286 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
sive undertaking of which he possesses httle or no technical 
knowledge, he must obviously entrust it to the superintendence 
of a man duly qualified. Otherwise costly mistakes will be 
made, and the payment of even moderate interest on the outlay 
will be a severe drain on the resources. Without these pre- 
cautions a deplorable collapse will in all probability occur, and 
the investor, disgusted with his failure, will treat the possibility 
of making fruit-growing profitable as a myth existing only in 
the imagination of interested persons. 
Business aptitude is also a necessity. In the keen competi- 
tion of the present time every detail requires the closest con- 
sideration, in order to ensure an economical system of working 
and a speedy realisation of the produce. 
Familiarity with market methods and public requirements 
are also helpful, with close watching of seasons and crops, and 
keeping up to or in advance of the times. Above all, if a man is 
working on his own account, he must be industrious and be pre- 
pared to work from early morning, doing with his own hands 
everything he possibly can on a small holding, or on a large 
one closely superintending every operation. 
Capital. — In the consideration of the amount of capital 
required, many persons have been misled by unduly low estimates 
of the expenses, and have embarked in the business with a 
capital that they soon proved to be totally inadequate. If a man 
who is already engaged in market gardening or farming, from 
which he derives his living, can set apart an acre or two without 
interfering seriously with his returns, and can raise the trees, 
bushes or plants himself, utilising the labour he already employs 
for planting, his expenses will be small, and the actual capital 
required limited to the rent of the land, the labour of planting, 
cultivation, and the purchase of stock to start with. On 
the other hand, if a large extent of land is to be closely planted 
with fruit trees and bushes purchased of an age when they may 
be expected to become productive the season after planting, the 
capital required to provide for the first year will be from X'20 to 
£100 per acre, and in some instances it has reached £160. 
MaIIKKT FllUITS. 
The only fruits which can be satisfactorily grown in the open 
air in Great Britain for profit are Apples, Bears, Strawberries, 
