FOR PROFIT. 71 



keep the centres clear; and after that time let them 

 grow as they like, merely shortening 1 the tips to 

 procure an evenly balanced head, and taking out any 

 crossing growths. The Dwarfs can be cut in to form 

 pyramids or basins, as desired, for two years, and 

 after that be allowed to grow freely. Other matters, 

 such as securing the limbs in a heavy crop, and 

 staking the Standards, will have to be attended to, 

 and the stakes must be removed from the Standards 

 in the winter as soon as the trees can do without 

 support, as the ties are apt to cut into the bark and 

 produce canker; they should be freshly tied each 

 year. 



For Apple growing, land need not be contiguous to 

 a railway station, as they will travel well if carefully 

 packed. Storing enables a grower to realise a high 

 price at a time when good Apples are scarce. Where 

 proper stores, such as the hop oasts of Kent, do not 

 exist, a frost-proof shed will do ; and if care is taken 

 to store only sound fruit, a thick covering of straw 

 will effectually exclude frost, and keep the fruit plump 

 and heavy. Should 1,200 trees bear half-a-gallon each, 

 at three years old, the crop would be about 75 bushels 

 per acre, which, at 4$. nett (carriage and salemen's 

 charges deducted) would give a return of ^15 per 

 acre ; at five years, one gallon each would double the 

 produce ; and so on. When the top and bottom crop 

 come to pick, an average of half-a-bushel per tree (it 

 is rare for every tree to bear the same year), would 

 give a possible return of ^120 per acre. The risk of 

 loss by wind is small with Dwarf trees, and the cost 

 of picking is less than in Standards, and they can be 

 readily thinned and attended to. Large as these sums 

 appear, they have often been exceeded. 



