HORTICULTURE BY IRRIGATION. 



1 



THE OUTLOOK FOR FRUIT. 



A MERICAN civilization has reached a point 

 /\ where a fruit crop becomes of great moment. 

 So long as we lived largely upon pork and potatoes 

 the question of a large or small crop of fruit was 

 of minor importance. Happily, that day is past. 

 Every year makes the fruit crop more important and 

 the loss of it a greater deprivation, if not, indeed, a 

 calamity. Probably no other staple crop is subject 

 to greater vicissitudes from climate and other condi- 

 tions than the produce of our orchards. But the peo- 

 ple of the United States are learning to consume 

 fruit, and its need is very greatly felt in seasons of 

 scarcity. The cold weather prevailing in many sec- 

 tions during the past winter has seriously threatened 

 the peach crop in a number of the best districts east 

 of the Rocky mountains, and at the present writing 

 the outlook for peaches is not a hopeful one. Reports 

 from Kansas, Missouri, southern Indiana, Michigan 

 and parts of Maryland and New Jersey indicate a 

 light crop or a total failure. In addition to the 

 severe weather, the mercury sometimes going to 20 

 degrees below zero, is the more serious fact that the 

 severe weather followed in several extensive districts 

 a season of unusually warm weather which caused 

 the fruit buds to swell, in some instances almost to 

 the point of blossoming. The two conditions resulted 

 in great damage in many places, and a total destruc- 

 tion of the crop in some localities. Thus far, how- 

 ever, our advices from the Pacific coast region are 

 favorable to a large yield of nearly all varieties of 

 fruit grown there. The winter was favorable in most 

 places, and if the usual weather prevails from now 

 forward there will be no scarcity of fruit for eastern 

 shipment from California. It is expected that im- 

 proved methods of transportation and refrigeration 

 will be put into use this year, which should go a long 

 way toward putting the California fruits into the east- 

 ern markets at a much more mature stage and in 

 better condition than formerly. This is greatly to be 

 desired, and if our California friends shall succeed in 

 giving us fruits with a high flavor as well as a bright 

 color, no doubt they will find the demand equal to 

 their ability to produce but we must have good 

 fruit, picked at the proper time and delivered in good 

 condition on our tables. These are the problems 

 before fruit growers of the Pacific coast, and if they 

 shall solve them successfully they may speedily look 

 for ample rewards. 



It is reported from California that fruit growers 

 are disposed to pin their faith to the Rev. A. T. Per- 



kins, of Alameda, near San Francisco, who has 

 patented a device for transporting fresh fruits to 

 almost any distance in first-class condition without 

 the aid of ice. Speaking broadly, his invention con- 

 sists in introducing air (which has been greatly 

 condensed in reservoirs by means of air pumps 

 operated by the locomotive) through diminished 

 pipes or valves, into an air-tight chamber containing 

 the fruit. The expansion of the air lowers the tem- 

 perature, and only a dry, pure air thus comes in 

 contact with the fruit, arresting decay and preclud- 

 ing the development of fungus growths in transit. 



Experiments on a small scale seem to assure the 

 success of this system of refrigeration, thus doing 

 away with the eight tons of ice required under pres- 

 ent methods, and also dispensing with a considerable 

 part of the extra weight of refrigerator cars. Like 

 most inventors, however, Mr. Perkinsjneeds funds to 

 fully complete his system, and 'a move has been 

 lately made among fruit growers in that State to 

 raise the required amount and put the system into 

 early operation. The present methods of refrigera- 

 tion and preservation of fresh fruits in transit are 

 quite unsatisfactory, and if Mr. Perkins' new system 

 shall prove a success the people of the East will 

 rejoice as well as those of the Pacific coast. 



VARIETIES OF FRUIT. 



A Colorado Horticulturist Te- fles as to the Most 

 Profltabl'. 



Mr. W. C. Steele, in his p r before the Mesa 

 County (Colo.) Horticultural !' ..iety, gives some val- 

 uable suggestions as to varieli , of fruits profitable to 

 plant. He says: 



" In some countries some varieties of small fruits 

 are rejected because of liability to mildew. In our 

 arid climate it is unknown. Varieties of apples that 

 fail in some places succeed well here. 



" Then if we were to plant for home use, we would 

 plant other varieties than those which have proven 

 most profitable for market. 



" The apple, now second only to the peach in im- 

 portance, and liable to become first in the estimation 

 of our fruit growers. There is but one most profitable 

 variety the Ben Davis. I have tried to retain preju- 

 dice against this popular variety, but as long as one- 

 fourth my orchard is all Ben Davis trees and one-half 

 the apples Ben Davis apples, I must recommend Ben 

 Davis for profit. My next most profitable, and for 

 the first five years after planting, out-yielding the 

 Ben Davis, is the Missouri Pippin. Then comes that 



