1400 



POMOLO(iY 



some of the larger 

 blackberries and rasp- 

 berries, although it be- 

 gan about the middle of 

 the century, did not ac- 

 quire distinct import- 

 ance until after the 

 reaction from the Civil 

 War. The very factthat 

 there is a horticultural 

 industry is a most im- 

 portant innovation in 

 our agricultural status. 

 2. With the rise of 

 commercial pomology 

 there have developed all 

 those questions which 

 are related to market- 



wns. The commercial cultu 



POMOLOGY 



very fact that the grower must give attention to his 

 package as well as to the growing of his crop, forces 

 him to adopt a new point of view in his fruit-grow- 

 ing. 



3. Modern commercial orcharding has developed 

 the tillage ideal. Under the old rt'gime the tree was 

 able to take care of itself and to bear a produce good 

 enough to meet the uncritical demands. Nowadays, 

 however, the tree must receive the very best of care, 

 for we desire annual crops of great quantity and of 

 the best quality. Therefore the plant must be sup- 

 plied with abundance of plant-food and moisture. 

 Time was when it was thought that the mere appli- 

 cation of cnemical plant-food to the soil would bo 

 suilicient to make a plant productive. It is now un- 

 derstood, however, that plant-food is only one of the 

 requisites of good growth. The soil must be deep 

 and loose and fine, so that it will hold moisture and 

 promote all those chemical and biological activities 

 which make the land productive. In former times 

 the best attention in tillage was given to the annual 

 crops. The orchard was usually in neglect. This 

 was because the fruit plantation had small commer- 

 cial importance. Now that the fruit plantation has 

 risen to first importance, in many cases, it must be 

 given as good care as any farm crop. In recent 

 years there has been great development of special 

 tools and implements for the tillage of orchard lands. 

 Greater attention is given to the original preparation of 

 the land, so that plant- 

 er', no longer ask how 

 large the hole must be 

 to rec< n e a tree, but 

 accept Warder's advice 

 that the hole should be 

 as large as the orchard, 

 llio philosophy of or- 





The 





ideals cluster about | 

 three centers: (1) The 



demand for special pro- | 



ducts for special uses, 



(2) the growing demand 

 for small packages, and 



(3) the remarkable evolution of transportation facili- 

 ties, and of cold storage. There has arisen an increased 

 desire for special grades and for particular kinds of 

 fruit. The fruits that were current fifty years ago may 

 not be good enough for the markets of to-day. Com- 

 mercial pomology rests on the fact that more people are 

 consuming fruits. Many of these people buy only in 

 small lots for present consumption. They go to the 

 market often. They have no facilities foi stoiing the 

 fruit, and they do not buy for the purpose of sellni 

 Therefore the small package has come to be inc i 

 ingly more important. Fig. 1897. Withm the I i 

 twenty-five years there has been an increasing di iii i 1 

 for a package that can be given away with the tu I 

 This demand for the small and individual package ni iv 

 be expected to increase with all the better kinds of 

 fruits or with those that appeal to the personal cus 

 tomer. This is true in all lines of trade. Twenty five 

 years ago boots and shoes were distributed m Uige 

 board cases, but now each pair is sold in a neat card 

 board box. We are still too conservative m respect to 

 the handlingof apples in barrels. In the general trade 

 and for the staple varieties of apples the barrel ma^ I 

 the best package, but for the personal customei ii 1 

 particularly with all the finer or dessert varietie i 

 small package must come into use. It is, in I i 

 a question whether the bushel box would not be bttt i 

 for even the staple apple trade. In most parts of tli 

 world, except in the central and eastern part of the 

 United States, apples are not handled in barrels The 



894 Harvest time in the apple orchard 



spring. If the la 

 necessary to plow 

 years, unless one 



II II ughly at the out- 

 I (J) to give frequent 



I he oarh part of the sea- 



• ' j,\ son or until the crop is 



, , I nearly or quite grown, 



and then (3)to cover the 



I land with some crop 



that will remain on the 



ground over winter and 



can be plowed under in 



id has been well prepared it is not 



it deep after the first two or three 



is turning under a heavy cover-crop. 



Lunch time m the apple 



