No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 435 . 



who is taking the Agricultural Course, and who is ambitious to 

 take it when I get through with it. It gives me a good grip on life to 

 see young apple trees growing and it makes me able to think there 

 will be better apples and better methods for caring for apples than 

 I found in the world when I came into it, and it makes life worth 

 living. Here is an opportunity that makes any farmer boy's life 

 worth living and worthy of the best that there is in him and he is 

 worthy of the best education that you can give him to prepare him 

 for his business. The best crop that a farmer can raise is boys that 

 will start on the farm and take care of the fruit he has planted, 

 making it their life study and their life business. 



Question No. 1. What varieties, if any, of sweet cherries do you 

 find profitable? 



MR. SCOON: The Windsor without a doubt, is the best shipper, 

 not being so liable to rot as the soft meat cherries. 



Question No. 2. How do profits on cherries, sour or sweet, com- 

 pare with apples, acre with acre? 



MR. SCOON: The sour cherries are more regular croppers and 

 will compare favorably with the best apples for profit per acre. 



Question No. 3. Do you keep your cherry orchards cultivated all 

 of the time? 



MR. SCOON: Thoroughly cultivate until the crop is picked, then 

 seed to cover crop. 



Question No. 4. What fertilizer, if any, do you use in orchard 

 (I mean this in the broad sense, not as to brand)? 



MR. SCOON: Have used muriate of potash and phos. acid, but 

 have about concluded my soil required nothing but enough barn- 

 yard manure to make cover crop grow. 



Question. What elevation and character of soil do you find best 

 for cherries? 



MR. SCOON: Rolling land, gravelly loam soil; though some sand 

 with a little more fertilizers is excellent. Avoid low and wet land.. 



Question, How about Question No. 2 for pears? 



MR. SCOON: Pears usually sell for more per barrel than apples, 

 but the yield is so much less per acre that the profits are not so large. 

 There are striking exceptions, however, to this statement. 



Question. How about Question No. 3 for pears? 

 MR. SCOON: Pears must be cultivated through the growing 

 season; but if blight appears, stop cultivation to check growth. 



Question. What are your best commercial pears? 



MR. SCOON: Seckel, Bartlett, Bosc and Kieffer. 



Question. How do you handle pears in picking? How do you 

 pack, and when, and how do you market them? 



MR. SCOON: Pick in baskets, sort on table and ship in bushel 

 kegs. Bartlett and Seckel are frequently held in local cold storage 

 till the rush of season is over. Canneries here buy most of the 

 Bartletts, 



