Fruit farming

“ Cattle show themselves to be of this opinion when left to range; they avoid coarse, rough herbage, and pick the sweetest and highest flavored. Let the best sorts of apples be planted for stock. If one has a seedling orchard which it would be worth while to graft over for human use, let not its poor, miserable fruit be fed to hogs; let it be grafted over even if one means to use it for stock.
Pulling off Potato Flowers.—The man who makes his potato-ground feed flowers, prevents it feeding his children. ”

“ Our farmers have not grown rich on large and careless farming; but many are growing rich on small farms and careful husbandry.
When the dairy shall be more thought of—when wintering stock, and fattening it, shall be more carefully studied—we predict that our farmers will annually raise thousands of bushels of roots, and have capacious cellars under their barns to store them in.
CULTIVATION OF FRUIT-TREES. We must give up thinking of remedies for blights and diseases of fruit-trees and seek after preventives. Amputation may limit its ravages ”

“ No doubt, fruit growing is fast becoming an acknowledged industry in the colonies, so our young farmer must bear it in mind when planting. It will be best to have the fruit trees near or round his house, so when he has decided where he intends to build he can begin and plant them about that portion of his land, always, of course, arranging them in order and line. He will be able to beg a few trees from his neighbours. Mulberries as a rule are very plentiful, also peach, orange, and in Queensland quavas, mangos, &c., &c. ”

“ We have good evidence that the land is especially suited for the production of prunes, apricots, pears, peaches, olives, plums, small Fruit, such as strawberries, blackberries, sweet and common potatoes, garden stuff, and alfalfa. Alfalfa (or lucerne) is a great crop in America in places where there are no old meadow lands for the cows. The land is, of course, suited for all cereal crops, too. All the Fruits named can be dried in the sun without artificial heat. ”

“ Nothing can exhibit better the folly of trusting to seedling orchards for fruit, for a main supply, than our experience in this matter. The early settlers could not bring trees from Kentucky, Virginia or Pennsylvania—and, as the next resort, brought and planted seeds of popular apples. A later population found no nurseries to supply the awakening demand for fruit-trees, and resorted also to planting seed. ”

“ Professor Eisen writes:—"I am of opinion that these lands (British Colony, Merced) are amongst the very best in the State for raisins; still, as I explained to you, I do not advise any one to put his whole interest in the raisin industry, as the market for this Fruit is limited. For other dried fruit, especially for prunes (French plums) , apricots, peaches, and nectarines, the market is practically unlimited, and as our population increases yearly 1,500,000 people, it will be seen that our markets must extend as well, even after we have driven all foreign Fruits out of our home markets. ”

“ If your wheat is troubled with the weevil, thrash it out and leave it in the chaff. It will raise a heat fatal to its enemy without injuring itself. Every farmer should have a little nursery row of apple, pear, peach and plums of his own raising. Plant the seed; when a year old, transplant into rows eight inches apart in the row and two feet between the rows. During July, August, and September, you may bud them with choice sorts, remembering that a first-rate fruit will live just as easily as a worthless sort. This is a good month to sow down fallow fields to grass. ”

“ Still, I would advise any one who is supplying the market, thoroughly to prepare and enrich an acre or more of moist but well drained land, and plant some of the large, showy berries, like the Sharpless, Monarch, and Seth Boyden. If he has heavy, rich soil, let him also try the Jucunda, President Lincoln, and, especially, the Triomphe de Gand. These varieties always have a ready sale, even when the market is glutted with common fruit, and they often command very high prices. When the soil suits them, they frequently yield crops that are not so far below the Wilson in quantity. ”

“ The planter of extensive commercial orchards, on the contrary, will need but a limited number of varieties, which should be selected with a view to the wants of the markets he intends to supply, as well as to the productiveness of the fruit, and its ability to bear transportation. While it is desirable to have but a few well selected varieties in such an orchard, it must be recollected that even when there is a general failure of the crop, there are always some sorts that bear fruit, and this is an argument against making the list too small. ”

“ Care must be taken to separate, as far as possible, all ripe berries from those which are green, as otherwise the crop will be made of inferior quality. The fruit, which necessarily ripens on the tree, before the bulk of the crop is harvested, falls to the ground and is of no commercial value, as it has lost its aromatic properties. The problem which the planter has to contend with of harvesting his crop before it ripens is a serious one, for the harvesting often must be done rapidly, and it is often difficult to obtain help enough among the indolent natives to pick the crop. ”

“ The first consists of established farmers, who, finding markets within their reach, extend their patches of raspberries, currants, or strawberries to such a degree that they have a surplus to sell. To the extent that such sales are remunerative, they increase the area of fruits, until in many instances they become virtually fruit farmers. More often a few acres are devoted to horticulture, and the rest of the farm is carried on in the old way. ”

“ The bread-fruit is the most abundant of all the trees, and grows to a very large size; the cocoa-nut, the wild orange, and the lime, are all to be found. Bamboos, wild sugar-cane, wild nutmeg, besides many others, only require cultivation. Caoutchouc, gum arabic, castor beans, ginger, orris root, and coffee, will in time be added to these productions. Lemons and sweet oranges have already been planted, and promise a large product.
Swine are abundant and cattle rapidly increasing. Poultry of all kinds is very plentiful, and fish are taken in abundance. ”

“ Although the majority of professional market fruit-growers may be well up to the standard in skill, there are numerous contributors to the fruit supply who are either ignorant of the best methods of cultivation and marketing or careless in their application. The bad condition of the great majority of farm orchards is notorious, and many landowners, farmers and amateur gardeners who have planted fruit on a more or less extensive scale have mismanaged their undertakings. ”

