512 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Progress of the Industry. 



5. Though, however, this is but a small proportion of the total amount 

 of cultivated land in Great Britain, the fruit industry appears to be a most 

 progressive industry ; in fact, it is the only form of agriculture which has 

 exhibited any sign of progress in recent years. The Committee have, indeed, 

 been much struck with the great increase in fruit-growing in the country. 

 Taking orchards, there has been an increase from 148,221 acres in 1873 

 to 243,003 acres in 1904, or 63*9 per cent, in thirty-one years. Taking 

 small fruit, there has been an increase from 69,792 acres in 1897, to 

 77,947 acres in 1904, or 11-7 per cent, in seven years. It is, unfortunately, 

 not possible to give any accurate figures for small fruit for any year earlier 

 than 1897, for although returns were first collected in 1887, Mr. Rew 

 stated that there were reasons for supposing that they were not reliable 

 before 1897. With this remarkable growth it is instructive to compare 

 the decline of every other crop in Great Britain. From another table 

 furnished by Mr. Rew it appears that there has been a decrease in the 

 acreage of Wheat from 2,564,237 acres in 1888 to 1,375,284 acres in 1904, 

 or 46*3 per cent, in sixteen years ; a decrease in the acreage of all corn 

 crops from 8,187,758 acres in 1888 to 6,953,034 acres in 1904, or 15-0 

 per cent, in sixteen years ; a decrease in green crops from 3,471,861 acres 

 in 1888 to 3,036,026 acres in 1904, or 12*5 per cent, in sixteen years ; a 

 decrease in Hops, from 58,494 acres in 1888 to 47,799 acres in 1904, or 

 18*2 per cent, in sixteen years. 



6. In fact, the development of the fruit industry has come to the 

 assistance of the farmer most opportunely in certain parts of England, 

 notably in Kent, Middlesex, Worcestershire, and Cambridgeshire, and, as 

 more than one witness pointed out, much land which previously grew 

 Wheat is now planted with fruit. 



7. Several important questions naturally arise in connection with this 

 remarkable increase. The first is, What has been the cause of it ? On 

 this point some interesting evidence was given by Sir William Thiselton- 

 Dyer, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. He spoke of the 

 extraordinary growth of the taste for fruit on the part of the public, a 

 taste which, in his opinion, was not sufficiently provided for at present by 

 fruit-growers at home. There can be no doubt that fruit is becoming 

 more and more a regular article of food for all classes, and it is probable 

 that, except in special years of glut, the home supply has not kept pace 

 with the demand, and that, as it increases, the demand will increase also. 

 But it is not merely the consumption of fresh fruit which has largely 

 increased. There is, on the part of the public, a great and growing 

 demand for jam, preserved fruits, and cider. Mr. T. F. Blackwell, of the 

 firm of Crosse & Blackwell, stated that " the demand for fruit in various 

 forms grows quite as rapidly as the growth of fruit," and he also informed 

 the Committee that "the taste for preserved fruit was growing enormously." 

 Mr. Chivers, a jam manufacturer at Histon, near Cambridge, testified to 

 the extraordinary increase in the jam industry. As regards cider, there 

 undoubtedly had been a falling off for many years, both in the public 

 taste for it and in its manufacture. This was probably due chiefly to the 

 fact that the great vintage orchards in the West of England were rapidly 



