46 



labor on the farm, would feel insulted. Some of our pickers 

 have been with us every year that we have had peaches. 



I was once asked the question, if I thought I would 

 have succeeded in any other locality. That was hard to 

 -answer. I am in the business because I love the work and 

 realized there was a great possibility in peach culture near 

 our home farm. Our local conditions were about as ideal 

 -as any I knew, and also having other local interests in mind, 

 I was content to settle near the home farm. 



I remember once at a meeting, I think it was here in 

 Worcester, Prof. Rane said he was planting an orchard of 

 apple trees in a Western state. Mr. J. H. Hale asked him 

 why he went West — why he did not stay in New England 

 where they had the best markets on earth, the purest air, 

 and where man really lives. Prof. Rane replied he went 

 West because it was his old home, and there was a love in 

 his heart for the home place. Mr. Hale said he had always 

 liked the Professor, but now he loved him because he loves 

 the old home, and any man who loves the West enough to 

 go there and plant an orchard, he certainly hoped would 

 succeed. 



I believe we have got to break away in many cases from 

 the old customs. Farmers have been slow in experimenting 

 — they were content with the old traditions and methods of 

 their forefathers. When I told one of my neighbors I was go- 

 ing to give up my dairy and devote my whole time to or- 

 charding, he said the farm would soon run down and we 

 could not afford to buy needed fertilizers. When I came on 

 my place, eighteen years ago, the farm had one field of eight 

 acres that had been well tilled, one field of twenty-five acres 

 that had been allowed to run down, some of the best fields 

 not having been ploughed for thirty years, all the hay that 

 -grew was removed and no fertilizer put back. The former 

 owner had tried peaches and said they were not a success. 

 I was not to be turned down, so started an apple orchard 

 of Baldwins, using peach as fillers, gradually other orchards 

 "were planted, until we have the farm practically covered, 

 the more level ground being kept for peach — the steeper 

 slopes for apple trees. Last spring an orchard of one hun- 

 dred Sour Cherry was planted. There is a great demand for 

 this fruit, and it is a very reliable bearer, the buds being 

 more hardy than the peach, yet we find but very few who 

 Are planting this fruit, commercially. Our orchards are 



