54 
House & Garden- 
BEHIND THE HOUSE STANDS THE ORCHARD 
Even Though the Grounds Be So Small That Only a Few Can Be Planted, Well Chosen 
Fruit Trees and Bushes Will Prove a Worth-while Investment 
WILLIAM C. McCOLLOM 
seriously, both as regards those which are suit¬ 
able for your local conditions and those which 
will give a well balanced orchard. Varieties, 
should be selected that ripen in the proper rota¬ 
tion, and the productive value of the various, 
types must al:o be considered. An apple tree 
in good health and bearing properly should 
produce from twelve to sixteen bushels of fruit; 
pears yield in one-half the time of apples, but 
carry only about half as large a crop; peaches 
should bear some fruit the third year, but they 
are short lived and it will be necessary to re¬ 
place them every ten or twelve years. Plums 
are similar in habit to peaches, but they are 
much longer lived. 
Dependable Varieties 
The following varieties have stood the test 
of time, for all general purposes. 
Red Astrachan and Early Harvest are very 
good early ripening varieties of apples; None¬ 
such and Gravenstein will be found satisfying 
for autumn, while for late keeping qualities 
and fine flavor King, Baldwin, Greening and. 
Northern Spy are considered the best. The 
best summer pears are Clapp’s Favorite and 
Bartlett, both fine grained and highly flavored. 
Good intermediate ripening sorts of pears are 
Shelden and Worden Seckel, and the best keep¬ 
ers for winter use are Beurre d’Anjou and Law¬ 
rence. In cherries. Wood and Tartarian are 
good sweet sorts, while among the tart varieties 
that excell for cooking Morello and Richmond 
Hill are satisfactory. 
{Continued on page 70) 
I N discussions about planning the grounds 
of some new place one often hears “What 
is the use of planting fruit trees? They take 
too long to mature.” Common enough senti¬ 
ments, but luckily they were not those of the 
generation which preceded us. While it does 
take some little time to grow a fully developed 
orchard, you must bear in mind that each 
year the trees are improving in value. The}’ 
are interesting even when small, and by proper 
selection it is possible to have some varieties 
that fruit the second season. When you have 
ground that is above the rise and fall of the 
tide, and when it is possible to make holes 
large enough for the roots of the trees, you can 
grow fruit if you want to. The question is 
entirely a personal one, as there are few classes 
of plants that are less exacting. 
Fruit trees are utilitarian. They not onh 
produce abundantly if given reasonable culti¬ 
vation, but may at the same time serve the pur¬ 
pose of a group planting for screens, etc. Fur¬ 
thermore, they are conspicuously attractive at 
all seasons of the year; there is always a cer¬ 
tain magnetism in the fruit when it is develop¬ 
ing, in the new growth showing the fruit buds, 
and in the spring flowers. Every suburban 
home plot should have an orchard, even if only 
of the smallest size. A few trees, if there is not 
room for more, reflect the spirit of the owner, 
and in the smallest site they can be arranged so 
as not to interfere with the usual garden. 
The selection of varieties should be ' 
