44 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETV. 



with a great deal of interest all summer and when with its rosy 

 cheek we thought it was ready to be taken from the tree we gathered 

 it and wr.apped it in a woolen cloth, put it into a dark place to 

 ripen. After a few days it was examined and it was decided to be 

 already to test ; the family was called together and the pear cut, it 

 was a Clapp's Favorite and perhaps you can imagine its condition, 

 it had a shell and that was all. That "tree peddler" will always 

 be remembered, so that if we expect to make fruit raising profitable 

 either in money or pleasure, we should be very cautious where we 

 get stock for setting. 



As to varieties, have quite a number of kinds for home use for 

 it is noticeable that those families that are dependent on the market 

 for a supply of apples usually have but one variety in their fruit 

 dish and it is "Hobson's choice, those or none" while the fruit dish 

 of the farmer's or fruit raiser's family will have a half dozen different 

 varieties and it is a great satisfaction to hear one member of the 

 family say, I prefer this kind, t.iking a Mother apple ; another says, 

 a Spy is good enough for me, and still another, I'll take a Bellflower, 

 and so on, each with a fancy of his own. Such an experience is 

 worth just as much in a family when apples are worth but $1.00 

 per barrel as it is when they are quoted at $5.00 and costs no more. 

 Beyond what is wanted for the family have two or three good 

 commercial varieties, so that if there is a demand for the surplus 

 stock it is worth much more by being all of one or two kinds, as 

 buyers prefer to handle large lots of single varieties rather than 

 small lots of many kinds. 



In set'ing the trees the greatest care is necessary to get the lines 

 straight. So far as the planting goes a tree can be set just as well 

 in five minutes after the hole is dug as to be a half hour doing it, 

 but it takes two to do it and do it well. The first few shovelfuls 

 should be worked around the roots by hand and then when the 

 large roots are covered step right in o the hole and tread the soil 

 down just as fast as your attendant can shovel it in. In some 

 localities where exposed to bleak winds in two or three 3'ears there 

 will be a tendency in some of the trees to lean a little out of line. 

 It is a good wa}' in such cases, just as the host is outof the ground 

 in the spring to move the trees back into line and brace them up 

 and by the time the growing season is over it will be all right with- 

 out the brace. In shaping the top and pruning, the habits of 

 growth of the different varieties should be kept in mind that you 



