Sept,  i,  1892.] 
THE  TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST. 
*?9 
best  time  to  get  them  is  in  the  Australian  winter 
months,  June  and  July,  so  that  they  arrive  in 
August,  a good  time  for  planting  in  Hill  stations 
which  come  under  the  influence  of  the  South-West 
Monsoon,  such  as  the  Nilgiris,  where  the  hardier  of 
the  English  fruits  flourish  well.  An  interesting  paper 
on  fruit  growing  in  Australia  has  recently  appeared 
in  the  Pioneer.  The  statistics  of  fruit  culture  in  South 
Australia  are  there  given  very  fully ; and  the  study 
of  the  article  may  be  recommended  to  any  one  who 
really  wishes  to  enter  into  the  calculation  of  pro- 
fits and  losses  and  cost  of  fruit  planting  in  the  irri- 
gation colonies  of  Australia.  It  should,  however, 
be  remembered  that  the  fruit  grower  in  India  has 
merely  to  superintend  the  planting  of  his  orchard, 
making  his  coolies  do  the  hard  work  ; whereas  in 
Australia  where  labour  is  scarce  and  dear,  he  must 
work  with  his  own  hands,  which  is  not  an  alluring 
prospect  to  an  Anglo-Indian  who  has  always  had  a 
large  establishment  at  his  beck  and  call.  The  cul- 
tivation of  English  fruit  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Simla  is  about  to  be  tried  on  a very  extensive 
scale.  During  the  next  seven  years  the  Punjab 
Government  is  prepared  to  carry  out  a scheme  for 
its  careful  cultivation,  the  annual  cost  being  esti- 
mated at  R2,000.  Large  gardens  are  also  being 
planted  near  Naini  Tal,  Almorah,  Raniket,  and 
many  parts  of  the  Himalayas.  Kashmir  has  always 
been  celebrated  for  its  delicious  fruits,  its  apples, 
pears,  grapes,  apricots  and  walnuts.  The  fruit  grows 
there  in  such  profusion  that  frequently  in  riding 
through  the  orchards  the  fruit  is  crushed  in  quantities 
under  the  feet  of  the  ponies.  On  the  Nilgiris  also 
most  of  these  fruits  flourish.  At  Ootacamund, 
Coonoor,  and  Kotagiri,  may  be  found  examples  of  care- 
fully kept  gardens  where,  in  that  perfect  climate 
surrounded  by  lovely  masses  of  English  flowers, 
English  fruits  flourish  luxuriantly.  Even  the  wild 
fruits  of  England,  such  as  blackberries  and  white 
raspberries  grow  in  quantities  on  the  hill  sides  and 
among  the  bracken  ; and  wild  strawberries  are  also  to 
be  found  there. 
It  is  not  probable  that  except  in  the  case  of  coco 
and  other  nuts,  fruit  grown  in  India  would  be  profit- 
able for  export,  as  the  distance  from  European 
markets  precludes  fresh  fruit  being  exported  except  at 
too  great  a cost  to  make  it  possible  to  compete  with 
fruit  grown  in  the  West  Indies  and  other  tropical 
countries  nearer  at  hand,  such  as  Florida  and  Cali- 
fornia. In  these  parts  of  America  as  well  as  in 
Jamaica,  and  indeed  all  over  the  civilised  world,  the 
culture  of  fruit  has  of  late  years  increased  enormously. 
In  Jamaica  the  value  of  the  fruit  has  arisen  in  fourteen 
years  from  £15,000  to  £344,000,  oranges,  plantains  and 
pineapples  being  the  fruits  chiefly  grown  there. 
Oranges  flourish  much  in  Brazil,  and  the  exportation 
amounts  to  several  millions  annually.  The  trees  are 
said  to  bear  from  200  to  1,000  oranges  yearly  when  in 
full  bearing,  and  to  last  for  thirty  years.  An  experi 
ment  has  been  lately  tried  in  the  Western  Dooars  of 
planting  oranges  and  lemons.  The  elevation  there  i3 
about  2,300  feet,  and  the  fruit  grows  well ; but  it  is  not 
likely  that  fruit  culture  for  local  demands  alone  will 
ever  prove  paying  there  to  Europeans.  Fruit  grown 
in  places  where  means  of  communication  are 
difficult  might  often,  however,  be  made  into  preserves. 
It  is  said  that  about  a hundred  different  preserves 
can  be  made  from  the  judicious  blending  of  the  fruits 
of  the  East  and  West  Indies.  A delicious  desert  dish 
can  be  made  of  mangoes  preserved  whole  ; and  mango 
jam  and  jelly  are  not  as  well  known  as  they  ought  to 
be.  Besides  the  mango  there  are  the  pineapple,  guava, 
and  others  that  can  be  preserved  in  a lasting  manner 
and  can  rival  the  preserves  made  of  any  English  fruit ; 
and  there  is  ample  scope  for  their  being  made  very 
profitable  if  the  manufacture  is  carried  on  a sufficiently 
large  scale. — Madras  Mail , July  18. 
FRUIT  CULTURE  IN  THE  HILLS 
ABOUT  SIMLA. 
