148 FRUIT RANCHING. 



they must, of course, be all mid-season varieties or 

 all winter varieties. And provided the varieties which 

 are sold together are of the same rank in point of 

 quality, it is diflicult to see what can be the real 

 objection to "shipping" them together. 



This subject of varieties is one of the greatest 

 importance. The problems it involves will face the 

 fruit grower at the very threshold of his career. As 

 soon as he gets an acre or two of land cleared, he 

 will naturally want to plant. Then arises the ques- 

 tion, What shall he plant ? Shall he specialise, and 

 plant one kind of fruit only, as the peach, the apple, 

 the cherry, the prune ? Shall he plant a great number 

 of varieties of that one kind, so as to be certain of 

 having a crop, no matter how the season comes, or 

 shall he confine himself to one variety only? Shall 

 he plant three, four, five, or six well-tried varieties? 

 The fruit growers of Oregon and Washington, who 

 stand in the forefront as scientific " orchardists," 

 have in many cases specialised, and confine them- 

 selves to one kind of fruit, and when they have 

 planted apples, have not planted more than two, 

 three, or four varieties. 



Well, let us just see what are the postulates which 

 should weigh with the man who is beginning to 

 plant. In the first place, what market does he intend 

 to grow for? Obviously, whichever market he selects, 

 he must grow varieties which that market wants. The 

 taste or fashion of the parties is different from the 

 taste or fashion in Great Britain. In considering 

 this question, there is one factor which fruit growers 

 in America appear to forget. Fashion or taste in apples 

 changes, as does fashion or taste in other things. For 



