NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



89 



said, "to find how well the Elberta does 

 with me. It seems hardy and productive." 

 " Have you much leaf curl upon the trees ? " 

 *' No," he said, "very little indeed when I 

 spray the trees with Bordeaux. There is a 

 case in which my spraying has proved a 

 complete success." 



Near Markets. — I find my best markets near 

 home for the sale of my peaches. I find any 

 variety will sell, and I have no express 

 charges or commissions. My son and I are 

 in partnership ; he does the business part of 

 selling and collecting and I attend to the 

 pickers and the care of the orchard. 



Grapes also are all sold in Aylmer, St. 

 Thomas or London. I find a good many 

 shipped up from Grimsby and Winona, but 

 I can get a slight advance upon that 

 stock because mine goes into the shop much 

 fresher from the vineyard. I have been a 

 subscriber to your journal for many years 

 and am putting into practice much of the 

 information gained from it. 



Hired Men for fruit farms, who will do 

 satisfactory work, are fewer than for the 

 grain farm. A man who can plough about 

 trees without breaking the bark, who can 

 plough close to the trees so that little or no 

 work remains for plough or spade, who 

 knows how to handle fruit in picking and 

 carting so as to do it the least amount of 

 injury, is much to be desired. 



The usual wages for men seems to be 

 about $22.00 a month the year around, with 

 house and garden, or about $25.00 a month 

 for eight or ten months with the same privil- 

 eges. Of course this is a minimum price. 

 We believe in gradations of pay according 

 to worth, and when a man proves himself 

 valuable, that value should be recognized by 

 a supplemental amount. One such man we 

 know who gets about $350 per annum be- 

 cause he takes a certain amount of responsi- 

 bility and shows an interest in the success 

 of the enterprise. 



Fruit Farms should pay for the labor from 

 the beginning. No man should think of 

 waiting for an income until his apple, 

 pear or peach trees begin bearing, but 

 should put something in every acre to 

 make it pay the outlay upon it every 

 year. A friend has purchased about 

 one hundred acres of land at a cost of over 

 fifteen thousand dollars ; he has drained it, 

 fertilized it, planted it, and worked it most 

 thoroughly for about ten years, until the 

 capital invested has run up to about 

 $30,000 ! He is waiting for the pear trees 

 to pay back a good income proportionate to 

 the capital invested. Well, they may, if all 

 conditions are favorable, but how much bet- 

 ter could the yearly income from small fruits 

 or other crops between the trees have been 

 made to equal the yearly expenses during 

 these ten years of waiting, so that the capi- 

 tal invested would still be only the original 

 $15,000! He should ponder the old pro- 

 verb : — 



"Who plants pears, 

 Plants for his heirs ! " 



Foreigners who have money to invest 

 should live in Canada a year or two at least, 

 and study conditions. A civil engineer has 

 thirty acres of a fruit farm ; he left a good bus- 

 iness in his own profession, where he was 

 making $2,500 per annum, and bought with- 

 out studying conditions or location. He has 

 wasted five years' income waiting for trees 

 to grow, and now, because they do not yet 

 produce fruit, he wants to sell and go on 

 surveys in South Africa ! But the location 

 was ill-chosen, and goes begging tor a 

 buyer. 



A New Society has been organized at 

 Walkerton this winter through the enter- 

 prise of our director, Mr. A. E. Sherring- 

 ton. He writes that they have a member- 

 ship of more than fifty persons, and that it 

 is the intention to hold a public meeting on 

 the 13th of March. He is seeking in every 



