36 STATE POMOLOGICA.L SOCIETY. 



escape the occasional freezes. I think the chances for success are 

 largely in favor of apple raising here, especially' for any one without 

 considerable capital. No matter how poor one is, if he is able to keep 

 his farm and has his health, if he is made of the right kind of stuff, he 

 can succeed as an orehardist here. Your worthy Secretary suggested 

 that what I may sa3' should embody m}- experiences, studies and ob- 

 servation as to orcharding. Now, I have not time to touch on but few 

 of the many points of this subject, and if you will pardon me, I will 

 first say something of myself, of the disadvantages, discouragements 

 and hardships I have had to overcome to obtain what success I 

 have, and speak of them for the encouragement of others who have 

 like ones to overcome. 



Orchardists, like poets, are born, not made, and if I can be called 

 one you will see that I am not to be blamed, and I take no credit to 

 myself. I cannot remember the time when it was not my delight to 

 plant trees and watch their growth. After becoming of age, I worked 

 by the month one season, and the next spring I bought 90 acres of 

 old, rocky pasture and wood land for $400 and all I could pay to- 

 wards it was $75. There were 60 or 70 old natural fruit apple trees 

 on it, considei'ed worthless. Not over 5 or 6 acres of the lot had ever 

 been ploughed. It was good orchard land, but no better than thou- 

 sands of other lots and not so good as many. The first three years 

 I spent in clearing eight acx'es and building a house and barn and 

 getting some of the old pasture read\' for crops, which got me con- 

 siderably more in debt. I then married and moved on to the place 

 when 25 years old, and then commenced setting apple trees from a 

 small nursery I had started on father's farm. I also commenced plant- 

 ing nurseries on my own land. I had the old trees grafted and I 

 trimmed, cultivated and manured them, and I have taken a great 

 deal of good fruit from them and they are quite profitable trees yet. 

 I struggled along 4 or 5 years after that. My trees had not yet 

 commenced bearing enough to help and I found with the strictest 

 economy I could bareh^ support my family without paying even the 

 interest on my debts. I went to Massachusetts to earn money in a 

 shop to pa}' my debts. With hard work, both myself and wife, I 

 succeeded in three years and came back with the same determination 

 to make a good fruit farm, and I went to work with renewed zeal, 

 planting nurseries, setting trees and caring for those already set. 

 After years of hard work and care I had got well under way with 

 quite an orchard, when, lo ! one spring when the snow went oflf I 



