452 Transactions of the 



in diameter and four deep will be paid for tenfold before the third crop 

 of fruit has been gathered. 



Another fatal blunder into which I bare sometimes fallen, and one I 

 earnestly recommend all to avoid, is the crowding together of too many 

 trees upon an acre of ground. Ample space insures better fruit, and a 

 larger profit will be secured, even though the aggregate yield sbould be 

 less in point of quantity. 



To be eminently successful in any pursuit in life, it is absolutely neces- 

 sary to possess a tborough knowledge of the business engaged in; for 

 ignorance upon any point, however trilling, may suffice to cause a finan- 

 cial failure, and ultimately destroy your enterprise. This applies gene- 

 rally to all business, and especially to fruit culture. 



In the learned professions, if a man assumes to practice before he bas 

 acquired sufficient information to entitle him to a diploma from pro- 

 fessors of acknowledged skill, he is at once and by common consent 

 shunned as a "quack" or '•impostor." In the mechanic arts one must 

 by years of toil and application acquire such absolute knowledge of his 

 craft as to impress the common observer of his skill as an artisan, or he 

 is at once dubbed a "botch." In agriculture and horticulture there is, 

 unfortunately, no standard of excellence fixed, and success alone, from 

 one's own individual efforts, must determine whether he is a " quack" 

 or a "botch." 



IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE. 



Let all who are engaged in the noble work of tilling the soil strive for 

 a higher standard of proficiency before individual responsibility is 

 assumed as an agriculturist or horticulturist. Let us learn patiently 

 from our own experience and the experience of others till we acquire 

 sufficient skill to avoid mortifying blunders and the financial distress 

 which generally follows misdirected efforts. I have labored hard for 

 seventeen years, and am only now just beginning to learn the rudiments 

 of my business and to comprehend how it may be made profitable; and 

 I will here remark that the profits do not depend half so much upon 

 the amount of work done as the manner in which it is accomplished. 

 One good, sound, healthy tree, which has been properly lifted from the 

 nursery without bruising or mutilating its roots, if properly planted in 

 the orchard and cultivated up to the time of fruiting, will prove more 

 profitable than three trees that have received such attention as is ordi- 

 narily bestowed. I do not say that the one tree will yield as much fruit 

 as the three, but that its product will yield a profit equal to or greater 

 than the three. 



In order to make fruit growing for market profitable, too much care 

 cannot be bestowed upon the varieties to be selected — always bearing in 

 mind that there are at least four essential considerations: 



First — Thrifty growing varieties. 



Second — Regular bearing varieties. 



Third — Fruit of good quality and high color. 



Fourth — Varieties that can be transported to market in perfect order. 



PLANTING ORCHARDS. 



In planting an orchard it is all important to select in the nursery only 

 healthy and well grown trees, and in transplanting if the roots become 

 seriously injured or mutilated it will be true economy to throw the trees 

 away at once, rather than attempt to restore them to health and vigor 



