St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1884-08-02
Small Orchards.

Every farmer should have an orchard
of some kind, made up of such fruits as
he finds to succeed in his region, but 1t
will not pay. as rule, for general farm
ers to 90 into fruit raising on a very
large scale. On large scale it must
be business to itself, as it requires
mans whole attention. So SAYS the
Prairie Farmer. adding that small or
chards, intended mainly TO furnish
generous supply of wholesome fruit for
the farmers family, will be found
much more satisfactory on the whole
than large undertakings, for they can
be managed without interfering with
other farm work to any great extent.
We are all apt to take little more
pains with that which is intended for
our own particular use and we feel more
interest in the welfare Of the few trees
that are TO furnish us with our yearly
supply of fruit than we would in raising
for the market, where it is only a ques-
ton of dollars and cents. ranking the
same rs wheat or cotton field In the
calculations of loss or gain.
Certain it is that with perhaps few
exceptions, small orchards are more
thrifty and produce much more fruit in
proportion to the size than the large
ones. 1t seems. however. to be in the
nature of the American farmer to enter
largely into any enterprise that may
look prcmisingly remunerative. He
never hesitatcs in doubt aS to his capa-
bility to manage a particular undertake
inc. but sails i'm with all his available
capital. and makes things gee" This
is very commendable quality, and
when applied to some project that will
not require very extended knowledge
or experience, il usually insures success.
But when we get down into the finer
practices of agriculture, and especially
horticulture, it is sometimes a very dam
rerous clement to success. The farmer
who, with but slight previous eXpe-
rience. lays out one or two hundre Il dol
lars i'm trees at one "swOop' Is pretty
apt to lose a good share of the purchase
money and an immense amount Of lsbor
along with it. And this is not all that
he loses, he loses all liking for the bust
ness, if, indeed, he does L.: contract a
hearty dislike. He failed, probably,
through pure ignorance rs to the needs
of Young orchard. In the natural
order of things the failur we will say,
is only a partial one. Some of his trees
were set on wet, undrained land, some
were set too deep, andwerc not prop
erly trimmed. Fresh manure at the
roots, no mulching, or dozen other
causes might be given which he had
never before thought of. Now from
this state Of partial failure quite share
of the orchard might be rescued by pru-
dent and preserving care. But he Is
disguised with the business by this time
and thinks it will not pay to fool away
any more time on it; so the few remain
| ing trees come up as best they can in
their ragged, scattered condition.
His less venturesome neighbor COM
mences early in choosing few com
mon kinds, and setting them near the
house where he can frequently spend q
| few minutes at work among them. AS
| he has but few, he can give them bet
ter care from the first than he would BIZ
able to eiyeif there were hundreds in
stead of dozens. These few trees thrive
and he feels encouraged to add a httlt
more. His experience and study keel
mace with the increase of his trees, ano
| by the tirle he has fair-sized little or
chard he knows just how to take care o
it, and make the most from it. III
knows what kinds do best in his par
ticular locality, and what the mos
favorable conditions for each variety
He knows how to get his trees econom
ically, and how to start them al
vantageously.
An orchard cannot be built up in
month or year. Like a library,
| must serve to build itself up. The mrs
acquisitions must furnish the knowledg
for gathering others about them. Zap
ital will hurry things up bit, but
takes time and experience to do tn
work perfectly. Spasmodic hortieultur
espnot bp a success. SO go steady ou
surely,-A'lsata Censtltasals.