550 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



commercial enterprise is an entirely different proposition. Yet. if we 

 'should look at it from that viewpoint the orchard offers greater induce- 

 ments than the fields of waving grain or golden corn. The average 

 farmer is satisfied when he realizes twenty-five dollars an acre as gross 

 receipts for a crop of corn, and when he raises one hundred bushels an 

 acre and receives fifty cents a bushel for it, he thinks he is on the road 

 to fortune. Yet three thousand quarts of strawberries, at ten cents a 

 quart, are as easily obtained as the one hundred bushels of corn at fifty 

 cents a bushel. While this statement may be verified, you and I know 

 that fortunes are not figured out on paper or picked off bushes, but are 

 only made through years of toil and frugality. 



Having followed the plow for nearly fifty years. I am somewhat fa- 

 miliar with the conditions which surround farm life and with some of 

 the difficulties with w^hich one must contend in that vocation. I know 

 how pressing are the demands of field work and one's time at certain 

 seasons, and how the orchard and garden may be forgotten, or onlj^ re- 

 ceive attention semi-occasionally. on rainy days, when it is too wet for 

 other work. Unfortunately, however, this is a time when it is unsuitable 

 for garden work. 



When properly attended to, the orchard and garden pays a larger 

 dividend than any other acre on the farm. Fruit growing, like stock 

 farming, is a business of itself, and requires thought and experience to 

 make a success of it. 



How to succeed best is the question at issue this afternoon. We can 

 only hope to give you a general outline of the work and then leave it 

 with you to apply to your local conditions. What I have to saj' will 

 apply to the home orchard. No one should venture into commercial fruit 

 growing until he knows what he can do. That also applies to any other 

 business or calling in life. Let your liking for the business determine 

 the extent to which you will engage in it, for that will in a great meas- 

 ure determine your success. 



A high elevation, with dry soil, is the best location for an orchard. 

 It need not be the highest land, but should be higher than the adjoining 

 land, so as to afford good air drainage to protect the blooming plants 

 from late frosts. A northeast or north sloiDe is preferred in selecting a 

 site for an apple orchard, but as these conditions can not always be had 

 on the farm, you must select a place frequently that is not so well 

 adapted to the varities you wish to raise. We would prefer to have the 

 orchard and garden near the house so that the fruit could be gathered 

 every day while in season, without going a great distance. The good 

 housewife will make daily excursions to the fruit garden to see what it 

 contains that will be appetizing to the household. 



After ha\ing selected the location, prepare the soil as thoroughly as 

 you would for a crop of corn. When' the soil is a stiff clay I would use 

 a subsoil plow. Plant as early in the spring as the soil is fit to work. 

 If the trees have been recently dug from the nursery, cut off the end of 

 the roots with a sharp knife; they will callus more quickly and ix)ots 

 start to grow from them. When trees are stored in cellars over winter, 

 the roots will not need trimming, as they usually callus in the storage 



