Practical Pointers from Practical Planters 



PicKed up and penned by A. D. Cutting. D.S.A., Special Representative of The Horticulturist, -who is visiting tHe 



Homes of fruit and vegetable groTwers in tHe Niagara Peninsula 



SUCCESS in fruit growing depends chiefly 

 upon four factors: the personality of the 

 growers, proper methods of orchard man- 

 agement, a thorough knowledge of market 

 economics, and the prospective condition of the 

 market, local or foreign. The first of these, the 

 individuality of the growers, is more important 

 than most people think; yet everyone knows 

 that any two persons placed in business in the 

 same environments, and given an equal chance, 

 will arrive at very different results. A differ- 

 ence in individuality, and in some cases a lack 

 of individuality is very striking in fruit growers. 

 How often we see, side by side, enjoying the 

 same condition of climate and local environment, 

 tilling the same kind of soil and growing the 

 same class of fruit, two men attaining very 

 different results in the fruit business! Even in 

 our famous Niagara district many contrasts of 

 this nature may be found. 



Besides the factor of individuality the factors 

 of marketing and markets are important also, 

 but not more so than the factor of orchard 

 orchardment. Some growers are apt to leave 

 too much to chance. Even in the selection of 

 varieties for spring planting, I find in my 

 sojourn amongst the growers of this district 

 that some planters are very careless in this 

 matter. Others again are alive to the require- 

 ments of the industry and from these I have 

 picked up some pointers of value and interest. 



HOW TO SELECT VARIETIES. 



The gist of these pointers shows that the 

 fundamental principal in selecting varieties is 

 to profit by the experience of your neighbors, 

 to observe the behavior of varieties growing 

 under conditions similar to your own, and to 

 be governed accordingly. With some men 

 personal preference largely influences the selec- 

 tion. For the home orchard such a system of 

 selection may be all right, but for a commercial 

 plantation something more stable must be 

 depended upon. Local conditions of soil and 

 climate must be studied and varieties chosen 

 to suit such conditions. Some purpose must be 

 kept in mind, and some particular market to be 

 filled, and selection be made accordingly. In- 

 terpollination also should be considered, par- 

 ticularly in varieties of apples, pears, grapes 

 and strawberries; it is safer never to plant even 

 a peach orchard of one variety alone. "To 

 illustrate the value of interpollination in grapes," 

 said Mr. F. M. Carpenter, of F'ruitland, "observe 

 the case of Brighton, which seldom ripens all 

 over the bunch unless planted near some variety 

 that will fertilize it. In my vineyard rows of 

 Brighton adjoining Concord fertilize and ripen 

 much better than rows far off." 



The number of varieties that one should plant 

 will depend upon the market to be supplied and 

 the method of marketing. When catering for 

 both local and distant markets, plant var- 

 ieties to ripen early and late so as to keep up 

 a supply of marketable fruit from the beginning 

 to the end of the season. When large ship- 

 ments in refrigeration are in prospect select 

 varieties that will ripen at or near the same 

 time, or better still, plant enough trees of one 

 variety, if self fertile, so as to have sufficient 

 fruit of one kind and at one time to fill the car, 

 or the apartment on board ship. 



Pressure of space does not permit of all the 

 list of varieties recommended for planting by 

 the many growers that I have visited. At a 

 farmers' institute meeting in Ancaster Jan. 10, 

 the question was asked: "What six varieties of 

 apples are the best to plant as money makers?" 

 In reply, Mr. G. C. Caston, of Craighurst, who 

 was the chief speaker on fruit matters, recom- 

 mended the following: — Ontario, Gano, Boiken, 

 Spy, Baldwin, and R. I. Greening. Boiken, a 

 variety little known, is a very early bearer and 

 produces abundant crops yearly. Mr. Caston 



advised top-grafting the tender varieties of 

 apples on hardy stocks, and, in particular, he 

 recommended top-grafting King on Talman 

 Sweet to ensure early bearing and a double yield. 



CHERRIES. 



"The best sweet cherries for my district," 

 said Mr. H. F. Burkholder, of Bartonville, "are 

 Schmidt's Biggereau, a reliable yielder and a 

 very profitable sort; Black Oxheart, Black Eagle, 

 Black Tartarian and Windsor." 



He and other growers in that locality recom- 

 mend in sour cherries the old reliables, Early 

 Richmond and Montmorency. 



Cherry trees are very difficult to graft. For 

 best results it should be done in early spring 

 just before growth starts. The bird cherry 

 makes a good stock to graft sour cherries upon. 



POINTERS ON PLUMS. 



Mr. C. C. Pettit, of Fruitland, who has an 

 orchard of over 2,500 plum trees, including about 

 1,100 Lombards, discussed the Lombard situa- 

 tion with the writer and said that there are too 

 many Lombard trees in the country. When 

 there is a glut in the plum market the Lombards 

 are the ones to suffer. Although such gluts may 

 be the result of over-production in certain 

 localities they are more probably due to a lack 

 of proper distribution. One of the crying needs 

 of our fruit industry is for a system of distribution 

 that will do away with disastrous plum gluts 

 such as growers have experienced during differ- 

 ent seasons in the recent past. 



