CHAPTER V. 



THE APPLE. 



BEYOND question this is the most important 

 fruit of our latitude. The abundance, cheap- 

 ness, and certainty with which the apple can be 

 raised are important points in its favor. The 

 price of this fruit is sometimes so low, in years 

 of abundance, that farmers are inclined to say it 

 does not pay to raise it. Yet the cost of pro- 

 ducing is so little that probably no New Eng- 

 land farm crop pays a better interest, in an av- 

 erage of years. There are thousands of loamy 

 hill-sides, with fair natural drainage, where land 

 is held at farm prices, which invite to a long, it 

 may be, but certainly to a safe and permanent 

 investment in apple orcharding. Our climate 

 and our soil are right for producing the highest 

 quality. We are near to local markets and to the 

 seaboard. The -fruit is wanted in almost un- 

 limited quantity ; it can be kept and transported 

 for long distances, and the labor in cultivating, 

 harvesting, and marketing is divided over so long 



