36 FRUIT-GROWING 



The problem of selecting varieties for either 

 the commercial or home orchard is a perennial 

 one. At present we are in the midst of such a 

 problem ourselves and it is just as interesting 

 as it was during the winter before I planted my 

 first apple trees. During the intervening years 

 I have planted quite a number of different va- 

 rieties, usually in small numbers, chiefly to test 

 out new sorts or to experiment with old va- 

 rieties in a new environment. It may be inter- 

 esting to know that in our own case we are 

 practically settled on planting the three lead- 

 ing sorts that formed the first orchard. Thus 

 does history repeat itself. 



As a rule it is well to avoid varieties that are 

 too new. Usually they have not been suffi- 

 ciently tested to enable one to judge what they 

 will do in the future. Also new and unknown 

 varieties frequently find a poor sale on the mar- 

 ket even in competition with decidedly inferior 

 but better-known sorts. 



I was recently in the sales room of the larg- 

 est apple dealers in Indianapolis, and was sur- 

 prised to find that three barrels of "Doctor 

 Matthews" apples had just been returned by 

 some purchaser (a small grocer) because he 

 had been unable to sell them. You probably 

 never heard of the Doctor Matthews. Neither 

 had the customers of the small grocer. Conse- 

 quently they would not buy the fruit, but 



