CHOOSING VARIETIES 15 



Figs, Kakis, and other choice sub-tropical fruits for the South and 

 California. 



My reasons are that these are less easy to procure than standard 

 market sorts in prime condition; they are much more perishable 

 than market kinds; they usually have longer periods of ripening, 

 though after once reaching maturity they usually deteriorate quickly 

 and in the case of tree fruits when properly managed they are more 

 likely to bear every year. This last remark applies specially to 

 Summer Apples because these have more time between harvest and 

 the close of the season in which to develop fruit buds for the following 

 year's crop. Personally I think it is a mistake to choose varieties like 

 Tompkins King and Grimes Apples, which are notorious for tree 

 weakness, for though such troubles may be in part prevented, why not 

 avoid the fuss and possible failure by choosing varieties of known 

 health and sturdiness? As to extra susceptibility to disease of the 

 fruit itself, if one is willing to devote the extra attention to spraying 

 it may be worth while to include them. I certainly would in my own 

 orchard, because many of these varieties are of superior excellence. 



"Shy," or not very abundant bearing, doesn't always mean as 

 much as the term seems to imply. It is generally employed in a 

 commercial sense. For instance, one large tree of Swazie, seventy- 

 five years old, yielded an average of only four barrels each alternate 

 year. From a business standpoint, even at highest prices, such a 

 tree would yield fewer dollars during a term of years than a Ben Davis 

 tree whose fruit always sells at a far lower price. But left to the 

 judgment of the palate the Swazie would pay a far larger dividend of 

 gustatory thrills. Other things being equal it will be natural to 

 pick out the varieties that bear abundantly rather than sparsely, 

 even though no thought of profit is to be considered; for can one have 

 too much of a good thing ? Whether the fruit drops readily or hangs 

 tenaciously is less important to consider from the home standpoint 

 than from that of the market. Varieties which drop seriously must 

 be picked before those which cling well. 



Many varieties especially of Apples and Pears seem determined 

 to bear large crops one year and little or nothing the next. To some 

 extent this is dependent upon the positions of the fruit buds; trees 

 which bear their blossoms on the tips of twigs or spurs are prone to 

 biennial bearing, whereas those which have axillary buds (upon the sides 

 of the branches) are more likely to bear annually. By judicious thin- 

 ning of either the buds, the fruit or both the former may be educated 

 to bear a partial crop annually. One man of my acquaintance has 

 thus taught his Baldwin trees to yield profitable crops each year. 

 They have failed only twice in over twenty years and then only 



