REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE FRUIT INDUSTRY. 515 



population of his parish, where fruit was not grown until he went there, 

 had increased 25 per cent., and that, had fruit not been planted, he felt 

 sure that it would have declined by the same amount, through the falling 

 off in the growth of corn, and he added that there was work for the 

 people all through the winter. The Committee believe that no better 

 means can be devised for bringing people back to the land than an 

 extension of the fruit industry, where it can be done profitably. Nor is 

 this all. It should be remembered that, besides the regular labour 

 employed all through the year, a great amount of extra labour is required 

 during the picking season, which, in the case of fruit, lasts for three 

 months — from about the middle of June to the middle of September — 

 and this labour is obtained chiefly from London and other large towns 

 and industrial centres, thus providing a splendid opportunity for many of 

 the workers in these places of enjoying a most healthful and profitable 

 change into the country. A great deal of labour is also employed in 

 cider-making, jam-making and basket-making, which are the direct 

 results of fruit-growing. Mr. Watkins, a Herefordshire grower, said that, 

 although the cultivation of cider fruit does not employ very much labour 

 in itself, the making of cider undoubtedly does. With regard to jam- 

 making, the Committee had the advantage of visiting Messrs. Beach's 

 factory on the Toddington estate, and are in a position to testify to the 

 amount of labour which this industry employs. Referring to basket - 

 making, the Committee were informed by Mr. Monro that the firm with 

 which he dealt kept 40 to 50 men all the year round employed principally 

 on his orders. 



11. It may also be said that fruit-growing is in itself a most interest- 

 ing pursuit, calculated to enlarge the mind both of employers and 

 employed. This point was emphasised by Mr. Sheppard, who spoke of 

 the intellectual growth of the labourer in the Holt district within the 

 last thirty years, which he attributed, not merely to the general spread of 

 education, but largely to the fact that the cultivation of fruit tended to 

 bring out all the latent intelligence of those engaged in it. The Com- 

 mittee were greatly struck on the occasion of their visit to Evesham with 

 the intelligence and business capacity displayed by the members of the 

 local Market Gardeners' Association, most of them growers on quite a 

 small scale, and many of them men who had raised themselves from the 

 position of labourers. 



The Principal Feuit Districts. 



12. It may at this stage be interesting to give a short account of the 

 principal districts, and the various classes of growers. From the figures 

 quoted above it will be noticed that, with the exception of Kent and 

 Worcestershire, the counties in which orchards most abound are situated 

 in the West of England — Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, 

 and Devonshire. This district has long been celebrated for its Apple and 

 Pear orchards, and is still the home of the cider and perry industry. 

 Everybody acquainted with this part of the country has seen the old 

 grass orchards, so beautiful in the spring, when the bloom is still on the 

 trees, and in the autumn, when the fruit is matured. Many of these 



