I 



Time and the Tree 5 



ago. On land worth from four hundred dollars 

 to one thousand dollars an acre we cannot afford 

 to make mistakes, — in selection of variety, in 

 planting, in trimming, in spraying, in soil-making, 

 in cultivation, whatever the detail. On most 

 fruit-farms, — once grain or stock farms, — which 

 may be called "converted farms," the orchard or 

 the vineyard is planted as we would not plant it 

 to-day. Usually trees, vines are set too close 

 together; varieties are poor, ill-adapted to climate 

 or soil or market, and neither orchard nor vine- 

 yard has had the right care. The soil has been 

 depleted ; the vitality of the plant is sub-normal and 

 we must rehabilitate the trees and vines. This 

 may be possible and may be done if truly eco- 

 nomical. But one must carefully count the cost. 

 Can he afford to let the ground, with all its possi- 

 bilities, remain as now occupied, or should he 

 clean it off and start anew? The practical fruit- 

 grower alone can answer this. My own experience 

 is that we cannot afford to let the land do less than 

 its best. Practically it is a question of living; the 

 fruit-grower*s living. Can he afford to have his 

 land in the most appropriate and therefore the 

 most profitable fruit? On expensive land one 

 must raise a relatively profitable crop, and on 

 cheap land one can afford to raise no other. Three, 

 five, seven, ten years quickly pass. The golden 

 rule, the supreme rule of the fruit-farm is, ''Do 

 what ought to be done at the proper time.*' If 

 you are young, you have the credit of youth, — 



