10 THE EUBAL LIBEAET. 



grown, but for a bearing tree— keep the manure away from it. The life 

 of a peach tree with us is about 12 years if it is well cared for. Quanti- 

 ties of trees are killed by stable manure applied heavily after they 

 begin to bear. That sort of manuring forces the tree both to produce 

 a crop and also a heavy growth of wood, which is too much, and the 

 tree is weakened. That is the way many peach orchards are ruined. 

 The well-balanced fertilizer produces the crop and leaves the tree 

 healthy and sound. I fertilize every year, crop or no crop. Last year 

 there was a light crop only, but against the advice of many I piled on 

 the ashes and fertilizer as heavily as ever, and I got my reward in a 

 magnificent crop this year. Heavy feeding of proper food is the only 

 way to make anything at fruit growing." 



" You speak of giving your peach trees a liberal feeding— how much 

 per acre does that mean ? " 



" Well, on my 3,000 trees I used 15 tons of ashes and three of mixed 

 or complete fertilizer. I do not try to mis at home ; in fact, home mix- 

 ing is but little practised about here. A good many ashes have been 

 used in years past, but now farmers are using more of the potash salts 

 in place of the ashes. A good deal of kainit is used, but not always 

 with the best results." 



" How much fertilizer do you use in the course of a year ? " 



"About $350 worth. You can see from the area I have in fruit that 

 this means quite an expense per acre ; still the returns are very satis- 

 factory." 



Grapes Pay Best— Cultivation vs. Humus. 



"One year with another, what fruit pays you best ? " 



"Grapes pay best in the long run. This year, of course, they are 

 very low because the demand has not kept up to former years. In many 

 of our manufacturing towns men have been out of work and thus 

 unable to buy as much fruit as formerly, but another year may tell a 

 different story." 



" What varieties of grapes do you raise ? " 



"Moore's Early, Delaware, Worden, Pocklington and Concord. 

 About two-thirds are Concords and the remainder about equally 

 divided between the other four varieties. As I have said I use my 

 stable manure on the young grape vines to grow wood. After they 

 come into bearing I use fertilizers entirely. We buy most of our plants 

 and vines. The nursery business is quite another business from that 

 of growing fruit. After strawberries begin fruiting we have a regular 

 succession of fruits for four months. Strawberries begin about June 1, 

 gooseberries and currants about June 15 and last about three weeks. 

 Grapes and peaches begin about August 20 and run till frost. The 



