THE COMMERCIAL ASPECT OF HARDY FRUIT GROWING. 315 
sucli are well known to the writer, and they have informed him 
how well their Apples, Plums, bush fruit, and Strawberries have 
paid, proving that there is always a keen demand for really well- 
grown fruit. 
It would be difficult to over-estimate the value of growing 
only really high-class fruit, and it is to be hoped that in the 
future all fruit growers will recognise how vital this is to their 
interests. There need be no fear tliat our markets will ever be 
glutted with such produce. There is ample room for great im- 
provement, not only in the quality of the fruit itself, but also in 
the grading, packing, and mode of consigning it to market. It 
is unnecessary to go into details here as to imports and their 
influence ; it will suffice to say that the demand for first-class 
fruit is increasing so rapidly every year that there is an excellent 
opportunity for growers to succeed admirably in the future if 
they v/ill but work on the proper lines. 
Land suitable for Fruit Growing. 
The importance of selecting land adapted to fruit culture 
cannot be over-estimated, for on that depends in a great measure 
the success of the venture. Like all other commercial businesses, 
the surroundings, site, distance from stations and markets, and 
all other items that have a bearing on the results, should have 
the most careful consideration, as it would be sheer folly to 
make an outlay without some reasonable prospect of adequate 
returns. 
If possible, land should be selected with a slope to the south 
or south-west, naturally sheltered either by plantations at a little 
distance, or by the formation of the ground, from cutting east 
winds or western gales. Abundance of good fruit can be, and 
is, grown on land with very different aspects, but there is always 
a risk of damage being done ; for example, trees on an eastern 
aspect suffer more from frost than those facing otherwise, by 
reason of the sun's rays falling directly on the buds or blooms 
in the early morning whilst the frost is still upon them, whereas 
on other aspects most, of the frost has left the trees before the 
sun-rays reach them, and thus they escape the injury inflicted 
on the others. 
Protection from westerly gales is another very desirable 
feature. Everyone engaged in hardy fruit culture has had ex- 
