150 An American Fruit-Farm 



then, however, cutting out the underbrush, briers, 

 and weeds. You can recognize these orchards (?) 

 as you drive about the Valley. Perhaps such 

 cultivated wilds may be found in other fruit 

 sections of America, for it is not to be supposed 

 that all the funny fruit-growers are concentrated in 

 one Valley. It is true, though paradoxical, that 

 these are the highest-priced orchards, just as 

 neglected vineyards are always the highest-priced 

 vineyards in the Valley. 



The more neglected the plantation, the higher is 

 its true cost. The cheapest plantation is always 

 the best one. In the cultivation of fruit, trees, 

 shrub, and vine must be protected from enemies, 

 as well as be trimmed and fed. These enemies are 

 insects and fungi. Nature, the law of things and 

 men, in a measure, looks out for her own and sees 

 to it that every insect and fungus too shall have its 

 enemy, fungus and insect feeding on insect and 

 fungus. This is Nature's fine balancing which 

 makes possible the perpetuation of each tree after 

 its kind. For this end Nature does not find it 

 necessary to exterminate every enemy of plant 

 life, or animal life would vanish, including man 

 himself. If the plant manages to reproduce itself 

 by the maturity of a few seeds, and by their ger- 

 mination and continued growth, the cycle of life 

 is made complete. We as nature-mongers, as 

 fruit-growers, are more exacting. We demand fruit 

 of the kind that suits us and far more abundantly 

 than does Nature, therefore insects and fungi are 



