BRITISH FRUIT GROWING FROM A FOOD POINT OF VIEW. 1G9 



markets, and the attendance of purchasers, in order that money 

 returns for expended labour may find their way to the pockets of 

 the fruit farmer. The attendance of purchasers in turn betokens 

 the existence of consumers, and therefore whilst we educate 

 persons to produce fruit, we must also educate persons in the 

 direction of fruit consuming when it is produced. That briefly 

 is the field over which my paper would seem to take us this 

 afternoon, " The Importance of British Fruit Growing from a 

 Food Point of View." 



First, then, let us briefly consider what will immediately be 

 a very obvious fact, namely, that we are dealing with a necessary 

 requirement of the great human family — Food. There may be 

 different views as to what may constitute the necessaries and 

 the luxuries of life. Some people may so distort desire and 

 indulge appetite as to believe they see wonderful force in the 

 eccentric expression of the French philosopher who declared 

 that, if he could have the luxuries of life, those who wanted them 

 were welcome to the necessaries. This opens up a very wide 

 question, and one upon which a great deal has been said and 

 written, sometimes in a spirit of banter, at other times in sober 

 earnest. On the other hand a learned professor, endeared to all 

 who have the honour of his acquaintance or the delight of his 

 friendship, has declared, " Give me good bread and pure water, 

 and I have the necessaries of life; add an apple, and I have its 

 luxuries." This was not spoken in jest, for the same individual 

 with a noble aim lived for months on a few pence a day to show 

 to the poverty-stricken people of the East End of London that for 

 the maintenance of life but little was really needed. Not long 

 ago a discussion was carried on in which some witty jokist 

 wondered why it was that folk like these did not live on sawdust ; 

 the rejoinder was, I remember, somewhat in these words : " If 

 your wooden-headed correspondent likes to live on sawdust him- 

 self nobody will object ; but it is thought by those to whom 

 he directs his wit that there are other elements in the vegetable 

 kingdom more suitable as articles of diet." But the letter pro- 

 duced some other correspondence, pointing out upon what odd 

 material many of the people of the world found it possible to 

 preserve existence. All this, however, lies outside the range of 

 our thoughts to-day. 



Food mainly comes, then, from the two kingdoms which we 



