FRUITS OF QUEENSLAND. 



13 



do they grow, and so rapidly do they increase. The very ease with which fruit 

 cas be grown when planted under conditions of soil and climate favourable to 

 its development has had a tendency to make growers somewhat careless as com- 

 pared with those of other countries who have to grow fruit under conditions 

 demanding the most careful attention in order to be made profitable. This 

 is enough to show that Queensland is adapted for fruit-growing, and the illus- 

 trations accompanying the description of our chief commercial fruits will show 

 them more forcibly than any words of mine that my contention is a correct 

 one. Latterly, however, there has been a considerable improvement in the 

 working of our orchards, growers finding that it does not pay to grow second- 

 quality fruit, and, therefore, they are giving -much more attention to the 

 selection of varieties, cultivation of the land, pruning the trees, and the keep- 

 ing in check of fruit pests ; as, like other parts of the world, we have our pests 

 to deal with. This improvement in the care and management of our orchards 



Bunch of Fruit of the Coochin York Mangosteen. 



is resulting in a corresponding improvement in the quantity and quality of 

 our output, so that now our commercial fruits that is to say, the fruits grown 

 in commercial quantities compare favourably with the best types of similar 

 fruits produced elsewhere. The writer has no wish to convey the impression 

 that all that is required in order to grow fruit in Queensland is to secure 

 suitable land, plant the trees, let Nature do the rest, and when they come into 



