154 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The figures for 1909 in Table I. show no striking variation from 

 those of the two former years, except in the following instances: The 

 import of apples is less by 247,000 cwt. compared with that of 1908, 

 which year in turn was 150,000 cwt. lower than 1907. Pears, by com- 

 parison, show a rising import of nearly 70,000 cwt. in excess of 1907. 

 This is probably in some measure due to the improved methods of 

 transportation afforded to pears from South Africa, enabling large 

 shipments to reach London from the Cape. 



The price of onions shows a pronounced variation — namely, an 

 increased value of £220,000 with a reduced import of 426,000 bushels. 

 • Potatos received from abroad, despite the wet and sunless season of 

 1909, sank to the same low figure returned in 1906— a reduction of 

 50 per cent, on 1908. 



Apples, onions, and potatos represent our most important home- 

 grown fruits and vegetables, and the pronounced lowering of their 

 imports compared with the increasing consumpton resulting from our 

 growing population would seem to indicate that the British Isles are 

 being made more productive in these valuable comestibles, and prices 

 are competing successfully in the open market. 



The increasing demand for fresh flowers is again demonstrated by 

 an import valued at £244,855, an excess of £11,000 over 1907 and 

 £15,000 over 1908. 



Our Society has done much in recent years by lectures, exhibitions, 

 &c., to stimulate the growth of the bottled-fruit industry, and the con- 

 sumption of fruits so prepared, and it is, consequently, not a little 

 satisfactory to find in the following Table (II.) an export of 54,000 cwt. 

 over that of 1908, rfepresenting an income to the country of £150,000. 

 The short time that has passed since the revival commenced in pro- 

 duction and consumption makes the return the more promising for 

 future developments and justifies our Society's efforts and judgin.enfc 

 in this work. 



TABLE II.— SHOWING THE EXPORTS OF FRUIT, &c., 1907-9. 







Quantities 





Values 





1907 



1908 



1909 



1907 



1908 



1909 



Fruit : 



Lemons . . . i (cwt.) 

 Oranges . . . . „ 



27,612 

 340,294 



20,457 

 248,241 



23,822 

 223,709 



£ 



14,544 

 136,475 



£ 



9,915 

 100,739 



£ 

 11,328 

 94,514 



Fruit, Dried : 



21,829 

 42,101 



22,128 

 14,667 



18,467 

 15,727 



31,328 

 69,977 



27,012 

 26,824 



22,378 

 24,209 



Jams, Preserved Fruits, ) 

 AND Confectionery . j " 



429,742 



423,956 



477,220 



1,081,544 



1,092,001 



1,242.440 



Pickles and VEftETABLEB] 



PRESERVED IN SALT OR !■ (gall.) 



Vinegar . . . . j 



794,762 



670,709 



801,746 



168,433 



139,599 



166.992 



Provisions, Uiuenumerated . 









590,000 



682,021 



660,558 



The fruits shown in the foregoing export return, preserved fruits 

 and pickles excepted, are mainly re-exported imports, and this goes 

 to prove that our home-grown horticultural produce finds a market 



