NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2273 



The Mormons were the first to grow fruit in the 

 intermountain region. With their first immigration to 

 Utah in 1847, they brought seeds of grains, vegetables, 

 fruit, shrubbery, trees, and vines. In a state thus set- 

 tled by an agricultural people, fruit-growing became 

 established early in its history, and held a place of 

 importance in the agricultural development of the 

 state. Practically every farm in the early days had 

 its family orchard, consisting of many varieties of 

 apples, peaches, plums, pears and cherries. Many of 

 these trees were grown from seed. The following fruits 

 which are gradually taking an important place in their 

 respective classes originated in the state of Utah: the 

 Poorman gooseberry, the Early Elberta peach, and 

 the Knudson cherry. The planting of mixed orchards 

 for local market purposes was well established as early 

 as 1875. Bancroft, the historian, states that at this 

 time there were from 500 to 600 acres of grapes in 



IRON H G A R F , E L D 



2530. Utah, with important horticultural areas. 



southern Utah, and the value of Utah's fruit products 

 of all kinds was estimated at $157,000. The planting 

 of commercial orchards for the general markets began 

 about 1895 to 1900. This industry increased many- 

 fold from 1900 to 1910. 



With the variations in altitude, soil, and exposure 

 which exist within the state of Utah, it is possible to grow 

 a great variety of fruits. Only the hardier apples, pears 

 and small-fruits are grown successfully in the regions 

 of high altitude, such as Summit and Rich counties, in 

 the northern part of the state, where the altitude is 

 5,500 to 7,000 feet above sea-level. However, pome- 

 granates, figs, and European grapes are grown to per- 

 fection in Washington County in the southwestern 

 corner of the state at an altitude of 2,880 feet. 



The chief fruit-growing sections are along the uplands 

 at the foot of the west slope of the Wasatch Mountains 

 from Brigham and vicinity to Provo and throughout 

 the Bear River Valley. Cache County, at the north 

 of the state, has a most favorable climate and soil for 

 apple-production. Peaches and sour cherries are also a 

 success here wherever suitable soil is obtainable. All 

 except the most hardy sweet cherries, such as the Tar- 



144 



tarian, are likely to suffer from late spring frosts in Cache 

 County. Small fruit-growing areas have been developed 

 recently in the vicinity of Price, Carbon County, and 

 Green River, Emery County. Washington County 

 is one of the oldest and it is naturally the most favored 

 fruit section in the state. With a semi-tropical climate, 

 this region excels in the production of the stone-fruits, 

 European grapes, figs, pomegranates, almonds and 

 Persian walnuts. Seclusion from railroad transporta- 

 tion has kept this country from developing a world- 

 famous fruit-growing region. 



Apples are the chief fruit crop of the state and make 

 up more than half of the total acreage in orchards. 

 With the exception of a few orchards planted for local 

 markets, aU commercial orchards are composed of late 

 fall and winter varieties; chief among these are the 

 Jonathan, Winesap, Rome, Ben Davis, Gano, Arkansas, 

 Banana, and Rhode Island. 



The peach orchards of Utah have been developed 

 almost entirely to supply the fresh-fruit markets; 

 therefore, the Elberta orchards compose nearly 90 

 per cent of the total acreage in peaches. Other varie- 

 ties occasionally found are the Early Elberta, Early 

 Crawford, Late Crawford, Lemon Cling, Tuscan, 

 Champion, Alexander, and Hale's Early. 



Cherries are the next most important fruit crop of 

 the state, being produced chiefly around Brigham, 

 Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo. Most of this crop is 

 sold in the fresh state among the markets of the inter- 

 mountain region. A very firm high type of cherry is 

 produced. Chief among the varieties are Napoleon, 

 Tartarian, Hortense, Bing, Lambert, Windsor, Morello, 

 Knudson, Double Natte. and Late Duke. 



Small-fruits are produced for local markets and 

 markets of the surrounding intermountain states. 

 Strawberries, raspberries, dewberries, currants and 

 gooseberries are readily produced practically through- 

 out the state. 



Pears, plums and apricots have been somewhat 

 neglected in developing the fruit industry of the state, 

 and although the nearby markets are partly supplied 

 with Utah fruit of the above sorts, these fruits form a 

 small part of the export trade of the state. 



The grape, however, is the most neglected of all fruits 

 in the state. The common American varieties can 

 be successfully produced throughout the northern and 

 central parts, and some of the most hardy European 

 sorts, as the Thompson, can be produced from Box 

 Elder County south to Washington County. Grapes 

 are among the chief fruits in the latter county, where 

 the following vinifera varieties are produced in abun- 

 dance: Flame Tokay, Cornichon, Thompson's, Black 

 Ferarra, and Muscat of Alexandria. 



Utah apples, peaches, pears and cherries are packed 

 almost entirely in boxes. The chief markets for this 

 fruit are in the intermountain and plains states, where 

 stock-raising and grain-production are the chief indus- 

 tries. The southern cotton states are also good markets 

 for Utah fruit. Storage facilities have not been well 

 developed as yet and of tentimes fruit is sold at a moder- 

 ately low price by being rushed to an overstocked 

 market. 



Diversified fruit-growing is often encountered in 

 Utah. Many orchardists grow several kinds of small- 

 fruits as well as stone-fruits. Apples are often grown 

 as one of the principal crops on a general farm. 

 For example, the farmer may have 10 acres of apples, 

 and 20 acres or more of such crops as sugar-beets, 

 alfalfa, or vegetable crops for cannery purposes. With 

 this system of farm management, the cost of produc- 

 tion of the fruit crops is somewhat lower than on the 

 more specialized fruit-farms, where the owner's time 

 is not fully occupied throughout the year. Much of 

 the general farm equipment can be used in the orchard, 

 while the presence of live-stock on most of the fruit- 

 farms goes a long way toward solving the question of 



