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HORTICULTURE BY IRRIGATION. 



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FRUIT-GROWING IN UTAH. 



BY JOEL SHOMAKER. 



FRUIT-GROWING under proper climatic con- 

 ditions, and with skillful management, is al- 

 ways a paying industry. The fertile valleys of Utah 

 offer superior inducements to the energetic horticult- 

 urist who will plant them to fruitful trees and vines. 

 Water, soil and climate are correctly proportioned and 

 await the co-operation of capital and energy to trans- 

 form the deserts into wealth producing orchards and 

 vineyards. The mountains tower on either side of 

 these valleys, as vigilant sentries, guarding the water- 

 sheds and warding off the attacks of destructive bliz- 

 zards, tornadoes and cyclones. 



WHAT HAS BEEN DONK. 



A few men of foresight and judgment have inter- 

 preted the fingermarks of nature and grasped this op- 

 portunity to obtain wealth and independence. In 

 Grand county some of the most wonderful fruit pro- 

 ductions are recorded. At Moab one man has a vine- 

 yard of three acres from which he harvests over 

 $3,000 worth of grapes annually. Another owns a 

 small peach orchard, of perhaps one acre, from which 

 lie has sold over $1,500 worth in one season. I have 

 plucked peaches from this orchard that averaged 

 nearly fifteen ounces each, by the basketful. Many of 

 the finest specimens weighed over one pound each. 

 Apples grown in this valley weigh as much as twenty- 

 three ounces each. The quality is excellent, and 

 wherever exhibited, this fruit sells at a premium above 

 all imported varieties. Other fruits grow with equal 

 prolificness. 



Moab is not an isolated instance of the superior ad- 

 vantages offered fruit growers in Utah soil and climate. 

 In Little Castle valley, another beautiful garden of 

 the Grand river valleys, equal results have been ob- 

 tained. Even figs and other semi-tropical fruits flour- 

 ish and produce abundantly. Emery county produces 

 apples, peaches, pears, grapes and small fruits that 

 are beyond comparison with imported fruits of similar 

 varieties. Utah county, with her luscious strawberries, 

 delicious peaches and beautiful apples, has long 

 since demonstrated that the State can produce an 

 abundance of choice fruits. Salt Lake, Davis, Weber 

 and Box Elder counties are dotted with fruitful 

 orchards, and plats of strawberries, blackberries and 

 raspberries that never fail to yield enormous returns 

 to their owners. The famous "Dixie Land" comprising 

 the counties of Millard, Washington and Beaver, is 

 known as the land of the grape. 



THE INDUSTRY NEGLECTED. 



But fruit-growing in Utah is a much neglected in- 

 dustry. While a few men devote proper attention to 



the business, and reap beautiful harvests, the general 

 application is yet in the future. Small fruit farms, of 

 ten to twenty acres, conducted upon the proper basis, 

 are needed to develop the country. There is no good 

 reason why several thousand acres should not be 

 planted to small orchards and vineyards, and made t 

 yield $1,000 per acre,with absolute certainty,everyyear. 

 This would insure employment to a large army of men, 

 women and children, and add immense wealth to the 

 territory. The field is open. The natural advantages 

 are everywhere present. Young men, middle aged 

 men and even old men are wasting their days at unre- 

 munerative work while nature calls them to labor in 

 her most prolific vineyard. 



POSSIBILITIES OP CHEAP LAND. 



Land that now produces nothing but native brush, 

 can be purchased very cheap. Water rights in canals 

 already constructed, cost but little in comparison with 

 the benefits to be derived. New reservoirs and canals 

 can be built and water secured to subdue the entire 

 desert area. The Rio Grande Western Railway passes 

 through what should be a perfect fruitvale, from 

 Grand Junction to Ogden. A large majority of this 

 area is comparatively unoccupied. The waters of the 

 Grand, Green, Price, San Rafael and even the Jorda* 

 rivers pass by unutilized, what should be the habita- 

 tions of thousands of contented and wealthy fruit 

 growers. The projectors of this road no doubt foresaw 

 the day when the natural reservoirs of the mountains 

 would be utilized in impounding waters, the canals 

 and laterals would be constructed in every valley and, 

 by the never failing powers of irrigation, the deserts 

 would become the homes of thousands, who would be 

 shipping choice native fruits to the east and the north, 

 every month in the years. Such are the possibilities of 

 every valley through which this "Little Giant" daily 

 carries its burdens. 



TRY CALIFORNIA METHODS. 



How can this be accomplished? In the same man- 

 ner that the great fruit growing districts of southern 

 California have been planted. By organizing colonies 

 of fruit growers, by planting small tracts of ten to 

 twenty acres, as much as one man can manage, by co- 

 operation in securing water rights, planting the treefc 

 and vines, and marketing the products. The famous 

 colony of Anahiem was settled by clerks, school- 

 teachers, mechanics and others who worked at their 

 trades or professions, and employed experienced men 

 to plant and cultivate the vines till they were in bear- 

 ing. When the ten-acre tracts were producing sufti 

 cient to give a family a comfortable living the owners, 

 who were out but a small proportion of their savings, 

 removed to their own tracts, and have since become 



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