The  following  interesting  notes  on  this  important 
subject  have  been  furnished  to  the  Deputy  Commis- 
sioner of  Simla  by  the  Rev,  M,  M.  Garleton;— 
Result  of  experiments  made  in  horticulture  at  Ani, 
a village  at  4.500ft.  in  Kulu  sub-division,  65  miles 
from  Simla. 
I.  — First  experiment  in  apple  cultivation.  After  ten 
years  the  whole  experiment  has  proved  well-nigh 
failure.  American  apple  trees,  as  well  as  English, 
aic  not  prolific  in  this  climate  at  4,500  ft.  A few 
apples  were  obtained  and  the  growth  of  the  trees 
has  been  all  that  could  be  desired,  but  apples  brought 
frum  England  or  Scotland,  or  from  the  Northern 
part  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  will  not  be 
profitable  below  6,000  ft.  As  an  example  of  one 
variety,  I introduced  the  Porter  apple  tree  from 
New  England  a standard  apple  for  the  last  50  years, 
both  in  Canada  and  New  England.  The  trees  grew 
finely,  they  are  the  finest  in  my  orchard.  They  are 
now  8 years  old,  but  they  have  never  produced  even  a 
blossom.  This  result  is  the  same  when  trees  from 
New  England  and  Canada  are  transferred  to  the 
Southern  States,  especially  Florida  ; they  grow  well, 
but  never  produce  fruit. 
II. — Experiment  No.  2 with  Cashmere  apricots  has 
proved  a remarkable  success.  The  native  apricot  in 
this  warm  valley  was  not  prolifio,  and,  from  analogy 
we  concluded  that  the  plaoe  was  too  warm  for  the 
Cashmere  or  English  variety.  We,  however,  intro- 
duced ten  trees  from  the  Government  garden  at  Lahore. 
They  grew  very  vigorously  and  began  to  bear  fruit  the 
fourth  year.  They  are  even  more  prolifio  than  the 
native  variety  in  Kulu  valley.  The  fruit  ripens  about 
the  loth  or  20tb  of  June.  I should  advise  the  exten- 
sive culti  ation  of  the  Cashmere  and  English  apricot 
in  all  the  lower  hills.  The  successful  introduction  of 
the  famous  Cashmere  American  fruit  drying  maohines 
into  Simla  would  enable  enterprising  persons  to  estab- 
lish a very  profitable  industry  in  preparing  dried  apri- 
cots for  the  Indian  markets. 
Ill — Experiment  No.  3 with  American  grapes  has 
proved  an  unqualified  success.  My  first  experiment, 
made  15  years  ago,  was  with  grapes  from  the  Govern- 
ment Garden*  of  Lahore.  The  variety  was  called  the 
Black  Hamburg.  After  12  years’  experiment  they 
proved  an  utter  failure,  scarcely  a single  duster  of 
grapes  in  the  12  years.  About  9 years  ago  I sent 
to  America  for  a variety  of  hardy  prolific  grape  grown 
on  the  northern  limit  of  grape  cultivation,  wh6re  the 
spring  opens  in  May  and  frost  comes  in  September. 
1 held  the  opinion  that  such  a variety  would  ripeu 
in  July  before  the  heavy  rain,  because  the  spring 
open,  the  last  of  February  or  the  1st  of  March.  My 
experiment  proved  that  the  American  grape  in  these 
lower  hills  is  a great  sucoess.  Only  one  vine  lived 
of  those  I first  received,  that  is  about  8 years  old, 
and  now,  today  (May  7)  there  are  about  70  lb  of 
green  grapes  on  the  vice.  A few  such  vines  around 
the  bouses  of  intelligent  zemindars  in  the  Simla  district 
would  give  a handsome  return,  especially  in  the  Simla 
market,  in  the  month  of  July. 
IV. — Experiment  No.  4 with  the  common  Himalayan 
walnut  is  also  a success.  Very  fine  large  trees  in  20 
years,  and  very  fruitful. 
In  35  years  a grand  change  in  the  use  of  the  walnut 
has  taken  plaoe.  In  former  times  iu  Cashmere, 
Churaba  and  Kulu,  the  only  use  of  the  fruit  was  the 
production  of  oil  to  adulterate  yhee.  But  now  the 
demand  for  walnuts  in  the  plains  is  greater  than  the 
supply.  On  account  of  the  valuable  timber  the  oulti- 
vation  of  the  walnut  should  belong  to  the  Department 
of  Forestry.  But  in  California  the  horticulturist  has 
captured  the  species,  on  account  of  its  valuable  fruit. 
They  have  introduced  the  oelebrated  Persian  walnut", 
and  find  it  one  of  the  most  profitable  fruit  trees.  W& 
are  surprised  that  tbe  Department  of  Forestry  have, 
done  little  or  nothing  with  the  walnut  in  the  Simla, 
district. 
V. — Experiment  No.  5 with  the  European  orange, 
has  proved  that  the  variety  commnly  sailed  the  Mal- 
tese orange  can  be  grown  in  the  lower  bills,  as  high 
up  as  4,500  ft.  In  California  orange  cultivation  is  ex- 
tendiDg  up  the  rich  valleys  of  tbe  Pacific  slopes,  and 
I see  no  reason  why  in  t^ese  lower  hills,  orange  onl^ 
tivation  should  not  he  a sucoess.  Thio  year  from  one 
tree  8 yea*s  old*  we  gathered  220  orange.  They  were 
