Young orchard at Sands Point, Long island. From left to right, Blackberries tied to stakes; Currants, Apples; 



Grapes on trellis 



Fruits 



1 



HERE are two classes of fruit-growers on Long Island, commercial and 

 private. This department is run for the private grower. The varieties 

 are recommended for home use. Commercial fruit-growing on Long 

 Island has declined because of land speculation, prospect of early sale of 

 land, and more uniform income from market-gardening, and the develop- 

 ment of fruit-growing and planting in other regions. However, Long 

 Island is one of the best markets for fruit, and commercial fruit-growing 

 can be profitably extended. 



One of the reasons why a man buys a country place is to grow fresh 

 fruits and vegetables. The first question is, "How big can I get the trees, 

 and how quickly can I get them to bear." The second question, "What 

 varieties should I buy?" Then the assumption is, "I have only to plant 

 them and then pick the fruit." 



You can have fruit in about eighteen irionths with Peaches and small 

 fruits, and four to six years with Pears and Apples. You can gain but little 

 by getting larger trees. Few, if any, are obtainable from nurserymen. 

 J You have got to establish the trees on your place before they will bear 

 1 fruit, and it will take as long with a tree 8 feet high and i yi inch in diam- 

 J eter as with a tree 4 or 5 feet high and % inch in diameter. Commercial 

 growers find they get results just as quickly with even smaller trees. 

 The important question is, not when you can get the first fruit, but 

 when you can get the first peck of fruit from a tree. 



Dwarf Apples and Dwarf Pears are grafted on roots which retard the growth and induce earlier bearing. How- 

 ever, the advantage is slight except on very limited areas under high culture, and Long Island is not yet so crowded as 

 to make the practice necessary. 



Varieties for Long Island ha.ve been carefully tested in this establishment for the past sixty years. Like the size 

 of the tree planted, the variety is less important than the cultivation. We have selected varieties which we consider 

 good for home use on Long Island to cover the season. 



The cultivation is ninety per cent of the work in having fruit, pruning and spraying the balance. Many fruit trees 

 fail to reach satisfactory development because they are set in the grass and let alone, or there is a little circle kept free 

 of grass; this is only a fraction of the root-area. Extensive experiments in England and elsewhere show that grass 

 appears to have a deleterious influence on fruit trees greater than the amount of food required. Whatever the reason^ 

 the fact remains that satisfactory orchards are plowed, harrowed or cultivated two or three times a month during the 

 summer. The latter half of the summer may be devoted to the growing of crimson clover or hairy vetch to be plowed 

 under the next year for manure. The value of cultivating is not primarily to kill weeds, but to conserve moisture and 



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Dwarf apple in a Long Island garden. Fertile 

 ground, frequently cultivated, is essential 



