37$ 
The  Progress  of  Fruit  Farming. 
brought  to  London  at  something  under  half  a farthing  per  lb.  for 
carriage  ; while  for  cherries  sent  to  London  from  Sittingbourne, 
in  East  Kent,  and  Maidstone,  in  Mid-Kent,  about  40  miles, 
the  charge  for  railway  carriage  amounts  to  close  upon  a farthing 
per  lb.  Black  currants  and  red  currants  come  from  France, 
Holland,  and  Belgium  only  a very  short  time  before  these  fruits 
are  ripe  in  England  ; they  are  much  inferior  in  quality  to  the 
English,  as  are  the  gooseberries  which  are  imported  in  con- 
siderable quantities  from  France.  It  is  evident  from  the 
appearance  of  these  fruits  sent  from  foreign  countries  that  the 
soil  and  climate  are  not  nearly  so  well  adapted  for  their  pro- 
duction as  those  of  this  country,  and  that  home-growers  need 
not  fear  that  they  will  be  beaten,  as  far  as  quality  is  concerned, 
in  respect  of  them,  or,  indeed,  of  any  of  the  soft  fruits.  In 
the  matter  of  pears,  however,  the  case  is  different.  French  pear- 
growers  undoubtedly  produce  better  fruit  than  any  others.  The 
pears  that  are  grown  in  the  districts  round  Nantes  and  Angers, 
and  in  parts  of  mid-central  France,  are  finely  shaped,  of  taking 
appearance,  and  excellent  flavour.  Pears  begin  to  arrive  from 
France  about  three  weeks  before  English  pears  are  ripe,  and 
the  supply  frequently  lasts  until  the  ensuing  spring. 
Producers  of  pears  in  France  are  most  careful  and  diligent  in 
their  cultivation,  and  in  the  selection  of  the  best  sorts,  and  those 
to  follow  in  a regular  order  of  ripening,  and  they  do  not  crowd 
them  into  the  market  directly  they  are  picked,  as  is  too  much 
the  fashion  with  the  home  pear-growers.  Pears  are  grown  in 
France  in  many  fashions, — upon  standards,  bushes,  pyramids  ; 
upon  cordons,  lateral,  oblique,  and  diagonal ; en  gobelet,  en  vase , 
en  touffes,  and  in  other  ways.  The  pruning  is  attended  to 
with  great  pains  and  skill  by  the  small  proprietors  who  are  the 
chief  producers  of  fruit  in  France,  among  whom  “ exists  a wide- 
spread intelligence,  and  a keen  sense  of  what  is  profitable  and 
useful  for  the  land  cultivated  by  them  as  a garden  of  necessity.”  * 
The  greater  part  of  the  fruit  that  is  exported  from  France 
is  collected  by  agents  or  dealers,  who  attend  certain  markets, 
depots,  or  centres  to  which  the  fruit  is  brought  by  the  growers, 
and  sort  it,  and  classify  it,  and  carefully  pack  it  for  the  English 
markets.  Sometimes  railway  arches  are  used  for  receiving  and 
packing  the  fruit.  Much  judgment  and  skill  are  employed  in 
sorting  and  packing,  so  that  buyers  in  London  have  great  con- 
fidence in  the  consignees.  Certain  trade-marks  become  known 
and  inquired  for  day  after  day,  and  fruit  is  frequently  sold 
without  being  seen,  the  buyers  being  quite  satisfied  with  the 
* ‘ Report  on  Fruit  Culture  on  the  Continent,  1868.’  By  the  Rev.  T.  Collings 
Brehnut. 
