Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1918-01-22
Urges Orchard Planting.


the dullest of US pause to take glance
ahead. Indeed, most farmers try to
look their balance sheet squarely In the
eye each January. Not In many years
has the New England farmer faced 80
many and so serious problems-and
never when so urged by the highest
patriotic motives to do his bit to win
a war! tits safe to say that almost
without exception, every annual crop
planned for 1918 must be entered in'o with
highly uncertain factors other than
hose natural ones, such as weather, the
fluctatiOn of markets and the labor
question, which are usually present:
The exceptions are wheat, pork and
others that have been stabilized by fed
sral action; all others will take their
turn at new games and high jinks till
stabilized-or the war ends, making the
already superconservative farmer, even
more shy at all experiments, new plans
and methods. I said annual crops.
This word was emphasized because
there are other, longer period ventures
that are less easily upset, and that, at
this sore time, are in danger of being
overlooked.
In common With other lines of pro-
duction the fruit men have bad their
trouble of late. However in my humble
opinion there never was time when
the future of fruit growing, especially
orcharding, was SO bright. To be sure
annual crops will for time continued to
be uncertain. The hazards of war
reach us all in the most unexpected
ways. But he who ties to fruit for the
future-me hile bridging the times as
best he may-till prosperous post bellum
days return stands to win both fun and
fortune.
Indeed, the very factors We now
deem embarrassing, will sOme OF them
prove to have been our very salvation.
The tendency toward more general
ercialism in fruit growing and
fruit handling, inspection, market super
vision, the standard pack, uniform grad
ing-all these are In favor of the down
right, true hearted, intensive fruit man.
The day of the old haphazard planting
an acre or two Of neglected orchards on
every farm, q corner of the garden given
over to wormy, small fruits-is forever
past. The San Jose scale and the pine
blister rust settle that. 1t will be the
ecialists that will win in fruit produc-
tion. I do not mean mere size. A
strawberry man may own but five acres
total, or peach man 10, that is not the
factor. 1t will be intensity, thorough
ness and quite up.t0 date methods that
bring the profits. But you say:
The tobacco men only last week, each
received notice that before he proceeded
in any way to plan an increase for 1918,
be must first come to the state author
tiles, and give his reasons-and incident
ly, accept their decision, rather than bis
own. But that is an annual crop, and
not only 80, it is merely luxury, and 1t
10 not q permanent plantation-like an
orchard. This and many other Instances
only 20 to prove the soundness OF my
faith In fruit.
For one item eastern farm lands that
have been steadily rising In value for
the past 10 years will boom the moment
the wars are over, and will never again
return to their present very moderate
level. Agriculture in every line Is surely
coming to it's own, but in the case OF
orchard fruits, only the farsighted, such
as the man whose life lesson ia pointed
at below, will glimpse the coming good
times soon enough to catch the tide at
its turn.
JUDGING BY THE PAST.
While was musing along these lines
the other day, there came under my
eve the official appraisal list OF the
estate of the late ]. Il. Hale, one of the
best examples of our many successful
New England fruit men. This man be-
gan, Just as most of US do-at the foot
of the ladder, and what he did, may yet
be done and far easier, by the true
spirited youngster of to-day. Indeed,
what else could Mr.. Hale have taken up,
In his chosen rural life, that would have
enabled him not only to have 80 much
"fun" as he always called 1t, but to
spread such an amount of happiness
among his fellow beings and leave his
family an estate conservatively placed at
$lS2, 1862 Here are some OF the items,
for this was "a going business" Three
thousand and ninety-nine barrels apples
Sl5, ,9O6, 800 bushels culls $3.50. Corn on
the cob $1,000. and sundry yokes OF oxen
and pens Of swine. =,
His shares in the two incorporated
orchards (uo matter how many were
valued, theshome one at $l10 per share,
and the Georgia one at $3.50 per share.
To prove that the appraisers were
sound, hard-hesded men, and that
orchard lands are more valuable than
"brush" and mere pasture. note tue
following from the items Of one Con-
uecticut orchard lin New Haven county,
that was not incorporated, but personal
" owned: One hundred and eighty OF
apple orchards $50, 900 (s167 per aor.), SO
acres of pasture and brush $3.50 Us per