HORTICULTURE 25 



for at least one moderate-sized fruit farm. The larger cities of 25,000 

 people and upward, of course, offer the most attractive localities. A 

 well-planned orchard, better still, if accompanied by a plantation of 

 small fruits and berries, can be made extremely profitable by cater- 

 ing to the local demand. As a rule, if the fruit is grown in large 

 quantities it is better to sell it to greengrocers and dealers, but where 

 the grower is prepared greater returns can, of course, be secured by 

 marketing in a retail -way. 



Particularly fine opportunities for growing . fruit for the local 

 markets occur in New England. In the rush to make money out of 

 manufacturing and trade, a large proportion of the capable young 

 men in New England desert the farms. There are at the present time 

 as good opportunities for brains, energy, and capacity for work to 

 reap their reward in peach growing on some of the Connecticut hills 

 as anywhere in the country. Frequently beautiful unused orchard 

 sites overlook manufacturing towns having a population of from 

 20,000 to 40,000 people. Since the scourge of pear blight has now 

 spread across our country to the Gulf on the south and to the Pacific 

 Ocean on the west, it is well to look around and decide which region 

 has the least trouble from this serious pest. New England and the 

 Lake Region suffer less from pear blight than any other sections of 

 the country in which pears can be successfully grown. A well- 

 managed pear orchard in the vicinity of Boston, or at some other 

 cbnvenient point in southern New England or certain sections of 

 New York State, and perhaps Ohio and Michigan, would be more 

 likely to succeed than in any other part of the Union. 



The largest area of undeveloped fruit country in the United 

 States is the Allegheny Mountain region. In Maryland, Virginia, 

 West Virginia, and North Carolina in other words, the central 

 Allegheny section there is one of the finest horticultural regions in 

 the country. By far the larger part of this is totally undeveloped. 

 Mile after mile of beautiful mountain slopes in West Virginia are 

 totally unoccupied by fruit plantations. This region not only has a 

 fertile soil suitable to tree growth of all kinds, but it grows bright- 

 colored, highly flavored fruits, especially peaches and apples, of excel- 

 lent shipping qualities. They nearly always sell, when well grown, 

 for the very highest market prices. Choice dessert apples like Grimes 

 Golden, Rome Beauty, Winesap, Northern Spy, and, in the higher 

 altitudes, Spitzenberg, grow readily in this region. It extends north- 

 ward well into Pennsylvania and southward, as far as peaches are 

 concerned, into north Georgia and Alabama. The mountains of 

 North Carolina are the southern limit of good apple culture in the 

 East. A certain section of Virginia, within this region, grows to per- 

 fection the famous Newtown Pippin, which is marketed under the 

 name of Albermarle Pippin, the most exacting in its requirements 

 of soil and climate of all commercial apples. Much of this land is 

 very rough and rocky, although the soil is fertile and highly adapted 

 to tree fruits. The stone fruits (peaches, Japanese plums, and cher- 

 ries), as well as apples, pears, and quinces, thrive in this section. 



In the lowlands along the coast tree fruits do not do so well south 



