2030 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OK PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



census of 1910. Berkeley county produced 

 more apples than any of the counties of 

 this section, or 246,508 bushels from ICC.- 

 IIS bearing trees. West of the mountains, 

 extending to the Ohio river, is the main 

 body of the state; hilly, in some places 

 rugged; in others undulating, with beaut- 

 iful valleys. Unlike most other states, 

 the horticultural interests are somewhat 

 evenly distributed, rather than being lo- 

 calized into one or two sections of the 

 state. For instance, it is shown by the 

 1910 census that the counties with more 

 than 100,000 bearing apple trees were 

 Berkeley, Braxton, Hampshire. Harrison, 

 Jackson, Kanawha, Marion, Mason, Mon- 

 roe, Preston, Ritchie, Roane, Summers, 

 Wayne, Wood. This shows that the con- 

 census of opinion among the fruit grow- 

 ers of the state is that in favored loca- 

 tions in all parts of the state fruit grow- 

 ing is a profitable industry. However, 

 the wealth of the state is in so large 

 degree dependent upon oil, gas, and coal, 

 and in many cases it has been so easy to 

 realize large fortunes from these sources 

 with but little labor, that all kinds of 

 agricultural interests have been neglected 

 in greater degree than they would other- 

 wise have been. 



In West Virginia, as in most other 

 states, the tendency is toward commer- 

 cial orcharding on a large scale. The 

 smaller orchards are being neglected, and 



as a result fail to produce a high-grade 

 fruit; but, except for home consumption, 

 this tends to centralize the work into the 

 hands of large dealers, or producers, who 

 adopt the best methods and place on the 

 markets fruits of high grade. 



The drainage system of West Virginia, 

 west of the Alleghanies, is mainly through 

 the Little Kanawha, Great Kanawha, and 

 Guyandotte, with a few smaller streams. 

 These all empty, directly or indirectly, 

 into the Ohio river. The upland soils are 

 generally clay, but along the streams there 

 Is clay, sand and loam, with a mixture of 

 disintegrated limestone. 



The climate of West Virginia is not ex- 

 treme, and the rainfall is abundant for 

 the growing of all kinds of fruits com- 

 monly grown in the temperate climates. 

 The principal crops are apples and 

 peaches. Pears, plums, cherries, grapes 

 and small fruits can be grown, but are not 

 considered commercial crops, because they 

 are grown mostly for home use and not 

 for the markets. 



Walnuts, chestnuts, hickory nuts, pecans, 

 and others are indigenous to the soil, but 

 are not grown in large quantities, and 

 only walnuts have any commercial value. 



Of the small fruits, strawberries, black- 

 berries, raspberries and dewberries grow 

 wild in great abundance. Grapes also 

 grow wild in all parts of the state. 



Granville Lowther 



Frost and rrecipitatiou for West Virginia 



