THE FAMILY ORCHARD 183 



so fastidious in his choice. He must grow the apples 

 where he lives, on his own farm, and in reasonable 

 proximity to the house. However, if he is a wise 

 farmer, knows a little about fruit growing, and cares 

 something for his own family, he will select a good 

 soil and site for his fruit garden, knowing that this 

 feature of his work does more to make a home out of 

 his farm than anything else he undertakes. It is piti- 

 ful to see a farm, as one rather frequently sees it, 

 having its orchard located on a rocky, inaccessible 

 knoll too rough for pasturing goats, or in a swampy 

 hollow where neither corn nor potatoes will grow. 

 Sometimes the low, moist site seems to have been 

 chosen in the belief that its superior soil and moisture 

 supply would be a benefit to the apple trees ; but such 

 is, of course, not the fact. Let the family orchard be 

 located conveniently to the house ; let the soil be deep, 

 well drained and fairly fertile ; let the place be capable 

 of good tillage; let the land be gently sloping if 

 possible ; and above all let it not be in the bottom of a 

 hollow, swamp or ravine. 



Taking up next the choice of varieties, we come 

 upon a most radical difference between professional 

 and amateur fruit growing. The commercial grower 

 chooses one or two standard market varieties, which 

 are often those of second or third quality, and sticks 

 strictly to these sorts. The man who grows fruit for 

 his own family use must plant a much larger collection 

 of varieties. He will want some early summer apples, 

 some ripening in fall, others for winter in a word, 

 he will want a complete succession throughout the 

 entire apple season. He will also want to grow 

 apples of the finest quality regardless of the fact that 

 some of these varieties are shy bearers and others are 



