42 
In selecting the kinds of apples and pears with a view of 
exportation, the greatest care must be taken in planting only 
those which have been proved to carry well, and which can be 
placed on the London market at just the proper time, when they 
are pretty sure of commanding a ready sale. Reports have from 
time to time appeared in the newspapers as to the most suitable 
kinds, methods of packing, &c.; besides, Mr. Neilson and many 
of our leading fruit-growers, who have shipped fruit successfully, 
would, I am sure, cheerfully impart any desired information. 
We can hardly expect to be able to export to Europe what are 
known as soft fruits—plums, tomatoes, and other kinds have been 
tried in one or two instances, but success was not achieved. One 
of the most perishable of fruits is the strawberry, and yet it is 
constantly shipped from America to England. At a recent date 
the steamer Majestic conveyed from New York to Liverpool 
147 erates of strawberries and thirteen cases of tomatoes ; both on 
being opened were found exceptionally good and fine, and realized 
good prices, the shipment being pronounced a success. I need 
hardly say that the steamer was specially fitted up with refriger- 
ating rooms. JI allude to this more particularly to illustrate what 
can really be done with proper packing, careful handling, and 
suitable means of transport. 
I have no hesitation in saying that considerable loss is occa- 
sioned to our fruit-growers by the rough and careless handling 
the fruit is subjected to at the hands of railway porters, carters, 
and others. Stringent measures should be taken to prevent loss 
from this source; men, after being cautioned, should be fined or 
penalized in some way or other. An industry yet quite in its 
infancy is the canning, the bottling, and the drying of fruits; 
very great possibilities are here before us, and I feel convinced 
that presently great developments will take place in these 
directions. ‘ 
Tue VINE. 
The culture of the vine, whether for wine making or for the 
production of raisins and currants, is as yet only in its infancy 
with us, time alone will develop the immense possibilities there 
are in the colony for our wines. Some persons think that in a 
little while the wine industry may mean more wealth to us than 
even wheat-growing. A late visitor to our colony, Mr. Burgoyne, 
says this is pre-eminently a wine-making country, and that we 
are as well able to make good wines as any other community in 
the world. He was struck with the remarkable advantages our 
grape growers possessed, not only with regard to soil and climate, 
but the configuration of the country also, as compared with the 
assistance nature offers to the vignerons of France along the 
banks of the Rhine and Moselle. Mr. Burgoyne is, as you 
know, a leading wine merchant of London, and a gentleman 
