Ill 



THE PLANTING OF THE FRUIT-FARM 



WHETHER in the wild or under cultivation, 

 climate determines the survival, and there- 

 fore the selection, of varieties. Soil merely holds 

 what climate permits to grow. Exposure, slope, 

 wind-ways, moisture, are details of climate. A 

 multitude of varieties means the multiplication of 

 weak stock; survivals are known as standard varie- 

 ties, vigorous, and, with ordinary care, producing 

 fruit. A variety, unadapted to a locality, struggles 

 for existence and becomes a mere shade-tree. Cato, 

 in one of his * ' Fragments, * ' says : ' ' Trees that bear 

 fruit are happy ; those which do not bear, unhappy. " 

 Perhaps this means varieties adapted to location. 

 Planted in deep, rich soil, the standard variety fruits 

 productively, or, as the old Roman would say, 

 "happily. *' A hillside may be, and usually is, wet 

 and springy; even a slope may lack under-drainage. 

 In setting the fruit-plantation, one must consider 

 drainage, exposure, direction of prevailing winds, 

 nearness of woods and forest as windbreaks, open 

 spaces of lake, river, or valley, and the habit of 

 the plant, be it tree, shrub, bush, or vine. 



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