REPORT OF THE APPLE AND PEAR CONFERENCE. 



£ s. d. £ s. d. 



Strawberries, 30 in. x 18 = 11,610 plants, say 12s. 6<f. 



per 1,000 7 4 3 



Planting 115 



8 19 3 



Strawberries, 30 in. x 12 = 17,424 plants, at 12s. 6i.... 10 18 6 

 Planting 2 7 6 



13 6 



Raspberries, in rows 4 ft. apart, 3 plants to a hill or 



centre = 10,890 plants 10 17 6 



Planting 2 5 



13 2 6 



Mr. Whitehead adds : " All these rates are according to 

 present cost of fruit trees and present labour wages. The land, 

 of course, must be deeply ploughed, and in many cases a subsoil 

 plough should follow the ordinary plough. Harrowing also is 

 necessary to get a level surface. Upon land in cultivation a 

 good dressing of manure would be necessary, say 20 tons per 

 acre. Some land would require trenching." 



Mr. Albert Bath, of Sevenoaks, has also kindly sent me some 

 estimates, which represent the actual cost of planting now being 

 carried out under his superintendence. 



Cost of Manuring, Ploughing, Subsoiling, Trees, and Planting 

 per Acre. 



£ s. d. 



Apple plantation, trees 20 ft. x 20 ft. apart 21 



Plums, 20 ft. x 20 ft 18 1G 



Pears, about same as apples 21 



Mixed plantation of Apples, Pears, Plums, 20 ft. x 20 ft., with 



bottom fruit — currants and gooseberries 35 8 



Raspberries (manuring - and cultivation as above, excepting 



subsoiling) 17 5 



Strawberries, ditto 13 7 



Mr. Bath remarks that fruit trees and raspberry canes are as 

 cheap as they were six years ago, but that apple trees are in 

 great demand, and will soon be dearer. Some growers, he also 

 remarks, may prefer planting plums 10 ft. x 11 ft., and in that 

 case the cost would be £34. 13s. 



Although the planting of strawberries and raspberries does 

 not come under the head of orchard planting, the estimates for 

 these crops are allowed to appear in the list. I may add that 

 Mr. William Vinson, of Orpington, Kent, 1ms kindly given his 

 estimates of the cost of planting of an acre of these varieties of 

 soft fruit. Including the first year's cultivation, rent, rates, &c, 

 he says, raspberries cost about £15 an acre, and strawberries 

 about £10. 



The veriest outsider must see from these figures — and especially 

 from those relating to orchard planting — that it would be very 

 risky for a tenant to engage in that enterprise without security 

 as to compensation for the unexhausted value of his improve- 



G 



