2158 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



rably adapted to all sorts of fruits. Even peaches are 

 successfully grown in orchards. The few men who grow 

 plums, cherries, strawberries, and so on, are proving 

 every year that the Connecticut Valley in Vermont is 

 naturally as much a fruit region as any other. 



The apple crop in Vermont is fast assuming com- 

 mercial proportions. There are many large orchards 

 in every county, and in almost every town. Commer- 

 cial orcharding is best developed on the western border, 

 including the Champlain Valley, and extending south- 

 ward to Benningtpn, where there is a 300-acre orchard. 

 The market varieties are Rhode Island Greening, 

 Northern Spy, Baldwin, Wealthy, Fameuse and 



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Mclntosh. The old family orchards of innumerable 

 inferior varieties are rapidly disappearing through old 

 age and neglect. The greatest plantings of apple trees 

 in a generation have been made since 1910. Vermont 

 has had experience with the Russian apples, T. H. 

 Hoskins, of Newport, on the northern boundary of the 

 state, having been one of the most famous experi- 

 menters. Nevertheless, the Russian varieties have 

 made small impression on the pomology of the state. 



In all probability there are more extensive orchards 

 in Vermont than in any other New England state. In 

 1870, the notable orchard of C. T. Holmes, of Charlotte, 

 which embraces 105 acres, was set mostly to Rhode 

 Island Greenings. In 1880, the famous Richford orchard 

 in Highgate was set to a single variety, Fameuse. 

 Within a few years other orchards of similar proportions 

 have been set. The most famous apple section of Ver- 

 mont is in Grand Isle County, known to commercial 

 men as the "Island Apple County." Grand Isle, which 

 is the smallest county in the state, is the most important 

 commercial apple section by reason of the small popu- 

 lation and the relatively large proportion of the crop 



that is shipped out of the state. Each of the three 

 separate islands of the county are entirely surrounded 

 by the waters of Lake Champlain and enjoy thereby 

 greater immunity from frost than other sections of the 

 state. The first large orchard in the county (also in the 

 state) was set in 1819, and embraced 20 acres, all of 

 cider-apple stock which sold for 10 cents a bushel to 

 French people from Canada. In 1848 and 1864 other 

 large orchards were set, and in 1870 the work of plant- 

 ing trees was widespread. In 1912, the Eastern Fruit 

 and Nut Orchard Company started its 215-acre orchard, 

 which is interplanted with plums, cherries, and fillers. 

 It is doubtful whether any region can produce apples 

 of finer appearance, better quality or greater durability, 

 than can be produced in Grand Isle, Vermont. 



Plums are grown just enough to prove that they will 

 succeed admirably. Lombard, Green Gage, Bradshaw, 

 the Damsons and other old-fashioned sorts still retain 

 preference of conservative Vermonters, although other 

 growers are planting chiefly of the Japanese varieties, 

 especially Burbank and Abundance. In the northern 

 and mountain towns, only the americana and nigra 

 types are hardy; but even these are seldom grown. 



Pears have no commercial importance in the state. 

 The localized orchards of a generation ago were swept 

 out by the pear-blight, and the plantings replaced with 

 apples. With proper care, the hardy varieties succeed. 



Among cherries, Morello, Montmorency and Rich- 

 mond are favorites. Raspberries are mostly red, the 

 black berries being seldom grown. Cuthbert is the lead- 

 ing variety, though Schaffer and Columbian are gaining 

 rapidly. Blackberries are. carefully grown usually. 

 Fine blueberries are picked from the fields in considera- 

 ble quantities. Early varieties of grapes can be ripened 

 for home use, Concord, Worden, Moore Early, Green 

 Mountain and Delaware being leading varieties. 



Vermont is remarkably free from many noxious in- 

 sects and serious diseases. The area infected with San 

 Jos6 scale is confined to a few towns in a single county 

 in southeastern Vermont. The gypsy moth does not as 

 yet occur in the state; and the brown-tail moth area is 

 restricted to the southern and eastern borders, and 

 further extension is being combated with vigor. Apple 

 blotch and bitter-rot are not known to occur in the 

 state. Crown-gall and hairy-root diseases are rare. 



Truck-gardening is practised in the neighborhood of 

 all the principal cities; but it cannot be said to be a 

 well-managed business. Those crops which grow in 

 special perfection are beans, potatoes, peas and toma- 

 toes, salsify and parsnip. Those which cannot be grown, 

 or which are, as a rule, unsuccessful, are melons, 

 okra, sweet potatoes, and lima beans. Special crops 

 which are sometimes grown in quantities for export are 

 seed peas, white beans and onions. 



On account of the long cold winter and the short and 

 cloudy days of that season, the greenhouse industries 

 have developed slowly. Notwithstanding this fact, 

 many towns make demands for greenhouse products 

 and every city in the state supports two or more green- 

 houses, devoted mostly to carnations, roses, chrysan- 

 themums, lilies, and pot-plants. 



There are three commercial nurseries in Vermont. 

 One at Charlotte specializes in hardy ornamental 

 shrubbery, and those at Waterville and Beebe Plains 

 are apple nurseries. 



Some very good examples of landscape gardening 

 may be found about Bennington, Manchester, Shel- 

 burne, Burlington, and Woodstock, many of which are 

 summer homes of city people. Island and shore camps 

 in the Champlain district are especially attractive. 



Several Vermonters of an earlier generation who 

 were influential in either developing new horticultural 

 varieties or testing the adaptability of varieties from 

 other countries, were: C. E. Goodrich, originator of the 

 Garnet Chile potato, and introducer of the Amazon, 

 Calico, Cuzco, Central City, Rust Coat, and Pink 



