2174 NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



has a generally rolling to hilly topography, broken 

 by a few irregular low mountain groups, of which 

 the South Mountains, Welsh Mountains and the Read- 

 ing Hills are most prominent. This was the region 

 first settled, and it is now mostly under cultivation 

 and contains probably the best lands of the state. 

 It includes the small coastal plain region, the Pied- 

 mont plateau, and a part of the Limestone Valley and 

 Alleghany Mountain provinces, the latter of which 

 crops out in the low mountain groups referred to above. 



The second section extends from the Blue Moun- 

 tains to the Alleghany escarpment, which runs from 

 Somerset County around west of Altoona, slightly 

 north of Williamsport and on eastward in reduced 

 form through Lackawanna and Wayne counties. In 

 general form, this section is a large crescent, about 50 

 to 60 miles in width, and comprises about a fourth of 

 the state. It consists of a numerous succession of 

 parallel mountain ranges, derived from hard sand- 

 stones and separated by comparatively narrow valleys 

 which have been carved out from shales or soft sand- 

 stones. It includes parts of the Alleghany Mountain, 

 Limestone Valley, and glacial provinces. The broader 

 valleys in this section, especially those of limestone 

 origin, are fertile and well adapted to general farm 

 crops, but the hills and mountain slopes are usually 

 stony and more or less barren. 



The third or plateau section lies west and north of 

 the Alleghany escarpment and includes about 55 per 

 cent of the area of the state. It consists of a much- 

 dissected plateau, broken by occasional mountain 

 ridges, and deeply scored by frequent streams or 

 canons, some of the latter being as much as 800 feet 

 deep in the northern part, where the general elevation 

 is greatest. Most of this area is distinctly mountainous 

 in character. It has been very largely in forests, and 

 much of it has been cleared so recently that but little 

 has yet been accomplished toward its utilization along 

 other lines. The soils of the DeKalb series are much the 

 most extensive in this general region, though the West- 

 moreland, Upshur, and Berks soils are fairly prominent. 

 The general location and adaptations of these and all 

 other important soils in the state, are well given in a 

 recent Bulletin, No. 132, by C. F. Shaw, from the 

 Pennsylvania Station. 



From the horticultural viewpoint, there is probably 

 no state in the Union with greater possibilities than 

 Pennsylvania. Its general location, large population, 

 wide range of soils and almost unlimited choice of 

 topography within relatively small areas, offer advan- 

 tages that are very difficult to equal elsewhere. These 

 advantages have only begun to be realized, however, 

 and although the production is already large along 

 many lines, it has generally been due to the large 

 aggregate of relatively small growers producing for 

 local markets, rather than to any large and well-man- 

 aged commercial efforts. The present development, 

 therefore, must be regarded only as a beginning. 



In total value of horticultural products, Pennsyl- 

 vania usually ranks third, being preceded by California 

 and New York and followed by Michigan. In 1909, 

 Michigan forged slightly ahead in total value of fruit, 

 but even in that year the shortage in fruit was much 

 more than made up by the difference in vegetables, 

 flowers and nursery products, and with the latter 

 included the state easily secured third place with a 

 margin of more than $4,500,000. 



Among the specific horticultural crops, apples are 

 probably the most cosmopolitan, since they usually 

 thrive in almost any part of the state where both local 

 conditions and varieties have been properly selected. 

 They contributed about five-sixths of the total orchard 

 production in 1909. Both apples and peaches do 

 especially well in proper locations over the entire 

 Piedmont section of southeastern Pennsylvania, 

 referred to above. They are also grown with special 



success on many of the foothills and more gentle slopes 

 of the eastern and southern ranges of the Appalachian 

 system. In Erie County, the narrow glacial lake area 

 in the extreme northwestern part of the state is being 

 rapidly developed for the production of grapes and 

 peaches especially, with considerable commercial inter- 

 est also in apples, cherries, plums and vegetables. This 

 county is distinctly in the lead in horticultural prod- 

 ucts as a whole, and is followed in order by Lancaster 

 and York, whose high totals are due chiefly to their 

 large vegetable-production. In apples, however, the 

 most intensive commercial area at present is the one 

 in Adams County, although there are a number of 

 other localities in the state where the natural advan- 

 tages are fully as good, as shown by the marked success 

 of individual orchards. 



Many important varieties of fruits have originated in 

 Pennsylvania, some of them now being grown widely. 

 Among apples, the most important are as follows: 

 York Imperial, Smokehouse, Rambo, Cornell (Fancy), 

 Sweet Winesap, Smith (Cider), Jefferis, Ewalt (Walker 

 Beauty), Major, Minkler, Winter Sweet Paradise, 

 York Stripe, Winter Blush, Fallawater, Early Ripe, 

 Doctor, Belmont, Strode (Birmingham), Wine, Cooper 

 Market, Dickinson, Evening Party, Golden Spy, 

 Krauser, and Lehigh (Greening). Altogether, Pennsyl- 

 vania is credited with the origin of no less than 314 

 varieties of apples. 



Among the pears, the following are the most impor- 

 tant that have originated in Pennsylvania, viz., the 

 Seckel, Tyson, Rutter, Brandywine, Kieffer, Garber 

 and Ott. Of the plums, the most important of Penn- 

 sylvania origin are the Richland, Hulings, and Spauld- 

 ing; of raspberries, the Cumberland, Philadelphia 

 (purple-cane) and the Orange (a hybrid of Rubus 

 Idseus and a native American species, originated by 

 Dr. Brinckl6); of blackberries, the Allen and Erie are 

 most important; of strawberries, Brandywine, Cumber- 

 land, Glen Mary and Sharpless; of peaches, the Globe, 

 Klondike, and Tippecanoe; of cherries, the Ida; of 

 chestnuts, the Paragon, Bartram, Miller, Numbo, 

 Corson, Comfort, and Styer; of Persian walnuts, the 

 Rush. 



The opportunities for commercial vegetable-produc- 

 tion are especially good in Pennsylvania because of its 

 unusual number of good-sized cities and towns, in 

 which the people are chiefly engaged in manufactur- 

 ing or other industrial pursuits. In fact Pennsylvania 

 contains fifty-eight cities of more than 10,000 inhabi- 

 tants, which is seven more than any other state. This 

 has developed large local production of vegetables 

 around these cities in all parts of the state. In addition, 

 there are considerable areas producing cabbage and 

 other vegetables for shipment, notably in Lancaster, 

 York and Erie counties. 



Another vegetable area of very intensive production 

 has been developed on the muck soils around Wells- 

 boro in Tioga County. In this place a total of about 

 280 to 300 acres of regular mucklands are in active 

 service, besides some of the more fertile adjacent loams, 

 which have sufficient fiber to produce good crops for a 

 few years in favorable seasons. The annual production 

 is estimated to bring in to the growers from $125,000 

 to $150,000, depending on season and prices. Celery 

 and head lettuce are the only crops produced to any 

 extent, and only one variety of each is used, the 

 Golden Self-blanching celery and the Big Boston let- 

 tuce. The former constitutes about 70 per cent of the 

 crop. The crop is marketed in carlots, all of the let- 

 tuce and most of the celery going to Philadelphia. 



Some of the leading varieties of vegetables that have 

 apparently originated in Pennsylvania are as follows: 

 bean, Burpee Bush Lima, the fore-runner of all the 

 large-podded bush limas, which was found as a chance 

 variation in a field of Large White limas on the farm 

 of Asa Palmer near Kennett Square, in 1883; celery, 



