The Russellville Democrat., 1884-02-28

formation upon the subject OF or
charding that would be valuable 70
those who contemplated ever doing
anything else but grow cotton.
want to say few words to those
farmers who have goad fruit lands.
And before doing 30, want them to
diyest themselves Of the idea that
they are under obligations to buy Of
me; there are nurseries in the coun-
try, and besides, IL they should fail
they can buy Of the stree agent, a.
most OF them have done for years
past. Try and believe that will
live out my allotted time without
your trade, and that don't care
continental for it. It has been init
mated to me several times recently
that Iwas not entirely disinterested,
that wanted TO sell trees. And so
do, but my statements are none The
less true, and as ! SAID before, you
are under no Obligations to me.
The prices for fruit, like every
other edible, is governed b. the i'm
mutable law Of supply and demand,
and I do not believe there is man
now living who will see the day when
good fruit grown in Arkansas will
not bring remuneratlve prices. It Ger
tainly seems as though Arkansas
ought soon to be at the front and
would be called upon to supply the
great northwest with her twenty mil
lion OF people, not only with her
early strawberries, peaches, and other
fruits, but with the later sorts as we'll.
The news from Kansas, Missouri,
Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and
Kentucky is to the effect that peach
es, cherries, raspberries and other
small fruits will be total failure.
But worse than that, the trees and
vines are killed, and before they can
grow another crop the orchards mast
be replanted. The vineyards are
badly damaged and the crop will be
light and interior In quality. The
strawberries being covered with snow
sustained no injury, and of those
there will be full crop. But that
will not interfere with US, as we will
market our crop before they COM
mence picking.
This is not an exceptional year in
the great northern fruit belt. Their
failures are frequent. 1t does not
produce a crop Of peaches oftener
than once in three or four years,
while in Arkansas we do not fail
more than once in that length OF
time. l have not known total fail
ure in the twelve years / have been
in the state. Fruit of every descrip-
ton known to the temperate climate
grow in great perfection and abund-
ance. The trees grow rapidly and
bear early. We expect and get
good crop of peaches the third year
from the bud, while most varieties of
apples bear the fourth or fifth year,
and so with all other sorts Of fruit.
They make such rapid growth that
they come earlier into maturity. To
show the difference in growth, l re
ceived catalogue from an Iowa nur
seryman today offering "one-year
old apples. first-class, IL to l8 inches
in height While here we are in
bad luck if we don't make four to
six feet from the graft the first year.
Any nurserynan or fruit-grower will
readily understand this advantage.
And / say again. as l have repeated
ly said before, that there is no coun
try that presents greater advantages
to the iruit-grower than Arkansas
Nor do | believe there is any section
that has a greater and of first-class
fruit lands. To grow an orchard is
not such mysterious thing to do, or
so difficult, as many suppose, nor so
expensive, unless you want to throw
your money away on dollar trees that
ought to be bought at one fifth the
amount. 1t takes care and labor, Of
course, but if properly cared for from
the start it Is comparatively nothing
compared with the result. 1t does
not cost much to bring an orchard
into bearing after you have got your
trees 40 it does to grow single crop
of cotton, and when it is in bearing
the orchard is worth not less to $500
at a low estimate. What a crop of
cotton is worth after paying all ex
penses you can tell as well as | can,
probably better.
The cultivation of fruit affords
light and pleasant employment for
the women and children compared
with "chopplng out and picking" cot
ton. 1t keeps them out of the cotton
fields, where they do not belong and
never ought to 60. Give your wife
and children few hundred straw
berries, good market sorts, and in
two or three years from the natural
increase they will have them by the
acre; will clothe and feed themselves,
and you too, as some one will have
to do il you persist in growing cot
ton on the hills. They have averag-
ed 5000 per acre, net, in Arkansas
for the past two years and increasing
In value each year.
4. 4. BABCocK.
The cyclones have spread conster-
nation all over the land. and this is just
what propose to do with all COMPETE