Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1865-08-25
farm, Garden & 9GnseltpIa.
THE Supply OF FRUTT.

In season like the present, when the ap-
pie and pear crop are so much smaller than
they have been for 80 many years past fruit
raisers naturally ask the question, what
shall we do for our usual supply of fruit for
family use? The answer may be difficult
or unsatisfactory one, SO far IS the present
season is concerned, but We may all learn
something in relation to insuring supply
in the future. Those who confne them
selves to single kind viii be liable to an
over supply in one season and deficiency in
another. IF the land owner, for example
plants an apple orchard only for early, me-
dunn and late sorts, ne win have all that he
wants and an overplus besides when the
year proves favorable; but he win be annoy
ed BY such a deficiency as the present in
unfayorable years. The true way to avoid
this difficulty is to provide as many legs to
ones stool as possible-or5 in other words,
secure as great variety of kinds as may be
practicable We do not mean BY thisa very
large number of varieties Of each kind.
Thus in one year apples may be abundant,
but peaches and grapes may be entirely de-
fcient. During another season the reverse
may take place, and it is therefore desirable
to plant all the kinds that are easily cultiya-
ted Taking the circle of fruits and begin
ming with strawberries and the earliest cher
ries, to be successfully followed by currants,
raspberries, the earliest pears and apples,
apricots, early plums, blackberriess and sub
sequently by the general supply of apIIes,
peaches, pears, plums and grapes, termina-
ting in the following winter and spring, with
winter pears, packed grapes and winter ap-
pies, We shah find on an average certain
per centage or rate of failure in different
kinds-in some localities there viii not be
one failure in ten among these different
fruits; while in others She deficiency may
be as one to five, or one to three, as the case
may be.
All we have to do therefore is to enlarge
our number so as to insure certainty Of a
supply from one or more. The present year,
for example, has furnished us profusion of
strawberries a good rdpply of currants
where the helleb6fe treatment has been
promptly giFen to the current worm rasp-
berries and blackberries are bearing well,
and SO far as present appearances indicate,
we shall have good crops from most varieties
of the hardy grape. There must be an in
creased reliance on the grape, for although
it may fail In some seasons, the cause of that
failure is mike that which destroys the crop
on most of our fruit trees. The latter is
often the result of severe winters, and very
frequently it is caused by abundant rains a
bout the time of blooming. But She grape
is never winter- killed in the fruit buds, nor
by the rains of spring, because the fruit IS
formed on the new shoots, which grow at
later time of the year.
Of all the kinds growing on trees, the
pear is perhaps the most reliable for all sea-
sons; in the present, however, we have the
rare exception of very small crop. The
best hardy grapes scarcely ever fail We
should therefore plant them more extensive
" for family use. New sorts for excellence
in quality have been added to our list within
a few years; attention is more recently given
to the production of varieties of extreme
earliness while those for long keeping
through winter are not overlooked, and will
yet receive more attention than now, when
families come to rely upon the grape for a
general winter supply. We strongly rec
6mmend a large planting of the vine, not so
much for making money by marketing on AN
extensive scale, as for an abundant home
consumption.
Let US compare the grape with the apple,
for the amount which may be obtained from
a given area of land. The most productive
apples, such as the Baldwin Rhode Island
Greening, have yielded in good seasons al
the rate Of some 400 bushels to the acre
while 100 or 200 are a more common crop
Taking Is or 20 of the best or most popula
sorts, we shall probably not be able to rel
on much over 100 bushels to the acre,
through the yicissitudes of different season
or not over three or four tons. Now, il
ordinary vineyard management, four ton
do not constitute an extravagant crop fo
such excellent sorts as the Isabella, Concor
and Delaware. Some of these have yieldet
over six tons per acre. 1t may be ques
toned whether, on the whole, the appl
orchard win yield much more than the vine
yard; the latter, tits admitted, requires ia
more care in cultivation and pruning, an
more attention also in preserving the fruit
But we are all learning that fruit shoul
have as much care as corn, turnips an
potatoes, and are becoming willing to give il
While therefore we would not diminis
the amount of land given to Strawberries
eurrants, raspberries, gooseberries, black
berries, and to cherries, apples, peache:
apricots, plums. pears, &C.. we especial
recommend at the present time, large al
tention to the best hardy grapes. Il County
Geatlenlda.
PRESENT HINTS.