THE FARMER AND HORTICULTURE. 289 



my pains, and the pains are not all past yet. Mister, I have made a 

 vow that I will never invest another dollar in nursery stock while I 

 own this place. The fact is, had I saved the money that I have 

 squandered in such investments it would be sufficient to buy all 

 the fruit my family could use during - their natural lifetime. I am 

 wholly discouraged along this line." 



But the agent is not discouraged for he has so frequently met 

 with this same complaint and has so often found such conditions a 

 fine opening for a deal that he is rather pleased to meet with so 

 little opposition ; and after the usual rehearsal retires from the scene, 

 congratulating himself on having secured another forty dollar order. 



This has been the farmer's way, and this is only one case among 

 many hundreds of like nature. There seems to be a peculiar fascina- 

 tion associated with the work of tree planting and fruit growing 

 that makes it difficult for one who has once tasted the fruits pro- 

 duced by the labor of his own hands to confess himself defeated in 

 his attempts to supply himself with this pleasing diet, and so he 

 tries again and again. 



Past experiences have proven that the ordinary farmer is not a 

 success as a horticulturist. If this were necessarily so, there would 

 be less room for encouragement and hope ; but it is not. His mis- 

 fortunes have not proceeded wholly from his ignorance. To say 

 that the man of agriculture is less intelligent than other men who 

 pursue different avocations would be to cast unjust reflections upon 

 the capabilities of too many here present. 



There is one primary cause for his failures to make the business 

 of fruit growing a success, namely, neglect ; and not a few honest 

 men when closely questioned have confessed to this fault. This 

 neglect may be attributed to three principal sources, or reasons, 

 namely: lack of time, want of knowledge and lack of interest. The 

 American farmer is a busy man, and it is but natural for him to give 

 the best of his time, thought and energies first to the cultivation of 

 his farm crops and the care of his stock. The little attention de- 

 voted to his orchard and fruit lot is given when the soil is too wet 

 to till and at other odd spells. He has been informed that fruit trees 

 and plants will not thrive without thorough cultivation and close 

 attention better than will his crops of grain. He does not believe 

 this, however, for his shiftless habit has proven this theory false. 



The ordinary farmer does not recognize the products of his 

 orchard as being necessarily a part of the farm crop. And yet the 

 farmer wants fruit; he enjoys it; his family require it; but he is 

 not always willing to give the time necessary to obtain it. From 

 lack of time he fails to study the conditions requisite to the needs 



