228 THE FAT OF THE LAND 



managed, have greater possibilities of rapid de- 

 velopment than roots or stems of more tender 

 age. I think I made no mistake in planting 

 three-year-old trees. 



As I worked in my orchard I could not help 

 looking forward to the time when the trees would 

 return a hundred-fold for the care bestowed upon 

 them. They would begin to bring returns, in a 

 small way, from the fourth year, and after that 

 the returns would increase rapidly. It is safe to 

 predict that from the tenth to the fortieth year a 

 well-managed orchard will give an average yearly 

 income of $100 an acre above all expenses, includ- 

 ing interest on the original cost. A fifty-acre or- 

 chard of well-selected apple trees, near a first-class 

 market and in intelligent hands, means a net 

 income of 15000, taking one year with another, 

 for thirty or forty years. What kind of invest- 

 ment will pay better? What sort of business 

 will give larger returns in health and pleasure ? 



I do not mean to convey the idea that forty 

 years is the life of an orchard ; hundreds of 

 years would be more correct. As trees die from 

 accident or decrepitude, others should take their 

 places. Thus the lease of life becomes perpetual 

 in hands that are willing to keep adding to the 

 soil more than the trees and the fruit take from 

 it. Comparatively few owners of orchards do 

 this, and those who belong to the majority will 

 find fault with my figures ; but the thinking few, 

 who do not expect to enjoy the fat of the land 



