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THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



originated within the past six years. But 

 that is no reason why the amateur who is 

 about to plant an orchard for the first time, 

 should interpret literally all that he reads 

 in the colored pages of the catalogue. The 

 value of a variety is often in inverse ratio 

 to the length of the description. A standard 

 sort does not need a lengthy and glowing 

 description; its merits are known. Buying 

 horticultural novelties of any kind is essen- 

 tially gambling. 



It is for you to decide whether you can 

 afford to lose. If you want to do the 

 economical thing, you had better wait until 

 the novelties have been fruited in your 

 neighborhood. They will be cheaper then and 

 you will find out their limitations and weak 

 points. If you want them you can graft over 

 a few trees or even one branch 

 and get fruit of the novelty in 

 three years or thereabouts. 



This is not saying that novel- 

 ties are not desirable, for all var- 

 ieties, including the standard 

 sorts of to-day, were once novel- 

 ties. In commercial orcharding 

 the novelty problem is perhaps 

 even more important than in the 

 home orchard, because the scale 

 of operations is larger and some- 

 one's livelihood is at stake. 



This sounds like trite and un- 

 necessary advice — yet it is far 

 from being that. Human nature 

 is so charitable, and the average 

 fruit grower is so sanguine that 

 every year there are planted in 

 the home orchards, thousands of 

 trees of new, little known or 

 worthless sorts, when good trees 

 of standard varieties could be 

 had for half the cost. Do not 

 be misled by a glib tongue or a 

 rainbow picture. 



QUALITY VARIETIES FOE THE 

 HOME GARDEN 



The home fruit-grower raises 

 fruit for the fun of it and for the 

 eating of it; the market value is 

 never his concern. This is im- 

 portant, because some varieties 

 are first-class for market pur- 

 poses, but fifth-class for home 

 use. The demands of the two 

 are different. The mar- 

 ket wants an apple of medium 

 size, high color, even form, free 

 from blemishes; and the tree 

 must be very productive, hardy 

 and vigorous. It does not mat- 

 ter so much about the quality of 

 what is inside the beautiful skin. 

 The buyer finds that out after he 

 has taken the fruit home. The 

 Ben Davis apple represents the 

 market type of apple. Some 

 commercial varieties of grapes 

 and strawberries are nothing but 

 "bags of water." But the home 

 fruit-grower desires quality — he 

 grows fruit to eat! If he can 

 find a high quality variety 



which is productive, vigorous and hardy 

 in tree, and shapely, smooth and beautiful 

 in fruit, so much the better; but 

 quality it must have. He is willing, if 

 necessary, to sacrifice some other good points 

 for the sake of getting toothsomeness. The 

 Mother apple represents the home use type. 

 The chief requisites of a commercial variety 

 are, as a general rule, productiveness and 

 good looks; the chief requisite of a home 

 use variety is quality. It is true that some 

 markets are now demanding higher quality 

 varieties, and that oftentimes the very 

 highest success in commercial fruit-growing 

 can be secured by growing high quality 

 sorts, and catering to a discriminating 

 trade. It is likewise true that sometimes 

 it is better to make a part of the home 



250. Ben Davis. A late winter variety, usually of execrable quality, largely 

 grown for market. No intelligent fruit grower will plant it for home use 



Winesap. An excellent sort for late winter use, where it succeeds 

 very dark-red color, medium size, high quality. BaKes well 



Roxbury. A popular russet apple which Keeps very late into the spring, 

 and even till the Early Harvests come. Quality good 



planting of varieties noted more for un- 

 failing productiveness than for high quality. 

 Yet the quality ideal should be kept in 

 mind, and the preference always given to 

 the sorts which "melt in the mouth." 



It is not difficult to make a general classi- 

 fication of varieties according to these two 

 ideals — the commercial and the amateur. On 

 one side we have varieties which are adapted 

 for commercial use only ; they bear well, look 

 well, ship well, and sell well, but do not eat 

 any too well. On the other hand we have 

 varieties which are adapted for home use 

 only; they eat well, and may have some of 

 the other good points — but not enough to 

 make them profitable market sorts. Then 

 there is a large class of varieties which com- 

 bine good or fair quality with great pro- 

 ductiveness and attractive ap- 

 pearance, and so is desirable and 

 profitable, either for home use or 

 for market. Such well known va- 

 rieties as the Bartlett pear, Bald- 

 win apple, Bradshaw plum, Na- 

 poleon cherry and Crosby peach 

 belong to this class. While the 

 bulk of varieties in the home 

 orchard should be of the high 

 quality class, it is undoubtedly 

 an advantage to have some of 

 the mediocre class, on account 

 of their productiveness. 



These three classes are, of 

 course, general and arbitrary; 

 but it will pay the home fruit- 

 grower to study varieties from 

 this point of view, as well as from 

 the point of view of adaptation. 

 It may pay him to grow the 

 Flemish Beauty pear, for in- 

 stance, on account of its high 

 quality, when it might not be 

 profitable to grow that variety 

 for market, because of its suscep- 

 tibility to disease. Place the em- 

 phasis on quality, not on quan- 

 tity nor on appearance ; but if you 

 can find varieties which possess 

 all three good points, when grown 

 in your locality, so much the bet- 

 ter. Happily for us, the high 

 quality varieties are as likely to 

 be bright colored, and attractive 

 as they are to be dull colored and 

 uninviting. Virtue is not neces- 

 sarily wrapped up in a homely 

 skin. By diligent search the 

 home fruit-grower can usually 

 find varieties which combine 

 good looks with fine flavor, and 

 yield well in the locality. 



PLANT THE VARIETIES YOU 

 LIKE 



Everybody has personal pre- 

 ferences as regards varieties. I 

 like Mcintosh apples best; you 

 may like Northern Spy apples 

 best. I like Agawam grapes best 

 because of their foxy flavor; you 

 may like Brighton grapes better 

 because they have no foxiness. 

 The home orchard, like every- 



