The Newtown bee., 1896-01-31
Manatee county, one of the most favored
 spots on the Gulf coast.
COMMERCIAL APPLE CULTURE.

COMMERCIAL APPLE CULTURE.
 A PAPER BY JAMES BURR OF MONROE,
 READ BEFORE THE POMONA GRANGE AT
 NEwTOWN.
 In considering the subject perhaps the
 first and most important question is:
 Will it pay? Or is it probable that the
 business of apple growing will be over
 done in the near future? In attempting
 to answer these questions I should say,
 that if the same amount of intelligent
 thought and labor were given to this,
 ing, there would be danger of it's being
 largely overdone.
 No thinking, intelligent farmer tries
 to raise crop of vegetables or grain
 without thorough and persistent culti-
 vation and liberal fertilization. Neither does he expect paying results from hi.
 heard of dairy or fat cattle without good
 care abd liberal feeding But when it
 comes to the apple orchard the average
 farmer seems to think when he has
 bought and planted the trees, his part of the work is nearly done and that nature should do the rest. While he may be a good feeder for his grain and vegetable crops, his cattle and horses pigs and
 poultry, he leaves his orchard to starye
 or keep up a feeble stunted existence, on what scraps of fertility the grass,
 weeds and other plants have left. Then again only a few men have a sufficient amount of what a good Methodist brother calls ''The gift of continuance" The 10 or l5 years which they must wait for profitable returns seems a long time. They prefer to raise some crop which they can plant in the spring and har- vest in the fall. In the cultivation of fruit the reward is to him who ''En- dures unto the end" Taking these things into consideration, I conclude that the man who plants an orchard of apples of the best varieties, on suitable soil, and gives it good, intelligent per sistant care and attention, will be quite sure to receive the reward of his labor as he would in any other branch of farming.
 Perhaps the best soil for an apple or chard is a deep, we'll drained one be- tween a sandy and clayey loam, and one containing 8 good proportion of lime. think much of the land of the hlll | towns of Fairfield county are suitable i for orchard culture. I would say that | the soils to be avoided are those which | contain too large proportion of sand | and those which retain too much water. | Fruit trees are in some respects like l human beings, neither can they flourish | and remain in health for any length of time with wet feet.
 Having decided the location the next thing is the preparation of the soil. I think perhaps the best preparation is one or two years previous cropping with some hood crop in the raising of which Iib- eral quantity of stable manure or It's equivalent in commercial fertilizers have been used. As to the most profitable 1 shall have but little to say ex- ,ept in a general way. It oftens hap pens that 8 given variety is a success n certain locality which may for some reason be failure in ] mother locality only short distance { way. For this reason I would advise Inyone intending to set an apple orchard { o ascertain what varieties succeed best { n his immediate vicinity. It is true I here are several standard kinds which i ucceed over large extent of country, ( ut even these may be failure in your T immediate locality. After ascertaining I vhat you can produce, it will be we'll in g he next place to ascertain what you can [ ell, or in other words what the market s alls for. 1 may say perhaps in gen. ' ral way that, the quality being the same, i ed apples sell the best. Besides if the o ruit is bruised in gathering or hand Q ng, the bruises show much less on red q pples than on those of other colors. p re early or late varieties most profit t. bic? This will depend upon the market nd quantity grown. If near a good g arhet it often happens that limited P aantity of early apples prove to be ex- D sedingly profitable, but on account of u leir perishable nature, the whole crop a ust be marketed within few days, si Id if, as it often happens, during this I lort lime the market is oyer supplied y e financial results are far from satis- lju ctory. In buying trees I would ad- fir