The Panola weekly star. (Sardis, Miss.) 1882-18??, 1886-04-10
THE ORCHARD.
Why Hitherto unsuccrssfuI HortIouItuyl.t.
should Not be Discouraged,


One Of the interesting questions that
Is perplexing many fruit growers over
The land Is whether to plant again to
supply the places Of the many trees
that have gone the way Of all trees so
prcmntnrcly. 1t is the opinion of many
persons, am aware, that land devoted
To fruit growing has not thought ms fair
return rs that devoted TO other crons.
And in not a few eases this opinion Il
well founded especially rs to the last
ten or twelve years, and in some local..
ties. Or pears the blight has almost
swept the land. OF plums. the curculio
has scared the planter in many instances
nto c%onsigning them to the brush nile.
Of apricots and nectarincs the same
may be said. And the peach orchards
IN many localities where formerly they
grew and bore luxuriantly are now TO
be- counted among the bygones. MANY,
very many, despairing Of u better day,
have decided To leave all these alone
forever. But while discarding these.
they have not vet lost entire
faith in the apple. Yet the problem
whether i, too, shall 90. is gradually
forcing itself upon their minds. Il
can not be denied hat the prospect i
a gloomy onc What. therefore. shall
the fruit-grower do in tho matterP
Shall he give up fruit altogether tina,
best and most luscious Of natures Gifts
TO man, aud turn his attention again 10
hog and hominy for foodP Shall he
fold his arms and acknowledge himself
heater. IN the struggled My answer is,
Don't give 1t up sol Try, try again"
Let Us renow our energy and 20 10 work
agahn-faith without works Is dead; nut
on new armor and cnew the battle.
The spider tried seven times before he
could bring the dead beetle TO his nest;
let us plant at least seven times. and we
may succeed. Our first. our second and
eve our third paintings have been
mostly Mt random; let Us now profit by
experience, and where that Il lacking.
keep on experimenting. No remedy Is
yet known for the blight. Some Of
these days that light will beam upon Us.
and then Wa viii have thai valuable
fruit In abundance for the pear il
otherwise hardy and fruitful. Some
Of these days an effective
and easy remedy will be
found TO counteract tho dcprcdatlons
of the c~urculio. and then We shall have
plums aud apricots again. At an nm.
expected period. some investigator viii
find out just what Is the matter with
II soils, that renders our apple orch.
ards so short-lived aud frnitless; some
enemy viii destroy or drive away the
codling moth; then apples will redden
on our trees once more from year to
year.
While planting, let us make use Of the
knowledge we have acquired. One
great cause Of our frequent failures in
The past has been that we did not make
use Of the knowledge we possessed.
We Know that certain processes will, II
not wholly eradicate. at least greatly
lessen the evils complained Of; vet we
do not apply them. We charge Proyi.
dcnce with $ me Of the failures which
properly belong to ourselves. Above
all. let us continue our Investigations,
try new methods Of culture-new yarie.
tics, new applications to our soils, new
principles In propsgation-and then II
We fail. Il win be- a satisfaction 10 know
Mat the fault Is not our own.-Cr
Prasrie Farmer.