The Canadian Horticulturist. 



CO-OPERATIVE APPLE-GROWING. 



ADVOCATE the extension to apple growing of the prin- 

 ciple of co-operation, which has already been found of 

 so great advantage in other branches, and more especi- 

 ally, so far as farmers are concerned, in the matter of 

 cheese making. This co operation may be on a small 

 or a large ocale. It may be only the friendly union of 

 two or three farmers in a neighborhood, or it may include 

 a township or a whole county, and it may apply to those who have only small 

 orchards as well as, or perhaps even better than, to those who have large ones, 

 for the latter are generally better able to take care of themselves. 



1. Co-operation may well begin with the gaining of knowledge on the 

 subject. The two or three may make it a point to compare notes or exchange 

 ideas and information, and the larger body may hold meetings and secure the 

 presence of those who are able to impart instruction, with regard to the kinds 

 of apples to grow, the best modes of growing them, and the best modes of dis- 

 posing of them. 



2. As a second step, co-operation in buying trees for planting will secure 

 the advantage, not only of lower prices by ordering in larger quantities, but also 

 of greater attention to the order, the prevention of the petty frauds of the " tree- 

 peddler," and greater satisfaction in every way, If I want 50 trees and two of 

 my neighbors want 25 each, each of us will gain by sending in an order for 100 

 trees at the lower rates that are offered for that quantity. This is an obvious 

 and immediate advantage affecting the pocket, and is one that is within the 

 reach of a small number who may choose to unite, as well as of a larger number. 



3. When the orchard is in bearing there may with advantage be co-operation 

 in such a matter as spraying, where the size of the individual orchard does not 

 seem to warrant the providing by each one of a proper spraying pump. Two 

 or three farmers in a neighborhood may purchase a pump and provide the 

 materials between them, or a larger number may arrange with a man who owns 

 an outfit to make a round of their neighborhood at the proper time. Many a 

 farmer neglects to spray his orchard, because he thinks it hardly worth while to 

 get a pump for himself, or because at a busy time he does not want to be both- 

 ered with something that he knows very little about. 



4. When the apples come to be picked and marketed, there is not only a 

 fresh advantage to be gained from co-operation in marketing them, but there is 

 a summing up of all the advantages already gained, the test and realization of 

 the work of the earlier years. The knowledge and information gained, the 

 prudent selection of varieties suitable for the market, the care in training the 

 trees from the first year upward, the spraying, the tilling and manuring of the 

 ground, are all telling upon the crop produced. If the kinds of apples have 



