le commercial fruit-growing in this State, and this pamphlet is
intended in part to be an answer to such inquiries; but, at the same
time, it is hoped that it will have a wider scope, and give a general
idea of one of our staple industries to many who are now on the look-out
for a country in which to settle and an occupation to take up when they
arrive there.

[Illustration: Woombye, North Coast Railway. The centre of a large
fruit growing district.]

No branch of agriculture has made a greater advance during the past
quarter-century than that of fruit-growing, and none has become more
popular. The demand for fruit of all kinds, whether fresh or preserved,
has increased enormously throughout the world, and it is now generally
looked upon more as a necessity than a luxury. Hence there are
continually recurring inquiries as to the best place to start
fruit-growing with a reasonable prospect of success. It is not only the
increased demand for fruit that causes these inquiries, but
fruit-growing has a strong attraction for many would-be agriculturists
as compared with general farming, dairying, or stock-raising, and this
attraction is probably due to a certain fascination it possesses that
only those who have been intimately acquainted with the industry for
years can fully appreciate. In addition to the fact that living under
one's own vine and fig-tree is in itself a very pleasant ideal to look
forward to, there is no branch of agronomy that calls for a keener
appreciation of the laws of Nature, that brings man into closer touch
with Nature, that makes a greater demand on a man's patience, skill, and
energy, or in which science and practice are more closely related, than
in that of fruit-growing. To all those who are considering the
advantages of taking up fruit-growing as an occupation, and to those who
feel the attraction I have just described, these few words on
fruit-growing in Queensland are addressed, as the writer wishes them to
learn something of the fruit-growing capabilities of this State, so that
before deciding on the country in which they will make a start they may
not be in complete ignorance of a land that is especially adapted for
the growth of a larger number of distinct varieties of fruit than any
other similar area of land with which he is acquainted either in the Old
or New World.

Queensland is a country whose capabilities are at present comparatively
unknown even to those living in the Southern Sta