REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE FRUIT INDUSTRY. 513 



becoming worn out, many of them having been planted in the seventeenth 

 century, and very little replanting having taken place since. In the last 

 ten years, however, renewed attention has been paid to the industry ; a 

 considerable amount of planting has taken place of cider varieties of 

 Apples, especially in Herefordshire, and organised efforts have been made 

 with considerable success to revive the trade. Mr. Buhner, a cider-maker 

 ■from Hereford, told the Committee that the taste for cider would soon be 

 formed if only there were sufficient Apples grown of the right sort. 



8. From the above it will be gathered, not only that the taste for fruit 

 in various forms has grown very rapidly, but that there would appear to 

 be room for a further extension of the industry. A question which was 

 frequently put to witnesses by members of the Committee was : " Is there 

 a likelihood of the fruit industry being overdone ? " The answer in the 

 majority of cases was in the negative. Sir William Thiselton-Dyer stated 

 that he thought the supply of home-grown fruit was perfectly inadequate, 

 and that, if home-grown fruit could be distributed to the people more 

 efficiently and more cheaply, it would be absorbed, and would be profitable 

 to the cultivator. Mr. Best, a large Worcestershire grower, said that he 

 thought much more fruit-growing might be undertaken in this country 

 if the foreigner did not increase his as well. Mr. Kruse, a grower from 

 Cornwall, took a similar view, and expressed the opinion that all the 

 hardy fruit required by the people could be grown in the country. Mr. 

 Collins Clayton, from Wisbech, described the industry as "still progress- 

 ing and likely to progress." Mr. Wise, the agent to Mr. Andrews, the 

 proprietor of the Toddington estate, said that there was no fear of the 

 industry being overdone " with better means of distribution." The same 

 opinion was expressed by Mr. King, a Huntingdonshire grower, who said 

 that he could double his business easily, and should do so if he could get 

 the labour ; by Mr. Pringle, a fruit salesman from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 

 who said that, if fruit culture were extended in this country, there would 

 be a sale for the extra fruit thus grown at home, and probably a de- 

 preciated sale of the foreign, " because English fruit is preferable any- 

 where " ; by Mr. Craze, who combines the business of a fruit-grower in 

 Cornwall with that of a fruit salesman in Liverpool, and who expressed 

 the view that fruit-growing was not being overdone in the country, and 

 that there was plenty of room for more cultivation. Other witnesses gave 

 evidence to the same effect. 



9. On the other hand, Mr. Berry, a Kentish grower, while recognising 

 that the industry admitted of considerable extension, was of opinion that 

 it might easily be overdone, unless the extension were made in the right 

 direction ; and Mr. Wood, of Swanley, pointed out that there was a very 

 large acreage of fruit already planted which had not yet come into full 

 bearing. Mr. Hughes, of Evesham, agreed with Mr. Berry that caution 

 was necessary in extending the industry, though considerable extension 

 was possible with Strawberries ; whereas Mr. Trevethan, from Devonshire, 

 was against extension of Strawberry-growing. Mr. Poupart, from 

 Middlesex, was doubtful as to possible extension. As to cultivation 

 under glass, the two witnesses examined — Mr. Eochford and Mr. Sams — 

 both spoke of that branch of the industry as having been overdone 

 already. It is, however, only necessary to consider the phenomenal 



