Litchi, Mossman District.
THE PEAR.
Many kinds of pears do well, but, unfortunately, this fine fruit is very liable to be attacked by fruit fly. It does well generally in the districts that I have mentioned as suitable for the apple, plum, and apricot. The tree is healthy, grows rapidly and to a large size. It comes into bearing remarkably early as compared with the pear in colder climates, and produces excellent fruit. I have grown as good Bartletts here as could be obtained anywhere, and the trees have proved to be good bearers and doers. This fruit does best on deep soils of a medium to strong loamy nature, and of good quality, though it does well in much freer soils, but does not make as good a growth or bear as heavily. It is usually grown on seedling-pear stocks, but the growing of suitable varieties on quince stocks and keeping the resultant trees dwarfed is to be recommended. This method of growing the pear does well here, and dwarf trees can be easily protected from fly, whereas it is practically impossible to deal with big trees, which the pear becomes when grown on pear roots.
THE ALMOND.
This fruit does well in parts of our coastal tableland country, though its habit of blossoming too early in the season renders it very liable to injury from late frosts. The trees do remarkably well, grow rapidly, and bear heavily when the blossoms are uninjured by frost, hence it is a good tree to grow in selected situations containing suitable soil, as it commands a ready sale, and is very little troubled with pests. A free, sandy, loamy soil is best suited to the growth of the almond, and the situation should be well protected from frost. The trees are usually worked on peach stocks, on which they make a very rapid growth. Several varieties should be grown together, as a better set of fruit will be obtained by doing so, most almonds requiring the pollen of another variety flowering at the same time to render their flowers fertile. The almond grows into a handsome, shapely tree, and, when in blossom, an orchard is a sight not easily forgotten, the wealth of flowers being such that it must be seen to be fully appreciated.
The walnut, chestnut, quince, blackberry, raspberry, and one or two other fruits of the temperate regions are also cultivated to a small extent, but are of no great value so far, though there is no reason why the walnut, which does well with us, should not be cultivated to a much greater extent than it is, as there is always a fair demand for the nuts. Blackberries of different kinds have been introduced, and do well, the common English blackberry almost too well, as unless kept in check it is apt to spread to such an extent as to be a nuisance. In addition to the cultivated fruits I have briefly mentioned as growing in Queensland, we have a number of native fruits growing in our scrubs and elsewhere that are worthy of cultivation with a view to their ultimate improvement. Of such are the Queensland nut, a handsome evergreen tree, bearing heavy crops of a very fine flavoured nut. The nut is about ¾-inch in diameter, but the shell is very hard and thick. It could no doubt be improved by selection and careful breeding. The Davidsonian plum is also another fruit of promise. It is a handsome tree of our tropical North coast, and bears a large plum-shaped fruit of a dark purple colour, with dark reddish purple flesh, which is extremely acid, but which is well worth cultivation. Several species of eugenias also produce edible fruit, and there are two species of wild raspberries common to our scrubs. There are the native citrus fruits I referred to in an earlier part of this paper, as well as several other less well-known fruits that are edible.
Tamarind Tree, Port Douglas District.