MIDDLE TO IVN INSTITUTE 145 



of the peach. Our varied soils, our suitable hillsides, nearby 

 home markets, fine foreign markets, our people who demand 

 and are willing to pay for good fruits, are quite enough to 

 show us that orcharding is profitable and promises to pay." 



Mr. Piatt also urged the more extensive planting of apples. 

 "Peaches, plums, and pears, too," he said, "are not likely 

 to be overdone, as they are hard to grow and there are many 

 diseases and insects, which discourage many people. We 

 ought to plant more cherries; they would be profitable." 



In line with Mr. Piatt's talk, continuing the same dis- 

 cussion, there came the following paper : 



THE OUTLOOK FOR PROFITABLE ORCHARDING IN 

 CONNECTICUT 



BY J. H. MERRIMAN 



Success in any business depends largely upon circumstances. There 

 are so many factors that enter into a successful business career, whether 

 in manufacturing, mercantile or horticultural pursuits, that it would be 

 very hard to say, in the aggregate, whether any business is really profi- 

 table. Many factories are run for years at a loss. In mercantile busi- 

 ness the successes are largely in the minority. And so in horticulture : 

 probably three-fourths of the trees set out fail to produce fruit. Two 

 men with equal advantages as to location, — neighbors, we will suppose, — 

 the one with good executive ability, a love for the business, a fair knowl- 

 edge of 'its intricacies, and working on business principles, would stand 

 a fair show to succeed ; while his neighbor, lacking in one or more of 

 these essential qualifications, would fail, — so much depends upon the man. 



I will mention a few requisites of success : the right kind of a man, 

 the proper location for an orchard, the selection of the right kind of 

 fruit trees for the location, the proper setting of the trees, the trimming 

 and shaping of the trees while young, the cultivation, the right kind of 

 fertilizers, the proper picking, assorting and handling of the fruit so as 

 to make it attractive to the purchaser, a keen foresight into the mar- 

 kets, — all are potent factors of success. 



The manufacturer looks well to his environment before he builds his 

 shop, else he is doomed to failure. No one would think of smelting ore 

 in Connecticut, when the coal and the ore are 500 miles away. So the 

 horticulturist would not think of setting an apple orchard in a low, 

 sandy plain, nor a peach orchard in a low, level plain, either of sand or 

 of muck. He would study the adaptability of the soil to the fruit he 

 wished to produce. 



We are to suppose, in this enlightened age, when science is com- 

 bined with experience, and great benefit accrues to each one of us 

 through the medium of this and kindred gatherings, where the most 

 intelligent and successful horticulturists of our state and country meet 



