146 An American Fruit-Farm 



be done with it is to cover heavily with stable 

 manure to secure hiunus, and to apply the com- 

 mercial fertiHzers more generously than elsewhere 

 on the farm. It is the most expensive spot on the 

 plantation. If such spots are many, you better 

 own some other land, for this spot is expensive to 

 work, difficult to keep in health, unfriendly to 

 tree or vine, and productive, if at all, of fruit small 

 in quantity and poor in quality. Some fruit- 

 growers choose such hillocks for orchard sites, 

 under the unreasonable tradition that trees like 

 hillsides and hilltops. Doubtless you can raise 

 trees — ^rather poor trees, — but you will have 

 difficulty in raising fruit on such spots. Some 

 fruit-growers, knowing no better, and owning many 

 such barren cones, think they are raising fruit. 

 As a man thinks so is he, and, it may be added, so 

 he believes his fruit to be. In selecting land for a 

 fruit-farm, one must remember the true value 

 of' hillocks. A hillside is different, for an entire 

 fruit region may be a hillside. 



I have reached the conclusion that in fruit- 

 growing all cultivation should obey the advice 

 of the old Greeks. ''Much but not too much.'* 

 But a Greek maxim, like Greek morals, must be 

 taken in a Greek sense. Much but not too much 

 is another way of saying ''Enough.'' The test of 

 the whole matter is simple : The tree is known by 

 its fruit. In horticultiu-e luxurious growth of 

 wood-stock and abundant fruit mark "Enough." 

 Any tree, vine, or shrub on a neglected fruit-farm 



