them. I think it is also advisable to plant
some Rawle's Janet trees. They are a late bloomer and will occasionally
produce a crop when the other sorts have been injured by late freezing.
In fact, they have the faculty of bearing in the "off" years, as we call
them--years when the balance of the orchard is resting from previous
labors.

Much has been said as to the proper location for an orchard--bottom land
or hilltop, level ground or sloping. The fact is, with careful attention
to the trees, any good, rich soil will answer. Anything that can in a
measure ward off the evil effects of the fierce summer gales and the
droughts of July, August and September will tend to minimize the losses.
Were it possible for me to choose a piece of land exactly to my notions,
I should select a river-bottom farm in the neck of some large
"horseshoe," being where it would be possible for the trees to reach
down their roots and draw moisture during the dry season by natural
subirrigation. Marketing the crop is the last but not the least work of
the apple-grower. In fact, when the orchard is well established, this is
about the only work connected with the orchard. And in that respect the
orchard has a decided advantage over other farm crops, that require
yearly preparation of the soil, sowing, harrowing, cultivating, etc., as
well as the harvesting of the crop. The early summer apples can usually
be sold on the local market at fair prices; the later summer and fall
can be shipped, and are usually in fair demand by Western buyers. Ship
only your best; it will hardly pay to send any other grade. There is
usually a good demand at this point for winter varieties by farmers from
the West, who come in and buy their winter supply by the wagon-load.
Occasionally, if the Eastern crop is short, buyers from Chicago will be
on the ground. We do not believe in holding apples long in the hope of
obtaining higher prices. Cold storage will solve this difficulty of the
orchardist; we hope it will prove a success.

The most convenient thing to gather apples in from a tree or ladder that
we have tried is a picking sack--a grain sack with a heavy wire or a
stiff leather strap fastened around the mouth, and a broad strap
connecting the top with the bottom of the sack. This can be carried over
the shoulder with considerable comfort. There are always more or less
inferior and unmarketable apples left after the best have been disposed
of, and what to do with the