18 



ANNUAL REPORT 1919 AND 1920 



form and widely separated would doubtless entail more trouble and expense than 

 if they were in nursery rows, but this would be more than offset by doing away 

 with the necessity of balling and shipping. On the whole, orchards could be had 

 at less cost and with far better trees. 



It would be a distinct economy — and in the end economy benefits all con- 

 cerned — to send an industry happily and prosperously along, eliminate waste, stop 

 up the leaks. The packers claim to make use of every part of the hog but the 

 grunt, and see where they have arrived! One of the principal aims of this asso- 

 ciation should be the elimination of waste. This suggestion probably will not be 

 relished by the nurserymen, but in the end I do not think it will hurt them. At 

 present they are forever running the risk of propagating trees they cannot sell, thus 

 imposing on the industry as a whole a certain amount of dead loss, which must be 

 borne by someone somehow, and constituting, I believe, an unnecessary overhead 

 expense. 



Let the nurseryman contract to make orchards for people on the new plan 

 and he can figure his profits in advance, also you may be sure he will stick to 

 strong healthy varieties which he knows will grow. 



This matter of sturdy trees brings us again to a subject on which I have 

 talked more or less insistently for some years. In selecting varieties for commercial 

 orchards, the tree is more important than the fruit. Its strength, vigor, rapidity of 

 growth, and resistance to heat and cold should be considered before the quality of 

 the fruit it bears. Why? Because if you have a strong tree and do not like 

 the fruit, you may change it to any desired variety in two years by top-working, 

 whereas, if you have selected a sickly variety because it bears the kind of fruit 

 you want, you have only disappointment ahead of you. Happily, there is no 

 longer any necessity for taking chances, as we now have sturdy varieties producing 

 also very fine fruit. One of the best examples of this combination of good points 

 is the Fuerte, a wonderfully strong tree and fruit of superfine quality. You can 

 make no mistake in planting the Fuerte. 



Plant strong trees, and if you are planting to make money, not too many 

 kinds. There are, I believe, one hundred and thirty or more named varieties. 

 Some of our friends, not knowing for certain which to select, have "played safe** 

 and planted them all. TTiat is not an orchard; it is a horticultural museum, and 

 has no commercial value. Not much safety about that. We must make decisions. 

 Playing too safe is the unsafest way of all policies. Consumers will eventually 

 buy largely by brand, dealers the same way, demanding also uniformity of pack. 

 Odds and ends will be hard to sell. One variety in an orchard is best, but if 

 you must have two, start one in orchard form first, then interset the other in the 

 middle of the squares. If you live long enough to see them crowd, take out the 

 poorer one, which you may do, and still leave the other in perfect orchard form. 



Some plant several varieties so as to have fruit the year round. Why does 

 an orchardist want fruit the year round? If he can get the same amount of 

 money for his crop and get through harvesting it in a month or two, I should think 

 he would want to do so and take a vacation; take the folks to the beach! We 

 don't want to work all the time. The tendency of the times in industry is towards 

 more and more rest. The owner of a grove gets no extra pay for overtime. A 

 single variety in a grove brings less care and more profit. "Put all of your eggs 

 in one basket," said Andrew Carnegie, "and then watch the basket." No one 

 was more competent than he to formulate a business policy or watch a basket. 



Judging varieties by the fruit alone without regard to the tree has been the 

 cause of more loss and disappointment than any other thing in this business. Many 



