404 



THE FEUIT CROP OF 1895. 



[March 1896. 



Pears, being scarce, made high prices — from 6s. to 16s. per 

 sieve or bushel, and even more for very fine specimens. This 

 fruit was also scarce throughout all pear-exporting countries, as 

 only 407,146 bushels were imported into the United Kingdom 

 in 1895, against 1,810,074 bushels in 1894, and 915,212 bushels 

 in 1893. 



Cob-nuts and filberts sold well at between and 5d. per lb., 

 giving a good profit to the growers, and compensating them 

 somewhat for the bad prices of 1898 and 1894. Taking the 

 plantations throughout, the crop is estimated to have averaged 

 between seven and eight hundredweights per acre. 



On the whole, the past season would appear to have been a 

 profitable one for fruit growers, at all events for those who grow 

 various kinds of fruit. 



The question of a more economical method of distribution 

 of home-grown fruit is now receiving a good deal of attention. 

 To get the full advantage of reduced railway rates, growers will 

 probably find it necessary to alter the shape of their fruit 

 packages so as to economise space, The round sieves and half 

 sieves, though admirable in other respects, take up unnecessary 

 room. Foreign fruit packages are, for the most part, square or 

 oblong baskets and boxes, which fit into corners ; and these 

 packages go, in most cases, direct to the retailers, all the fruit 

 being graded, sorted, and packed so that it can be depended upon 

 by purchasers. British fruit consigned to markets also reaches 

 the retailers in its original package, w^hich is charged for if not 

 returned, and it would be well if at least the best fruit, or even 

 some of it, were graded, sorted, and placed in special packages, 

 not returnable, in quantities to suit the convenience of customers. 



The sieves, or their square or oblong substitutes, required by 

 the railway companies, would be used for the main consignments 

 as at the present time. 



