172 NEBRASKA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



sideration, the harvesting and marketing of the fruit. By the use of 

 up-to-date methods in each of these phases of orchard management, 

 success is sure to result. What man has done, man may do. 



In many places in the western part of the United States orchard 

 lands are selling as high as a thousand dollars per acre. Much of the 

 land is commanding prices from $400 to $700 per acre. Here in eastern 

 Nebraska, much of the desirable orchard land can yet be purchased 

 for the sum of from $75 to $100 per acre, and there are thousands of 

 acres for sale at a much lower figure. Strange as it may seem, fruit 

 growing, with the possible exception of vegetable gardening, are the 

 only lines of agricultural practice which can be made to pay dividends 

 over and above taxes and interest on the investment, in land valued 

 above $400 an acre. If it is true that our population is increasing, and 

 the report of the Bureau of Commerce shows this to be the case, if it is 

 true that the general value of our lands are rapidly increasing in price, 

 and this is surely apparent to the man who is anxious to invest in land, 

 then this increase in population and value of land commands of our 

 farming population that greater dividends must be paid on the invest- 

 ment. The time will come when land reaches a figure above $200 an 

 acre. Then many will turn to horticulture, for in fruit growing it is 

 easy to pay large dividends on land valued at $200 an acre. With one 

 acre of apple trees twelve to fifteen years 'of age, properly handled, the 

 owner should be able to double the number of acres he owns every year. 

 This cannot be done with any of the ordinary field crops. 



For a number of years the writer maintained the idea that the thing 

 most needed in Nebraska to build up attractive rural conditions was 

 the small family orchard. It was hoped that through the influence of 

 the agricultural press and the Experiment Station bulletins, and the 

 living advocates on the institute platform, that thousands of farmers 

 would be induced to plant and properly care for a small orchard, growing 

 a sufllcient quantity of fruit to supply the needs of the family. After 

 ten years of constantly encouraging this practice, and continually seeing 

 the orchard neglected and abused, the writer has abandoned this idea. 



The technicalities and difficulties in the successful handling of fruit 

 requires co-operation, some outlay of capital and a careful study of the 

 life history and habits of many insects and diseases. The difficulty Tn 

 storing also complicates the problems of commercial apple growing and 

 is equally applicable to the growing of fruit on a small scale. Another 

 condition which has tended to discourage the small orchard is unfor- 

 tunate climatic and soil conditions. Many of the small orchards will 

 never succeed on account of these unfavorable factors. The eastern and 

 especially the southeastern portion of the state is not confronted with 

 these problems. The soil is not too rich. The natural rainfall and other 

 climatic conditions favor the production of better quality of fruit than it 

 if- possible to grow in many of the counties in the central portion of the 

 state. We find this true in nearly every state in the Union, even in the 

 states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, the famous Hood River district. 



