1911 
THE RURAb NEW-YORKER 
220 
AN ORCHARD FOR THE AVERAGE NEW 
ENGLAND FARM. 
Although New England offers in her 
farming lands many different ways for 
profit, with millions of consumers in 
theit nearby cities and towns, within 
easy reach of an unlimited foreign mar¬ 
ket for good apples, I know of no one 
thing which offers to so many farmers 
an opportunity to add both to their in¬ 
come and the value of their farms as 
a well-planned, well-cared-for orchard. 
While certain sections offer better op¬ 
portunities than others to those who 
would plant commercial orchards on a 
large scale, simply to pay dividends on 
invested capital (and such orchards are 
only a matter of the near future), they 
will require expert and high-priced help 
to choose successful locations, and so 
manage them as to make them profitable 
investments. The writer had no oppor¬ 
tunity to choose a better or more profit¬ 
able location, being left on a run-down 
farm in such circumstances he felt leav¬ 
ing was out of the question, and strange 
to say he has sometimes felt like thank¬ 
ing his lucky stars the farm was run¬ 
down and small, for had it been richer 
and larger, with more cattle, he prob¬ 
ably would still be tied to a cow’s tail. 
So I had to take what was left to me 
and do the best I could with it, using 
land for orchards which I would not 
have bought or even taken as a gift, 
undei more favorable circumstances. 
Many New England farms have acres 
of land which now does little to add to 
its owner’s income, which could be 
made to pay good profit in the growing 
of fruit, especially apples. I do not ad¬ 
vise the setting of all such lands to or¬ 
chards, or of any of it for those who 
will make no study of the subject before 
doing so, but for the man who looks 
upon an orchard as something to spend 
money and work upon at a profit, and 
as an investment for a lifetime. He 
should have the business ability to 
choose good land, easily accessible to 
his roads and markets, and so situated, 
if possible, as to give good air drain¬ 
age for the prevention of frost injury. 
It should not be the poorest land at 
“way back,” or fit only for a forest 
growth, although personally I have made 
good profits from very poor land, yet 
in every case the best land has proved 
by far the most profitable. In my case 
the choosing of varieties to fit the con¬ 
ditions of the soil has had much to do 
in adding to my profits, for the man 
who would set his russets on his poor¬ 
est land and Gravenstein on moist and 
rich should not set an orchard. For 
the best success each must study well 
his local conditions of soil and markets. 
Those near our large cities who have 
the time to handle Fall fruit, especially 
if sold in boxes, will find a fair prop, 
tion of early or Fall apples profitable. 
To most growers Winter apples will 
prove most profitable, and for profit 
plant very few varieties. For a large 
part of New England the Baldwin is the 
one great money-maker, an apple which 
for best results will not stand too high 
feeding and culture, yet will pay for 
good care and feeding to meet the con¬ 
ditions of.different soils; an apple best 
adapted to the average grower, it will 
grow and produce good fruit on nearly 
all kinds of soil. Although the yield is 
not as heavy, I have grown good Bald¬ 
wins on land nearly pure sand, and 
were I trying to raise a fancy high-class 
Baldwin I should not choose my richest 
land. 
Distance apart is a question which 
means dollars to everyone who would 
set an apple orchard, for the time has 
gone by when trees can be set 30 to 40 
feet apart and the land then used as 
mowing for the raising of hay, if a 
profitable orchard is the object of the 
grower. From personal experience I 
believe the best paying orchards will be 
those set by the filler method; in fact I 
would set by no other. I would advise 
those intending to set an orchard to see 
such a one in bearing if possible, and do 
not be frightened by such scarecrows as 
“You will not have the nerve to cut out 
the fillers at the proper time,” or “The 
fillers will rob your permanent trees of 
needed fertility^.” To the up-to-date 
fruit grower such talk is simply absurd. 
The test of an orchard is not how long 
it can be made to live, but what it can 
be made to produce for its owner, and 
for fillers use such trees as will pay 
you best, be they plum, peach or apple, 
and make that orchard pay very soon 
after planting. My first trees by this 
method set on light land were apples 
18x18, and having a local market for 
such fruit, as many plums (upright 
growers) as apples. These were set in 
middle of apple rows, making plums a 
little less than 13 feet from the apples. 
Later I added to these, setting apples 
18x20, and my last orchard was set 
20x20, which I feel is near enough for 
trees on light land, and for strong and 
rich land 22 or 24 might prove most 
profitable, as I believe fillers can be 
planted too close for most profitable re¬ 
sults as well as the permanent trees. 
My method has been to set one-half the 
trees to very early bearers, which do 
not make large trees, largely Wagener 
and Wealthy; then if the permanent 
tree is a strong grower use what might 
be called a semi-filler, of which Banana, 
Ben Davis or Hubbardston is a type, 
and on fairly light land one-half could 
be set to Baldwin and later one-half of 
those cut out, leaving the permanent 
trees at twice the distance the orchard 
was originally set. In setting out an or¬ 
chard do not be in a rush and half do 
the work, as it will pay well properly to 
prepare the ground first, and be sure to 
have first-class trees to put upon it; 
cheap and ill-shaped trees are not worth 
setting. Nothing has paid me better 
than the buying of trees and growing 
them in nursery rows two or more 
years, where their tops are put in shape 
to meet my ideas of what a tree should 
be. They should be transplanted at the 
end of two years if one wished to grow 
them that way longer, and I believe they 
can in many cases be grown that way 
for years at a profit. H. o. mead. 
Massachusetts. 
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Hundreds of car lots of 
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The Siorrs & Harrison Go., Box 158 Painesville. 0. 
Copyright, 1911, National Cloak Suit Co. 
It shows you 
Lingerie Dresses 
Silk Dresses 
Waists - - 
Skirts - « 
Hats • • 
$3.98 to $19.98 
$11.98 to $22.50 
98 cents to $8.98 
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Pure Linen 
Hand-Embroidered Waist 
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No Agents or Branches 
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1 11 
273 West 24th Street 
•> NEW YORK CITY 
Mail Orders Only 
TRADE MARK REGISTERED IN U.S. PATENT OFFICE. 
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Box 1107V Philada Pa. 
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