74 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



I have no doubt that we might be able to raise some varieties of straw- 

 berries and ship them and malie much more money than we are making 

 to-day, and I hope that some one will try it. My opinion is that certain 

 other fruits, like these apples here, would not grow as well here as in 

 other parts of the State. I think that while we have a very excellent 

 soil for the growing of strawberries, it is a difterent soil from that in the 

 valley of the Connecticut. My recollection of that soil is that it is of a 

 sandy character, a granite formation the same as in the central part of 

 our State, while our soil here is a limestone shale formation, from the 

 geological standpoint. 



Expressing a wish and hope that all here will profit by this meeting, 

 and ex^jressing my gratitude to the gentleman from Connecticut, I will 

 simply say that I am very glad to be here. I came to listen and I liave 

 felt fully repaid for coming. 



RAISIXG FRUIT FOR PROFIT. 



By Chaeles E. Wheeler, Chesterville. 



I do not believe it is possible for a man to start in on orcharding and 

 make a success of it unless he has some faith in the business and a good 

 deal of faith in himself. You must have some stick-to-itiveness to suc- 

 ceed in growing apples. It is different from planting a crop of potatoes. 

 With potatoes you plant to-daj^ and in a few weeks harvest j'our crop. 

 With apples you plant perhaps for others to reap. Still men who are 

 much older than myself have planted orchards and are to-day receiving 

 good returns for their labors. One gentleman in my county, perhaps as 

 old as any one there is here, who has the largest orchard in the State of 

 Maine, is still setting out trees. He commenced years ago, and people 

 thought that he was foolish, for those trees would never paj- him ; but 

 thej' are paying him to-day and it may be that he will live, even, to pick 

 the apples from trees that have been set within a very few j'ears. Here 

 in this county you have a soil, it seems to me, upon these hardwood 

 ridges, that is peculiarly adapted to the growing of fruit trees. We say 

 that good, strong corn soil is good orchard land. Those high elevations 

 or swells of land in the western part of the State are adapted to the 

 growing of an orchard. Are not these liardwood swells of Aroostook 

 county just as well adapted to this purpose as those of other portions of 

 the State? As far as the soil is concerned they are, I think. But when 

 you come to the consideration of what kind of trees j'ou will plant, the 

 varieties selected will have to be different. 



A few weeks ago in looking over some of the old reports of the Maine 

 Board of Agriculture I saw in one of the reports a remark which I thiuk 

 was made by Goodale in talking on the subject of fruit growing, tliat 

 Maine was too far north for profitable fruit growing. That was years 

 ago ; and I have heard old people in my section sa}' that it was consid- 

 ered rather doubtful vears ago if fruit could be raised in Maine. But to- 



