The  Progress  of  Fruit  Farming.  379 
limits,  something  like  the  American  plan  must  be  adopted, 
either  of  having  central  preserving  factories  for  canning, 
drying,  and  preserving  the  fruit  in  various  ways,  and  for  boiling 
down  pulp  without  sugar,  and  keeping  it  until  there  is  a demand, 
and  for  making  jam  ; or  that  the  growers  themselves  should 
have  these  appliances,  or  combine  to  establish  them  in  con- 
venient centres.  England  has  a vast  advantage  over  other 
countries  in  the  preserving  of  fruit  with  sugar,  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  jam  — that  is,  fruit  boiled  down  or  steamed 
down  with  sugar — on  account  of  the  cheapness  of  sugar,  caused 
by  the  action  of  free  trade.  In  the  United  States  the  price  of 
sugar  is  from  6rf.  to  8rf.  per  lb.  In  France  the  price  ranges  from 
5 d.  to  fir/.  per  lb.,  and  in  Germany,  Holland,  and  Belgium,  it 
is  relatively  dear.  Partially  preserved  fruits  come  from  all  these 
countries.  They  are  not  preserved  in  sugar,  but  are  merely 
dried  by  the  sun  or  by  artificial  processes.  It  is  necessary  to 
apply  sugar  to  the  great  bulk  of  the  preserved  fruit  that  is  sent 
from  America,  before  it  is  cooked  or  eaten.  English  growers 
have  also  this  advantage  over  foreign  growers,  in  being  able  to 
send  their  fruit  comparatively  fresh  to  the  jam-manufacturers. 
It  is  most  essential  to  the  production  of  really  good  jam  that  the 
fruit  should  be  in  a good  state,  not  sweated,  nor  bruised  in  long 
transits.  English  fruit,  fresh,  whole,  and  ripe,  is  therefore  vastly 
preferred  by  the  makers  of  the  best  jams  to  Continental  fruit  which 
has  been  heated,  and  has  lost  all  its  freshness  before  it  reaches 
the  coppers  ; and  it  is  believed  that  jams,  warranted  to  be  made 
from  English  fruit  in  the  heart  of  fruit-producing  districts, 
would  be  taken  by  the  public  in  preference  to  all  others. 
Considering  these  advantages,  the  manufacture  of  jam  could  be 
largely  extended  in  this  country  if  fruit-growers  would  produce 
plenty  of  fruit,  and  join  together  to  put  up  suitable  buildings 
for  converting  it  into  pulp  or  jam.  Lord  Sudeley,  who  has 
lately  planted  fruit-trees  most  extensively  upon  his  estate  in 
Gloucestershire,  has,  with  much  foresight,  turned  some  farm- 
buildings  into  a convenient  place  for  manufacturing  jam  and 
preserving  fruits  upon  a large  scale,  or  for  pulping  them,  or  for 
packing  them  in  a fresh  state  for  market,  so  long  as  the  market 
prices  are  profitable.  Now  if  it  pay,  as  it  assuredly  will  pay,  to 
have  a jam  and  pulp  factory  upon  500  acres  of  fruit-land  upon 
Lord  Sudeley ’s  estate,  it  would  certainly  be  more  profitable  and 
advantageous  to  all  concerned  to  establish  factories  upon  a 
larger  scale  in  neighbourhoods  where  there  are  thousands  of 
acres  of  fruit-land,  as,  for  example,  in  or  near  Maidstone, 
and  in  or  near  Sittingbourne,  and  in  or  near  Farningham, 
the  respective  centres  of  the  fruit-growing  industries  of  Mid, 
East,  and  West  Kent.  Attempts  were  made  to  start  a jam- 
2 C 2 
