The Brattleboro reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1907-1912, 1907-10-18
A VERMONT APPLE ORCHARD.
Experiments Which Promise Paying
Proposition Ahead.


Proposition Ahead.
The writer recently visited an apple
orchard owned by n. B. Barrows and
situated among the hills Tor perhaps
we should say mountains) some SIX
miles from Brattleboro, VI Original
| ly undertaken more for amusement
than with any serious idea Of growing
fruit, the orchard has been enlarged
year By year until IL now covers some
IS acres, though a considerable part
of this consists of Seeding trees which
have come up irregularly through the
fields aud been grated over. Tins
fact alone, the springing up of seed
ling apple trees SO freely, indicates
that the section is a natural apple dis
trict, and certainly the results of Mr.
Barrows's experiments substantiate
this idea.
While the majority of the trees are
still young and not yet in bearing, and
while many others have been recently
grated over so that they are not yet
producing any fruit, there should be
considerably over thousand dollars
worth of apples in all; and the Bald.
| wins, Wealthies, Mcintosh Reds and
few others were as fine fruit as one
could ask. Indeed, though | have seen
the Mcintosh as grown about Mon
treal, where it originated, and IN
| New Brunswick where 1t is one OF
the finest and most profitable sorts,
the Mcintosh apples ON Mr.. Barrows $
trees were the finest, most perfect
specimens | ever had the good for
tune to find.
Like most beginners (and all enthu.
siasts) Mr.. Barrows started out with
large collection of different varieties,
his first order including over hun
bred sorts and only being limited to
that number because the nurseryman
from whom he purchased had no 9th
ers. But he has gradually culled out
and grated over the Improbable ones
until now he has his commercial list
narrowed down to about six varieties
Baldwin, Mcintosh, Wealthy, North
ern Spy, Sutton and Fameuse' In
deed, though he grows very fine, clean
Fameuse, he would be inclined in flu
ture to drop that sort in favor Of the
Mcintosh.
His experience with different va.
rieties as stocks was also most inter.
esting. Pewaukee, Gideon and Wolf
River had proved most satisfactory for
this purpose, being thrifty growers,
hardy and making good shaped trees.
There were still some of each sort not
vet grated over and it seemed a ques'
ton whether the last named at least
might not be profitably grown for mar,
ket, as the apples were clean and
smooth and beautifully eolored, and
there is undoubtedly a market for a
certain number of such apples for
decorative purposes. Pewaukee also
was said to be profitable for the local
market, though its decided inclination
to drop was against it. Two Fameuse
trees grated on Wolf River were re.
markable for their size and vigor and
for their fine fruit, far superior to 9TH
err trees of the same variety near by
grated upon other stocks.
One thing was very noticeable, that
while all the fruit was clean and
bright. that borne in orchards which
| had received some cultivation, how
ever faulty, was usually far larger,
| more abundant and of better quality.
The only exception that | saw was a
section of young Mcintosh trees which
grew right in sod and had on them
the specially fine apples spoken OF
above.
Mr.. Barrows is every year charging
his orchards and bringing them under
better treatment as regards cultiya'
ton, fertilizing and spraying, and 1t
certainly looks as though he has a
paying proposition ahead. His soil is
clay loan, most of it naturally we'll
drained and warm, an ideal apple soil,
and practically all of the farms in
that locality have from one to a dozen
fields equally well adapted to orchard,
ing Yet his neighbors are most OF
them still growing corn and beans and
| potatoes, most of which require as
much work as to grow a crop OF ap-
pies and none of which can be nearly
as profitable as an orchard of Mr..
Barrows's best varieties grown on
modern principles.
presume the fact that the profits
do not begin at once is largely respon-
sible for farmers not taking more gen
orally to orcharding, but if they could
only realize that for a number OF
wears after the orchard is set they can
raise practically as much of the or
binary crops between the rows of trees
as though the orchard were not there,
think this objection would be over
come. Certainly in such a section as
the one under discussion no line of
farming could be more profitable
C. Sears, Hampshire County, Mass, in
The Country Gentleman.