APPLE 



APPLE 



329 



is found in comparatively narrow mountain valleys or 

 upon the bench or mesa lands of these valleys. 



Idaho. In 1910, Idaho had 1,006,000 apple trees of 

 bearing age and 1,540,000 trees not bearing. The 

 state is credited with the production of 660,000 bushels 

 of apples in 1909. The Snake River Valley is the prin- 

 cipal apple-growing section. In the north of the state, 

 the Clearwater Valley and the valleys of the Koptenai 

 and Clarke's Fork of the Columbia afford additional 

 possibilities for commercial apple-growing. The in- 

 dustry is growing rapidly, and it is probably safe to 

 say that in 1913 the output of the state was double 

 that of 1909. The principal varieties grown are Gano, 

 Jonathan, Winesap and Rome Beauty, with Esopus and 

 Yellow Newtown in the newer plantings. In the nor- 

 thern half of the state, the moisture supplied by 

 natural rainfall is generally sufficient to mature the 

 apple crop, while in the southern half of the state 

 additional moisture must be supplied by irrigation. 



Montana. In 1910, Montana had 697,000 apple 

 trees of bearing age and 1,308,000 trees not bearing. 

 The estimates of the State Board of Horticulture placed 

 the total acreage of apple orchards in Montana, in 

 1912, as 30,000 acres. The principal apple-growing 

 sections are the Bitter Root Valley, the Flathead dis- 

 trict, which embraces a portion of the valley above 

 Flathead Lake and the land along the lake shore, the 

 Clarke's Fork Valley (Carbon County) and the Yellow- 

 stone Valley (Yellowstone County) ; with newer plant- 

 ings in the valley west of the junction of the Missoula 

 and Flathead Rivers (Missoula and Saunders Counties) 

 and in the Tobacco Plains and Kpotenai Valleys in 

 Lincoln County. With the exception of the greater 

 portion of the Flathead districts, all are irrigated. 

 The principal varieties grown are Mclntosh, Wagoner, 

 Rome Beauty, Northern Spy and Wealthy. A few Gano, 

 Jonathan and Delicious are being planted. The Tran- 

 scendent Crab, largely planted in the older orchards and 

 those just coming into bearing, is being little planted 

 now, on account of its susceptibility to pear blight. 



New Mexico. The apple industry of this state is 

 comparatively young. In 1910 there were 543,000 

 trees of bearing age and 914,000 trees not bearing. 

 In 1909, the state produced 417,000 bushels of apples. 

 The orchards are all under irrigation and are located 

 in the Rio Grande Valley from north of Albuquerque 

 to the Texas line, in the Roswell district in the Pecos 

 Valley, and in the Farmington district (San Juan 

 County), which may be said to be a continuation of 

 the Montezuma district of Colorado. The varieties 

 grown are Ben Davis, Gano, Arkansas Black, Wine- 

 sap, Jonathan, White Pearmain and Rome Beauty. 

 The apple industry is growing rapidly, especially in 

 the Roswell and Farmington districts. The state bids 

 fair to take third place in the mountain region. 



Utah. In 1910, Utah reported 517,000 trees of 

 bearing age and 789,000 not bearing. In 1909 the total 

 apple-production was 350,000 bushels. In the past 

 ten years the state has not shown the growth in apple- 

 production as has Colorado, Idaho, Montana and 

 New Mexico; yet many new orchards are being planted 

 in the Cache Valley (Cache County), Bear Valley 

 (Iron County), Utah Valley (Utah County), and in the 

 Ogden district. These are the leading apple-growing 

 sections of the state. Gano and Jonathan are most 

 widely planted, although Winesap, Rome Beauty and 

 and other standard winter varieties are grown in smaller 

 quantities. The orchards are all irrigated. 



Arizona. Approximately 1,000 acres were in apple 

 orchards in Arizona in 1910, about one-half being of 

 bearing age. The climate over most of the state is 

 too warm for the apple, and in the mountainous sec- 

 tions of the state where apples may be successfully 

 grown, the areas which can be irrigated are very 

 limited in extent. There is apparently little chance for 

 development in commercial apple-growing. 



Nevada. With a climate similar to that of Arizona, 

 the apple industry has not flourished in Nevada. 

 Latest census figures credit the state with little more 

 than 1,000 acres of apple orchards. Limited areas 

 located near the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the 

 northwest part of the state are fairly well adapted to 

 apple-culture. The rainfall is light and all orchards 

 are irrigated. A number of the standard winter varie- 

 ties are grown. 



Wyoming. The interest in apple-growing in Wyom- 

 ing is confined principally to the development of the 

 home orchard. The acreage planted is about equal to 

 that of Arizona or Nevada, with a little more interest 

 now manifest in the development of the industry. 

 The varieties planted are Wealthy, Mclntosh and 

 Jonathan. 



General practices, 



Generally speaking, this whole region is arid, little 

 being attempted in the way of apple-growing except 

 with irrigation. The atmosphere is dry, and during 

 the summer months there is an exceptionally large 

 amount of sunshine. Especially in the mountain 

 valleys, the days are warm and the nights cool. The 

 entire region is more or less subject to untimely spring 

 frosts. For this reason many of the best fruit sections 

 of the region are found in narrow mountain valleys, 

 protected more or less by canon breezes, or upon the 

 bench lands of broader valleys, where the air drainage 

 is good. Within this region, however, we find many 

 sections afforded this natural protection where the 

 apple crop seldom fails. 



Soils. Within this group of states, apples are grown 

 on a large variety of soils. The great majority of 

 orchards have been planted upon virgin land, and as 

 time goes on, we shall probably learn to consider soil- 

 adaptation a more important factor in apple-growing. 

 From the standpoint of ease of cultiyationj ease of 

 irrigation and the maintenance of soil fertility, the 

 medium sandy loams are proving the most satisfac- 

 tory apple soils. 



Tillage. The orchardists of the mountain states 

 have from the beginning been exponents of clean cul- 

 ture. In many sections, however, they are now begin- 

 ning to feel that this has been overdone, and in the 

 present system of tillage, clean cultivation and cover- 

 crops alternate. In some cases the orchard is well 

 tilled during the early part of the season and seeded 

 to field peas, vetch or other crop in midsummer. 

 Another practice is to seed the orchard to clover, which 

 is turned under after two seasons' growth. The orchard 

 is then cultivated for one or two seasons and again 

 planted to clover. Alfalfa has been used instead of the 

 clover. Providing it is kept away from the trees and 

 within reach of the turning plow, alfalfa is not objec- 

 tionable in orchard lands free from stones. On rocky 

 land it is difficult to kill the alfalfa out. In this arid 

 region, some such system of tillage must be practised 

 as a means of maintaining soil-fertility. 



Irrigation. The irrigation practice of the orchard- 

 ists of these states is not unlike that of the other 

 western states. Practically all water is applied by the 

 furrow method, running shallow ditches close together 

 in sandy soils and deep ditches farther apart in the 

 heavy soils. The distances between ditches will vary 

 from 2 to 6 or 8 feet. The old orchards receive from 

 two to four applications during the growing season. 

 The plan is to get the fruit up to size early in the sea- 

 son and then promote coloring by maintaining only 

 a moderate moisture supply during the latter part of 

 the summer. In sections where the winters are dry, 

 both the old and young orchards receive one late fall 

 irrigation This is applied after the first frosts when 

 there is no longer danger of starting new growth. The 

 young orchards are well watered during the early part 

 of the growing season. After midsummer, little water 



