26 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 



THE COURSE OF EVOLUTION OF A FRUIT REGION. 



Fruit-growing is usually a comparatively late de- 

 velopment in any region. The epochs which precede 

 the agricultural occupation of a country are com- 

 monly about as follows: Discovery, exploration, hunt- 

 ing, speculation, lumbering or mining. The real and 

 permanent prosperity of a country begins when the 

 agriculture has evolved so far as to be self-sustain- 

 ing and to leave the soil in constantly better con- 

 dition for the growing of plants. Lumbering and 

 mining are simply means of utilizing a reserve which 

 nature has laid by, and these industries are, therefore, 

 self -limited, and are constantly moving on into uii- 

 robbed territory. Agriculture, when at its best, re- 

 mains forever in the same place, and gains in riches 

 with the years; but in this country it has so far been 

 mostly a species of mining for plant -food, and then 

 a rushing on for virgin lands. 



The first effort in an agricultural region is gener- 

 ally the growing of the staple crops, like the grains 

 or bread-stuffs. This is both because the capabilities 

 of the country are all unknown, and because such 

 regions are far removed from the markets, and must, 

 therefore, grow such commodities as can be stored or 

 shipped long distances; and it may be said, also, that 

 the growing of these crops in a new country demands 

 comparatively little special skill. The second devel- 

 opment is very often a stock-raising or grazing in- 

 dustry. If the country possesses special adaptabilities 

 for fruits, a man here and there will be found en- 



