Robert U. Nichols examined.

2144. You are not connected with farming?—In a limited manner. I have a small piece of ground. I am a seed-grower and nurseryman.

2145. You have prepared a paper, I think?—Yes.

I brought one or two as an example, and you can easily see how it affects the fruit—[handing in samples].

2147. What sort is that?—That is the Northern Spy.

—and causes a deformed and spotted fruit. The side exposed to this blast never grows after, but the other side, growing to its full size, causes the deformity. This naturally depreciates the value of the fruit when sent to market. This applies more particularly to the finest and most delicate varieties that grow so well in other parts of the colony. There are a few sorts, however, that will succeed here viz.,—Rymer, Rennette de Canada, Duchess of Oldenburg, and Northern Spy, and the Majetin."

I have brought those as samples of Ballarat fruit. As a general rule, the Spy is free from the deformity mentioned. I am now planting nearly all those varieties.

"Thirteen years ago I planted about fourteen acres of apple,

R. U. Nichols, continued, 18th June 1886.

pear, cherry, plum, apricot, and peach on deep volcanic soil, 16 feet apart; the apricot and peach died the following year from cold winds and gum wounds. The varieties I planted were numerous, and of the leading kinds, but only those I have mentioned have succeeded.

"The pear succeeds better than the apple generally; but as the demand for it is limited, it is not so largely grown. I planted several hundred trees, and after giving them a trial of ten years, they proved a failure from the same cause as destroys the apple, and I dug them all out again. The best varieties are Williams' Bonchretien, Summer Bonchretien, Gansel's Bergamot, Easter Beurre, and the Vicar of Winkfield.

"The plum is one of the most valuable fruits here. The trees grow well, bear well, and are not subject to any disease. The fruit is always saleable. I estimate the produce of one acre of land at five tons, and the value at £20. The best varieties are diamond, purple gage, yellow gage, Orleans, Goliath, and several kinds of damsons.

"The cherry is also very prolific and easily grown; its value is equal with the plum. The best sorts are Governor Wood, Elton, Biggereau de Holland, St. Margeret, and Florence.

"The gooseberry is also a valuable fruit here. It is grown very extensively, and sent to market in bags in the same manner as potatoes, principally in the green state. The value of the crop is equal to the plum. The best sorts are Roaring Lion, Crown Bob, Leveller, and Billey Dean.

"The raspberry also succeeds well here, more especially in the volcanic soil and moist laud. There is a ready sale for it for jam purposes. The demand is sure to continue, for the dry districts of Victoria and other colonies will not produce it. The best variety is the Red Antwerp. The fruit is large and of good flavour.

"The strawberry produces heavy crops in the warmest parts of the district around here, but l would not recommend any one to plant largely unless under very favorable circumstances, such as absence of frosts, presence of water, and very good soil.

"The currant is also a valuable fruit here, and succeeds well in all soils if properly cultivated. The common black and Red Versailles are the best varieties. I find considerable difficulty in getting cheap labour to gather this and other small fruits, and this is a serious drawback.

"The quince produces very heavy crops, and grows in almost any kind of soil. The fruit is not generally used as the other fruits I have mentioned, and therefore is not largely grown here. It thrives best near water and in low' moist soils.

"General Remarks.—I have not alluded to any of the fruits that require warmer districts and climates to mature their crops, such as the orange, lemon, grape, peach, &c., because they do not thrive here, except in some particular spots. I consider there is sufficient encouragement for the fruit-growers of this district to enlarge their plantations, and grow the different varieties that I have mentioned as being suitable, and open up a market for the produce either in a raw or manufactured state, as suggested in the first part of this paper. The first step towards this is to follow the advice of one of the gentlemen who has given his experience in fruitgrowing to the Commission—that you must first grow the supplies, and the demand is sure to follow. Many will say, where is the demand to come from? and to my mind this is easily answered. Other countries all find a market for their produce—why not Victoria? For example, China is celebrated for tea, India for silk, America for timber. Why not added canned fruit, jam, &c., in Australia? We are in a young country, with a limited population at present; but every day this is changing; and to provide for those changes we should produce those articles best suited to our soil and climate."

