148 JOUKNAL OF THE KOYAL HOKTIC ULTUR AL SOCIETY. 



of 1,000 acres or more are being planted with Peaches and Plums. Other 

 features of this important subject are also being studied. For instance, 

 the question is now being asked : In what particular region do you grow 

 your best Spies, Spitzenburgs, Baldwins, Elbertas, and so on ? Shrewd 

 buyers learn that certain regions produce Apples of superior flavour, 

 appearance, and qualities for shipping. Growers are studying these 

 variations and following up any suggested improvements. So much for 

 special fruit regions. I have, as you will observe, only touched this im- 

 portant subject in a superficial way. 



Another great factor in stimulating fruit growing and widening 

 the opportunities for its increase, is the application of artificial re- 

 frigeration to the storage and transportation of fruit. The storage 

 business as an industry has had an extraordinarily rapid growth in 

 the United States, as it has elsewhere. It has enabled the California!] 



Dwarf Duchess, Forty Years old. Trees brought from England. 



to place his Peaches and Citreous fruits on the New York and Boston 

 markets in good condition and to make an occasional entry into Covent 

 Garden. It has allowed the Texas Peach grower to compete on even terms 

 in Chicago and Baltimore with the men from Georgia and Tennessee, 

 all of whom are 1,200 to 2,000 miles from market. It has proved an 

 important check upon the avaricious Apple buyer, because many growers 

 own storage-houses ; and it has done much in lessening gluts of perish- 

 able fruits during excessively warm weather when they are being gathered. 

 It has aided distribution incalculably, and provided fresh fruit for the 

 wheat-grower of the Canadian North-West as well as the resident of Great 

 Britain. 



Cold-storage systems are still imperfect, but they have proved a boon 

 of untold value. These, then, are three of the leading features that have 

 characterised commercial fruit growing in the United States during the 