It is well known that oftentimes when Hamil- 

 ton, Toronto, and other large markets are over- 

 stocked with plums, that in smaller towns they 

 cannot be bought at any price. "To illustrate 

 this fact," said Mr. Pettit, "I was talking during 

 the plum glut of 1903 with a man from the 

 eastern townships who said that in his town he 

 paid as high as 75 cents a basket for plums, when 

 in Toronto and Hamilton they could be bought 

 for 10 cents and less." 



Although Mr. Pettit has such a large percent- 

 age of Lombards in his orchard he would not 

 advise new planters to set out any trees of this 

 variety. In yellow plums, also, there are some 

 well-known ones that are not worth planting, 

 particularly General Hand which is unproductive. 

 Some nurserymen are pushing the Stanley 

 which is identical with the General Hand — 

 another case of an old variety with a new name. 

 Among the many profitable varieties, Mr. 

 Pettit recommends Burbank, Bradshaw, Canada 

 Orleans, Washington, Green Gage, Yellow Egg, 

 Quackenboss, Damson, German Prune and 

 Reine Claude. 



THE JAPAN PLUMS. 



Whether or not it is wise to plant Japan plums 

 is a disputed point. Some of the growers that I 

 have visited say that this class of plum is being 

 planted too much. Japan plums fall to pieces 

 when canned, particularly the Abundance, and 

 as a consequence they are not wanted at the 

 canning factories. Others claim that there is 

 more money in this class of plums than in any 

 other, being early and very productive. As for 

 canning these men cite the case of Satsuma 

 which is, they contend, one of the best for can- 

 ning to be found in any class. 



PLANTING PEACH TREES. 



"When selecting or buying peach trees for 

 planting," remarked Mr. J. W. Smith, of Winona, 

 "the height should be the last consideration. 

 Large trees are not the best — medium sized or 

 small ones, if smooth and thrifty, are more 

 satisfactory — in no case should they be more than 

 one year from the bud. The trees should be 

 stout and well grown at the collar, and have 

 plenty of roots; a good strong top is sure to 

 follow." Plant the trees just deep enough and 



42 



firm enough to be solid when future top is 

 formed. 



FORM LOW-HEADED TREES. 



Mr. Smith believes in low-headed tree, but 

 says that the head should he started in the 

 nursery row, by nipping back when grown to 

 the right height, say 18 inches, rather than cut 

 back after the tree has grown to good size. 

 Trees with heads well started in the nursery are 

 worth at least five cents more than others not 

 so treated. Trees not headed back and formed 

 in nursery row cannot be headed as low as they 

 should be, as strong buds are few and irregularly 

 placed low down on the trunks of such trees. 



The present custom is not to form the heads in 

 the nursery, and, as Mr. Smith said, nursery- 

 men should not be expected to do so until the 

 demand for low-headed trees warrants the 

 change. Any planter who desires such, how- 

 ever, will be gladly accommodated by nursery- 

 men if he will first tell his wants to the 

 nurserymen during the previous season and 

 in plenty of time to do the necessary work in 

 the nursery. 



Some growers object to low-headed peach trees 

 on the ground of expense and labor at the time 

 of cultivating. Mr. Smith claims, while recogniz- 

 ing the force of this argument as far as it goes, 

 that the greatest expense and labor comes at 

 the time of picking, not earlier in the season. 

 As a consequence it is better to hire additional 

 help for cultivating and have low trees that may 

 be picked from the ground than to try and 

 economize time and money in cultivating high- 

 headed trees, that must be picked from ladders. 

 A picker on the ground, provided the fruit is 

 within his reach, will pick twice as fast and twice 

 as much as one on a ladder. It is wise, therefore, 

 when planting for growers to bear this in mind. 



BUY HEALTHY STOCK. 



"I received a lot of peach trees from a nursery 

 in Ontario, in each of which I found one or two- 

 borers. I have reason to believe, however, that 

 the trees were not grown in this Province, but 

 were imported froin over the line." So said 

 Mr. Geo. Awrey, East Hamilton, who cautions 

 growers against buying infected stock. Nursery 

 trees should be free from fungi and injurious 

 insects. It is best to avoid trees grown in 

 districts subject to tree troubles; such as peaches 

 from a region where leaf curl is prevalent, or 

 pears from a 'section where blight is known to 

 exist. 



PLANTING GRAPES. 



"When planting grapes cut off the previous 

 year's growth to two buds on a single vine. To 

 plant quickly, stake out distance apart of rows, 

 plow furrow in same direction as row is to run, 

 then mark out the distance apart vines are to 

 be set in the row. Plant firmly, then cultivate 

 ■with scuffler to loosen surface soil and to fill up 

 furrows. A hoe crop may be grown first year 

 which should be cultivated at regular intervals." 

 Such is the advice of Mr. Murray Pettit, of 

 Winona, who also recommends for planting the 

 following varieties in order of ripening: — Camp- 

 bell's Early, Worden, Delaware, Lindley, Concord, 

 Niagara, Agawam, Catawba, in localities where 

 they will ripen, and Vergennes. In early local- 

 ities, on heavy soil, good money may be made in 

 growing Champions if they are well thinned. 

 Mr. Pettit follows the fan system of training, 

 which we hope to describe in a future issue of 

 The Horticulturist. 



Both as a fruit grower and a fruit merchant 

 we find The Canadian Horticulturist exces- 

 sively interesting, and we have gained some 

 very valuable information from the hints con- 

 tained therein. — Toel Goodwin, Manchester, Eng 



