OKLAHOMA 



1451 



60 degrees. At Oklahoma City the mean 

 annual temperature is 59 degrees and 

 the extremes have ranged from 17 de- 

 grees below zero to 104 above. 



Notwithstanding the abundance of 

 rainfall the air is dry and tlie sun hot. 

 In July and August they have occasion- 

 ally what they call "hot winds," which 

 damage the crops. With proper irriga- 

 tion or by planting orchards and gar- 

 dens on the north slope of the elevated 

 lands there could be sufficient protection 

 against the hot winds so that profitable 

 commercial crops could be grown. With- 

 out irrigation the best location for an 

 orchard is on a northern exposure, where 

 it will not receive the direct rays of the 

 sun, and where it is more or less pro- 



tected from the hot winds that gener- 

 ally blow from the south. 



The country is new, being first settled 

 lawfully by whites in 1899, but it is 

 already producing large crops of apples, 

 peaches, pears, grapes, plums, apricots, 

 cherries, strawberries, blackberries, dew- 

 berries, muskmelons, watermelons, cab- 

 bages, onions, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, 

 cucumbers, etc. 



The adaptation of fruits to climates, 

 soils and location with reference to the 

 prevailing winds is a subject that Is 

 being carefully studied by the horticul- 

 turists, and with the possibilty of 

 irrigation by means of pumps and wells 

 this industry will annually grow into 

 prominence. Granville Lowthee 



Frodnction of Fruits in Oklaiioma 



Small fruits: 1909 and 1899. The following table shows data with regard to small 

 fruits on farms: 



1 Includes Indian Territory. 

 ' Reported in small fractions. 



Blackberries and dewberries are the 

 most important of tlie small fruits raised 

 in Oklahoma, with strawberries ranking 

 next. The total acreage of small fruits 

 in 1909 was 2,745 and in 1899, 1,388, an 

 increase of 97.8 per cent. The produc- 

 tion in 1909 was 2,310,000 quarts, as com- 

 pared with 1,476,000 quarts in 1899, and 

 the value was $202,291 in 1909, as com- 

 pared with $92,223 in 1899, 



Orchard fruits, grapes, nuts and trop- 

 ical fruits: 1909 and 1899. The follow- 

 ing table presents data with regard to 



orchard fruits, grapes, nuts and tropical 

 fruits. The acreage devoted to these 

 products was not ascertained. In com- 

 paring one year with the other the num- 

 ber of trees or vines of bearing age is 

 on the whole a better index of the gen- 

 eral changes or tendencies than the 

 quantity of product, but the data for the 

 censuses of 1910 and 1900 are not closely 

 comparable, and the product is therefore 

 compared, although variations may be 

 due largely to temporarily favorable or 

 unfavorable climatic conditions. 



