January, 1919 
WISCONSIN HORTICULTURE 
53 
The Home Orchard in Wisconsin. 
The first part of this discussion 
of farm orchards by Marshall W. 
Sergeant appeared in the October 
number of Wisconsin Horticul- 
ture, p. 20. At the time the ar- 
ticle was written Mr. Sergeant 
was a student in the college of ag- 
riculture. For the past year lie 
lias been hunting Huns in France 
and Belgium. In a letter written 
in France July 26th he says: “We 
expect you and Prof. Moore to 
keep up the apple crop so that we 
can have plently when we return, 
as we will want a change from 
hardtack and bully beef.” 
The installment referred to 
above discusses the usual neglect- 
ed condition of farm orchards in 
Wisconsin. Proceeding Mr. Mar- 
shall says : 
It is apparent that so long as 
such conditions exist, the home 
orchard will not attain the popu- 
larity it deserves, and home- 
grown fruit will not fulfill its mis- 
sion of reducing grocery bills, 
promoting health, and adding to 
the enjoyment cf rural life. As 
a rule, the crop harvested from 
uncared-for trees is small, and the 
fruit is small in size, scabby, 
wormy, and of low grade gener- 
ally. The product as a whole is 
such that quite as many persons 
are dissuaded from fruit-growing 
as are attracted to it, and the own- 
er of the neglected orchard often 
states that there are so many new 
“bugs” nowadays that good fruit 
cannot be produced in his locality, 
and that the trees do rot yield 
well either. Not only is the pros- 
pective orchardist thus discour- 
aged, and advised against enter- 
ing the field, but the established 
orchardist is sometimes discour- 
aged and driven out by having to 
fight continually against the mil- 
lions of parasites being propa- 
gated by his neighbors. It is 
clear that the owners of badly-in- 
fested, run-down orchards are the 
real criminals of horticulture, and 
the question for us to solve is, 
“wtat shall we do with the crim- 
inal now that we have found 
him?” 
There is probably no way in 
which we can effect sudden and 
radical changes for the better, but 
by employing proper methods we 
should be able to start a work 
that will gain impetus and finally 
result in a great improvement. 
This work, it seems to me, will 
require both legislation and edu- 
cation. Legislation must be pro- 
vided for the man who will not do 
as well as he knows, and educa- 
tion must be given to his neighbor 
who doesn’t know what is best to 
do. 
The legislation we need worst 
is a law providing stringent regu- 
lations for the control and exter- 
mination of orchard parasites, al- 
so including fines or penalties for 
delinquencies, and giving to the 
proper authorities, executive 
power to condemn and destroy 
badly infested trees in case their 
owner refuses to do so. This may 
seem to be a rather radical pro- 
posal, but we already have more 
strict laws than this for the con- 
trol of animal diseases, and a few 
pigs or cows are certainly of no 
greater value than a good orch- 
ard. In addition to this we must 
consider the fact that the loss of 
a pig or cow can be made good at 
any time, while a dead tree or a 
ruined orchard cannot be re- 
placed. It must be grown again 
from the start, and may require 
ten or twenty years for the pro- 
cess. 
In our educational work we 
may expect to make infinitely 
greater progress with the begin- 
ning and prospective fruit-raisers 
than with any other class. For 
that reason, and also because rela- 
tively little has ever been written 
fully covering the subject, the 
suggestions that l wish to offer 
concerning this phase of our work 
have to do with the very first steps 
of the man who contemplates 
planting trees. I think that we 
should use every oral and printed 
agency that we possess, or can en- 
list, to place before these people, 
information and advice to this ef- 
fect : 
First: If you consider the 
planting of a home orchard, read 
one or more good, up-to-date gen- 
eral texts on the subject, and then 
secure and read Bulletin 269 of 
the Wisconsin Experiment Sta- 
tion. 
Second: Think over carefully 
what you have read ; consider all 
the factors, both of work and of 
gain, involved in the care and 
management of an orchard ; then 
decide definitely, either to plant 
the trees and give them absolutely 
all the care and attention they de- 
mand, or to drop the matter en- 
tirely. 
Third: If the decision has been 
in the affirmative, calculate the 
number of trees that will produce 
all the fruit you need for family 
consumption ; decide by consult- 
ing your Bulletin 269 what size 
and varieties you should have; 
and write to nurseries in your own 
states for prices on the list you 
choose. 
Fourth: From the quotations 
you receive, select the most satis- 
factory, and order from that com- 
pany, giving full specifications 
and also a date for delivery. Do 
not order too many trees, for in 
general the greater the number 
you get, the less the chance that 
they will receive proper care. 
( Continued on page 59) 
