The Portland daily press., 1876-01-10
i. tho Fru,, Business overdone.

No, not any more than any other branch
of business. There are seasons when the
apple or peach crOp-crops that are extern
sively sent over the country--hardly bring
enough to pay for picking and hauling TO
marke., simply because there is good crop
in every part of the country of such, and
money matters being stringent, prices nearly
"touch bottom" But let us refer to one in
dividual case that we are knowing to. A
farmer living in the town of Ontario, in this
New York; state, has farm that he bought
some twenty years ago, of about eighty acres.
On this, mortgage had been hanging about
fifteen years of some $1,000. Having large
family of children, it was all he could do to
keep up the interest, pay the taxes, clothe
and school his children, and live. Often have
we heard him talk to our father in his store
how hard it was to get along. On this farm
when bought, was young apple orchard of
some 800 to 400 trees. 1t soon came into
bearing, and the crop gradually increasing as
the trees grew larger, these helped him along,
some years more, and some years less, owing
to prices, until some four or five years ago,
when apples sold in that section for such
obtained 400 to 500 barrels of first-class fruit,
and from the sale OF these paid up the mort
gage on the farm. This year apples are SELL
ing from 800 to $50 per barrel in this sec
ton, and many farmers have fair crops, and
are reaping their reward, AND we have no
doubt the person referred to above will get
from 100 TO 200 barrels at least Has it paid
him to grow fruit?
Hundreds of peach growers in Delaware,
New Jersey and Maryland, have made moth
ing from their peach crop this past season,
but has it always been SO? Seasons will
come when there will be a scarcity Of fruit in
o;, opd fhar rub 10 n
good crop, the grower will reap the benefit.
We have had years when we hardly got
enough from our small fruits to pay expenses
while perhaps the next year we have done
splendidly. Last year we sold over four
thousand dollars worth of fruit, while this
year we have not sold over one third that
amount, largely owing to the severe weather
last winter killing the fruit; but shall we give
up because this is so? No, we shall keep
right along as we have done. and we know
the lucky year will come. We have an apple
orchard, at South Bend, Ind, now eight to
ten years old, of 800 trees, most of which
are doing nicely. So far we have got but lit
tie from it, but we believe the year will yet
come when that orchard will prove mine of
wealth.
There is one thing to be taken into con-
sideration that is apt to be overlooked, and
that is after an orchard is planted it costs but
little to carry it along. The ground can be
cultivated and cropped with corn and pota-
toes, and be made to pay all expenses by re-
turning to the soil manure, and whether you
get crop this year or that, or not, you have
no expenses to lose, as you do in preparing
for wheat and other grain, which many times
prove such failure. The fact is 1--WE speak
from our own knowledge and observation
there is no crop that had paid farmers so
well in this section as the apple crop-take it
one year after another. We advise planting
more kinds of fruit, such asl apples, pears,
peaches, small fruits etc., and then if one
kind falls. another proves good. We have
known seasons when apples in certain locali-
ties were almost failure, while pears or
peaches were good crop and paid well, and,
over the country over, and that it docs, and
has, and will pay in the long run.-Fruit Re-
cOrder.