The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1900-09-20
Fruit Growing in Waldo County.

u,
The most promising branches in which
to engage would be apples and small
fruit. The soil should be moist, rocky
land, with a southwest can't The best
varieties of apples for the general
market are Baldwin, Ben Davis, Spy.
King, Gravenstein and Starkey. For
small fruit, the Agawam blackberry.
Cuthbert and Golden Queen raspberry.
The best method of marketing apples
is to sell them before they 90 into the
cellar to some good, reliable fruit man
and let him do the packing | would
suggest that the best method for main
tanning q reputation for Maine fruit in
the foreign markets would be to shin
nothing but the best, and evaporate OF
make into vinegar the rest. IA. w.
Hardy.
| STOCKTON SPRINGS. | send plant
or weed that has been troubling me fol
four or five years. | can find nothing
that will kill it. 1t grows in large
punches and mats down. and nothing
can grow where it is. J. NJ. Merri.
thew
Note--The weed is very fine specimen
OF Netch (Lathyrus palustries} cOmmonl,
known as wild pea. 1t is common in South.
ern Maine, growing mostly oil light soils
1t appears to be spreading. 1t is a legumn-
GUS plant and is readily eaten by animals
| but on account of its perniciouS habit OF
crowdlng out all other plants, it is not to be
encouraged. AS it is an annual, we should
| suppose that close cropping for one season
would Kill it,. Careful cultivation of the
| land in some hoed crops would also, with
| out doubt, do the same. -Secretarv.
GRANGE. Fruit growing is the most
profitable of any of the branches Of
| farming. | should say that a soil that
was naturally we'll drained would be
the best for almost all kinds of fruit
We find in this vicinity, the Northern
Spy, the Bellhower and Baldwin the
best adapted to our needs for winter
fruit. In marketing get right at the
consumer, if possible. Oscar W. Gould.
WALDO STATION. | do not consider
the outlook particularly promising fol
engaging very largely in fruit culture.
There are so many insect enemies fol
the fruit, and borers and black knot for
the trees, and i'll years of plenty the
price of fruit is so low that the great
| majority had better engage in some
thing else. Enough for home consume
ton is necessity, but beyond that tile
culture should be left to specialists.
think apples might be stored at some
central point. like Portland or Boston.
and sold by an agent so that we might
realize more from the sales than we Get
by selling through commission houses.
J. q. Harding.
Brooks. AS the soil and climate of
many portions of Maine are peculiarly
adapted to producing fruit Of the finest
quality, and the market is constantly
growing, it would seem that the future
prospects of the Maine fruit growers
are of the brightest. The growing of
apples and the various small fruits
seem to be the most promising branches
i'll which to engage The location. espec-
Tally for the growing of small fruits.
should be near a shipping point. For
soil, a well drained gravelly loan with
northerly slope is to be preferred.
Business methods must be employed in
marketing fruit, and it must be honestly
sorted and carefully packed IN order to
maintain our reputation in either for
elgn or domestic markets. While a
union of producers would be of great
value, no feasible system Of co-opera-
tive selling suggests itself at this
moment. \. B. Stantial.
THORNDIKE. This is not what might
be called an orcharding section Al
most everyone has enough fruit for his
own use and usually a small surplus to
sell, but hardly anyone has gone into
the business of raising fruit of any
kind as speciality. For market, | do
not think there is any apple that can
fill the place of the Baldwin. The
King is a nicer apple, but it does not
keep so long. and is a shy bearer As
to system OF cooperative selling and
central point for storing | think either
would be next to impossible at present,
to work satisfactorily. 10 maintain a
reputation for Maine fruit in the for
elgn market | cannot suggest anything
better than try to produce the varieties
that the markets call for, exercise jude-
ment as to the time of shipping, etc,
and above all, be honest in packing.
think rocky land, what we usually term
granite soil, and quite we'll elevated, is
best for orchards. NJ. T. Palmer.
MONROE. The future of fruit grow
ing will probably be as good as that of
most other lines of farm work in Maine
| believe that the well-known and long
keeping varieties of apples are the most
profitable for most orchardists to grow.
L nv bloN SllooNill oVllS WELL anu w mere
it grows well may be raised at profit,
but it needs high feeding to make it
produce abundantly of good fruit. The
Wealthy | do not recommend, as it
drops badly and is poor in quality. The
Nodhead is one of the best in its sea
son, but the demand is limited and the
tree must be MANFRED highly. 1t might
be we'll to grow this variety in a limit
ed way. The Baldwin, King, Spy, Ben
Davis and Yellow Bellhower make III
the greater part of my orchard of ten
acres with six hundred trees. Apples
for the general market can be most
protitably shipped in barrels. but they
should be honestly packed and truth
| fully branded. | do not believe any
system of cooperative selling would be
profitable to the large grower. At times
| a few men might unite and sell together
at an advantage, but extensive co opera
| ton is not practical, either in buying OF
selling. Some of my plum trees show
rust spots on the leaves. The trees are
thrifty and growing well, but only about
dozen out of fifty are bearing. Dc
any of the bulletin readers know the
cause of such rust spots? 1t is not
leaf blight. f. {. Dow.
Note-Will some of our Bulletin readers
kindly answer Mr.. BOWS question, either
to him personally by letter, or to this office
Secretary.