THE SUCCESSFUL ORCHARD. 365 



The honorable American apple is here to stay. It is a kindly 

 fruit, and the morale of it is wholesome and good. With the rare 

 combination of soil and climate, sunshine and frost, which makes 

 our state justly celebrated for the best bread and butter in the 

 world, and which develops sturdiness, quality and character in men, 

 the apple is no longer regarded as a coming product. It is already 

 here. 



Summary. 



Prepare the ground well. 



Plant trees established on hardy, thrifty roots. 



Plant deep. 



Protect the tree by winding with burlap. 



Cultivate for moisture and to keep the weeds down. 



A tree when it comes into bearing may be estimated as worth 

 $5.00 to $25.00. 



A good tree will pay a large interest on this valuation. 



Hilly land may be made valuable by planting to orchard. 



Marketing is important. Fruit should be put up attractively. 



The apple is here to stay. It is a success. We nee^ it! We 

 want it ! We have it ! 



I have talked with a number of orchardists about the value of 

 their trees when they come into bearing. Mr. Howard' says he 

 would not take $25 for a tree when it comes into bearing. If he 

 has 100 trees it must represent an investment of $2,500 and bring 

 him a profit of $150.00 to pay the interest. In a recent issue of 

 the "Farmer" I came across an article written by Mr. McGinnis 

 (many of you know him; he reports upon the fruit region in Wash- 

 ington), in which he cites several instances of the value of an 

 orchard. He speaks of one case in which a farmer sold his fruit 

 on the tree for $550 an acre, and the profit to him was $400. That 

 seems a very large sum, yet I think we can do one-third as well 

 in Minnesota, especially when you take into consideration the splen- 

 did fruit display the state of Minnesota had at St. Louis, which 

 compared favorably with the best fruit grown in the famous fruit 

 producing regions of the country. 



Now, we will estimate the cost of a tree when it comes into 

 bearing. We will say that a two year or three year old tree can 

 be bought for 50 cents. Planting we will say costs 25 cents 

 more, which would make 75 cents. That pays for the cost and the 

 planting of the tree. Then the care and cultivation of the tree the 

 first year, perhaps, costs 25 cents more, which is only a compara- 

 tive estimate, but that makes the cost of the tree at the end of the 

 first year $1.00. The second year we will add 25 cents more 

 for care and cultivation, which will make your tree cost $1.25 at 

 the end of the second year, and we will add the same amount for 

 the care of the tree the third year, which brings it up to $1.50. 

 This carries you up to the fourth year, when the tree begins to 



