THE FUTURE OF CAPE COLONY. 415 



old Dutch system seems to be chiefly remarkable 

 for its dirt and carelessness. 



Dried fruits were formerly exported to a greater 

 extent than at present. South Africa is peculiarly 

 fitted for the production of almost all kinds of fruit, 

 and there is no reason why fruits, both fresh and 

 dried, should not be exported at reasonable profit. 

 If South America and Australia can export oranges, 

 the Cape should surely be able to do the same. 

 Cape oranges, grapes, peaches, apricots, nectarines, 

 figs, apples, pears, loquats, quinces, guavas, and 

 numerous other fruits are of fine quality. 



Tobacco is an article that, instead of, as at 

 present, being largely imported for the better class of 

 smokers, might be exported to an enormous extent. 

 The colonial production is about 3,000,000 lbs. 

 per annum, a great portion of which is, however, 

 used for sheep dip. The better qualities of Cape 

 tobacco are habitually smoked by the farmers, 

 English and Dutch, and command a ready sale. 

 The Cape Government has, quite recently, engaged 

 the services of an expert to impart information to 

 the tobacco farmers. Hitherto, the fault seems to 

 have lain, as in viti-culture, not in the growth, which 

 in this favoured climate is simple enough, but in 

 the curing and preparing for consumption. 



The diamond industry, in Griqualand West, now 

 an integral part of Cape Colony, has long been 

 established on a secure and steady basis, and the 

 output appears likely to be maintained for many 

 years to come, at from ;^2,ooo,ooo to ;^4,ooo,ooo per 

 annum. The returns received for 1887 show that 

 the value exported in that year amounted to nearly 

 four millions and a quarter. Moreover, it is not 



