THE AGE OF BEARING TREES. 



NE of the greatest disappoint- 

 ments to the one not con- 

 versant with the subject, and 

 who wishes to plant fruit 

 trees, is to find that he cannot begin 

 plucking fruit from the trees the year 

 after he plants them. I have witnessed 

 this disappointment in so many that I am 

 quite prepared for it when the question 

 is asked of me. It happened recently 

 that a lady asked me how long it would 

 take an apple tree to bear which she had 

 just planted. The tree appeared to be 

 a four year-old one, and was about 

 seven feet high and fairly headed. I 

 answered, " It will be about ten years." 

 She thought this a dreadful long while 

 to wait, but the only consolation I could 

 give her was that she would possibly see 

 fruit on it in five years, but it would be 

 ten before it would bear what might be 

 termed a crop. I am satisfied that what 

 I said was right. There is but little 

 fruit to be looked for from the apple 

 and the pear until ten years from the 

 time of planting has gone by. I have 

 in mind some pear trees planted by me 

 seventeen years ago, and, though fruit 

 has been gathered from them every year 

 since they were planted, they have not 

 yet reached perfection of growth. I 

 think about two bushels per tree would 

 be about what they bore this year. I 

 find it always consoles amateurs to tell 

 them that some fruit may be expected 

 every year from pears. 



With apples the fruiting is rather slow- 

 er. There need be none whatever looked 

 for for two or three years after a four- 

 year-old tree has been set out, and the 

 full bearing period will be as much 



behind it. The cherry is much like the 

 pear. Some fruit appears to cheer the 

 heart of the owner as soon as the tree is 

 planted, and there is a continuance of 

 it every year, it being a fruit tree that 

 rarely misses a crop. The plum stands 

 between the pear and the apple. It 

 does not start bearing at once, but in 

 favorable situations, where good but not 

 rampant growth is made, a few years 

 bring along the flowers and fruit. 

 Peach trees will often produce flowers 

 from a shoot but one year old from the 

 bud, and it is one of the earliest^ bearing 

 of all tree fruits. It is a tree which 

 should be set out by all impatient par- 

 ties, as it brings them something and 

 interests them while waiting for the 

 slower ones to come along. 



Quinces will sometimes bear in four 

 or five years, at other times they will 

 stand still for several years, and take 

 nearly ten before bearing but a few 

 fruit. Whenever I find one who asks 

 my opinion on the length of time he 

 will have to wait, if he be of the 

 despondent kind I recommend that 

 some pears and peaches be planted. 

 And besides telling this, I see that the 

 Bartlett is on the pear list, as it bears at 

 once, every year a good crop and cannot 

 be excelled for quality And besides 

 telling persons just how long they must 

 wait for their trees to bear, it is well 

 that they should understand that good 

 cultivation pays. A well-fed and well- 

 tended fruit tree may be a little slower 

 in fruiting than a starved one, but in 

 the end it will be a better tree and give 

 finer fruit.— Practical Farmer. 



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