The Cultivation of the Fruit-Farm 155 



apples, another of cherries. Sixty acres of Mont- 

 morenci cherries are far more valuable than sixty 

 acres subdivided into small plantings of apples, 

 currants, gooseberries, plums, peaches, and so on 

 through the list. The care of an orchard of one 

 kind of fruit differs from that of another kind. If 

 all is of one kind, or if the fruit-farm is given over to 

 subdivisions of respectable size, in different fruits, 

 the administration is more economical and profit- 

 able than many trees, plants, shrubs, vines of many 

 kinds. The would-be fruit-grower is attracted by 

 names, sounds, and memories of fruit he has seen 

 in market or at fairs. Let him concentrate; let 

 him specialize. Avoid bewildering varieties. They 

 are wholly unprofitable and multiply the evils of 

 farming. If he has secured land within the proper 

 climatic belt he may securely specialize in fruit- 

 raising. 



The Lake Shore Valley is adapted to grapes, 

 cherries, peaches, prunes, pltuns, apples, berries 

 of all kinds, currants, melons, and some add English 

 walnuts; yet it is not a profitable apple country 

 because of the winds which sweep down from Lake 

 Superior, two thousand miles away, across the 

 continent, and play havoc with the apples. There 

 are apple sections in America where destructive 

 winds do not break through and tumble the fruit 

 prematurely to the ground. Yet there are profit- 

 able apple orchards in the Valley. One must 

 assume a wind-risk there if he attempts to raise 

 apples. It is not a pear country, though thousands 



