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THE FI^UIT CROP OF 1895. 



[March 1896. 



THE FRUIT CROP OF 1895. 



The fruit crop of 1895 was unusually abundant in respect of 

 some kinds of fruit, and upon the whole it may be said to have 

 been of excellent quality. The heat and drought appeared to 

 suit plums fairly well, and damsons and apples extremely well, 

 although rather too intense for the later strawberries and for 

 raspberries (the yield of which was not very large by reason of 

 the dry weather), red currants, and black currants on some soils. 

 Pears, as a rule, were not a good crop. The unusually hot 

 weather in March forced out the blossoms, which were nipped 

 by the frosts and cold wind in April. 



Gooseberries were generally plentiful, but the quantity of red 

 currants was not nearly so great as iu 1894, when the bushes 

 were literally covered with fruit. Black currants were not more 

 than an average crop except on the best soils. 



Throughout Kent, the premier cherry county, and in other 

 places where cherries are grown, the crop was large and of first 

 rate flavour. It was thought that the very dry weather in May 

 and June would make the cherries fall before they ripened, but 

 comparatively few did so, and the heat of the sun gave them 

 unusual quality and size. 



In the famous orchards of East Kent, the cherry trees were 

 perfect pictures during the time of blossom in May, as well as 

 in the summer, when they were literally covered with red and 

 white clusters of fruit. 



Plums, though plentiful in places, were not generally a full 

 yield. Some varieties were short in parts of Kent, Cambridge, 

 and other counties, but in Worcestershire, especially in the 

 famous Evesham district, there was a very large crop of most 

 varieties, notably of Rivers Prolific, early and late Orleans, 

 Czars, and Victorias. 



Damsons were abundant in quantity throughout the country, 

 and many thousand bushels did not pay the expenses of picking, 

 carriage, and commission, while some were not picked at all. 



The produce of cob-nut and filbert trees was so large in 1894 

 that it was considered probable there would be a great falling- 

 off in 1895, as the trees would be materially weakened, but in 

 spite of this, their yield was more than an average amount. 



In every part of the country, and, it may be said, in every 

 orchard and garden, there was an abundance of apples of 

 all varieties. Growers had great difficulty in disposing of 

 much of the fruit at prices that gave any piofit, especially the 

 early Jiorts, which do not keep, and later sorts of common 

 quality. Thousands of bushels were not picked, but knocked 

 off the trees with sticks, and packed in sacks for smashing, 

 cider-making, and other uses, at ridiculously cheap prices. 



