68 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MY EXPERIENCE WITH MANY KINDS OF FRUIT ON A SMALL 



FARM. 



MR. FARRAND, OF EATON RAPIDS. 



Ladies and Gentlemen : 



The topic assigned me for this aftenioon is "My Experience with 

 Many Kinds of Frnit on a Small Farm." However, the President gave 

 me the liberty of telling what I please and leaving ont what I please, 

 so no one will know the difference. My experience covers a period of 

 several years. First, I met the difficulties with which so many here are 

 familiar — I went into the central part of the state, where climate and 

 market conditions are vastly different than they are in this part of 

 the state. I had to adjust myself to those conditions. 



One should not attempt to grow many kinds of fruit except upon a 

 small farm, and it would be folly to grow various kinds of fruits on a 

 farm located a great distance from the markets or railroad station. 

 In growing many kinds of fruit, one chief point is to get close to town 

 on account of securing help and shipping facilities. I lived very near 

 town and planted nearly all kinds of fruit, not knowing whether they 

 would ever pay, but with the possible exception of one or two varieties, 

 I was successful with them. The first returns came from the straw- 

 berries. I had always grown strawberries, but there were so many 

 grown there and as it was difficult to get them to market readily, I 

 decided not to plant them in large quantities. Another reason which 

 discouraged me in growing many strawberries was the difficulty in secur- 

 ing pickers; with us, at least, boys and girls do not want to pick fruit 

 any more — they won't do it — they will walk up and down the streets 

 in town but you cannot get them out to pick fruit, and those who do 

 come will work for a couple of hours and then complain of the sun 

 being too hot or something else. In growing strawberries the woi*k 

 comes with a rush, as the fruit is very perishable and must be harvested 

 and marketed the same day. 



In the fruit trees. T have cherries and apples, and did have some pears, 

 but cut them out because they were in the way of the apples and while 

 it would look as though those fruits would go well together, they were 

 not satisfactory to me. I only have a few pear trees to furnish fruit for 

 our own use and would never plant them with apples again. I Avould 

 plant them separately in every case. 



At that time there were very few raspberries near my farm, but now 

 there is a large acreage all over that section. T have had no particular 

 experience in growing raspberries, except that I planted the first ones 

 in hills six feet apart, but I have changed my mind and am now satis- 

 fled that I get a larger yield from planting the raspberries seven feet 

 apart and then putting plants close together in rows and renewing the 

 plantation oftener. This has been my experience as the best way to 

 grow raspberries. In this way as yonr older plantation gets old and 

 worn out you have a young plantation coming along that will help sell 



