244 JOUENAL OF TEE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



would command a very long price on the English market at this time 

 of year. There is another first-rate pear which should be tried — ' Beurre 

 d'Avalon.' In England I rank it almost if not quite equal to ' Comice,' 

 and it might be better grown at the Cape than it is here. It is like 



* Beurre Hardy ' in appearance, but has a very distinct flavour of the 

 good old ' Chaumontel.' 



Plums. — These have already established a good market in this country, 

 and are sure to maintain it notwithstanding their lack of flavour. They 

 are very juicy and sweet, but have no trace of the rich vinous flavour of 

 our English plums. Still if, as I am told (though it is hard to believe), 

 our English varieties will not grow at the Cape, then the market 

 must be content with their Japan varieties. I would suggest to some 

 enterprising colonist to cross the Japan plum with one of our best cook- 

 ing English plums, using the Japan plum as the seed-bearer, so as to 

 impart a little acidity and flavour to the offspring whilst preserving the 

 Japan plum's habit of growth &c. Such a plum, if it could be obtained — 

 and I see no difficulty — would be a very valuable addition to Cape 

 fruits. 



[Since this Report was written I have made the acquaintance of the 

 so-called ' x\pple Plum.' It deserves a better name, for it is a magnificent 

 fruit, and if it grows and bears well I advise Cape growers to go in for it 

 heavily. If it can be put on the London market in March and April 

 at a reasonable price, it will find a ready sale. But sixpence each (as at 

 present) is far and away too much for any but millionaires to give, and 

 I would remind our Cape friends that fortunes in fruit are not to be 

 made out of millionaires in this country ; they are too few and far 

 between ; it is the great middle class they should aim at reaching.] 



Peaches. — great deal is required before we can call the Cape peaches 

 a success — if, indeed, they ever can be so ; a quicker transit is what is 

 so sorely needed for this very perishable fruit. At present the fruits are 

 generally of a very bad colour, woolly, and of little flavour. 



Nectarines. — These are better travellers than peaches, and though the 

 fruits are small they arrive on the market in far better condition and of 

 fairly good flavour. They would probably be improved in quality as well 

 as size, and therefore command a higher price, if the trees were well 

 thinned while the fruits were young. ' Lord Napier ' should prove the 

 best variety to grow, as it is of the finest flavour and it has a firm flesh 

 and thick skin, which would be most valuable for travelling. 



Grapes. — Here, I believe, the Cape has a really great opening. Those 

 sent to the Show had most of them travelled well and were much appre- 

 ciated, and would command a fair price in the market ; but they would 

 make double the money if the berries had been thinned, so as to let the 

 sun and air in all around them. It ought also to pay anyone to grow 



* Muscat of Alexandria ' and ' Madresfield Court ' under glass, so as to 

 catch our London season when all home-grown grapes are over and the 

 new ones not yet in. February, March, April, and May are months when 

 there are practically no good grapes to be had. These months lie open 

 for the enterprise of some Cape grower who will keep us stocked with 

 the two varieties mentioned, and there is little risk in prophesying a 

 fortune to the grower. 



