Vol. LXIV. No. 2901. 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 2, 1905. 
WEEKLY, 11.00 PEK YEAR 
FRUITS FOR HOME USE. 
Best Varieties for Central Illinois. 
I would )iko the opinion of several of your readers as to 
the quantity and best varieties of apple, pear, peach, plum, 
cherry, grapes, red and blackcap raspberries and blackberries 
for home use for small family in central Illinois, on the rich 
black land of the corn belt. On the space set apart for an 
orchard we think the following number of trees can be set 
to best advantage as to distance: 28 apple, 20 or more 
peach, eight pear, six cherry, 12 plum and two quince trees, 
with, one row grapes, two rows blackberries, one row red and 
one row blackcap raspberries, the length of a row of apple 
Early Crawford, four Oldmixon Free, four Champion, 
four Late Crawford, four Elberta. Eight pear: Four 
Kieffcr, one Seckcl, one Bartlett, two Duchess, Dwarf; 
six Early Richmond cherry; 12 plum: four Wild Goose, 
two Abundance, two Burbank, two Lombard, two Wolf. 
Two Orange quince. Grapes: Equal planting of 
Moore’s Early, Worden, Concord and Niagara. Red 
raspberry, Cuthbert; black raspberry, three-fourths 
Gregg, one-fourth Older. Blackberries, all Snyder. 
This will make plenty of fruit for one family the year 
around, to which should be added a liberal supply of 
They will come into bearing before any other fruit other 
than berries, and we do not think there is anything so 
indispensable for family use. We would plant but 
few pears, as they soon blight, and give us very little 
return on an investment. It is no use to start an 
orchard even for home use unless you intend to culti¬ 
vate it properly and use the sprayer diligently. 
Southern Indiana. w. w. stevens. 
I should say that from ;if) to 40 apple trees were suffi¬ 
cient for an average-sized family; less would be enough 
in good crop years. Peaches, pears and quinces are so 
TFIE ARMY OF PICKERS IN AN INDIANA BERRY FIELD. Fig. 272. See Page 648. 
trees of 14 trees set 35 feet apart. Would the above number 
of trees and plants supply a small or medium-sized family 
with plenty of fruit, if given good care? I would like to 
plant different varieties of each kind of fruit, and would like* 
to know if it is necessary to plant two trees of a kind in 
order to have them bear well ; that is, would one Ben Davis 
apple or one Bartlett pear tree bear well if standing among 
other apple or pear trees of different kind's? I have often 
heard they will not. .r. .r. j. 
Waverly, Ill. 
Plant as follows: 28 apples, two Duchess, two 
Benoni, one Sweet June, two Maiden’s Blush, two 
I'ameuse, one Wealthy, one Ramsdell’s Sweet, two Fall 
Pippin, three Jonathan, four Ben Davis, four Minkler, 
two Northwestern Greening, one Willow Twig, one 
Tolman, Twenty-four peach: Four Amsden, four 
rhubarb and asparagus, two of our “best fruits” in early 
Spring, and later of course tomatoes, etc. 
McLean Co., Ill. geo. j. foster. 
I have had no experience in growing fruit on black 
land, and could not advise what varieties would do 
best in.this instance. This fact can best be ascertained 
from experienced fruit growers in the vicinity where 
the orchard is to be located. For even the home orchard 
we would not advise planting too many varieties of 
apples, or any other kinds of fruit, but what we planted 
•would be of the very best varieties as to quality and 
adaptability to location. In the above we think there 
ate too many plunts and not enough cherries. It is a 
difficult matter to have too many grapes for home use. 
uncertain that it is difficult to advise as to amount to 
plant, but would think the number named all that it is 
desirable to plant- As the rows are to be about 30 rods 
long, and grapes may be planted eight feet apart, one- 
row should give grapes in great variety and abundance. 
One row of blackberries well taken care of should be 
sufficient, and one row of raspberries where the canes 
are healthy and not affected with anthracnose. If very 
fond of raspberries of course a row of red and one 
black might not come amiss. Nothing is said of cur¬ 
rants and gooseberries, which should form a part of 
every fruit garden. Three dozen currants and two 
dozen gooseberries should give a very good supply of 
these fruits. I would advise not to make too large 
