The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1886-11-25
FARM MANAGEMENT.
Commercial ruit-Raising and
the Troubles and Disappoint-
ments Incident to It.

ments Incident to It.
Report on a Case Of ilk-Poisoning in
1owa--The Antiquity of Butter.
when Fruit-Growine Pays.
Nothing connected with husbandrv
presents so many attractions as fruit
raising. says The Chicago Times. 1t
appeals to persons of taste, education,
refinement. and culture. 1t gratifies
our desire for the beautiful. Most cul.
tivated trees, bushes, and vines are
beautiful and those that produce fruit
are especially so. Few things in nature
or art equal in beauty an orange, apple,
pear peach, plum, or cherry tree at the
time its fruit is ripening. 1t affords a
study for the painter and the poet. A
grapevine, whether trained over lattice
work, supported by common trellis.
or fastened to stalk in vineyard, is
an object TO admire. Even the bushes
that produce black berries, raspberres,
anu currants are very beautiful from
the time they put out leaves in the
spring till their fruit is gathered. The
strawberry and cranberry, though
growing almost ON the surface of the
ground, presents Il more attractive I'D.
pearance than any grain or forage crop.
Inc tomato, squash, pumkin, and all
the varieties of the melon family would
be regarded as exceedingly beautiful it
they were not so common.
Fruit-raising has been ''written up''
by large number of very fascinating
and agreeable authors. The literature
OF Embarrassing is more readable than
that of agriculture and stock-raisine,
A large proportion of the men who
have been engaged in the production OF
fruit have been highly educated per-
sons, who were able to speak and write
with ability. They have taken pleas
ure in speaking and writing of the pur-
suit in which they were engaged. Be-
ing interested in it themselves, they
shought that everyone should be. They
appeared to think it their duty to adj
wise all tillers of the soil to engage in
the cultivation of fruit. They became
ear9est missionaries, working without
salary or hope of reward. They pic
tured the pleasures of fruit-raising in
very glowing terms. In order to in
duce persons to engage in iruit-rasing
they presented exceedingly favorable
views of the profits attending it. It is.
perhaps, just to them to say that thay
did not tell falsehoods. They simply
exaggerated good accounts of all the
successes and made no mention of the
failures that had come under their OBJ
servation. They did not tell all the
truth.
1t must be confessed that fruit-rais-
llng' with view to supplying the mar
ket, is very expensive, unreliable.
and uncertain business in most parts of
this country. Especially is this the
case in most portions of the prairie re-
gion OF the west. The climate is unfa-
vorable, as is shown by the present con-
dition of fruit trees. The extremes of
temperature produce very unfavorable
effects on fruit trees and vines. In
many cases the heat of summer kills
what the cold of winter spares. The
high winds often produce sad havoc
among trees that have attained size
to produce fruit. The insect enemies
OF fruit trees are numerous and de-
structive. The circul;o has rendered
the production of plums Improbable
if not altogether impracticable. The
disease known as the ''yellows'' has
destroyed peach orchards on which
much time and money have been spent.
The pear tree is subject to large
number of diseases. all of which appear
to be incurable. Ounce trees general
~ die in infancy. and cherry trees be-
gin to exhibit signs of decay almost as
soon as they commence to bear fruit.
The price of small fruits, which are
very perishable, is generally unreliable
and unsatisfactory when the crop is
large. For several years past straw
berries have hardly paid the expense of
picking, boxing. and sending to market.
The like has been true of raspberries,
blackberries, currants, and gooseber-
rles. Grapes have commanded very
small prices. Early apples. like other
perishable fruit, have been very plenty
and cheap. Late apples of the stand
ard sorts have been sold to consumers
at good prices. but as rule the pro-
ducers received small sums for them.
A few met with fair success in raising
oranges in Florida. but the injury to
the trees during the past two winters
has shown that orange growing this
side of California is a very precarious
business. With all that has been writ
ten about the profit of commercial
fruit-ra:sing in various parts of the
country it is very difficult to find a man
who has made any considerable amount
Of money in the business. Consider
ing the culture, ability, and means of
fruit-raisers, it must be admitted that
they have not met with much financial
success.
There are places where the raising of
certa n kinds of fruit pays very hand
somely. There is ordinarily large
profit in raising peaches in Delaware
and portions of adjacent states. The
climatic conditions are very favorable
to insuring health to the trees and for
the production of large crops of fruit.
while markets are very near at hand.
Apples are numbered among the sure
crops in several of the New England
states, New York, Michigan, and Mis-
souri,. Pears succeed well in places
where there are few sudden or extreme
changes of temperature. Probably
grapes succeed fn more places than any
fruit except that produced on bushes.
Still, if there are no facilities for con-
verting them into wine there is likely
to be very poor market for them.
Every farmers garden is good place
for raising fruit for the supply of the
family. The fruits raised there need
not be converted into money in order
to be profitable. They will insure
home comfort and will greatly reduce
grocers' and doctors bills.
Milk Poison.
One of the most interesting cases
which has come under the notice of
Iowa physicians for long time, saws
The Des Ofoimes Register, was the
poisoning of a number of persons in a
hotel at Corning, Union county, and it
was of such peculiar nature as to