washington Navel orange, 

 which thrives here better than anywhere else in the 

 Commonwealth. Very heavy plantings of this 

 variety have been made on the Murray irrigation 

 settlements during recent years, which, as the new 

 groves come into bearing, must have a steadying 

 influence on its price in the Commonwealth mar- 

 kets. As, however, there appear good prospects for 

 the sale of this fruit on the markets of the world, 

 the overseas demand should prevent the Australian 

 market from becoming glutted. 



FUTURE PROSPECTS. 



The fruit-growing industry of the Murray Valley 

 is at present in a sound condition. For it to remain 

 so it is necessary for the growers to retain control 

 of the marketing of their fruit. As the Common- 

 wealth's demand has been 'reached in most lines, a 

 great boom in fruit-growing, resulting in very heavy 

 plantings, is to be deprecated, as tending to result in 

 over-production, and ultimate loss to the growers. 

 There is enough good land in the Murray Valley 

 and enough water available when the river is locked 

 and weired, which would, were it all planted in 

 fruit, be sufficient to supply the present needs of 

 the Commonwealth more than ten times over. But 

 with a steadily increasing population, and with an 

 expanding overseas market there is room for a 

 rational expansion of the area under the majority of 

 fruits grown on the Murray irrigation settlements. 



