88 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



all of the crop at the proper time. Such conditions add greatly to 

 the expense of harvesting, as well as inconvenience of the owner. This 

 occurrence may be due to the trees being untrue to name or because of 

 neglect to secure the correct number of trees of a certain variety to 

 make complete rows and subsequent indifference or carelessness in re- 

 planting. 



If a grower is planning a small orchard and desires to do most of 

 the work without extra help, he should make use of several varieties of 

 different ripening periods. Or, if it is expected to supply a local market, 

 it will be found an advantage to have many varieties to secure a long 

 season of ripe fruit. But if the owner is to dispose of his crop in a 

 distant market, he should concentrate upon a few leading commercial 

 sorts, planting extensively enough," if possible, to ship in carload lots. 

 Such an undertaking will require considerable help and the best facilities, 

 but it is worthy of the effort. 



The leading commercial variety at present is the Elberta. This is 

 due to several desirable characteristics such as: the uniformly large 

 size of the fruit, its tough structure, which makes possible long ship- 

 ments, the early age at which the trees bear, and the relatively small 

 amount of work required to produce the fruit. The tree does not require 

 so much pruning or thinning as many other varieties, the fruit is 

 very easy to handle and the market price is usually the highest. How- 

 ever, it is not a good policy to depend upon one variety entirely. Pol- 

 lowing a severe winter, a grower may discover that the Elberta buds 

 are all dead, while the more hardy varieties may have enough live buds 

 to produce a crop. 



There is and alwa.ys will be a difference of opinion as to the best com- 

 mercial varieties, but the following list has given good results in Michi- 

 gan;* New Prolific, Engle, Elberta, Kalamazoo, Gold Drop, Banner, 

 Lemon Free, Smock and Salway. In general, these are given in their 

 order of ripening, but there is so much variation and overlapping that 

 this order will not apply under all conditions or in every season. Some 

 varieties may be profitable for one grower, while for another with 

 different soil and care, they may be of little value. Thousands of dol- 

 lars have been wasted by the poor choice of varieties for particular 

 sites and one should study the question thoroughly before deciding 

 definitely. 



Securing Trees. — It is not the purpose of this bulletin to direct an 

 individual where to purchase trees. There are many good nursery 

 companies and the best of them are liable to mistakes. One should 

 deal with a company that has a reputation for honest methods and 

 thus eliminate many possibilities of a loss. 



Many growers prefer to obtain their trees in the fall and heel them 

 in for the winter; others allow the nurseries to winter the trees in stor- 

 age cellars, shipping them in the spring. The cellar stored tree, not 

 having been subjected to the vigorous winter cold, comes out in good 

 condition with strong buds and, if properly handled under favorable 

 weather conditions, will make a quick, vigorous growth. But there 

 have been warm springs when it has been necessary for the nurserymen 

 to remove the trees and ship early to avoid too great a development of 



•For further Information about varieties, the reader is referred to Michigan Agricultural 

 Experiment Station Bulletin No. 262. This will be sent free upon request. 



