256 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



try is most desirable in which to settle. About trim- 

 ming and grafting and budding and mulching I 

 know nothing, excepting what I got out of your book 

 on the Orchard. Can you spend time to give me 

 a few hints? " 



To this young man I answered, " Go to Cornell 

 University, or some other agricultural college for two 

 years, where you can learn the latest information 

 about varieties, how to plant trees as well as select 

 them, and how to handle your fruit and market it. 

 After you have secured this training you can buy 

 property safely either in New England or in New 

 York or in Missouri or in Michigan, while Colo- 

 rado and the Pacific States are very tempting. This 

 year all our apples are in Oregon, Washington, and 

 California. This has to do partly with careless 

 apple growing and it has to do with insects and 

 fungus, and how to ward off the effects of a warm 

 March. 



" Scientific apple growing should yield one hun- 

 dred dollars to each tree, every four years, but ig- 

 norant apple growing will leave you out of pocket. 

 A good apple tree, well cared for, should yield four 

 to eight barrels of apples per year. Now what you 

 want to find out is the best yielders and those that 

 bear annually." My readers can pick out of this 

 letter and my response a whole lot of information 

 that is not on the surface. 



Another letter reads, " We are two women, teach- 

 ers, tired out, and we want to get where we shall be 



