Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1909-05-06

visiting q group Of small holdings. OF
seeing something Of the work of the
strawberry and apple grower. I take
an instance-one Of a number Of sim
liar character-in which strawberries
covered a quarter Of the area OF q
fve-acre holding. On this compare
lively small plot a crop was grown
which realized $50 in the market. the
work being practically all performed
by the holder and his wife. These
persons, like their neighbors, had
originally been engaged in mechan.
ical work, and simply acquired their
knowledge Of fruit culture, like the
strawberry growers Of .Botley, from
those who had picked It up before
them. In another case a grower own.
ing q larger area of land was con.
fning himself to potatoes on his
arabic and apples and plums on his
PLANTED land. The plantation, five OF
six acres in extent, is five years old
and is being supplemented by. an
other, for which young trees have
been produced IN the property: and
thus 1t is that the beginner, com
PEELED at first to buy his trees from
the nurseryman, is able to extend his
acreage by growing them for himself,
avoiding a cost which is always a seri-
Gus item. Just as the strawberry
grower. referred to by doing his own
work grows the best fruit and keeps
1t clean with straw, seeking to obtain
early and late crops, either of which
realize better prices than the main
crop. so does the apple grower, by
systematic and continuous expert
mentor fruit culture is all expert
ment-seek to ascertain which vari-
cites suit his soil and climate best.
and how to produce a large and GER
tain crop by careful pruning and by
spraying in spring to prevent de-
struction by parasitic life.
The advantage of the bush tree Is
that the branches, like the fruit, are
within reach of the hands, SO that
pruning is rendered easy, the tree
kept open, and the fruit hand picked,
and thus, too, the best fruit can be
when it is fttest for the mar
ket, carefully sorted and packed, and
sold to realize the highest price. The
grower in question fully realizes all
this. Just as eggs are now handled
sorted into sizes and col
0rs, and, it is feared, in too many
cases, sold as new laid, when they
have crossed the sea, SO will the apple
grower Of the future pay attention to
every individual fruit, that it may be
presented in boxes or baskets to the
buyer in its most attractive condi-
ton. The return of the strawberry
grower is much more rapid than that
Of the apple grower who plants his
own land, but it cannot be doubted,
bearing in mind the results O. the last
season, that, next to the very earliest
fruit, late fruit-that available up to
August 10. for examples the most
On many heavy soils
black c%urrants, If free from disease,
Ire profitable; on many medium soils
3OOseberries pay we'll, and in one case
walked through a plantation of
some twenty acres in ares which the
owner was content to sell annually
1t e13 an acre, for others to pick and
o market, which, I believe, they did
With great advantage to themselves.
The cost to the owner of the planta-
ion was chiefly confined to hoeing,
occasional manuring, and the replac-
ng of dead bushes. To sell we'll, |
ruit should be attractive in color as J
n flavor, which it chiefly owes to the
'ugars and acids, chiefly malic and
;itric, which it contains.
AS to the value Of fruit as food,
We have only to consult reliable data
howing Of what it is composed. For
Instance, the fuel value of a pound
# bananas or grapes is three times |
S large as that Of a pound OF straw
|erries, and much larger than in the !