106 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ITORTTCULTURAL SOCIETY. 



parts, and equally well flourish limes, oranges, the mangosteen, coco- 

 nut, banana, passion fruit, and mulberries. When this northern terri- 

 tory is de^^ eloped and connected by rail with the settled parts of Aus- 

 tralia, and the magnificent harbour at Port Darwin more generally used, 

 the fruit-production of Australia will attain dimensions which will far 

 exceed the present fruit-production of the whole Empire. 



United Kingdom. 



No figures are obtainable as to the production of fruit in this 

 country. In 1908 there were under fruit-cultivation 172,751 acres of 

 apples, 9,604 acres pears, 11,868 acres cherries, 15,683 acres plums, 

 28,815 acres strawberries, 9,323 acres raspberries, 26,241 acres cur- 

 rants and gooseberries, and 60,892 acres of other kinds. Of this 

 acreage of 335,177, it appears that 27,433 acres of small fruits were 

 grown in the large fruit orchards, leaving a net acreage of 307,744 

 under fruit-cultivation. The industry in this country is growing, and 

 the year 1908 shows an increase of 2,826 acres over the preceding 

 twelve months. That it is capable of considerable extension is borne 

 out by the fact that over 4,600,000 cwt. of fruit, valued at over 

 £3,750,000, were imported into the United Kingdonri in 1908. These 

 figures do not comprise the total imports of fruit, but only of those 

 kinds which are actually grown here. 



The fiscal policy of this country, together with the fact that the 

 railways are privately owned and therefore run on commercial lines, 

 and, further, that cheap water carriage is available for the transport 

 of fruit from the countries competing in the open markets here, offers 

 no prospect of success to the growers of certain classes of fruit in 

 this country, and therefore the increase in production is not likely to 

 be at all great in the class of fruit suitable for long transport by water. 

 I am informed that at the present time apples can be placed in London 

 from countries thousands of miles away at a lower cost than they can 

 be brought by rail from the fruit-growing districts of England to the 

 great consuming and distributing centre at the heart of the Empire — - 

 the City of London. 



