FRUIT CULTURE. 737 



(we have seen bread of a quality that might be regarded as the weapon of death;) yet we 

 believe that the use of bread even could be dispensed with in a family with fewer injurious 

 results than that of fruit. The apple and grape stand first among the fruits of the northern 

 climate, both in their capacity for production, and their great value as food; being not only 

 heathful, but nutritious; and if our farmers generally would look at this subject in its proper 

 light, in a sanitary, aesthetic, and financial point of view, we believe a more active interest 

 would be taken in it, and new and thrifty orchards would be seen where now there are none 

 or only those of an inferior quality, and many a country home be supplied with an abundance 

 of choice fruit, that has formerly had but a limited quantity, and perhaps that only of the 

 most indifferent quality. &quot;We would say to farmers generally, cultivate more fruit, and not 

 only this, but fruit of the best kind. It costs no more to grow choice than inferior fruits. 

 Trees and vines of a poor variety extract as much fertility from the soil and require as much 

 care, as those of the very best quality; therefore, in an economical point of view, it is better 

 to plant the very best varieties, although they may perhaps be most expensive at first in 

 purchasing. 



Of course, the lack of interest in fruit culture can be imputed to only a portion of the 

 farmers of the country, but we regret to know that this is by far the largest portion, and those 

 who appreciate this department of agriculture, and appropriate a fair portion of their lands 

 to its use, compared with other products, are greatly in the minority. While a farm with 

 out fruit is deficient in one of the choicest products, its culture may be carried to the other 

 extreme on some farms, and cease to be a means of profit. No farmer with a just view of 

 his business would think of devoting a half or two-thirds of a farm designed for a variety of 

 products, to orchards. The same may be true of any single product of the soil, but the 

 &amp;lt;; golden mean&quot; or what might be termed the &quot;happy medium,&quot; between the two extremes, 

 that of no fruit at all, and an unprofitable supply or surplus, will be found not only a 

 source of health and comfort, but profit. There is also much enjoyment as well as profit 

 attending the duties of fruit culture, an undefined something which results in ennobling and 

 refining the nature of man, creating a taste for the beautiful, as well as the good, for: 



&quot;The good is always beautiful 

 The beautiful is good.&quot; 



Hon. Marshall P. Wilder, who has done so much for the advancement of fruit culture 

 in this country, both as a private citizen and as a public official of the American Pomological 

 Society for over thirty years, says in this connection: 



&quot; I know of no better temporal acquisition than a happy rural home, a home where you 

 may sit amid the fruiting of your trees and the blossoming of your plants, a home embel 

 lished by your own taste, and endeared by pleasures shared in common with the loved ones 

 of your family a happy country home, with trees and fruits and flowers, where you may 

 find enjoyment, not in hungry greed for gold, not in the conflicts for political distinction, not 

 in the strife for place, power, or renown. For more than fifty years I have trod the crowded 

 marts of trade and commerce. I have shared in the privileges and perplexities of public 

 service, and I have enjoyed the soul-reviving sympathy of family and friends, but I have 

 never forgotten my first love for rural life. Oh, no; whenever I could rescue a little time 

 from the cares of business, whether at rosy morn, golden noon, or declining day, I have fled 

 to the garden and greenhouse, to my favorite trees and plants, that I might commune and 

 co-operate with nature in her secret laboratory of wonder-working power. This is my idea of 

 a happy, rural home; and this my idea of a happy man, he who is contented with fruits and 

 flowers reared by his own care, with congenial friends, and a good conscience towards God 

 and his fellow-men. And it has ever appeared to me that contentment and happiness were 

 easily to be acquired by all who really love the cultivation of these lovely objects.&quot; 



Among the early things that require attention from the farmer in establishing a home,. 



