1^>C) Transactions of the Illinois 



plantiiif^ and cultivation necessary for tlie different kinds of small 

 fruits and trees. The same care and judgment that he would exer- 

 cise in the cultivation of his corn crop, and the addition of the 

 hoe when needed, will insure him prompt returns for his lahor^ and 

 he will be surprised at the ease with which the task was accom- 

 plished. 



At the same time I do not wish to be understood as saying that 

 to cultivate small fruits for market does not require experience, for 

 it does. But many farmers can successfully raise the fruits 

 without going through a special course of training, and those things 

 which it is very helpful to know will be acquired as he gains experi- 

 ence. It often transpires that men who engage in fruit-growing for 

 the family table become enthusiasts on the subject, and become 

 growers for market. 



In planting an apple orchard the varieties should be selected of 

 the best quality and also those most prolific in bearing. Both 

 items should be taken into consideration, for some varieties are so 

 shy of bearing that they are worthless, be the quality of fruit ever 

 so good. Do not set more summer and fall apples than is necessary 

 for the family supply of eating and cooking apples, but winter apples 

 may be planted in larger quantities than is absolutely necessary. 

 When the orchard bears lightly there will be enough, and when a 

 large crop is harvested the surplus, if good varieties and carefully 

 picked, will always bring a fair price. Apples, at the same price as 

 potatoes per bushel, are more remunerative to the farmer, for they 

 require less expense in handling, although most farmers will allow 

 apples to rot before they will sell them at twenty-five cents per bushel. 

 These same farmers often sell their potato crop for that money. 



It is not my province to tell how to grow all the kinds of small 

 fruits and orchard trees, for that subject will be covered by the 

 special committees appointed for that purpose. I will offer a few sug- 

 gestions, and append a list of varieties of fruits that have proven 

 satisfactory for Central (Eastern) Illinois. 



In the first place do not seek after some new variety of fruit 

 that no one else has, and which is offered at high prices under 

 equally high sounding names. It is not only the new beginners who 

 are " taken in " by these sharpers, but the " old birds *" occasionally 

 get bit. An instance of this kind I will relate. An acquaintance 

 of mine bought several hundred apple trees at forty cents each of a 

 man who recommended tliem to be very choice, and that they were 

 new — no one else could supply him. This very same variety was in 

 a number of orchards in the vicinity and was bearing, but this man, 

 who was a fruit-grower of fifteen years experience, must have some- 

 thing hf'tfer than his neighbors, and hence insisted on being swindled. 

 Go to your neighbors, find out what does well with them — not 

 one man's experience but many — and then after completing your list, 

 go to some nursery in your vicinity and get what you want at rea- 

 sonable prices. 



