J*- 



■<fe!J(RJ^C^ 



* 



35 



best, 

 mow 

 3at of 



3Wth, 



only 

 Ineral 



va- 

 lavor 



ice- 

 fcserv- 



dif- 

 benso 



parly, and continufi rlprning bo long in auccra- 

 uion UH the \Vilaon'n Albany. 



The AgricuUuTixtf J)owner't,and liusnell'i J'r»- 

 lijici, 7'riomphe de (Hand, Due de Malakof, 

 Bonti de St. Julien, &c., tliuugh all (^ood anil 

 ns^riil I'or nniatcur.i, jre not to In- reromnii'inlcd 

 fur the market. The only other variety that 



now jfrows is La Cotutante, a v<>ry line, very 

 large, Holid-fruitod, and very late variety. Tiie 

 ])lant.s are dwarf, lint, robust and hardy. Tbio 

 Hortbear.4 a fair crop, whirb, coniinp; in latr,al- 

 way.H comniands the hij;he.st price, as it bears 

 carriage well. 



LETTEll ELEVENTH 



ON TIIE PROFITS OP FRUIT-CULTURE, MARKETING, ETC. 



'k * 



pnopiTS. 



The profits of frnit-cnlture, when carried on 

 with skill and nndivided attention, are large ; 

 but when it is merely tried in connection with 

 general farming or other employm nts, it will 

 usually prove unsatisfactory. The apple is 

 the only fruit that the farmer can cultivate to 

 advantage for the market, and at the same 

 time attend to the ordinary crops and labors 

 of the farm. Where the other kinds of fruit 

 are largely cultivated (and unless largely cul- 

 tivated, 80 as to make it worth while sending 

 to the best markets, it will not pay well) they 

 take so much time and skill, that unless the 

 whole attention of the fruit-raiser is devoted to 

 the business, it will not be done well. 



Many of the small fruits require so much 

 cheap labor to pick them for daily market, that, 

 unless in the neighborhood of towns where 

 children can be got to pick them, they cannot 

 be profitably grown on a large scale ; and fruit- 

 farms should, at any rate, be in the neiglibor- 

 hood of large cities, or near water or railway 

 communication. 



In horticultural works and periodicals, in- 

 stances are often given of the great profits to be 

 derived from fruit-culture, but to collect these 

 accounts together would be only apt to mislead 

 the new beginner and lead to disappointment. 

 The fruit-grower must make up bis mind to 

 have unprofitable years as well as profitable, 

 as an overcrop one year will usually cause a 

 poor crop the next, or the severity of the win- 

 ter may injure or destroy the blossom buds, 

 or they may be injured by late spring frosts 

 while in blossom. SuCSce it to say, that, with the 

 necessary capital and knowledge, a well-situ- 

 ated fruit farm with a suitable soil and climate, 

 will pay as well as, or better than, any other 



business that could be engaged in with tlic same 

 means, while it is a respectable, healthy, and 

 delightful employment. This has been fotind 

 the case wherever it has been properly gone 

 into, and fortunes have been made from it in al- 

 most every section of the United States. In 

 Canada we have been very backward in this 

 matter, but people are thinking more of it, and 

 it only lacks the necessary knowledge which 

 these letters are in a measure intended to sup- 

 ply, to induce the cultivation of fruit as a busi- 

 ness for the market. 



Lauds in the Lake Erie Grape Islands suitable 

 for grape growing, are now worth from $;;io to 

 $400 an acre, and are eagerly bought up at the:>o 

 prices, principally by intelligent Germans, 

 who make an easy, pleasant, and profitable live- 

 lihood out of three to five acres planted in 

 vines. 



Strawberry and other small fruit culture has 

 been also very profitable in the neighborhood of 

 the large cities ; w. .le the peach, in suitable lo- 

 calities, such as at St. Joseph, in Michigan, has 

 proved exceedingly profitable, the crop from 

 a ten-acre orchard in good seasons bringing 

 from six to nine tliousand dollars delivered on 

 the grounds. 



Much delay and disappointment has been 

 caused from parties engaging in fruit-growinjr 

 who knew at first very little about it. Many gave 

 it up before succeeding, and those who wee suc- 

 cessful only learned by dear-bought experience 

 what were the best varieties to cultivate, and 

 the proper way to do it. It has been my object 

 in these letters to give the new beginner the 

 benefits resulting from a long and careful expe- 

 rience, so that with proper attention he will be 

 certain of success, and be as well advanced in 

 knowledge at the commencement as many 

 others are after years of failure. , 



.^iS^g^^jS^ 



J. 



