468 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
“COMMERCIAL ORCHARDING”—A SHOT AT THE 
PROFESSOR 
Chas. C. Bell 
There is always room for improvements and lessons to 
learn—while young we often do not like to admit this, but as 
year after year we battle the existing conditions we realize 
it to be true. From the past thirty-three years’ experience as 
a fruit buyer and packer as well as a grower, I would say that 
the success of commercial orcharding depends after all 
“like everything else in life” on the proper management and 
thorough understanding of existing conditions. 
It is all-important to know that location and soil are 
right; and that you plant the right commercial varieties. I 
advise you to sell the crop as soon as you get a reasonably fair 
offer; never hold for speculation, unless you are in position 
as a dealer to know from past experience just what you 
may reasonably expect. Remember always that “fruit is 
perishable.” It matters not how fine and perfect your fruit 
is, it is only a question of weeks or months when if not con¬ 
sumed it will decay. Hence I am in favor of selling just as 
soon as possible, and I never envy the profit a dealer makes, 
knowing the risk he has to assume. But above all else, 
whether you are a dealer or a grower, “Pack your fruit 
honestly”; always remember that you cannot take better 
fruit out of a package than you put in. Knowing thatfruit 
by its natural and unavoidable decay will more or less con¬ 
tinually depreciate, whether in or out of cold storage, it is 
evident that no package of fruit will open up as sound and 
perfect as the day it was packed, hence an important part is 
proper assorting and careful packing. If you have “First 
Class” fruits, pack and mark it as such, if you are in doubt, 
give it the benefit of your doubt and pack them as 
“Seconds,” but if you think they are not good Seconds, 
then do not pack them at all, but work them up 
into cider, vinegar, jelly, dried fruit, etc.—the trade will 
soon find out your packing, and if it is honestly done they 
will call for it. It is the poor fruit and dishonest packing 
that gluts our markets, depreciates prices and diminishes 
demands. With the present Pure Food Law it is now 
possible to work up to good advantage at home all fruit 
which is below a good “second” and you will save much less 
in packages, freight and commissions. 
I have said that it is all important to plant the right com¬ 
mercial varieties, and in this we often have been disappointed 
and deceived by the nurserymen. But at this time when 
we have so many good and responsible men in the nursery 
business, we can be reasonably sure of obtaining healthy and 
true-to-name fruit trees. We should also be greatly bene¬ 
fited by our State Horticultural Experimental Stations, with 
its staff of professors, (which are mentioned at considerable 
expense by the taxpayers), provided those horticultural 
professors and investigators do not give you information 
which they themselves only understand as theory. In other 
words, I want to say to those professors “to be sure you are 
right, before you tell the Orchardist and Nurseryman what 
to do.” I know there has been much harm done to nursery¬ 
men in many cases of incompetent and unfair inspection. I 
call to mind an incident which took place at the State 
Horticultural Winter meeting at Farmington in December, 
1900. I took to said meeting several two year old apple 
trees which had some root knot, about which I wanted infor¬ 
mation . I was surprised that most of the experts advised me 
not to plant those trees, and one of them took the position to 
tell me that while there was no law to compel me to pull up and 
bum all those trees forthwith, there ought to be such a law, 
because these Root-Knots were capable under favorable 
conditions of the weather, to send out millions of spores and 
thereby infect everything. I was willing to listen to reason, 
but this contention simply appeared to me silly, “Education 
goes to seed.” My reply was, that with all due respect to 
the learned Professor, “In as much as these trees are my 
trees, grown in my private nursery, and for my own use and 
planting, and for the further fact that from all appearance 
they were thrifty and healthy trees; I would plant them— 
“and I did,” and today these trees which were condemned 
by the learned Professor at the Farmington meeting occupy 
about twenty acres in our orchard, and are a beauty to 
behold. They are healthy and strong and ready to bear 
fruit. I cite this incident to show how injurious it is to give 
wrong advice, and lead some to believe that nurseries have 
at times been unjustly handicapped and injured by incom¬ 
petent inspection. As a fruit grower and tax-payer I am 
interested in getting Facts—“Not Theories” hence I advise 
the Professors and Investigators of our state experimental 
stations to adopt “David Crockett’s Motto” “Be sure you 
are right and then go ahead”—Theories are very unreliable, 
we want plain, common sense facts. 
As to Commercial Orcharding, while many (perhaps 
most of the large orchards) have not proven as profitable as 
anticipated—may in part be due to the fact that “too much 
was expected” but the chief reason will be found in a failure 
to select the proper location, soil and varieties. However, I 
will add that my observations have convinced me that the 
small and medium sized orchards have averaged, and always 
will average better returns per acre, than the large orchards 
promoted by some Company. I therefore, recommend the 
planting of medium size and family orchards, but be sure you 
have the right location, soil and varieties. 
HERE AND THERE 
Peter Schott of Knittelsheim (Rheinpfalz), Germany has 
issued a price list of Forest Seeds and Forest Trees. It will 
be furnished on request. 
Herman Langer, Eatonstown, N. J., writes: “Last 
week I received Webster’s New Illustrated Dictionary. I 
find it a very handy book in every way.” 
Ernest F. Coe, President of The Elm City Nursery Co., 
sailed January 2 2d on the White Star Line Steamer Baltic. 
He will visit the important European nursery centers. 
The National Nurseryman received a card of New 
Year’s Greeting from Conrad Appel, Darmstadt, Germany. 
The National Nurseryman begs to acknowledge its 
thanks for the receipt of New Years Greetings and Calendars 
from the following: J. H. Skinner & Co., Topeka, Kans.; 
W. Van Kleef & Sons, Boskoop, Holland; H. S. Wiley & 
Son, Cayuga, N. Y.; Thomas B. Meehan & Sons, Dresher, 
Pa.; the Benjamin Chase Co., Derry Village, N. H.; the 
DeLaval Separator Co. 
