Niagara County: Its Agriculture and Its Farm Bureau 2093 



organize into cooperative associations for buying farm supplies and for 

 selling farm products. Until 19 14, little or no real effort had been made 

 along this line. During the summer of 19 14, two cooperative associations 

 were organized for the grading and the selling of fruit, one located at 

 Lockport and the other at Gasport. The growers in the surrounding 

 districts marketed over 50,000 barrels of apples through these associations 

 in the fall of 19 14. Herein lies the most fertile field for the fruit growers 

 in this county to develop, for by cooperative buying and selling an oppor- 

 tunity is offered to save a few cents on the cost of each package of fiiiit 

 sold and each purchase made. The packing cost can be lessened, and the 

 marketing cost can be materially reduced. There is the further advantage, 

 in the opportunity offered, of establishing a reputation for a brand of fruit 

 from a given section, which can never be accomplished by individual 

 growers. 



More profitable production. — While Niagara County has many of the 

 best fruit farms in New York vState, there are numbers of orchards that 

 have been abandoned to the ravages of insects and disease. These should 

 be either renovated or destroyed. There is also a tendency toward 

 extensive, rather than intensive, fruit growing, which has resulted in 

 many large plantings being made. The expense of caring for these large 

 plantings and the problems involved make them impracticable for a man 

 without a large capital and years of experience in fruit growing. The 

 most successftd persons growing fruit on an extensive scale are generally 

 men of middle age or older, who have gradually become established in 

 the business. Young and inexperienced growers should learn the lesson 

 from these successful men, and should increase their plantings only as 

 their ability to handle them develops. 



Niagara County does not need more orchards, but rather better culti- 

 vation and spraying of the present orchards; it does not need to produce 

 more fruit, but rather to insure better grading and marketing of the 

 present production. 



The tendency to overspecialize is also noticeable in the county. Some 

 farmers are growing fruit to the exclusion of all other crops; some carry 

 the practice a step further and grow only peaches. The uncertainty 

 of the results of this practice is shown by the crops of the year 19 14. 

 The lesson that should be drawn from this experience is that there is 

 a need of greater diversity in order to develop more sources of income; 

 for example, a soil that will grow peaches will also produce potatoes 

 and alfalfa. Pigs, pastured on alfalfa, make quick and cheap gain. Draft 

 mares can do the farm work, and colts can be raised from them for sale. 

 With a little care, poultry can be developed into a profitable side issue 

 in connection with the fioiit farm. 



On land that has the high valuation of the fruit land of Niagara County, 

 each farmer should endeavor to get the greatest yield possible from his 

 fields. This should mean the giving of more attention to the adaptation 

 of fruits and crops to soils, to better drainage, to the use of lime, to the 

 selection of seed, and to the growing of alfalfa. The growing of alfalfa 

 will mean the reduction of the area devoted to grain and forage crops 

 necessary to maintain the stock on the farm. 



Soil Survey of Niagara County, New York, contains the following in 

 regard to the drainage of the soils in the southern tliird of the coimty; 



