THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART XI. 667 



In conclusion: Get good, honest trees with plenty of good and hardy 

 roots as near home as possible. Your home nurseryman will be glad to 

 receive your order and will do better by you than those from a distance. 

 Buy a thrifty medium sized tree rather than a stunted or an overgrown large 

 one. The nurseryman and the planter must work hand in hand. Remem- 

 ber "in union there is strength" and when the nurseryman and planter 

 join hands and work in union they are both bound to succeed. Every 

 honest tree that a nurseryman sells is an honor to his name, while every 

 honest tree the planter plants is a living monument to his memory. 



FRUIT RAISING. 



"H\ 0. Mitchell, before the Adams County Farmers' Institute. 



In 1896 the writer had about twenty acres of rough land near Corn- 

 ning worth probably about $40 per acre. Partly for profit but more for 

 experiment than anything else, he decided to plant a portion of it to fruit 

 trees. The first year he broke up about six acres and put out fifty peach 

 trees of different varieties, 100 plums of different varieties, 500 Early 

 Richmond cherries, 200 Mount Morancey cherries, 40 Jonathan and 35 

 Grimes Golden apples. The ground was planted to corn and a fair crop 

 raised. The trees did well with the exception of the Early Richmond 

 cherries all of which leaved out and then died. This I attributed to two 

 causes, first, imperfect trees which had not been properly cared for after 

 having been taken from the ground and second, the lateness of the season 

 when they were transplanted, which was about May 1st. I think that 

 cherry trees should be set out as soon as the frost is out of the ground in 

 the spring and ground dry enough to work. 



The next year the party of whom I bought the cherry trees replaced 

 the Early Richmond but sent me a mixed lot of rather inferior trees. 1 

 also put out 400 Wragg cherries, 75 pears of different varieties and about 

 50 more plums. Each year I replanted what died, blew down or were 

 destroyed by gophers, borers or other causes. Then came the hard winter 

 of 1898, when all my peaches were killed almost to the roots and many 

 entirely destroyed. Many of the plums, a few cherries, some pears and 

 apples were also killed. I again replanted and have had no trouble with 

 winter killing since. In 1901 we had a good crop of peaches. All the trees 

 old enough bear heavily, some of them several bushels each, which sold 

 readily at $1.50 to $2.00 per bushel. I think the Alexander, Bokara No. 

 3 and the Elhuta the best and I know of no more promising fruit than the 

 peach in this locality on a limited scale. The plums do fairly well but 

 unless used for a chicken yard or regularly sprayed the fruit is inferior 

 and unprofitable. The pears are thrifty and of late healthy. For the first 

 year or two they were subject to blight. They have bloomed heavily but 

 bear only a few pears. I think, however, they are worth experimenting 

 with on a small scale. The cherries are just beginning to bear. The 



