70 PIELD NOTES ON APPLE CULTURE. 



anticipates a uniform success, one year with another, 

 from any system of husbandry. From this year's mar- 

 kets alone the wheat farmer has more reason than the 

 frnit grower for anticipating an uncertain future, still I 

 doubt if numy grain farmers will give up the growiug of 

 wheat. The questions, whose answers should have most 

 weight in deciding the matter of planting, relate more to 

 the adaptability of the man to the business, of the soil to 

 the health and productiveness of trees, to market facili- 

 ties, etc., than to the state of the market in a single year. 

 It should be borne in mind that good fruit is nearly 

 always in good demand. 



The most complete failures I ever knew in fruit grow- 

 ing were those connected with men who had no native taste 

 for the occupation, or who attempted too much. While 

 fruit growing is not a difficult branch of husbandry to 

 follow, it nevertlieless requires a vigilance and a certain 

 adroitness which are not commanded by all farmers, and 

 which are not readily adaptable to large estates. Tlie 

 bungler and shiftless farmer are entirely out of place in 

 the orchard. Good fruit 'growers are nearly always good 

 observers ; they recognize and study insects, birds and 

 insidious plant diseases ; they exercise great care in 

 handling and marketing their produce. A successful 

 orchard is commonly planted with much thought. Trees 

 are perennial ; they ought to last as long as their owner. 

 They cannot be cut down each autumn and a new crop 

 started the next year. It is the lack of a good founda- 

 tion, a thoughtful, well-pondered beginning, which ren- 

 ders half our orchards unsatisfactory. Almost any fruit 

 grower will tell you that he would have made money by 



