ORCHARDS
In some fruit districts the farmers are cutting down their orchards, saying that they cannot afford to bother with them, and that fruit-raising must be carried on in a large way by specialists to be profitable. This is tantamount to saying that they are not intelligent and enterprising enough to manage six or eight acres of orchard successfully, while their neighbor is competent to care for ten times that acreage. The man who owns the smaller orchard should, other things being equal, secure a relatively larger profit than the owner of the large orchard, since he will be able to give it more personal attention. The man who overcomes the difficulties of fruit-raising is constantly adding to his education and power, while the man who is appalled with the difficulties of orcharding, and falls back on rye, buckwheat and oats as money-crops, sinks in intelligence and loses courage. The orchard, when intelligently cared for, seldom fails to give much larger profits than a like area devoted to the cereals. As a rule, the most difficult crop to raise or the most difficult business is the one which brings the most liberal reward after the difficulties have been surmounted.
When convenient, the orchard might well be set to the north or west of the buildings, in most sections of the United States, but not so close to them as to prevent a good air passage between it and the dwelling. Low-headed fruit trees should not be set in the house yard or near to it. The trees in most orchards are set too close together, and even when set appropriate distances apart it will be found to be unprofitable, in the long run, to grow two crops on the same land at the same time, as wheat or oats and apples. Specific directions for the care and management of orchards can now be found in well written books and bulletins; therefore there is no occasion for treating orchards in detail here. Suffice it to say that the farmer without an abundance of fruits in their season is like the lad with empty pockets outside the circus tent: lots of fruit and fun, ready to be enjoyed by those who have made thoughtful provision for the gratification of desires which always come, sooner or later. Every farmer should grow most of the fruits suited to his soil and climate,—enough to eat and to sell and to give to the worthy poor.