APPLE TREES OF GREAT SIZE. 



395 



persisted that they were right, and I soon found 

 myself wondering why I had not thought of the 

 metropoHtan markets before. They declared that 

 my troubles had been with the dealers, and not with 

 my idea of growing superior fruits. If I could but 

 find the right dealer, they said, I could sell my 

 choice fruits at a good price : and they advised me 

 to revise my first warranty ticket. 



I resolved to try, and by their aid I obtained the 

 addresses of several good firms in neighboring 

 cities. My first trial in these new markets was with 

 some fine raspberries, a small consignment of a 

 dozen packages, which I put up with extra care. 

 The day after I shipped them I received a telegram 

 from the dealer, asking if I had more berries of the 

 same kind ! This was a surprise and a revelation, 

 and it gave me new spirits. 



Two years more have passed and have brought 

 me to the point where the reader now finds me. I 

 am now gradually returning to my first idea of the 

 best varieties, the best culture and the greatest care. 

 It appears as if there is a sufficient demand for 

 quality to pay for securing it. Of course, I have 

 made many mistakes during these last two years, 

 but they have all been useful to me. I am finding 

 myself more intimately interested in my business 

 and more appreciative of nature than I had been 

 under the thoughtless system of a few years ago. 

 I begin to see more to admire and to study. The 



fields and plants seem to speak to me. I am begin- 

 ning to feel what a delightful life must be that of 

 the experimenter, for he converses with nature in 

 the most intimate way. 



I do not know that there is a fortune in fine fruits, 

 as my friends declared, but I am coming to feel 

 that there is more money in them under many con- 

 ditions, than in the cheaper products which most of 

 my neighbors grow. And there is certainly money 

 made by care and tastefulness in packing. A single 

 illustration will emphasize this point. The line be- 

 tween myself and my neighbor runs through an old 

 orchard of Hubbardstons. My neighbor cares more 

 for stock than for fruit, and he sold his Hubbard- 

 stons a year or two ago for about a dollar a barrel. 

 I sold mine, which were in no way superior, for from 

 %z to S3. 



Perhaps my faith in quality vs. quantity is too 

 strong, but I am determined to work along this 

 line, not only with small fruits, but with apples and 

 pears. I shall feel my way, to be sure. But I 

 cannot retrench, for I had rather go out of the 

 business than to return to the old way. I cannot 

 read The American Garden and other horticultural 

 periodicals and then practice loose methods. But 

 others have had better experience than I : what do 

 they say as to my prospects ? Am I on the right 

 track for the best success to be won ? 



Co7mecticiit. I. C. 



APPLE TREES 



Measurements of an apple tree of extraordinary 

 size have been furnished by Rev. A. Swartz, Lan- 

 caster, Ohio, to the Pittsburgh National Stockman 

 and Farmer. The circumference of the trunk three 

 feet above the ground is nine feet five inches, as 

 measured by Mr. Swartz ; and the spread of the 

 branches is thirty-five feet on each side — seventy 

 feet. The tree is considered to be a seedling, with 

 fruit resembling Maiden's Blush in appearance, qual- 

 ity and time of ripening, and might be taken for 

 Maiden's Blush, only that Mr. Swartz is an excel- 

 lent judge of fruit. The crop in 1888 was thought 

 to be well up toward a hundred bushels. The tree 

 stands on the premises of Henry Amnion, Liberty 

 township, Fairfield county, Ohio. 



This account by Mr. Swartz has called forth two 

 others iii a subsequent issue of the Stockman and 

 Farmer ; the first from Wm. Musser, of Wayne 

 county, Ohio, and the second from S. B. Oakes, of 

 Washington county, Ohio. 



Mr. Musser's tree measures ten feet four inches 



F GREAT SIZE. 



in circumference at one foot from the ground, and 

 nine feet ten and one-half inches at a height of four 

 feet. It is standing on the farm formerly owned by 

 Jacob Tracy, having been brought from Pennsyl- 

 vania as a two-year old seedling, and planted by Mr. 

 Tracy's father seventy-four years ago. 



Mr. Oakes' tree stands near the bank of the Ohio 

 river, where it was planted in 1791 or '92. The cir- 

 cumference of the trunk at the smallest place is 

 twelve feet two inches. It has five principal 

 branches, the largest of which has a circumference 

 of seven feet, and the smallest three feet. This is 

 probably the largest apple tree in the United States 

 if not in the world. It is a seedling and bears well, 

 and the fruit — a large yellow apple, in season from 

 the middle of July to September — is said to be 

 superior to Russet, Belleflower, etc., for cooking. 

 This is high praise ; but Mr. Oakes, living as he 

 does in the vicinity of the old Putnam nursery and 

 orchards — the first established in Ohio — writes 

 understandingly. R. j. b_ 