“ The commercial growers use good, practical methods of culture, keeping the land well cultivated and using cover crops and mulch; but many of the small growers of half-way fruit men—those who do not specialize in fruit growing—neglect their orchards. Most growers properly prune and thin their trees and bushes, while many are beginning to spray.
In the picking, grading and packing of the fruit is where the great majority fail. After they have grown the fruit carefully and successfully, they fail to properly harvest and dispose of it. ”

“ Just as sure as the conditions of climate and soil remain as they are, will this new industry eventually hold first place in every respect. In the immediate vicinity of the capital city, where only a few years ago was nothing but barren prairie, there are now hundreds of acres in orchards and vineyards. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, and numerous varieties of grapes are grown in abundance, and with such success that the [275] fruit acreage is annually increasing. ”

“ Ground that has been under cultivation for two or three seasons is best, because it will have been well worked, and so will be comparatively free from weeds. Commence with a small patch, say half an acre, divided equally between black and red raspberries, blackberries and black and red currants. Strawberries cannot be included in a general small-fruit orchard, because the beds are profitable for only three years, and it is better to take them into regular crop rotation, using ground that has previously been occupied by potatoes or corn. ”

“ Moreover, by placing early kinds on warm, sunny slopes, and giving late varieties moist, heavy land, and cool, northern exposures, the season of this delicious fruit can be prolonged greatly. The advantage of a long-continued supply for the family is obvious, but it is often even more important to those whose income is dependent on this industry. It frequently occurs that the market is "glutted" with berries for a brief time in the height of the season. If the crop matures in the main at such a time, the one chance of the year passes, leaving but a small margin of profit ”

“ If our market is one in which strawberries are sold simply as such, without much regard to flavor or size, there is not the same inducement to produce fine fruit. But even when quantity is the chief object, deeply prepared and enriched land retains that essential moisture of which we have spoken, and enables the plant not only to form, but also to develop and mature, a great deal of fruit. In the majority of markets, however, each year, size and beauty count for more, and these qualities can be secured, even from a favorable soil, only after thorough preparation and enriching. ”

“ I grow corn in a young orchard, and clover in a bearing orchard; cease cropping when six or seven years old. Windbreaks are beneficial on the south and west; they should be made of quick-growing trees. I wrap the trees with paper to protect against rabbits. I prune but little to thin top; am doubtful if it pays. Never thin apples on trees. I fertilize the land with well-rotted manure, but not close the trees; I would advise its use on all soils; I think it beneficial; I sometimes pasture my orchard with hogs; do not think it advisable; pays only in getting rid of wormy fruit. ”

“ It certainly is the best of the fall-bearing kinds, and deserves a place in every garden. There are more profitable market varieties, however; but, if the suckers are vigorously destroyed, and the bearing canes cut well back, the fruit is often very large, abundant, and attractive, bringing the highest prices. As a plantation grows older, the tendency to sucker immoderately decreases, and the fruit improves. ”

“ Now the same thing is true with regard to the grain that grows in the field. No one ever saw potatoes grow without being planted and cultivated. Rye and oats and wheat do not grow wild. Weeds will grow without being sown or planted, but grain and vegetables not only have to be planted, but have to be taken care of. Possibly you might think that my statement was not wholly correct, because we go out into the orchard and gather apples and pears and peaches, and other kinds of fruit which have no hard shells on them, and which do not have to be planted in the spring of the year. ”

“ The cultivation of apples should receive particular attention in the north central states, because they have great food value, are not perishable, can be shipped long distances, and the demand, both at home and abroad, is always greater than the supply. The home orchard, however, should contain many kinds of fruit, and the same general rules in regard to the care of the orchard apply to all of them. ”

“ Fruits suitable to our soils and climates are being imported from all the countries of the Old World—the fig from Turkey, the almond from Spain, the date from Algeria, the mango from India. We are helping our fruit growers to get their crops into European markets by studying methods of preservation through refrigeration, packing, and handling, which have been quite successful. We are helping our hop growers by importing varieties that ripen earlier and later than the kinds they have been raising, thereby lengthening the harvesting season. ”

“ Both these fruits are being largely imported, owing to the western and more southern grown being earlier, and parties from a distance can supply the market, when the lack of fresh fruit, owing to the long winter, secures for the earliest berries gilt edged prices.
Each succeeding year appears to awaken more and more interest in the fruit business and fruit culture, and though sometimes we raise all the fruit we consume, still nothing is exported from here; and all our winter apples, and most of the summer ones, are imported from the west and from over the line from the United States. ”

“ They not only constitute marked features in the luxuriant foliage of the tropics, but their fruit supplies the place of bread, and forms the principal part of the food of the people. They thrive best in a rich, moist soil, and are generally grown in regular walks, from shoots or bulbs like those of the air-plant, which continually spring up at the roots of the parent stem. They are very rapid in their growth, producing fruit within a twelvemonth. ”

“ To this portion of plantation management I have given an attentive inquiry, and shall shortly proceed to state my views on the system best adapted to the curing and preparing for market of good quality produce.
The fruit should be gathered in when in a blood-ripe state, to all appearance like cherries. The labourers are principally accustomed to reap the crop in baskets, of which they carry two to the field; and when the coffee is bearing heavily, and is at its full stage of ripeness, the good pickers will gather in four bushels per diem, and carry the same on their heads to the works. ”

“ There are such substantial benefits accruing from the presence of little chicks about the small fruit plantations, or the mature birds about the apple, plum, and peach trees—such as the destruction of hosts of worms and insects and keeping the surface of the ground stirred, that every consideration urges the combination of fruit and poultry growing. At the Vernon Fruit and Poultry Farm, Vernon, Conn., we saw last summer Baldwin apple trees that were six inches through at the butt, yielded an average of a barrel of choice apples each in the fall, and had been set only six years. ”