FRUITS OF QUEENSLAND. 



QUEENSLAND FRUIT GROWING. 



Very few persons have any idea of the magnitude or the resources of this 

 State of Queensland, and in no branch of agricultural industry are they more 

 clearly shown than in that of fruit-growing. Here, unlike the colder parts of 

 the world or the extreme tropics, we are not confined to the growing of parti- 

 cular varieties of fruits, but, owing to our great extent of country, and its 

 geographical distribution, we are able to produce practically all the cultivated 

 fruits of the world, many of them to great perfection. There are, however, 

 one or two tropical fruits that are exceptions, such as the durien and 

 mangosteen, whose range is extremely small, and one or two of the berry 

 fruits of cold countries, which require a colder winter than that experienced 

 in any part of this State. It will, however, be seen at once that a country that 

 can produce such fruits as the mango, pineapple, banana, papaw, granadilla, 

 guava, custard apple, litchi, sour sop, cocoa nut, bread fruit, jack fruit, 

 monstera, alligator pear, and others of a purely tropical character; the date, 

 citrus fruits of all kinds, passion fruit, persimmon, olive, pecan nut, cape 

 gooseberry, loquat, and other fruits of a semi-tropical character, as well as the 

 fruits of the more temperate regions, such as the apple, pear, plum, peach, 

 apricot, quince, almond, cherry, fig, walnut, strawberry, mulberry, and others 

 of minor importance, in addition to grapes of all kinds, both for wine and table, 

 and of both European and American origin, offers a very wide choice of fruits 

 indeed to the prospective grower. Of course, it must not be thought for a 

 moment that all the fruits mentioned can be grown to perfection at any one 

 place in the State, as that would be an impossibility, but they can be grown 

 in some part of the State profitably and to great perfection. 



The law of successful fruit culture is the same here as in all other fruit- 

 producing countries viz., to grow in your district only those fruits which are 

 particularly adapted to your soil and climate, and to let others grow those 

 fruits which you cannot grow, but which their conditions allow them to produce 

 to perfection. The intending grower must, therefore, first decide on what 

 fruits he wishes to grow, and when he has done so, select the district best 

 suited to their growth. The small map of the State shows the districts in 

 which certain fruits may be grown profitably, or, rather, the districts in which 

 they are at present being so grown; but there are many other districts in 

 which fruit-growing has not been attempted in commercial quantities or for 

 other than purely home consumption that, once the Stare begins to fill up with 

 population, are equal, if not superior, to the older fruit-growing districts, and 

 are capable of maintaining a large population. 



