The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1905-11-01

son a mucn WlQer range may De III
dulged than would be warranted in
raising apples for commercial purposes.
This will be fully brought out when
the subject of commercial orchard
is under consideration. The writer
raises the old Milan and never allows
a winter to pass that he does not have
few boxes of this good eating apple
in his cellar for his own use. 1t is
pretty red apple, good annual bearer
and it keeps we'll. But it is too small
to SELL No home orchard can well af-
ford to be without the Golden Russell.
1t is superior as an eating apple. The
Iowa Blush, an apple but little known,
is so nearly a duplicate of the Golden
Russell in quality, that both need not
be raised for home use. Neither will
pay as a commercial apple-they are
too small. These apples just men.
toned serve to illustrate the fact that
a home orchard ought to differ, es-
pecially in the number of varieties
raised, from the orchard intended pr1
marily for money making. The ques-
ton before the farmer who is about
to set an orchard for home use is
not what the trade demands nor wheth-
er it pays in cash returns, but the vital
question will be: What will suit the
wife and the children, as well as the
friends who gather about the hearth
stone of winter evening to chat and
eat apples? Of course the commercial
apples, soon to be recommended, should
be raised to some extent, for in these
latter days what makes a good CONNER
cial apple is it's good quality; and quail
ity especially should be our guiding
star when we grow apples for our own
use But besides the apples that will
pay commercially there are many 9th
ers besides those named above that we
can afford to grow for home use but
would not be warranted in growing
for money making. The home orchard
may contain as many varieties as we
are pleased to grow. What we find
does we'll in our surroundings we may
grow if the quality will warrant.
The Commercial Orchard.
We grow apples commercially for
the money we can make out of them.
But while this is true it does not fol
low that an apple that sells wei is the
one to grow for money making. If
the tree is a shy bearer it may not
pay at all to raise an apple that will
bring the highest price in the market.
Even an apple of not the highest quail
ity may make the grower the most
money because of the large quantity
he has to SELL This consideration has
made the Ben Davis very popular
apple in the past. The writer is free
to admit that in bygone years he has
made more money raising Ben Davis
apples than in raising any other vari-
ETY.. But that day is past When we
have large apple crop it is difficult,
indeed, to sell Ben Davis at any price
at picking time and after they are kept
over the winter the expense has so
multiplied that it is difficult to come
out with the balance on the right side.
The same may be said of the Missouri
Pippin.
Another thing must be considered
in this connection, and that is the
market we may have in view. These
are difficult problems to solve and we
cannot hope to avoid making some mis-
takes. Probably the safest thing to
do is to raise those apples that will sell
we'll in any market. Some apples can
be raised now that will ship across the
continent, and to England and sell so
we'll that there is money in the bust