34 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



THE PLANTING OF A COMMERCIAL ORCHARD IN 

 MASSACHUSETTS. 



BY PROF. F. C. SEARS, AMHERST, MASS. 



I presume it will come as a surprise to most of you when 

 I say that I propose to make my own experience the l)asis 

 of my remarks to you this afternoon, because a " professor " 

 is not supposed to have experiences, but is expected to speak 

 from a purely theoretical standpoint. However, perhaps 

 some of those present are aware that the past spring Profes- 

 sor Waugh and I started a counncrcial orchard in South Am- 

 herst, a few miles from the Agricultural College, and it is 

 about our work in this orchard and the problems which we 

 have encountered and solved that 1 want to tell you. I trust 

 you will pardon the personal pronouns that I shall be obliged 

 to use, for, w^hen all is said and done, it is what we have 

 ourselves actually done, not what we ha^'e seen others do, or 

 think ought to be done, which gives our opinion weight. 



Stated briefly, our undertaking is as follows : we have 

 purchased 150 acres of land, upon which w^e set the past 

 spring some 5,500 trees, — ap})le, peach and plum, and w^e 

 have ordered for setting the coming spring about 8,000 trees. 

 Now, I mention this not to boast of the size of our project, 

 but that you may have an idea at the start of what we have 

 done and are planning to do ; for while you may question 

 our judgment, you will at least see that we are willing to take 

 our own prescriptions, which is not always the case when 

 doctors prescribe. 



To begin with, may I suggest one or two considerations 

 which led us to go into commercial orcharding, and to under- 

 take it on the lines we ha\'e adopted. Of course we have 

 both of us always had a strong belief in the business of grow- 



