Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1898-01-26
Fruit for the Farmer.

T. e. Goodrich, president of the I'LL
nois State Horticultural society, con.
tributed a paper to the annual issued
by the students Of the Illinois agricul.
tural college. in which he said:
have visited nearly every portion Of
Illinois, have met her farmers on pub.
lie conveyances, at institutes, on theiI
farms and in their homes l have mel
them under all circumstances OF farm
life and am always surprised at the
lack of fruit. Their tables are pain
fully barren of this great necessity. Nc
other class of our citizens consumes sc
little fruit as they, and large proper
ton of what they do consume is
bought, not grown. Why this IL so IL
a mystery yet unsolved. With the
land, the teams and the tools; with the
intelligence to plant and care for, they
too frequently buy or go without.
few have all they can consume and
surplus for less fortunate friends and
neighbors, few have partial supply
but the majority have very scant al
lowance, or none at all.
Many a doctor or merchant. on
town lot, working during his leisure
moments and chiefly for the love OF 1t
produces greater supply of luscious
health giving fruit than scores of farm
ers on their broad acres, and the en-
thusiasm they show is refreshing &c
see. Why, l have seen ministers bring
specimens of fruit to fairs and fruit
growers meetings that would be
credit to any fruit exhibit, and they
discuss it and their mode of growing
with equally as much eloquence as
when discoursing on other themes in
their own pulpits Whatever their eff
forts may have been in changing the
natural man to a more fruitful condi'
ton of good work and the cardinal vir.
tues, their efforts as fruit growers were
certainly noble example and beau
tiful object lesson to all fortunate
enough to see and hear. l have in
mind professors and physicians in the
several educational and charitable in
situations of Illinois, who, more from
love of horticulture than from neees'
sity, grow a surprising amount of fruit
from a very limited area. These are
men whose knowledge and opinion are
eagerly sought for by the various So
cieties of the land, showing conclus
lively that the knowledge and skill &C.
CURED by them is within the reach Of
all.
For some unexplainable reason farm
ers seem reluctant to experiment fol
themselves, and not infrequently are
reluctant to accept the results of the
experiments of others. With abundant
and reliable nurseries at hand and with
express companies ready to lay down
trees and shrubs at their doors, toe
frequently the farmers table is with
out fruit and his dooryard without Or
namentation. Is it any wonder thai
the boys leave the farm? The wonder
is that they do not all go. Let the
farmers begin planting fruit and work
up TO home supply. A few bushels
of wheat or corn, even at present
prices, will buy trees and plants
enough for beginning. If possible as
certain what varieties thrive best in
ones own locally and plant them. II
that is impraeticable then take the fol
lowing varieties as a suggestion:
Strawberries: Qor early Crystal City
or Michels (for medium) Warfield
fortified with Sucker State; flor late
Candy. Set 500 plants each.
Raspberries: Gregg or Kansas fol-
black, and Cuthbert and Hansell fol-
red. Set 100 plants each.
Blackberries: Early Harvest and An
cient Briton. If for a cold climate
substitute Snyder
If but one kind of tree fruit can be
planted. let it be apples, and three Of
each variety-Early Harvest, Duchess
Connell's Fancy, Jeffries, Ben Davies,
Jonathan. Crimes Golden and Minkler
If cherries are to be planted set three
trees each of Dye House and Early
Richmond
or plums set Wild Goose and Bur
bank.