26 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



narrowly and exclusively to fruit-growing and one demand- 

 ing too much diversion and dividing of one's energies, only 

 the grower himself can determine. 



It is certain that if one is to make a good business of 

 fruit-growing, he must devote his best energies to it. Other 

 things may wait, but not the fruit-plantations. He must 

 have a "feeling" for fruit more than for anything else, and 

 the fruit must have first call on men, teams, time, and 

 painstaking oversight. If he does not have this feeling, he 

 does not possess the essentials of a fruit-grower. The pride 

 of a fruit-farm is in the fruit. 



By this it is not meant that the fruit-farm must be a 

 "show place." Nothing is more attractive in a picture 

 than a fruit-farm with rows all regular and uniform and 

 the trees or bushes all complete and perfect, and with 

 tillage faultless; and yet some of the most profitable 

 fruit-plantations exhibit little of this beauty of regu- 

 larity. Perhaps it would be better if the plantation were 

 more comely and attractive, but this condition is not 

 necessary to success. In fact, heavy bearing often makes 

 the orchard irregular; and if there are many varieties, it is 

 impossible to secure stereotyped uniformity. The good 

 fruit-farm is told by its performance and not by its looks. 



Caution should be strongly expressed to those who 

 would undertake fruit-farming by proxy. Delegated and 

 absentee farming is ineffective enough at the best, but 

 there are special difficulties in fruit-farming by that 

 method or lack of method. One year's neglect to fight 

 borers and other pests may be disastrous. Every tree or 

 bush is liable to special injury, from winter-killing or 

 otherwise, and much skill may be required to repair or 

 overcome the damage. It is alluring to anticipate an 

 orchard waiting for one on retirement from active busi- 



