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8 . .>,.*. Introductory Remarks. 



A-. ;.';>>/ 'if, ; ' ./ 



in Western New York (Orleans) furnished for market two hundred 

 and sixty-nine thousand dollars' worth of fruit besides the amount 

 consumed at home, in one year, and other counties have occasion- 

 ally exceeded this sum. Two hundred thousand bushels of peaches 

 were canned at San Francisco in 1881, and the dried fruits of that 

 State sold for over two million dollars, of which the raisin crop 

 amounted to half a million. 



The lesson which these facts suggest to those who own lands in 

 favorable localities is to plant without hesitation, bearing in mind 

 at the same time that the planting should not exceed the limit of 

 the very best attention and management, and should be accom- 

 panied with intelligent skill in gathering, assorting, packing, and 

 marketing ; or in utilizing all surplus crops in drying, canning, con- 

 verting to jelly or to vinegar, or in feeding to domestic animals. 



The new facilities for the conveyance of fruit from one part of 

 the country to another are both increasing the supply and extend- 

 ing the season. Early fruits at the South are sent north before the 

 same sorts can ripen in the Middle and Northern States ; and 

 long-keepers are conveyed from the more northern latitudes to 

 Southern markets. The fruits which ripen only in warmer cli- 

 mates are reaching the more central and northern portions of the 

 country from California and Florida. 



But the greatest value to be derived from fruit-growing by our 

 countrymen is in the supply which every owner or occupant of land 

 may have at his own door, and of his own raising. An important 

 distinction exists between raising fruit for profitable sale and for 

 home and family use. For market, fruit must be produced in such 

 abundance, compared with the expense of raising it, as to afford 

 good profits after meeting all the cost of careful picking, proper 

 selection, skilful packing, conveyance by rail or steamer, agent's 

 fees, and the risk of heavy loss by bruising, rotting, and forced 

 sales in overstocked markets. But the owner who raises his own 

 fruit to be consumed on his own table, meets with none of these 

 difficulties. He is not troubled with th labor of packing, nor with 

 express charges and vender's commissions. While, therefore, every 

 owner of land may profitably plant fruit-trees for his own use, even 

 if he can obtain but moderate crops, the successful marketer must 

 choose carefully a locality which is specially favorable to the growth 

 of the fruit he is to plant largely, and which is accessible to lines 

 for conveyance to market. He must study well the business in all 

 its details. For home use, the occupant will cultivate enough only 

 for family supply, in which he incurs little or no risk. If he owns 



