1 Aprit, 1899.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 281 
THE EXPORT OF FRUIT. 
QUEENSLAND is without question a country which is capable of producing a 
vast quantity of exportable fruit, and to whose capabilities for an expansion of 
the fruit-growing industry there is practically no limit. The oranges of Mary- 
borough, the mangoes of Mackay and Bowen and other Northern centres of 
horticulture, the bananas of Cairns, the pineapples and passion-fruit of the 
whole seaboard, the grapes of Roma, the strawberries and native gooseberries 
of the Blackall Range can be produced by tens of thousands of cases. All 
they require is a big market. That market is the market of the world— 
England. London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, and 
scores of densely populated cities of Great Britain are capable of absorbing 
4 vast amount of fruit—far more than the present producers of fruit in 
Australasia are able to supply. But, say the pessimists, Queensland is too far 
from London to make a trade in perishable fruit a certain success. Two 
months is too long for fruit to remain in a ship’s hold, and to expect it to 
teach London in a perfect condition. All we say in answer to this is: “ Has 
it been done suceessfully in any case?” It has been repeatedly done success- 
fully, and therefore it can be done again. Why do failures occur? We do 
not go so far as to say that nobody in the colony understands how to pack and 
ship fruit to ensure success, but what we do say is this: We have in Queens- 
land a gentleman whose whole life has been“spent in the study of the fruit 
business—from the first planting of the tree to its final harvesting, packing, and 
shipment. ; ; 
Mr. Benson, the Fruit Expert attached to the Department of Agriculture, 
as an experience and qualifications which probably few fruitgrowers in the 
colony possess; and in this one matter of exporting our fruits—in the choice of 
proper seasons, conditions of ripeness, suitability of packing material, and of 
cases—his opinion and instruction cannot fail to be of great benefit to all 
exporters. But, to leave Queensland for a moment, which, be it remembered, 
is 12,000 miles from London by the shortest route, 16,000 by the longest, let 
us consider what is being done in Jamaica, one-third of the distance away from 
the world’s market. 
Since the serious trouble in connection with the sugar industry in the 
West Indies, the Jamaicans have turned their attention to the export of fruit, 
especially of pineapples and mangoes, and the question of the development of 
the fruit trade between that island and England is exciting very great interest 
at present in local commercial and agricultural circles, and many merchants there 
are doing all they can to push the matter. ‘To show how an energetic and 
Intelligent business man can forward the interests of the colony while in 
England, take the visit of Mr. Aston W. Gardner, a Jamaica merchant, to 
the old country. It will be seen that he observed numberless opportunities for 
the extension of trade, and consequently was, on his return, able to give those 
ving business connections with the colony a better idea of the conditions 
prevailing there than reams of correspondence could do. 
_ For many months Mr. Gardner moved about England, inquiring, inter alia, 
into the possibilities of the fruit trade. Several circumstances struck him in 
this-connection. One was that the most farseeing business men in England 
took a great interest in Jamaica. They have a firm belief in the prosperous 
commercial future of the colony, yet, be it remembered, many of these men have 
lost heavily by the ventures they have undertaken. ‘The cause of their losses, 
Owever, they attribute to the want of enterprise and intelligence of the fruit- 
Stowers and shippers, who fail to recognise to the fullest extent their position 
and responsibilities. ; 
Mr. Gardner went over many of the largest fruit warehouses in England 
which handle fruit from Australia, California, the Canaries, &c. Side by side 
with lovely fruit, packed to perfection, he saw fruit from Jamaica. It was 
Wrapped in ugly yellow paper, which had become soiled and saturated with the 
oil of the rind. 
