No. 4.] FRUIT CULTURE. 121 



The second of these essentials is the selection of varieties. 

 They must be selected with due regard to adaptation of soil, 

 the demands of the particular market where the fruit will be 

 sold, and the location of the individual grower. 



The person who can place his fruit upon the market or in 

 the dealers' hands without the aid of transportation com- 

 panies or commission men has superior advantages, not only 

 in saving to himself these charges and commissions, but he 

 can grow and place upon the market in fine condition many 

 very attractive fruits that will not be salable when subjected 

 to the handling that our fruits often receive. 



The subject of proper cultivation I will treat further on, 

 as I want here to call your attention to the formative ele- 

 ments of earth, air and water, and recognize the essential 

 importance of each as pertaining to the growth of plants. 



We recognize the fact that the virgin soil responds to the 

 cultivator's art and rewards the toil of the husbandman. 

 Why? Because every element necessary for plant growth 

 is stored up within it. The chemist has resolved these 

 elements into the three forms of potash, phosphoric acid and 

 nitrogen, ignoring some of the baser but no less indispen- 

 sable elements that enter into the composition of plants or 

 form the medium through which the activities of these 

 three most essential elements are brought into a condition 

 necessary for plant growth. 



Go with me to yonder forest, and note the luxuriant 

 foliage and healthy growth of those stately trees. What is 

 it that supports them ? I answer loater and humus. By the 

 aid of decaying leaves and wood a reservoir is formed to 

 hold the moisture in the soil, to dissolve its mineral elements 

 for its material growth, while the millions of open mouths 

 that their leaves present absorb the dews from heaven and 

 the free nitrogen of the air. Herein we see the operation 

 of the laws of nature, and the cultivator is wise who takes 

 note of these and conforms his methods in accordance with 

 them. 



What is it that causes our hillsides and valleys in the 

 wooded sections of our country to be clothed in living 

 green? Water. What is it that makes our broad plains 

 arid? The absence of water. Water, then, is the synonym 



