October  23,  1902. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
387 
Possibilities  of  the  Australian  Fruit  Trade. 
Apples  of  excellent  flavour  and  of  enormous  size  grow  to 
perfection  in  several  of  the  States  of  Australia,  indeed, 
there  are  districts  in  most  of  them,  in  which  attention  might 
most  profitably  be  directed  to  fruit  culture.  Till  very  lately 
Australia  has  been  the  very  ideal  of  a  happy-go-lucky  land. 
Gold  has  laid  on  the  surface,  flocks  of  herds  have  increased 
and  multiplied,  and  the  earth  has  yielded  her  increase  so 
lavishly  that  the  colonist  has  grown  to  think  that  his  respon¬ 
sibilities  were  limited  to 
a  very  casual  planting, 
leaving  to  Providence 
the  watering  and 
general  supervision  of 
his  crop,  as  well  as  the 
final  increase.  The 
writer  has  seen  the 
banks  of  a  river  bor¬ 
dered  all  along  with 
Peach  trees,  which  have 
planted  themselves  from 
the  fallen  fruit,  without 
any  attention.  Those 
Peaches  which  the  pigs 
could  not  reach,  or 
shake  down,  w  ere 
packed  in  boxes  and 
sent  to  the  towns.  Only 
quite  lately  have  the 
several  Governments 
awakened  to  the  fact 
that  some  little  know¬ 
ledge  is  desirable  in 
agriculture,  and  experts 
have  been  engaged  to 
travel  through  the 
States  and  instruct  the 
settlers  how1  to  obtain 
the  best  returns  from 
their  crops. 
Fruit  culture  has, 
until  lately, _  received 
much  less  attention  than 
its  importance  has 
merited.  Imprimis 
there  was  the  difficulty 
of  obtaining  suitable 
land  near  the  large 
towns,  and  in  a  new 
country  means  of  transit 
were  necessarily  expen¬ 
sive  and  inadequate, 
thus  much  of  the  most 
perishable  fruit  reached 
the  market  in  unsale¬ 
able  condition.  Again, 
no  discrimination  was 
exercised  in  the  selec¬ 
tion  of  varieties  of  trees 
suited  to  the  conditions, 
climatic  and  topo¬ 
graphical,  or  to  the 
taste  of  the  consumers, 
and  little  care  was 
exercised  in  picking  or 
classifying  the  fruit,  still 
less  in  packing.  Experts 
are  well  aware  that  dif¬ 
ferent  varieties  of  Apples  and  other  fruits  ripen  in  varying 
ratio,  and  such  should  be  separately  classified  and  packed, 
otherwise  those  which  ripen  more  quickly  will  over-ripen 
and  deteriorate  the  rest.  Another  frequent  error  has  been 
that  fruit  has  not  been  allowed  to  cool  for  sufficient  time  to 
get  rid  of  the  heat  absorbed,  and  thus  when  packed  in  cases 
the  warmth  evolved  has  adversely  affected  the  fruit  and 
ripened  it  too  quickly.  Cuttings  of  fruit  have  been  carelessly 
imported  from  Europe  and  America,  which  contained  insect 
pests.  In  the  congenial  climate,  and  with  the  fecundity 
which  characterises  all  animal  life  in  Australia,  these  multi¬ 
plied  so  rapidly  that  whole  orchards  were  destroyed,  and  in 
one  noted  fruit  growing  district  of  New  England  many 
orchardists  were  reduced  to  the  verge1  of  bankruptcy.  Now, 
the  most  stringent  regulations  are  enforced  in  all  the  States 
against  the  importation  of  diseased  fruits  or  scions.  With 
the  “  lasser-aller  ”  distinctive  of  the  settler  these  drawbacks 
were  sufficient  to  deter  many  from  fruit  growing. 
At  the  present  time  conditions  are  entirely  different. 
Experiments  have  demonstrated  the  best  kinds  of  fruit  to 
cultivate.  The  Victorian  Acclimatisation  Garden  alone  is 
said  to  have  700  varieties  of  Apples  and  400  Pears  ;  whilst 
20,000  scions  of  fruit  have  been  distributed  annually  to 
members.  Till  recently,  also,  the  outlet  for  orchard  produce 
has  been  limited  to  the  inter-State  supply,  and  the  production 
has  so  far  exceeded  the 
demand  that  jam  fac¬ 
tories  and  cider  making 
have  absorbed  much  of 
the  fruit.  Now*  that  the 
White  Star  line,  which 
has  done  so  much  for  the 
development  of  Aus¬ 
tralia  by  cheap  freight 
and  passenger  facilities, 
is  running  a  regular  ser¬ 
vice,  with  every  appli¬ 
ance  for  the  carriage  of 
fruit,  and  the  Alfred 
Holt  line  are  also  carry¬ 
ing  regular  consign¬ 
ments,  Australia  has  an 
opening  for  a  share  in 
the  fruit  supply  of  the 
English  market,  which 
has  an  annual  value  of 
about  £8,000,000. 
With  regard  to  the 
condition  of  the  fruit 
sent  to  Liverpool  by 
Tasmanian  (and  Austra¬ 
lian)  growers  last  April, 
of  the  seven  thousand 
odd  cases  of  Apples  in¬ 
dented  to  Liverpool  by 
the  Medic,  about  one- 
third  were  by  special  re¬ 
quest  sent  on  to  Liver¬ 
pool  from  London  by 
rail  to  catch  the  market. 
The  fruit  was  in  excel¬ 
lent  condition  and  of 
fine  flavour,  and  the 
prices,  from  11s.  to  14s., 
were  considered  very 
satisfactory.  They  were 
mostly  rather  small 
green  varieties  of 
Apples,  and  all,  as  re¬ 
in  arked,  from  Tas¬ 
mania.  On  the  conti¬ 
nent  of  Australia,  many 
districts  of  New 
England,  and  the  higher 
altitudes  of  Victoria 
and  South  Australia  are 
admirably  adapted  for 
the  growth  of  the  finest 
dessert  Apples.  The 
soil  is  very  rich,  and  the 
winter  cold  is  sufficient 
to  ensure  the  necessary 
time  for  the  trees  to  re¬ 
main  dormant.  Fruit, 
grown  with  care  on  these  ranges,  will  bear  comparison  with 
the  best  Canadian  Apples.  The  mammoth  fruit  grown  near 
Stanthorpe  would  be  too  large  for  export,  as  it  would  ripen 
unevenly  ;  but  Ribston  Pippins,  New  York  Pippins,  Blen¬ 
heims,  and  “Alexandras,”  all  popular  varieties  in  England, 
could  be  cultivated  with  success  and  profit.  Quinces,  which 
grow  luxuriantly  in  all  the  States,  ought  to  carry  well  and 
yield  a  good  return  brought  to  Liverpool  direct,  as  apparently 
few,  and  those  of  the  poorest,  are  brought  here. 
With  regard  to  Citrus  fruits,  Oranges,  Limes,  Cumquats, 
&c.,  our  market  is  pretty  well  supplied  from  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean  and  California  ;  still  the  Oranges  of  Queensland  are 
of  remarkable  size  and  quality,  the  Blood  Oranges  and  Navel 
Oranges  especially,  and  the  long  time  over  which  the  crops 
r 
A  New  Dessert  Pear,  described  on  page  386. 
