THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 687 



HORTICULTURAL NOTES FROM MADERA COUNTY. 



By Geo. P. Weldon, Chief Deputy State Commissioner of Horticulture. 



Ill company with Mr. Geo. Marchbank, County Horticultural Com- 

 missioner of'^Iadera CJounty, several days were spent investigating 

 the horticultural interests of the mountainous section adjacent to the 

 towns of Raymond, Oakhurst, Coarse Gold, Nipinnawasee and Miami. 



"While orcharding is not generally followed as a profession through- 

 out this locality, the writer was impressed with the great possibilities 

 for future development. At present, transportation facilities are such 

 as to discourage anyone from going in extensively for growing fruit. 

 The building of a railroad into this section would undoubtedly add a 

 tremendous impetus to the industry; until such a road is built there 

 is no way for the fruit to reach the market, except that it is hauled by 

 team or auto truck a distance of 30 miles or more. The auto truck 

 has already made its way into many not easily accessible parts of the 

 mountains and may eventually solve the transportation problem to a 

 large extent. 



Apple Growing in Madera County. 



The apple is the principal fruit grown in the mountains. A con- 

 siderable acreage has been planted to this fruit in the past. At present 

 many orchards are receiving very little attention because of the distance 

 from market and the competition that must be met, with the growers 

 who have the advantage of a railroad. Even with very little or no 

 care in the way of cultivation, pruning, spraying, etc., a great many 

 of the trees look well and are loaded down with clean, well-sized apples. 

 Fig. 374 is from a picture taken of an apple orchard which is said to 

 be 50 years old. The stock has been allowed to run in this orchard, 

 and of late years it has received little attention; nevertheless, there is 

 still almost a perfect stand which attests to the suitability of the soil 

 and climate for growing trees. 



Varieties. 



The following varieties were found to be doing well in one or more 

 of the orchards visited : Yellow Newtown Pippin, Yellow Bellflower, 

 White Winter Pearmain, Delicious, Winesap, Staymen Winesap, Ortley, 

 Rhode Island Greening, Arkansas Black, Mammoth Black Twig, Nero, 

 Spitzenberg, Black Ben Davis, Ben Davis, Maiden Blush, as well as 

 many others of lesser importance. 



Particular mention should be made of the Delicious variety, some 

 excellent specimens of which were seen in Mr. Frank Femmons' 

 orchard. Fig. 375 is a picture of one of these trees. Mr. Femmons, 

 the pioneer apple man of the section, who has always had faith in the 

 future of the fruit industry, and who possesses a thorough knowledge 

 of the apple, is standing in the foreground. The tree is about 18 

 years old and is loaded down with fine fruit, as are all the rest of the 

 trees of this variety in the orchard. 



The Staymen Winesap is also doing remarkably well and a number 

 of trees of the Nero variety are loaded to the ground. 