2148. Are you of opinion that fruit-growing on the lines you have indicated in this district would be more profitable than ordinary farming?—More profitable on small areas.

2149. Would it be profitable for each farmer, or for farmers generally, to have attached to their farms a small orchard?—I think not for market purposes, because it is a business that should be attended to more particularly and closely looked after than a farmer could give his time to.

2151. Which would pay best?—I say a small farm, well farmed, will pay better than a large one badly farmed, in proportion.

2152. Supposing fruit were cultivated here to a larger extent than it is now, would it not be almost certain that canneries would be started here?—I cannot say.

2153. Is not Ballarat a very exceptionally favorable place to start the canning industry?—I think it is exceptionally well; the moist soil and volcanic land is found; it is the most beautiful land you can get in any part of the world, and the climate is suited to the varieties I have named.

2154. Are you aware of fruit being sent from here to Dunolly and Mary borough to canning factories there?—I am not aware of any.

2155. Where does most of your fruit go to?—Principally to Melbourne.

2156. Do you find a ready sale for it always?—Yes.

2157. Without any process of canning?—Yes; send it in its raw state, as I have indicated. The gooseberry carries as freely as a potato in cornsacks or gunny bags, and other fruits in cases.

2158. Do you find the fruit spot always that way with the cold winds in the early stages?—Yes.

2159. Does the codlin moth trouble you here much?—Yes, very much.

2160. Is the codlin moth very destructive?—Very destructive.

2161. Is the demand for fruit here greater than the supply?—Yes, at present. I do not mean to say the demand in this district particularly. It is not equal to the supply, or else we should not require to send our fruit to Melbourne or elsewhere if there were a local demand; but at the time when, perhaps, our cherries or other things are in full crop, they have to be sent to Melbourne, and then we have to look to longer distances for the best market.

2162. I suppose you could dispose of all your fruit here at a price?—I hardly think we could, except to a buyer to send away again, that is, a middle man.

2163. It has not been found necessary to establish any preserving works here as yet?—No, no one seems to have done that.

2164. Are there any other vegetable products than those you have spoken of that you think are suitable to the soil and climate here?—I think one is the sugar-beet; I think it would be a very profitable and suitable crop; in my opinion it is easily grown, and will produce immense crops, and, as far as the sugar is concerned, I cannot say what is in it, whether it would give a good yield of sugar; that has to he proved; but as to growing the crop itself, it is as easily grown as the ordinary mangold. I myself have tried a great many experiments in the way of growing beet and mangolds.

2165. What use would you make of it—to fed stock?—Just to feed pigs and cows.

2167. It grows more readily, and it is more nutritive?—It is more nutritive.

2168. You spoke of these apples—have you had any experience of apple-growing in any other district than Ballarat?—Only from observation.

2169. Of those samples you have handed in, one is a very nice specimen of apple, and the other very much disfigured; I think I understood you to say that you had planted various kinds and found some suitable? —Many of the more tender kinds, and the best apples, such as the pear-mains and the pippins, do not thrive here for the reasons I gave you, showing that the more delicate the apple, the more subject it is to the blast of the wind.

2170. I presume if you had been in possession of that information you would not have planted those trees?—Not at all.

2171. Yon consider that the apples you have submitted here now require to be acclimatised; that is, you require kinds suitable to the district?—Yes.

2172. Do you consider there is a deficiency of information in that respect?—Yes, generally there is; I do not think people know the sorts to plant; this is experience extending over many years; it is 30 years since I first started to plant.

2173. There are many kinds you would not plant?—Just so; it is simply loss of time.

2174. Does any other plant occur to you besides the beet?—I should think, but I do not know from practical experience, that the hop would thrive well where the beet grows so readily. It occurs to me that if the hop was tried in the volcanic soil it should thrive. I cannot say positively that the climate would suit it, but I think the soil is everything that could be desired.

2175. It has not been tried in this district?—No, only in a very limited way here and there throughout the district; but those that I have seen have done very well, and given excellent yield, and I often wonder why it has not been tried.

2176. If anything else does occur to your mind that, would interest us, would you be good enough to write a paper for our information?—I shall be most pleased to do it.