136 The Commercial Apple Industry 



The specialist is nearly always more thorough, more ef- 

 ficient, and produces a better quality of product. 



The outstanding advantages of a modified system of 

 diversified farming, with the orchard still the main en- 

 terprise, are: (1) There is an assurance of more profit- 

 able distribution of labor throughout the season. (2) 

 Month labor can usually be employed, thus effecting con- 

 siderable saving in labor jrates, and insuring a constant 

 supply. With a specialized orchard, unless it is very 

 large, only day labor may be employed profitably. (3) 

 The grower is protected against years of poor fruit prices 

 by having sufficient crops and diversification to insure a 

 living. (4) When live-stock is kept on farms, a part of 

 the manure thus produced may be used to build up the fer- 

 tility of the orchard. (5) The orchard is a long-time 

 investment, and unless supported by a diversified farm 

 requires much capital to bring to full bearing age and 

 productivity. 



Many instances might be cited to emphasize the im- 

 portance of diversification in connection with fruit-grow- 

 ing. Ninety-nine mortgages are said to have been fore- 

 closed in a certain western fruit district in one day. 

 These failures resulted from paying a high price for 

 land when the purchaser had insufficient capital to wait for 

 the orchard to come into profitable bearing. Low prices 

 for fruit added to the number of failures. Much the same 

 occurred in several districts, particularly in the Rogue 

 Kiver Valley, Oregon, Grand Valley, Colorado, the Bitter 

 Root Valley, Montana, and parts of Idaho and Washington. 

 These failures were in most cases due to false advertising 

 stating that fortunes were to be made in the apple busi- 

 ness with profitable crops when the trees were five years 



