34 FRUITS OF QUEENSLAND. 



tree, withstanding drought well, and thriving in land that is too stony for the 

 cultivation of ordinary farm crops. It is a healthy tree, free from most fruit 

 pests other than the olive scale, which can be kept in check by spraying or 

 cyaniding; and last, but not least, it is an ornamental tree whose wood is of 

 considerable value. The olive does best with us in loamy soils of fair depth 

 and basaltic origin, that are moderately rich in lime and potash, and have a 

 fair drainage. A subsoil of decomposed rock answers well. It will, however, 

 do on several other kinds of soil, but it is in the type that I have just described 

 that it does so well, and in which I would recommend its culture on a large 

 scale. It will stand a fair amount of frost as well as great heat, and I have 

 never seen the trees injured by either on our Downs country. I have also seen 

 trees doing well right on the coast, where they have been subject to heavy 

 rainfalls, so that it appears to adapt itself to the conditions prevailing in -many 

 parts of our State. 



In addition to the fruits I have briefly described, there are several others 

 of minor importance that can be grown successfully, but, as they are not of 

 any great value commercially, I will leave them out, and go on to the fruits of 

 our more temperate districts, as, in addition to growing the tropical and semi- 

 tropical fruits which I have already dealt with, Queensland can also produce 

 temperate climate fruits to a very high degree of perfection. 



The fruits of the temperate regions that we are able to grow include the 

 apple, pear, plum, prune, quince, apricot, Persian peach, nectarine, almond, 

 walnut, chestnut, cherry, &c., as well as some of the hardier fruits which I have 

 classed as semi-tropical viz., the Japanese plum, persimmon, Chickasaw plum, 

 strawberry, &c. The districts adapted for the growth of the distinctly tem- 

 perate fruits are mostly situated in the Southern portion of the State, and ac 

 an elevation of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet a,bove sea-level districts having a 

 warm summer but a comparatively cold winter, during which frosts are by no 

 means uncommon, but where snow rarely falls ; a healthy climate, with warm 

 days and cool nights, to which many visitors go during the heat of summer, 

 when the humidity of the coast is somewhat trying to persons not naturally 

 robust. The Downs country, particularly its southern or Stanthorpe end, is the 

 most suitable ; the soil is mainly of granitic origin, and is very suitable for the 

 growth of apples, stone fruit, and grapes, but the latter I will deal with by 

 themselves later on. The country is by no means rich from an agricultural 

 standpoint, and is considerably broken, but, as already stated, it is admirably 

 adapted for the growth of fruit, and within the last ten years at least 100,000 

 fruit trees, mostly apples, plums, and peaches, have been planted out and are 

 doing well. The Stanthorpe show, which is held annually during the month of 

 February, is always noted for the excellence of its fruit exhibits, which would 

 be hard to beat, both for size, quality, and appearance. The fruits ripen earlier 

 than similar varieties grown in the Southern States, hence supply our markets 

 at a time when there is little outside competition, and, consequently, meet with 

 a ready sale at fair prices. The fruit grown in the largest quantity is the 

 apple, so I will deal with it first. 



