110 



pers to England find it one of the most profitable for their purposes. It turns out one of 

 the best fall apples, and it realizes a good price. With me, among winter apples, the King 

 of Tompkins has succeeded among the best. The Baldwin is also one of my best. I find 

 that our success depends upon the cultivation and the soil. I believe that my friend from 

 Picton has been sowing grain in his orchard. The Russet that Mr. Peck refers to is growing 

 on a sandy loam. I believe that it succeeds very well there. But my Russets, grown in 

 a limestone soil, are a failure. They get a good lot of blossoms in the spring, but I get 

 very little fruit, and even the fruit that [ do get is of an inferior quality. They are the 

 American Golden Russet. I would not plant any more of them on my soil. 



Mr. John B Williams (Bloomfield). — My soil is loamy, something of a dry nature, 

 though very deep — you can dig probably twenty-five feet in it. The dry years do not 

 afiect the trees very much. Almost all varieties of apple will grow on this soil ; but 

 I have a variety of soils in several orchards. Some is a heavy clay soil. I have not 

 succeeded on that as well as on the others, although it is on the same farm. On that 

 I planted -300 Rhode Island Greenings, and there was only one tree lived of the whole. 

 They grew well until they got to be five years old, when a warm rain coming in the 

 fall, they continued to grow, and the leaves continued on them until the early frost came. 

 In 1878 there were three days in November that the frost was very severe. Some of the 

 trees sprouted the next year, and I thought they would recover. But the next year 

 was also very severe, and they were destroyed entirely. 



Mr. President DEiiPSEY. — What is the probable profit from orchard culture in your 

 experience, taking into consideratien all the failures 1 



Mr. Williams. — The Golden Russet I find very profitable. It stands at the head. 

 I think it was about ten years ago that I planted an orchard of about 100 trees. I think 

 four years ago I got 150 barrels of apples from it. This went up to 170 or 180 barrels ; 

 last fall I got about 1 50 ; and this year they are setting very nicely. This was on about 

 three acres. 



Mr. President Dempsey. — After planting, how long would it take three acres of 

 orchard to pay its own expense and begin to yield you a profit ; and after it does begin 

 to yield you a profit, what would be the probable percentage of profit ? 



Mr. Williams. — The profits are increasing gradually. I think in about six years 

 I realized from the three acres about $100 in fruit; and each of the two last years the 

 three acres gave me about $500. I have succeeded very nicely with the Bailey Sweeting. 

 For shipping, I have realized about as much from it as from anything. I would recom- 

 mend for planting in this section, the Golden Russet, Ben Davis, Northern Spy, Talman 

 Sweet and Bailey Sweet, and the Westfield Seek-no-further. I have tried the Wagener 

 very extensively ; and it appears to blight in the summer, something like the pear. It 

 stands the winter all right. I have tried the Yellow Bell-flower, and it is all right, and 

 has been all the way through. I have some 500 trees of the Duchess of Oldenburg. I 

 sell the fruit from them in Montreal. I shipped some to Glasgow, and they went through 

 very nicely. The Duchess of Oldenburg is giving me great satisfaction. I have found 

 it profitable. I have tried a great many different varieties of apples, and I get more 

 pounds to the bushel of the Duchess of Oldenburg than of any other variety I have ever 

 tried. The American Golden Russet I generally call the English Golden Russet. I see 

 it is laid down in some of the American catalogues as such. 



Mr. President Dempsey. — I have observed, in this section of the country that, 

 apples succeed on soils that nothing else will grow on. I was in company with Mr. 

 Young, last fall, driving through the County of Hastings ; and I discovered an apple tree 

 there that was beautifully loaded with fruit, nearly every specimen of which was first- 

 class, although it was growing on a drifting sand, near a pine stump, from which the 

 sand had been blown away, and the necessity of using a stump extractor being thus avoided. 

 I find, almost invariably, where fruits have failed, or where parties have not succeeded 

 in orchard culture, that they have selected a site either where the soil was too shallow or 

 where it was so heavy that it would maintain a late autumn growth. I think that if 

 you observe this point particularly, this discussion will lead you to be fully convinced 

 that this is the cause of so many people failing to make profit out of orchard culture. 

 Mr. Graham is succeeding in introducing apples upon a heavy soil ; but the position is 



