SECRETARY'S PORTFOLIO. 349 



conscious of the desirableness of increased variety and earliuess, for the supply 

 of the home want, will be compelled to rely upon himself for the solution of 

 the question, as to the value and adaptation to his wants, of these new candi- 

 dates for the public favor. While it would be clearly impolitic for any ordi- 

 nary grower to plant them, at present, upon an extended scale, little will be 

 risked in the trial of a tree or two each, of some of the more promising varie- 

 ties, while the fact of their success or failure will be quite likely to become 

 useful, in the making of his future selections. 



The claim of the increased earliness of a new variety is by no means to be 

 implicitly relied upon, since years are not unfrequently needed, to determine 

 with certainty what will finally prove to be the habit of a new sort in this par- 

 ticular, the original tree being liable to the influence of special circumstances, 

 which may essentially affect its season of maturity or the character of its fruit. 



Of the twenty or thirty new, very early peaches now before the public, and 

 partially or wholly untested, it will be strange if some at least do not so far 

 realize the anticipations of their introducers as to give us at least a few more 

 days, at the opening of the season. It may be accepted as the rule, that these 

 early sorts will fully maintain their quality in our climate and soils, the fail- 

 ures in this particular being usually of the late sorts, and attributable to the 

 shortness of our season of warm weather. 



PROTECTING PEACH TREES. 



A plan for protecting peach trees has been invented and patented by the 

 Murray Brothers, of Elm Grove, Missouri, which may commend itself to those 

 who are not so fortunately situated for peach growing as our brethren of the 

 Michigan lake shore. Their plan is by means of a simple contrivance to draw 

 the top of the peach tree together in the form of a cone and then bale it with 

 straw or canvass, which will completely protect it from severe storms or sudden 

 changes of the weather. The blooming season can be held back in spring to 

 keep out of the way of late frosts. It is said that two men will bale fifty trees 

 per day. 



THE PROFITS OF A PEACH ORCHARD— A SAMPLE OF MICHIGAN 



FARMING. 



My fruit business, in connection with a system of general farming, has been 

 very satisfactory. 



My oldest peach orchard of 16 acres, set eight years ago, and which did so 

 remarkably well in 1878, yielded, in 1879, 4,000 to 5,000 baskets of peaches, 

 and netted about $2,000. This orchard is set with peach, apple, and pear trees, 

 the last two just corning into bearing. I had over 1,000 baskets of pears and 

 about 50 barrels of apples, bringing the net income of the 16 acres to over 

 $2,500, and the aggregate net of this orchard for the last three years to over 

 $10,000. I shall not expect large returns from the peaches of this orchard in 

 the future, as the apples and pears are occupying the space, and the "yel- 

 lows" has also done considerable damage. I have, however, 20 acres, set 2, 3, 

 and 4 years since, which are uninjured. I set all my orchards to apple, pear, 

 and peach, so that when the peach trees fail my apple trees stand 40 feet apart, 



