EARLY BEARER 25 



1. Heavy Bearer. This might seem to need no discussion. 

 If one does not get the fruit there is little point in having the 

 orchard. And yet there is no question that it is a point fre- 

 quently overlooked by men who plant orchards. The estimate 

 of the variety is too often made from the fruit alone. If the 

 fruit is handsome and of good quality (or frequently if it is 

 merely handsome), it is assumed to be a good variety to grow. 

 Usually this type of mistake is an individual matter but it fre- 

 quently becomes almost a community matter. For example, 

 about 1897 the Golden Russet apple had been bringing very high 

 prices in the English markets and many orchard owners in the 

 Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia (where apples are grown princi- 

 pally for the English markets), hearing of the fine prices re- 

 ceived per barrel by their neighbors, grafted over a large number 

 of trees to this variety. It was only when the grafts came into 

 bearing that they realized there was an important difference 

 between the income per barrel and per tree. The emphasis on 

 prolific bearing is made slightly more emphatic in the case of 

 apples grown for the general markets than for those grown for 

 the special markets, because the margin of profit is greater where 

 one has a special- market and his customers will pay a larger 

 premium for good quality, so that he can afford to grow slightly 

 less prolific varieties provided they are exceptionally good. A 

 man might, for example, grow the Mother apple, which is rather 

 a shy bearer, for a special market, but would never think of 

 doing so for the general market. 



2. Early Bearer. This has been given equal importance in 

 both score cards because it seemed probable that early returns 

 would be as desirable to one type of grower as the other. And 

 yet there may be varieties which one would be justified in wait- 

 ing for in the special orchard because of their extra quality, 

 when he would not be in the general orchard. The Spy, for 

 example, is proverbially slow in coming into bearing, but if one 

 has a special market that will pay him $10 a barrel for them he 

 would be justified in setting them out, but he would not be if 

 he had to sell them in a general market for $2 or $3 a barrel. 

 In any case early bearing is a very desirable quality and de- 

 serves emphasis. Orcharding is a sufficiently long-time invest- 



