76 THE KANSAS CHERRY. 



CHERRY ORCHARDS FOR PROFIT. 



It is the opinion of Professor Bailey that cherry culture has not 

 received the attention it deserves in this state. It is his opinion 

 that cherry orchards can be made exceedingly profitable here. Pro- 

 fessor Bailey laments the fact that there are scarcely any cherry 

 orchards in New York state, and that cherry growing as a business is 

 scarcely known here. He can see, however, a growing interest in 

 cherries, occasioned by the success of California fruit-growers in 

 marketing large quantities of California cherries in our large cities 

 and towns at profitable prices, after paying enormous freight-charges 

 for 3000 miles shipment. In California orchards of 50 to 100 acres 

 of cherries are not uncommon, but who ever heard of such orchards 

 in the Eastern or Middle states ; and yet we have land and climate 

 particularly adapted to cherry growing. 



Cherry growing in the Eastern and Middle states is often confined 

 to a few straggling trees in the door-yard or along the fence-rows, 

 where they receive no cultivation ; the owners at no expense for the 

 cherries thus produced. When the fruit ripens the owners are not 

 informed as to the proper methods of gathering, marketing, or the 

 best packages. The cherries are hastily and roughly plucked from 

 the tree, often with stems pulled out of the fruit, thrown into large 

 baskets, and sold promiscuously without grading, and dumped into 

 the market in this unsightly conditition, to bring whatever the ship- 

 per may offer. The shipper who buys these ill-assorted and poorly 

 gathered cherries immediately assorts the fruit, packing the best in 

 boxes, similar to those used by the California growers, selling the 

 second grade to local pie makers, and throwing the culls away. Surely 

 all this work should be done by the fruit-grower. If he should prop- 

 erly manage he would realize twice as much profit. 



There is a growing demand for cherries for eating out of the hand, 

 for pie making, and for canning. An acre of cherries under cultiva- 

 tion will yield an enormous quantity of fruit. This fruit need not be 

 gathered the day it ripens. The Black Tartarian cherry on my place 

 at Rochester hangs on the tree a month. And yet there is a time when 

 cherries for market should be picked, and that is before they become 

 fully matured or colored. 



Many people are deterred from planting cherry orchards owing to 

 the fact that considerable help is necessary to gather a crop of cher- 

 ries, and yet there is scarcely any locality where sufficient help can- 

 not be secured. All such enterprises as this require business ability 

 in the management of labor, in the production of fine fruit, in suit- 

 able packages, and preparation for market. But I doubt if any enter- 



