FARMERS' MONTHLY OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTl^ 



A Future I'ulicy To^'iird Apple A'nrieties 



Continued from page 3, column 3 

 It is the intent of this article to consider 

 only those trees which are unprofitable 

 because of variety, — those trees whose 

 fruit the public is not willing to buy at a 

 fair price. 



There may be room in the orchard of 

 the amateur for a fairly wide range of 

 varieties, but occasionally the larger buy- 

 er of nursery stock takes the catalog too 

 litei-ally and assumes that the behavior of 

 a variety in Virginia or Missouri will be 

 duplicated in New England. Then too, 

 an enormous mixture has resulted from 

 the sale in past years of misnamed trees. 

 One example comes to mind, — 11.5 trees 

 supposedly Gravenstein, have recently 

 come into bearing and have turned out to 

 be what is known as a "fake" Graven- 

 stein, an apple of very little value. Ob- 

 viously the thing to do with regard to 

 future plantings is to exercise the utmost 

 caution in selecting trees, and to limit 

 the variety list. 



Don't Be Kxtreme 



But it is possible to go to extremes in 

 that direction. Certainly three varieties 

 are better than thirty, but too great a re- 

 duction in the number of varieties may 

 result in pollination troubles. Planting 

 an isolated block of one variety is not re- 

 commended. And when we understand 

 better ju.st how and why one tree sets a 

 full crop of fruit and another does not, 

 we shall undoubtedly pay more attention 

 to the arrangement of varieties in our 

 orchards than we are doing at the present 

 time. But in.stead of planting every se- 

 cond or third tree of a different variety, 

 an occasional solid row to provide for 

 cross-pollination, appears to be the better 

 plan. 



Without question the Mcintosh apple 

 is as profitable as any variety grown in 

 Massachusetts. But to limit one's entire 

 planting to that one variety is a question- 



able procedure to say the least. For in 

 addition to the question of pollination, 

 the grower must consider such matters 

 as keeping the market supplied and his 

 facilities for handling a variety which 

 requires special treatment. Occasionally 

 a good local demand offers an excuse for 

 growing certain varieties otherwise un- 

 profitable. We cannot therefore afford 

 to eliminate every odd tree on the farm, 

 but in a great many cases it should be 

 possible to reduce to a minimum the num- 

 ber of tres which are unpopular and un- 

 profitable because they are unknown to 

 the public. 



Don't Junk Unless Sure 



In conclusion, our future policy toward 

 apple varieties is such that we are not 

 likely to "junk" one variety until we have 

 found something better. For example we 

 are not sure as yet that the Cortland 

 apple is vastly superior to the Baldwin, 

 and until we are sure we shall strive to 

 improve our Baldwins. Also, we are not 

 convinced that the Delicious is adapted to 

 our conditions. If successful, it will re- 

 quire heavier fertilization and more thin- 

 ning than most of our other varieties. 

 For these reasons we .shall hesitate in 

 making our new plantings of Delicious, 

 especially on the lighter soils. Further- 

 more, we feel reasonably sure that a good 



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HART SCHAFFNER AND I 



Good Equipment Makes 

 Good Farmers Better" 



MARX CLOTHES 



set of fruit is more likely in orchards 

 where pollen can be carried from one 

 compatible variety to another by bees. 

 We know too, that the market has certain 

 preferences, — that folks will not buy an 

 Alexander if they can get a Gravenstein. 

 Our future plantings must take all of 

 these facts into consideration. And as re- 

 gards present plantings, wherever there 

 stands a reasonably young and vigorous 

 tree whose fruit for one reason or another 

 is not desirable, the owner should waste 

 no time top-grafting it to something bet- 

 ter. Intelligent handling of the variety 

 question has much to do with the future 

 of the fruit industry in New England. 



W. H. Thies 



You Can't 

 Sell Rats— 



WHY FEED 

 THEM? 



"In the United States, 

 rats and mice each year 

 destroy crops and other 

 property valued at over 

 $200,000,000."— U. S. 

 Dept. of Agriculture. 



Rats are costly boarders 

 — so costly that building 

 them out with concrete 

 costs far less in the long 

 run than continually 

 feeding them. 



Build Out Rats 

 With Concrete! Do 

 the Work Yourself 



Rats won't stay where 

 they can't get intobuild- 

 ings — and they can't 

 gnaw concrete. 



Ask for our new booklet 

 "Permanent Repairs on 

 the Farm" and start now 

 to build out rats. It pays. 



PORTLAND CEMENT 

 ASSOCIATION 



A national organization to improve and 



extend the uses of concrete 



10 High Street 



BOSTON 



Concrete for Permanence 



