372 
The  Progress  of  Fruit  Farming. 
produced  in  this  country  is  not  more  than  9,000,000  bushels. 
But  not  nearly  all  this  is  available  for  actual  consumption  as 
food,  as  the  apples  and  pears  grown  for  cider  and  perry  must  be 
deducted,  and  these  form  a considerable  portion  of  the  whole — a 
third  at  the  least — seeing  that  in  the  cider-making  counties  gar 
excellence , viz.  Devon,  Hereford,  Somerset,  and  Worcester,  there 
are  95,521  acres  of  fruit-land  out  of  the  total  number  of  187,553 
acres  of  fruit-land  in  the  United  Kingdom.  There  are  no  statistics 
showing  what  proportion  of  this  fruit-land,  or  orchard-land,  as 
it  is  for  the  most  part,  produces  cider  and  perry-fruit,  though 
no  doubt  it  forms  a large  part  of  its  yield.  In  Gloucester, 
again,  cider  is  extensively  made.  A little  is  made  in  seasons 
of  heavy  crops  in  Kent,  but  it  is  not  of  first-rate  quality,  and 
the  quantity  made  is  becoming  smaller  year  by  year.  In  Dorset, 
Monmouth,  Salop,  and  Wilts,  the  fruit-land  consists  mainly  of 
apple-orchards  planted  with  trees  of  second-rate  kinds  of  fruit, 
the  greater  part  of  which  is  made  into  cider  for  the  farm  hands. 
With  regard  to  the  importation  of  foreign  fruit,  much  of  this 
arrives  in  the  English  market  before  the  home-grown  fruit  is 
ripe,  therefore  it  does  not  come  directly  into  competition  with  it — 
at  least  in  the  case  of  most  of  the  “ soft  ” fruits,  as  currants, 
gooseberries,  and  strawberries.  It  is  different,  however,  with 
apples,  of  which  large  quantities  are  sent  from  Canada  and 
the  United  States,  and  reduce  the  value  of  English  apples 
considerably  in  some  seasons.  Greengages  and  plums  are 
occasionally  sent  from  Belgium,  Holland,  and  France  in  such 
quantities  as  to  materially  affect  the  prices,  especially  of  second- 
rate  samples.  The  finest  foreign  plums  come  from  mid-central 
France  before  English  plums  are  ripe.  Those  that  come  into 
competition  with  English  plums  are  of  a common  description 
produced  in  Belgium,  Holland,  and  Normandy,  but  they  tend 
to  depreciate  values  in  the  same  way  as  a supply  of  sprats 
makes  herrings  cheap.  Large  quantities  of  indifferent  plums, 
known  as  “ Swetchens,”  are  brought  from  Holland,  by  water, 
from  Amsterdam  and  Rotterdam,  at  excessively  low  rates. 
These  are  sold  at  St.  Katharine’s  Wharf  direct  from  the  steam- 
boats, and  are  used  principally  for  jam  and  cooking  purposes, 
making  from  lfd1.  to  1 ^d.  per  lb.  Greengages  of  poor  quality  are 
also  sent  from  Holland,  making  from  If  d.  to  2 d.  per  lb.  A few 
are  taken  for  eating,  though  the  great  bulk  of  this  fruit  finds  its 
way  into  the  jam-factories.  Cherries  arrive  first  from  Algiers  and 
Spain,  long  before  English  cherries  are  ripe.  These  are  rather 
colourless  and  flavourless,  and  of  a common  character.  When 
these  are  over,  very  much  better  cherries  arrive  from  Avignon  and 
other  parts  of  southern  and  mid-central  France,  and  arc  succeeded 
by  ordinary  growths  from  Angers  and  Normandy,  which  are 
