24 APPLES AND PEACHES IN THE OZARK REGION. 



an orchard, it will be found, frequently, that the necessary feed which 

 can not be grown without neglecting the orchard can be purchased 

 out of the returns of a properly managed orchard and the transaction 

 prove to be a very satisfactory one financially. 



Should the size of the orchards be reduced as suggested, it might 

 be desirable, or even necessary, materially to change the present 

 methods of handling the fruit, basing such a change on a system 

 of complete cooperation among the growers as is already being 

 done in some of the best known fruit-growing regions in which the 

 5-acre or 10-acre orchard is the rule and the larger individual holdings 

 the exception. It is probable that a much closer cooperation among 

 the growers is desirable, and would prove highly advantageous under 

 any conditions which the future may develop. 



THE PROBLEM OF VARIETIES. 

 CONSIDERATIONS GOVERNING SELECTION. 



In the development of commercial fruit-growing interests in a new 

 region, the matter of selecting the most suitable varieties for planting 

 is one which must be considered from many different standpoints. 



The ultimate object of the commercial fruit grower is to make his 

 business financially profitable. To do this, as far as the matter of 

 varieties is concerned, he must grow those which are reasonably 

 prolific and which are sufficiently well adapted to the climate, soil, 

 and other conditions existing in his region to insure a high degree of 

 perfection in the development of the fruit. Not only this, they must 

 also meet the demands of the market sufficiently well to induce the 

 buyer to pay a satisfactory price for them. A variety may develop 

 to its highest perfection and yet not be profitable to grow commer- 

 cially because it does not produce enough fruit or because other 

 characteristics that it possesses result in- the prices that can be 

 obtained for it at the time it must be offered for sale being insufficient 

 to net a margin of profit to the grower. 



It is frequently difficult or even impossible to foretell just how a 

 variety will behave in a region where it has not previously been grown 

 or in a new set of conditions under which it has not been tested. 

 The avoidance of costly mistakes in selecting varieties for a new 

 region is therefore largely dependent upon the knowledge one has of 

 their range of adaptability and of their behavior under conditions 

 which are most nearly comparable with those in the new region. 



As applied to the Ozark region, it is probable that a considerable 

 number of varieties have been planted extensively which are not 

 proving as profitable as other sorts which are being grown to only a 

 limited extent. There are still others which at present are but little 



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