WESTRINGIA 



WEST VIRGINIA 



1973 



oblong-lanceolate to linear, Ja-l in. long: fls. white, 

 axillary, almost sessile; calyx 'A lines long; corolla not 

 twice as long as the calyx. Sandy hills, near the sea- 

 coast. Australia. — Offered in S. Calif. 



F. W. Barclay. 



WEST VIRGINIA HORTICULTURE (Fig. 2721), like 

 that of most other states, had its beginning as a side 

 issue of the usual operations of the farm. In fact, even 

 to-day it is considered as a sort of complement to grain- 

 growing or stock-raising in most sections of the state. 

 In some localities where towns have sprung up as the 

 result of coal, oil or railroad operations, the demand for 

 vegetables and small fruits has been largely met by 

 local producers. The market-garden work, aside from 

 the growing of watermelons, peas and tomatoes, is such 

 as has been encouraged by the growth of the neighbor- 

 ing towns. Melon-growing, which has an extensive 

 acreage along the Ohio river bottom, is the only branch 

 of vegetable-gardening which seeks markets outside the 

 state. What has been said of vegetable-gardening ap- 

 plies equally well to small-fruit culture, but the tree 

 fruits — notably apples and peaches — fall under quite a 

 different category. 



The apple industry in West Virginia is chiefly of two 

 characters and has two regions, — the lower, and the north- 

 ern Ohio valley counties of the state. The former region 

 gives considerable attention to the production of early 

 apples for the northern markets. Several early harvest 

 varieties are grown, Yellow Transparent, Red Astrachan 

 and Pomme Royal predominating; these are followed 

 by Maiden Blush, Grimes Golden and Rome Beauty. 

 Because of the favorable climate in this region, the pro- 

 duction of this class of fruits has grown to be a profit- 

 able, although not a large industry. The northern Ohio 

 river valley counties, including what is known as the 

 Northern Panhandle, and the counties in the eastern part 

 of the state, bordering on the Potomac, form the present 

 areas for the commercial growing of winter apples. 



The Hancock county orchards (northern end of Pan- 

 handle) are unique in storage facilities. Here nearly 

 every grower with any considerable acreage (fifty or 

 more acres) is provided with a storage-house, so that in 

 seasons of greatest fruit production there is sufficient 

 capacity for storing the crop. Previous to the fall of 1896 

 all the houses were constructed of stone and provided 

 with ice chambers for maintaining artificial cold. In 

 18% one house was built of wood on the principle of 

 confined air between walls constructed of wood and 

 paper. In this house, which has been used two years, 

 no ice is carried, and good results have followed. These 

 houses are of various capacities, ranging from 2,500 up 

 to 35,000 barrels. 



The plan most in vogue is to have the fruit removed 

 from the trees by expert pickers, placed in barrels in 

 the orchard, headed and then transferred immediately 

 to the storage-house. In general, the barrels are stored 

 in tiers on the side. They are left in this position until 

 shipping season arrives, which usually begins in March 

 or early April and extends well into May. Before ship- 

 ment each barrel is opened, the contents placed in a 

 sorter and the fruits carefully assorted and graded. 

 The barrels are stenciled with the grower's trade-mark 

 and with the grade of the fruit. Through a series of 

 years these practices have been strictly adhered to and 

 as a result the fruit, the bulk of which goes south and 

 west, has a reputation in the markets to which it finds 

 its way. This region along the upper Ohio is peculiar 

 also in possession of a variety suited to its climate 

 and to the practices of the growers. This is known as 

 the Willow Twig, an apple of good size, good appear- 

 ance and fair quality, a long keeper and a good cooker. 

 Willow Twig and Ben Davis yield the greater part of 

 the crop of this region, although among varieties of 

 minor importance the Rome Beauty and Bentley Sweet 

 are some of the best. 



The varieties chiefly grown in the eastern counties 

 differ quite as much from those of the Hancock region 

 as do the varieties of New York. In the eastern coun- 

 ties York Imperial or Johnson Fine Winter is the va- 

 riety upon which most dependence is placed. It is not 

 only a sure cropper, but is a good market variety, pos- 

 sessing high color with good flavor and fair keeping 



qualities. It is one of the ten varieties included by 

 Taylor in his export list. This variety, placed in store 

 in October, can be moved from the cold room in Feb- 

 ruary, with little or no shrinkage from loss of moisture 

 and an equally small loss from decay. Ben Davis here, 

 as well as in Hancock county, forms a valuable second, 

 although the crop is better in the northern than in the 

 eastern counties. Among fall varieties for both sections 

 of i-he state none exceeds the Grimes Golden. This 

 apple, as well as the Willow Twig, is a native of the 



Commercial apple 



|M8 Com'l. apple and 



peach areas. 

 Ulillllllll Suited to apples. 



Peach districts. 



2721. West Vireinia, to illustrate the pomoloeical regions. 



state. Another apple belt in which young orchards give 

 much promise lies at the extreme southern border of 

 the state. 



Peaches thrive in various sections of the state. In 

 fact, hardly a locality is without its supply; but strange 

 to say, in many instances the trees are chance seedlings, 

 and the quality of the fruit is correspondingly low. In 

 the five counties bordering upon the Potomac, however, 

 the industry has grown to important commercial pro- 

 portions. The orchards under the control of the Alle- 

 gheny Orchard Company aggregate nearly 150.000 trees. 

 Besides this there are numerous private enterprises 

 with orchards ranging from 500 to 5,000 trees. The 

 most successful orchards are situated upon the first 

 terrace of the mountain, Usually three to five miles 

 from the Potomac, and at an elevation of from 900 to 

 1,500 feet above tide. The soil is gravelly in nature, 

 resulting from the breaking down of shale and sandy 

 rocks. The methods of the Orchard Company above 

 mentioned mark a new era in the manner of handling 

 the peach crop. Instead of sending their product to 

 some commission house to be again scattered over the 

 country to the small towns, this company has a head 

 office in the city of Cumberland, and from there, as a 

 distributing point, peaches go direct to the dealers in 

 the small towns and cities, the commission of the mid- 

 dleman is saved, the retailer gets a fresh product direct 

 from the orchard, and the consumer is provided with a 

 better article. 



In West Virginia, where lack of transportation is 

 often an obstacle, canneries are valuable as furnishing 

 a market for horticultural products. In the city of 

 Wheeling there are three extensive pickling and can- 

 ning factories where large quantities of cucumbers, 

 tomatoes and onions, as well as various fruits, are pre- 

 pared for winter consumption. In Martinsburg, in con- 

 nection with the cold storage house already mentioned, 

 a modern cannery of large capacity is operated, which 

 furnishes an annual market for the products of both 

 orchards and gardens. Besides these there are several 

 smaller concerns which confine their packing to one or 

 at most to two vegetables, tomatoes being the favorite. 



