The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1867-06-06
|FRUTTIN SOUTHERN IOWA.
s+ CHAPTER III.

The first OF these papers was ad-
dressed to the few who can be reach
ed by moral suasion. The second,
to a larger clsss-who are able to ap-
prec;ate physical advantages. The
present, one, is intended for every
body inasmnch as the money argu-
ment is most easily understood by
the masses. Persons blind to moral
and physical advantages can, some
times see with great distfncness when
the almighty dollar is the object of
vision.
Many are entirely unaware of tho
pecuniary advantages Of fruit raising
simply because they have not exam
ined the subject. The facts in the
case haze never been brought to bear
upon their minds. They would no
doubt be startled to see the PROPOSE.
ton stated, that ten acres in, fruit
will yield as large an income as ons
hundred acres will in the ordinary
farm crops, and yet there is no, one
more susceptible Of proof.
A few cases which have come di-
rectly under the notice Of the writer,
will now be submitted. A, number
of years ago young man bought
farm Of about ninety acres some
eighteen miles from Cincinnati. The
soil was thin, and supposed to be
worn out 40 far as farming purposes
were concerned. He set it nearly all
in peach trees, which made the wise
acres of the neighborhood shrug up
their shoulders. They were confirm
ed in what they suspicioned when
the man purchased the poor farm
that he was evidently q agreen one"
Yearr passed BY and the trees grew
to maturity, the owner the while
having hard work to keep along,
while his neighbors wero clearing
from two to five hundred dollars a
years few perhaps more. but tho
majority less. After q while the
"big peach orchard" Gas it was then
called) bore a full crop Of fruit, and
continued to do so for three years,
the gross sales averaging $50, 900 or
an aggregate in the three years of
s9O,O0Ol It need scarcely be added
that almost every body in the vicini-
ty went to raising peaches, and as
general thing successfully. Two
years ago man near Centralia, ILL.,,
living on a twelve acre farm, which
was mainly set in peach and apple
trees, in equal proportion, sold $4,000
worth ofpeaches, besides good crop
of apples and considerable small
fruit. Another person in the
vicinity of the same place sold from
a ten acre straw berry patch $1,000
worth. Others with larger planta-
tions realized less money because not
SO well cultivated. g.
Take an example nearer home:-
A friend Of the writer, living six
miles from Keokuk, set out three
acres in the common black. cap rasp-
berry. For the first crop he realized
$3.50. The present season he will
probably have double the yield of
last year.
A fruit raiser, on small scale, in
Ohio, informed tho writer that he
sold from . patch, one acre in dimen-
sions, common red eurrants to ths
amount Of over $500. '7isa
These specimens are selected from
various others in all the States men,
toned, but are enough to show that
fruit growing can be made paying
business.
When persons are not prepared to
engage extensively in the business
they will find tha. small plantations
,oeu cultivated will pay proportions
bly, better than large ones: because
the labor can be kept more nearly
within the bounds Of the ordinary
home force at the command of most
families. In the cultivation, and es-
pecially the gathering of tho smaller
fruits, childrcn's labor can be ebrought
into successful requisition, People
need not so to the country in order
to try their hands at fruit growing.
True, there is more room there than
in town, but there is enough In most
towns and villages to make it prac-
ticable. Take, for instance, an ordi-
nary sized lot in Ottumwa, 66xl9O,
and after allowing half Of il for build.
ing purposes, there will remain 6,27O
square feet Of ground for fruit grow
ing-enough to raiso quite patch Of
Strawberries. Make the rows two
feet apart and set the plants one foot
apart in the row, and it will contain
3, 1876 plants. The writer has raised
q bushel Of Strawberries TO every
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