380  The  Progress  of  Fruit  Farming. 
making  company  in  Maidstone  last  year  ; but  it  failed,  as  the 
fruit-growers  and  landowners  did  not  evince  the  slightest 
interest  in  the  undertaking.  In  Lord  Sudeley’s  case,  a barn 
and  other  buildings  have  been  turned  into  a factory  at  a 
comparatively  small  cost.  This  has  been  let  to  Mr.  Beach,  the 
well-known  manufacturer  of  pure  jam,  for  ten  years,  who  has 
arranged  to  take  all  the  fruit  grown  on  500  acres  at  fixed  rates,  and 
will  either  steam  it  down,  or  pulp  it,  or  sell  it  fresh,  as  he  may 
deem  expedient.  This  factory  is  now  in  working  order,  and 
was  inaugurated  this  summer  by  a capital  crop  of  strawberries, 
estimated  at  10  tons.  About  100  tons  of  fruit  will  be  grown 
on  the  estate  this  year,  which  is  a capital  quantity,  considering 
that  no  fruit-trees  were  planted  until  the  autumn  of  1880.  The 
expense  of  the  carriage  of  fruit  in  this  case  is  saved,  also  the 
commission  of  salesmen,  which  are  most  important  items  in 
seasons  of  large  crops,  and,  when  fruit  is  cheap,  amount  to 
from  \d.  to  ^ d . per  lb.,  and  even  more  where  the  market  is 
distant.  In  these  jam-factories,  other  modes  of  preserving  fruit 
might  be  adopted  besides  that  of  making  jam,  such  as  that  of 
bleaching  and  drying  apples,  which  holds  in  the  United  States 
and  Canada.  “ A fruit-drying  establishment,”  says  a witness 
before  the  Ontario  Commissioners,  “ has  been  recently  started 
in  St.  Catherines,  with  a capacity  to  dry  150  bushels  of  apples  a 
day.  The  apparatus  used  consists  of  an  upright  frame  or  box 
built  over  a furnace,  and  on  each  side  there  is  a belting  like  a 
straw  carrier.  As  the  fruit  rises  on  the  slabs,  it  is  subjected  to 
the  hot  air  of  the  furnace.  The  temperature  required  is  from 
160°  to  170°.  The  fruit  comes  out  all  dried,  and  is  packed  in 
501b.  boxes.* 
Without  any  doubt  the  insufficient  means  for  the  distribution 
of  fruit  tend  to  lower  prices,  and  to  prevent  a more  general 
increase  of  the  acreage  of  fruit-land.  Gluts  occur  from  time  to 
time  in  some  of  the  large  fruit  markets,  entailing  considerable 
losses  upon  producers.  This  is  not  by  any  means  an  indication 
that  there  is  too  much  fruit-land  in  the  country,  but  that  the 
system  of  selling  it  is  wrong.  As  it  has  been  pointed  out  in  a 
former  article  in  this  ‘ Journal,’  f it  may  happen  that  at  Covent 
Garden  fruit  may  be  dirt-cheap,  while  at  St.  John’s  Wood  the 
usual  high  figures  are  ruling.  This  is  the  direct  result  of  the 
fashion  of  consigning  fruits  of  all  kinds  as  fast  as  they  ripen 
to  a few  central  markets  ; a most  extravagant  fashion,  and  ad- 
vantageous neither  to  the  producers  nor  to  the  consumers.  It 
is  believed  that  the  fruit-trade  is  conducted  upon  as  unsound 
principle  as  the  fish-trade,  whose  rottenness  has  been  recently 
* ‘ .Report  of  the  Ontario  Agricultural  Commission,  18S0.’ 
t “ Fruit  Growing  in  Rent.”  I5y  Charles  Whitehead,  vol.  xiii.  2nd  Series, 
R.A.S.E.  Journal. 
