FEU ITS OF QUEENSLAND. 89 



no reason why we should not be able to establish and maintain a fair canning 

 and drying trade, should the production overcome the demand for the fresh 

 fruit, as our peaches are of large size, and will can and dry well that is to say, 

 varieties adapted to those purposes will do so. 



The nectarine, which is simply a smooth-skinned peach, does equally well, 

 many varieties bear heavily, and some produce fruit of exceptional merit. I 

 have seen as fine nectarines grown in the Stanthorpe district as I have met 

 with in any part of Australia or America, fruit of large size and the highest 

 flavour, that compared favourably with the finest hothouse-grown fruit of the 

 Old World. 



THE PLUM. 



As already mentioned, plums of Japanese and American origin (Chicka- 

 saw) do well in the more coastal districts. They also bear heavily on our 

 coastal downs and more western country, but some kinds of Japanese plums 

 blossom too early for the Stanthorpe district. European plums, however, do 

 well, and are heavy bearers. All kinds do not bear heavily, the freest bearers 

 being those of the damson family White Magnum Bonum and Diamond 

 type. Prunes also do well. Plums of European origin do best in the coldest 

 districts, but their cultivation is not confined entirely to these, as some 

 varieties thrive well in warmer and drier parts of the country. So far, there 

 has been a ready sale for all the plums we can produce for fresh consumption, 

 excepting some of the smaller plums of the damson type, which have been 

 converted into jam. It is not a fruit, however, in which there is much money, 

 as it is too easily grown in the Southern States, and can there be converted 

 into jam or canned at a lower rate than we can do here, hence our cultivation 

 will be more or less confined to the growing of large fruits for supplying our 

 local markets rather than to the production of the fruit in quantity. 



THE APRICOT. 



Most varieties of this fruit do well on our coastal downs country in the 

 South, and to a certain extent further west. The trees are very rapid growers, 

 and bear heavily. The earlier ripening fruit usually escapes damage from 

 fruit fly, but the late fruit often suffers considerably. 



The apricot does best in a fairly strong rich soil, when it makes a great 

 growth, and bears heavy crops of large-sized fruit. It also does well on sandier 

 soils, which produce a firmer and better-drying fruit. So far, although a 

 number of trees are planted throughout the State, the cultivation of the fruit 

 is mainly confined to the production of table fruit, drying or canning having 

 been carried out to a small extent only. The apricot grows to a large tree, 

 and lives to a good old age. Like the peach, it is a very vigorous grower when 

 young, requiring severe pruning in consequence, but, when once shaped, the 

 trees require little in the way of pruning other than the removal of superfluous 

 branches and an annual shortening in winter. 



