FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 105 



done well and done on time. In the matter of spraying, for instance, 

 the delay of a week may make all the difference between success and 

 failure in preventing injuries by codling-moth, apple-scab, pear-blight 

 and other fungus diseases and insect pest of fruit trees. In the matter 

 of cultivation, not infrequently a difference of three days, especially if 

 an inopportune rain should come, may result in such a growth of weeds 

 that the tools will not destroy them, and they may make such a start 

 as to make it unprofitable to pull them by hand, while if they are not de- 

 stroyed the crops will be a failure. 



Fruit growing has always been more or less high-class farming. It 

 has been largely undertaken by bright and observing men, who as a 

 rule are more interested in their profession than the ordinary farmer. 

 This does not mean that there are not capable and even brilliant men 

 engaged in plain farming and stock raising ; still, as a rule, the men who 

 take up fruit growing as their specialty are above the average in energy 

 and intelligence. 



Assuming that a fairly good location, all things considered, is avail- 

 able, one of the most important matters is the selection of suitable kinds 

 or varieties of fruits. Where there are growers in the same section 

 already engaged in the business, one should, by all means, study closely 

 their mistakes and successes and endeavor to select varieties and species 

 that succeed, for no amount of care can ever fully counteract the lack 

 of adaptability to soil and climate so prominent with many varieties of 

 fruits. Mistakes in planting the wrong kinds should be corrected as 

 quickly as discovered. One of the earmarks of intensive methods in 

 horticulture is the prompt pulling out of orchards which are a failure. 

 Careless growers will continue blocks of trees year after year, even 

 though they acknowledge that their planting was a mistake. The small 

 crops obtained annually keep leading them on to spare the trees al- 

 though no profit is derived. Unprofitable trees should be either top 

 worked to some profitable kind as soon as possible, as with pears and 

 apples and even sometimes with peaches and plums; or else they should 

 be promptly pulled out and something found to take their places. 



The thorough preparation of the land is a very important process in 

 planting out orchards and small fruits. Frequently fruit growers are 

 in such a hurry to plant that they are obliged, against their better judg- 

 ment, to set out trees on ground unfitted by tillage for their reception. 

 Trees to do their best need to have the land in a high state of culture 

 when they are planted. It is wise to anticipate planting by two or three 

 years and practice a rotation of crops which will bring the soil into per- 

 fect condition. Deep plowing cannot be done in the orchard, but is by 

 all means to be advised in the years preceding planting. The turning 

 under of green manures and the growing of hoed crops is advisable. 

 On rich land or new land which needs subduing, corn is a very good 

 crop to plant. It will show the poor spots that need extra manure and 

 frequently will develop the wet areas which need drainage. 



Tillage is the basis of success in horticulture as well as in general 

 agriculture, good plowing, turning over the land when it is in a satis- 

 factory crumbly condition, not so wet as to become pasty and harden 

 into clods nor so dry that it will not pulverize before the plow. The 

 skillful use of the proper type of harrow is one of the most important 

 operations on the farm. Harrows are now made in such a great variety 



