CHAPTER I. 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS HISTORY AND ADVANCEMENT OF FRUITS 



IN OHIO AND THE WEST VALUE AS FOOD. 



In almost every countrj, fruits are regarded as necessaries of life, 

 and have been gradually transferred from the wilds of nature to the 

 cultivated portions of the earth, around the dwellings of man. 



Many of the original fruits were unpalatable, but, in the course 

 of cultivation, they have become ameliorated. Superior varieties 

 have been obtained from time to time, to requite the industry and 

 care of the cultivator, until domesticated fruits are not only improved 

 in size and flavor, but increased in number almost innumerable. 



In their cultivation, they are affected by soil, situation, and seasons. 

 The Winter of 1855—56 destroyed, by extreme cold, nearly every 

 variety of fruit, the apple only excepted, throughout the entire 

 Western States, 



When a fruit tree is to be planted, the object is, to enable it to 

 grow up a healthy and, at the same time, a fruitful tree ; and, 

 whether planted in an orchard or in a garden, as a standard or as a 

 dwarf, a certain space is contemplated, that it will, in its maturity, 

 occupy. In order that this may be apportioned properly, the natural 

 habit of the kind must be considered ; also, whether it is worked on 

 a free or dwarf-growing stock, whether it is a delicate or hardy sort, 

 and what aspect will be most favorable. All these circumstances 

 must be duly weighed by the fruit-grower, in order to ensure success. 



A tree may have too much or too little space. If too much, a 

 part of the intended space is lost ; and, if too little, the branches 

 soon interfere, and the trees become crowded, to the manifest injury 

 of each other. 



Aspect is a very material circumstance, and should be modified 

 by the climate and the variety of fruit to be grown. But the nature 

 of the soil, its composition, and depth, requires far the greatest share 

 of the planter's attention. According as this is adapted to the 

 growth of the variety planted, will be his success. Many cultivators 

 imagine that if they can make their trees grow luxuriantly, they will 

 certainly be fruitful. This is a mistake, to prove which, we have 

 only to consider where the most prolific orchards are found, and 

 what are the circumstances which render them so. We find a light, 

 dry, sandy loam, reposing on a subsoil of gravel or rock, invariably 



13 



