THE DRIED-FRUIT TRADE. 579 
abundantly only every other year. A large crop so exhausts the trees 
that they must have time to recuperate. The result-is that while one 
year apples are scarce and dear, the next year they find no sale, and rot 
on the ground. 
To save the great amount of surplus fruit is the subject of important 
consideration. If properly saved it would supply not only our own 
country but the chief countries of Europe with table luxuries the year 
round; and much interest and ingenuity have been manifested in the 
development of this industry. 
The apple crop is the most considerable and the most important. 
Apple-culture in the United States dates back to a very early period in 
the history of the country, and has grown by degrees until it has be- 
come a very important branch of agricultural enterprise. Wherever 
the climate and soil have shown a peculiar adaptation to this much- 
prized fruit it has been extensively cultivated, and experience and intel- 
ligence have brought the product to the highest standard of excellence. 
As an article of food, whether cooked or otherwise, the apple is the 
most nutritious and wholesome of all fruits. 
It is estimated that more than two millions of acres are under culti- 
vation as orchards, and tke orchard product of the United States is 
stated in the census returns of 1870 to be worth $51,334,571. The 
orchard products of the State of Ohio alone are estimated at $7,000,000 
annually. 
In the census returns of 1850 the value of the orchard product is given 
as $7,723,186, which shows, in a period of twenty years, the enormous 
increase in the value of this product of $43,611,385. 
Within the past eight years, and since the last census, the increase of 
orchard production has been even in a greater ratio, the fruit quality 
improved by the introduction of new and superior varieties and experi- 
enced culture. 
The crab-apple is extensively cultivated in many parts of the coun- 
try.. It is a hardy fruit, and will grow in luxuriance wherever the ordi- 
nary apple will grow. It is not generally edible or used in cooking for 
food, but is mainly used in the preparation of jelly, cider, and vinegar. 
The ’ abundance of its sharp, acid juices, with its constituent parts of 
saccharine matter, render it peculiarly adapted for this purpose. The 
cider made from this apple is celebrated for its palatable qualities. 
Next to the apple in value, and its excelience in a fresh or prepared 
state, is the peach; for which, in its cultivation and production, several 
sections of the United States are justly noted. It is nowhere so largely 
cultivated as in this country, which is said to be the only one in which 
this delicious fruit is within the reach of all classes. 
in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland the cultivation of the peach 
has been for years a valuable industry, and has given this section the 
name of the peach garden of the continent. In these States are many 
orchards counting 10,000, 20,000, and 30,000 trees, yielding an annual 
crop of immense value, On one farm in Maryland of 1,350 acres there 
are 136,000 trees. _ 
The peninsula of Delaware and Maryland, in ordinary good seasons, 
sends to market from 7,000,000 to 8,000,000 baskets of peaches, amount- 
ing in value to $1,500, 600. 
‘Another impor tant "peach district is on the lake shore of Michigan, 
which, though so far north, has its climate modified by the proximity of 
large bodies sof water. This region produces profitable crops, estimated 
at $1,000,009 in value avnually, which find their market in ieee Chi- 
