2 FRUIT FARMING 



One incident will suffice to bring out the author's 

 meaning. He visited a .Scottish market, which was 

 well attended by buyers, where the custom is for 

 apples to be packed in one cwt. barrels. The inferior 

 lots were first offered, and in many cases " turn 'em 

 out" came from the crowd. This cry was justified; 

 as bruised and under-sized fruits were mixed with 

 good examples, and consequently sold at low prices. 

 Then the auctioneer shouted " now we come to A. 

 and B.'s fruit — you all know about that ! " Bidding 

 at once became brisk, and from these growers, fruit of 

 the same varieties in many cases fetched three times 

 as much as the first lots offered. This shows the 

 advantage of quality and honesty. Had the growers 

 of the inferior fruits sorted out the small and badly 

 formed apples, and only marketed the best, they 

 would have realized more money for them than they 

 did for a bulk perhaps one third larger. A. and B.'s 

 plantation is well known to the author, and every 

 care is there given the year through to spraying, 

 manuring, pruning and thinning the crops, so that 

 they always secure the finest quality, while the trees 

 being dwarfs, no ladders are needed for gathering ; 

 the fruit being within a man's reach for all necessary 

 attention. The plantation consists of Apples, Pears 

 and Plums, and the yearly average shows a good 

 return for outlay ; quality in a scarce year making up 

 by high prices for deficiency in the crop. 



Tariff Reform. — A reference to the Board of Trade 

 figures will show the enormous sums Britain pays 

 for imported foreign fruit, valued at over ten million 

 pounds, half of which could be grown in Britain ; 

 regarding these imports, the author is not alone in 



