STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY, 3 1 



THE CARE OF THE ORCHARD. 

 By R. H. LiBBEY, Newport. 



THE IMPORTANCE OF IT. 



The subject that is alloted me is the importance of orchard 

 culture. Now that is but a small part. Had I time to take it 

 from the seed, and carry it through till you roll up the checks or 

 bank bills, I could explain better my way, — but this of mine is 

 only the importance. Now at the swell places, and this seems 

 to be one, the first course is soup. Now the secretary has seen 

 fit to put me on as the soup part, and I represent the soup part of 

 this, — just simply the opening. 



The importance of orchard culture is but one thing and that 

 is the commercial value, — nothing more. I have no right to go 

 on and tell how, the manner, the fertilizer to use, — that is not in 

 my part ; it is simply the importance. Now the importance of 

 orchard culture is the value that you can get out of it. It used 

 to be different years ago. In my boyhood days, when apples 

 were not as plenty, we cultivated our orchards for fruit for our 

 own use, but that has gone by. Such a change has come about 

 in fruit, it has become so much better, that there is always a 

 plenty of good nice fruit without much cultivation for home use, 

 and now the cultivation is for what we can get out of it. A man 

 in my town who was eighty years old, only a few years ago set an 

 orchard. He didn't think he would live to get any fruit, but he 

 did live to old age and got some fruit from his seedlings, a little 

 more than he had use for at home, — and sold it for twenty-five 

 cents a barrel for cider. He passed away. The property came 

 into his son's hands and I advised his son to graft those trees. 

 He didn't set them in a square as an orchard, but he set them 

 round the fences. Living in a corner he had two sides, and 

 between his field and pasture he had 200 trees of seedlings, seed- 

 lings that he got from pummace by the side of the road, and not 

 over and above thrifty but still they lived and did well. The 

 orchard changed hands, the farm changed hands, and the man 

 that is on it now did graft it a few years ago and it has com- 

 menced to bear. This year he had about 75 barrels from them ; 

 the year before he had 199 trees grafted and about 175 barrels. 



