FRUIT CULTURE FOR PROFIT. 421 



apple trees, on a quarter of an acre of ground, in 1884, 

 as follows : 



Cost of trees, 200, 505. per 100 . . . 5 o o 

 Planting and digging ....... o 15 o 



Four years' cultivation at 155. per year 300 

 Rent, rates, &c., at los. per year ...200 



Returns in 1887 an ^ J 888 ;iO 15 



22 bushels of apples sold on the ground 



at 55. per bushel .... . . . . 5 10 



Leaving a balance against the culti- 



vator of . . ..... . . ... . $ 5 o 



Next year I expect to get the outlay back, and look 

 to the future for profits. 



Now, I do not offer this statement of facts as statistics 

 from which any valuable inferences as to the future can 

 be drawn, but merely to show the probable result of the 

 first four years' cultivation. Of so-called statistics I shall 

 have something to say by-and-by. 



In exposed situations pyramid, bush, or two years' 

 untrimmed trees are preferable to standards, because the 

 fruit is not so liable to be blown down, and in large 

 orchards, if it should be decided to keep the surface 

 under grass, and the trees have stems 2j ft. to 3 ft., 

 sheep could run under them to feed, and thus help the 

 returns. 



Plums. The Early Prolific and the Victoria are two 

 good ones; other desirable sorts are Early Orleans, the 

 Czar, Diamond, Pond's Seedling, Prince Englebert, and 

 Belle de Septembre. Damsons also, of which the Shrop- 

 shire and Farleigh are well to the front, are usually a 

 profitable crop. 



Pears want a better climate, and a warmer, richer, and 

 deeper soil than apples, and are not usually so profitable 

 a crop. They do well as a rule on a subsoil of chalk. Of 

 pears, Aston Town, Eyewood, Hessle, Williams' Bon 



