344 



The Canadian Horticulturist, 



ifsl 



REQUISITIES FOR APPLES. 



UCCESS in orcharding has to do with varieties, treatment, 

 and sale. Cast all personal preferences aside, and select 

 such kinds as succeed in our respective localities. This 

 is most important. We must know the prejudices of 

 purchasers — whether red or white apples prove the most 

 popular ; whether the size shall be large, medium or 

 small. The question of quality settles itself. It is a fine 

 theory that would compel orchardists to become public 

 instructors ; but if high flavored, beautiful fruit cannot be raised at a profit, that 

 of inferior quality will, and must, take its place. Another strong point is to be 

 content with few varieties — the fewer the better. " Succession of kind " sounds 

 plausable, as well as the assumption that when we have many varieties some one 

 or more will surely produce a crop. That this is unsound reasoning many 

 orchardists have learned to their sorrow. One thoroughly reliable variety is 

 worth more than a hundred of doubtful character. With naturally good mellow 

 soil, all needed preparation is to manure with no stinted hand, and then plough 

 deep and thoroughly. It is of the utmost importance that the young orchard 

 receive a good send-off; after that, if cultivated carefully for a few years, mean- 

 while cropping with vegetables, there will be no cessation of growth in the trees. 

 This part of the programme is generally carried out, but, after cropping with 

 vegetables ceases, how many people ever fertilize the soil, or care for the trees ? 

 More failures resulting from the cessation of surface culture and proper pruning, 

 than from attacks of insects, which, under preventives and treatment of recent 

 years, are not considered a serious obstacle. How to place one's fruit properly 

 on the market seems to the uninitiated a point of minor consequence, but when 

 we perceive customers calling year after year for packages bearing the imprint of 

 some noted orchardist, there must be a reason for it, and the solution is, that the 

 fruit is carefully and evenly selected, preserved in first-class condition, and is, in 

 short, just what the invoice calls for. Nearness to good market is an important 

 factor in making apples pay ; the nearer producer can get to consumer, and 

 consequent reduced freight, the greater the margin of profit of course. Finally, 

 much depends upon close application and earnest work. Under the impression 

 that trees can care for themselves many young orchardists have utterly failed. — 

 Josiah Hoopes. 



Cloves are largely grown in Zanzibar. A tree ten years old often yields 

 twenty pounds a year, while one of twenty years' growth may yield one hundred 

 pounds. The crop last year was not far from 13,000,000 pounds, and the 

 average local value is about fivepence a pound. 



