240 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



THE SELECTION OF VARIETIES. 



One of the most important and difficult problems that the fruit 

 grower has to solve, is the selection of varieties for his orchard. The 

 choice of varieties should depend upon three principal considerations, 

 the personal preferences of the grower, the purposes of the orchard and 

 the locality. Failure to regard any one of these points will eventually 

 bring failure to the orchard. 



The personal preferences of tbe grower are of much more importance 

 than is generally given them, A man will usually take gTcater care and 

 pains with his orchard and make it more succcessful if it contains 

 varieties which he likes best. This is especially so in the case of the 

 small home orchard. There are a number of varieties which are con- 

 sidered valuable, high quality apples, but all have a few favorite varieties 

 and if these are adaptable to the locality and to the purpose intended, 

 they should be the varieties chosen. 



The second consideration, the purpose of the orchard or the nature 

 of the market to be supplied, is one which has been greatly under- 

 estimated in scores of Michigan orchards, and points to one primary 

 reason why so many of them are so badly neglected and unprofitable. 

 If the orchard is to be a home orchard, it should contain varieties afford- 

 ing a succession of fruits for as large a part of the year as possible. 

 They should all be of high qualit}^, part suitable for dessert and part 

 suitable for cooking. Size, appearance and productivity may wisely be 

 sacrificed to some extent, although these are exceedingly desirable quali- 

 ties and contribute much to the satisfaction that the fruits should give. 



The commercial orchardist must be governed in his choice of varieties 

 by the demands of the market which he expects to supply. If his market 

 is a local and select one, the orchard should contain varieties that afford 

 a succession and are prolific bearers of good sized, good quality, and in 

 most cases, attractive appearing fruit. The commercial orchardist, who 

 purposes to dispose of his fruit in the general market, has a problem 

 of his own. He must understand that markets differ largely in their re- 

 quirements; as for instance, many eastern cities prefer white peaches, 

 while Chicago prefers a yellow peach, Boston craves for Baldwins, New 

 York wants Greenings, Chicago is a large consumer of Damson plums, 

 Milwaukee covets prunes, etc. It must be acknowledged that many 

 varieties which are not considered first-class and in some cases might 

 be called inferior, can be disposed of to good advantage in almost all 

 large general markets, because they are attractive to the eye on account 

 of their size and color. This will always be true to a greater or less 

 extent, still it is gratifying to realize that consumers are gradually cul- 

 tivating their tastes for the better varieties even though they may lack 

 slightly in size and may not be so attractive in color. While there will 

 always be a market for varieties that are not considered standard, the 

 market for the choicer varieties will surely increase and this is the 

 market that will aways give the best returns. 



