The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-06-19
ORCHARD VS.. DAIRY

One OF the most enCouraEinE bits /
of news rega .ding horticultural de-
relopmeut Ia Vermont Is the state
ment that a MiddieioNn Springs man
has the courage and the faith ga 500
lut ] 900 apple trees OF well knosn
and easily marketable varieties. u
Nil be- some years before he begins
90 realize ON his investment. but the
experience Of other apple groves in
various parts of Vermont Is enough
90 convince him that Il the trees are
given careful attention meanwhile
he viii reap a rich return on his out
lay. Thee are already many apple
growers on large scale in Vermont.
but IN recent years few have made
such heavy outlay as this Middle
town Springs man has done Never
iheless, there Is plenty OF chance for
more to enter the business and make
money al IL under proper manage
ment OF orchards and careful aiton-
ton TO the details of the hnanciering.
Vermont apples are in big demand In
the large city markets. and 81 is prob
able that all the apples that Vermont
could raise would be disposed q.
readily.-Barre Times.
Nearly every farmer in Vermont.
who owns more than one hundred
ceres OF land. could sei a. de sur
hciont area for an orchard without
detracting from the earning capacity
Of his farm. There are farmers In
Vermont, To be sure. who till every
available acre OF their land but they
are few in number. The majo-iiy OF
the farms in this state contain con
siderable land that is never titled and
from which the returns are small and
in many cases nothing at an. There
are thousands of acres OF pasture
land ON the farms removed from the
narrow sections along the rivers that
could be turned into orchard II the
owners would only wake up tn the
opportunity.
Undoubtedly the principal reason
| why Vermont farme do not grow
more apples is the long lapse OF time
between the setting OF the trees and
the harvesting OF the first crop. The
| farmer probably argues that he may
be dead before he picks the first np.
lle ANA accordingly he sticks exclus-
lively TO dairying and gathers the re
! turns that are right at hand
In following In the footsteps Of hie
1 fnfh.r mi If- ur.pHf.tl.~ .,.l, ....~.
exclusively dairymen and in few
instances wool growers. the We mont
farmer is losing sight OF the fact that
his property is increasing in value
only so rapidly as farm values grow.
lie, himself is making no permanent
increase in the value of his pr0pe "
| except as he improves the buildings
or adds TO his stock and machinery
Land planted to fruit trees is worth
more money the year. following the
setting Of the trees and the increase
each year is Z eater than the one
| proceeding as the trees approach the
bearing age.
Here is feature in which the agri
culturists of the middle and the far
west have beaten the New England
er. The westerner has to make liv
ing like all men who till the soil but
nj the same time' he is continually
endeayo ing to improve the value OF
his land He knows that he can
Increase the value of his property
mere rapidly than he can acquire a
competence by taking money out OF
the land and putting the dollars out
at interest The New Englander in
many instances. has followed the lat
ter system and while he has been
| sharp enough TO amass money the
land used as basis Of his operations
has madecomparatively little progress
in the scale OF values and some times
none at all.