THE ORCHARD. 4! 



The following extracts are from a paper read recently by Dr. Alex- 

 ander Shaw, before the Northern Colorado Horticultural Society, at Fort 

 Collins. The special subject was the practicability of apple growing in 

 Northern Colorado, but it will be seen that the paper covers a general 

 scope : 



For the last four consecutive seasons I have made a toui of inspection 

 of the State of Colorado, for about six weeks, for the express purpose of 

 being able to respond to this inquiry, not only^as to North, but also as to 

 the South. The State is a State of magnificent distances, in range of area 

 from North to South about 600 miles. The area of the State East of the 

 Eocky Mountain range is about 47,000 square miles, aggregating about 

 30,080,000 acres. Altitude does not limit the possibility of apple growing. 

 I have found the Ben Davis and Oldenberg apple growing at an altitude 

 of near 8,000 feet, also at 4,500, all seemingly alike matured. 



The meteorological influences necessary to grow fruit are not gov- 

 erned by altitude alone, but the contour of the ground and surroundings 

 play an important part. The era of fruit growing in Colorado dates back 

 to about twenty-four years. William Lee, of Jefferson county, near Clear 

 Creek, is probably the pioneer fruit culturist of Colorado. He hauled his 

 first stock by mule team in 1863 from Iowa City, Iowa ; 1865 was the 

 date of the next fruit growers' venture. George Webster, M. L. McCaslin 

 and others in the St. Vrain Valley purchased their stock from the Atchi- 

 son nursery, Kansas, which were hauled by ox teams. "About the same 

 time Jesse Frazer, of Florence, Fremont County, hauled his first stock by 

 ox team from Quincy, Illinois. Frazer has been pre-eminently the most 

 successful apple grower in the State, having the largest plantation of aged 

 trees in the State, being about three thousand trees, which produced a 

 crop of about ten thousand bushels for the year 1886. From the several 

 points, as above named, have radiated fruit planting with a varied success. 

 There is no meteorological cause preventive of fruit culture in Colorado 

 but what is found in any of the States East of us. 



The weather records of the government show less extremes of heat 

 and cold, and more bright, sunshine days in Colorado, than any other 

 State of the Union. The mean line of temperature, as indicated by our 

 signal stations, from Nrth to South, passes through Denver. As to the 

 climatic causes preventive of fruit growing, we are favorably situated. 

 At the present date fruit growing has been tested successfully over an area 

 from North to South of about 500 miles. Each locality within that area 



