215S XOR'ni AMKRICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



rably aihuUotl to all snirts of fniits. Even peaches arc 

 siicivssfiilly pni\ni in orchards. The few men who prow 

 liliims, cherries, strawherrii's, anil so on, are provint; 

 every year that the CXjiuiecticut Valley in NCrniont is 

 naturally a^ nnich a fruit region !is any other. 



The apjile crop in \'ennont is fast assiuning com- 

 mercial proportions. There are many large orchards 

 in every county, and in almost every towni. ('onnner- 

 ciiJ orcharding is best dcveloi>ed on the western border, 

 inchuling the t'hamplain Valley, and extending south- 

 waal to Bennington, where there is a ;i()()-acre orchard. 

 The market varieties are Hhode Island (irii'uing, 

 Northern S]iy. Haldwin. Wealthy, Fameuse ami 



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2489. Vermont, 

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Mcintosh. The old family orchards of innumerable 

 inferior varieties are rapidly disappearing through old 

 age and neglect. The greatest plantings of ap]jlc trees 

 in a generation have been made since 1910. Vermont 

 has had exjx;rience with the Russian apples, T. H. 

 Hoskins, of N'ewiX)rt, on the northern boundary of the 

 state, having been one of the most famous experi- 

 menters. Nevertheless, the llu.ssian vari(!ties have 

 made .small impression on the pomology of the state. 



In all probability there are more extensive orchards 

 in Vermont than in any other New England state. In 

 1870, the notable orchard of C. T. Holmes, of CJharlotte, 

 which embraces 10.5 acres, was .set mostly to Hhodt; 

 Island Greenings. In IHHO, the famous Itichford orchard 

 in Highgate was set to a single variety,- f'ameu.se. 

 Within a few years other orchards of similar proportions 

 have been s<:t. The most fainous apple section of Ver- 

 mont is in Grand Isle Countj', known to commercial 

 men as the "Island Apple County." Grand Isle, which 

 i.s the smallest county in the state, is the most imjiortant 

 commercial apple .section by reason of the small poj)U- 

 lation and the relatively large projjortion of the crop 



that is shi])ped out of the .state. Each of the three 

 separate islanils of the county are entirely siuTotmded 

 by the waters of Lake ("haiuplaiu and enjoy thereby 

 greater iniiuiuiity from frost than oilier sections of the 

 state. The first large orchard in the county (also in the 

 state) was set in ISU), and embraced 20 acres, all of 

 cider-aiiple stock which .sold for 10 cents a bu.shel to 

 French i)eo|)le from C'anaila. In 1,S4S and 18(14 other 

 large orchards were set, and in 1.S70 the work of plant- 

 ing trees was widespread. In 1912, the Eastern Fruit 

 and NutOrchard Coiniiany started its 21.'5-acre orchard, 

 which is interpl.iuled with jilums, cherries, and hllers. 

 It is doubtful whether any region can produce apples 

 of finer api)earauce, better (piality or greater durability, 

 than can be jiroduced in (irand Isle, Vermont. 



Plums are grov\'n just enough to prove that they will 

 succeed admirably. Lombard, Green Gage, Brad.shaw, 

 the Damsons and other old-fashioned sorts still retain 

 preference of conservative Vermonters, although other 

 growers are i)lanting chiefly of the ,Iaj)anese varieties, 

 especially liurbank and Abundance. In the northern 

 and moinitain townis, only the ainericana and nigra 

 types are hardy; but even these are seldom grown. 



Pears have no commercial imjjortance in the state. 

 The localized orchards of a generation ago were swept 

 out by the pear-blight, and the i^lantings replaced with 

 api)les. With proper care, the hardy varieties succeed. 



Among cherries, Morello, Montmorency and Rich- 

 mond are favorites. Raspberries are mostly red, the 

 blackberries being seldom growii. Cuthbert is the lead- 

 ing variety, though Schaffer and Columbian are gaining 

 rapidly. Blackberries are carefully grown usually. 

 Fine blueberries are picked from the fiekls in considera- 

 ble quantities. Early varieties of grapes can be ripened 

 for home use, Concord, Worden, Moore Early, Green 

 Mountain and Delaware being leading varieties. 



Vermont is remarkably free from many noxious in- 

 sects and serious diseases. The area infected with San 

 Jos6 scale is confined to a few towns in a single county 

 in southeastern Vermont. The gypsy moth does not as 

 yet occur in the state; and the brown-tail moth area is 

 restricted to the southern and eastern borders, and 

 further extension is being combated with vigor. Apple 

 blotch and bitter-rot are not known to occur in the 

 state. Crown-gall and hairy-root diseases are rare. 



Truck-gardening is practised in the neighborhood of 

 all the princij)al cities; but it cannot be said to be a 

 well-managed business. Those crops which grow in 

 special perfection are beans, potatoes, peas and toma- 

 toes, salsify anil par.snip. Those which cannot be grown, 

 or which are, as a rule, unsuccessful, are melons, 

 okra, sweet potatoes, and lima beans. Sjiecial crops 

 which are sometimes grown in quantities for export arc 

 seed peas, white beans and onions. 



Gn account of the long cold winter and the short and 

 cloutly days of that season, the greenliouse industries 

 have developed slowly. Notwithstanding this fact, 

 many towns make demands for greenhouse jjroducts 

 and every city in the state supports two or more green- 

 houses, devoted mostly to carnations, roses, chry.san- 

 themums, lilies, and put-jilants. 



There arc three commercial nurseries in Vermont. 

 One at Charlotte .specializes in hardy ornamental 

 shrubbery, and those at Waterville and Beebe Plains 

 are apple nurseries. 



Some very good examples of landscape gardening 

 may be fotmd about Bennington, Manchester, Shel- 

 bume, Burlington, and Woodstock, many of which are 

 summer homes of city |ieo))le. Island and shore camps 

 in tlii^ Champlain <lis1rict are esijccially attractive. 



Several Venuonters of an earlier generation who 

 were influential in either di'V(!loping new horticultural 

 varieties or testing the adajjtability of varieties from 

 other covmtries, were: C. E. Goodrich, originator of the 

 (jamet ('hile potato, and introducer of the Amazon, 

 Calico, Cuzco, Central City, Rust Coat, and Pink 



