328 



APPLE 



APPLE 



to old age in pood condition. In training trees in tliis 

 way. it is best to eut i)tT the leader at tlie proper height 

 when the tree is planted. This tends to force the growth 

 of the branches wliich are needed to form the main 

 fraanework of the tree. One of these branches may be 

 alloweil to grow in the center of the top so as to form a 

 new leader. 



Aside from shaping the tree so as to give it riglit 

 mechanical fnuncwork for supporting lieavv loads of 

 fruit, it needs to be kept sulliciently ojien to permit 

 light and air to reach the foliage throughout the top. 

 This will favor the best development of abundant and 

 strong fruit-buds and perfect fruit. It also leaves the 

 top open so that all of its foliage and fruit may be read- 

 ily spniyed. Thick, dense tops are to be avoided and 

 trees should not be allowed to grow so close together 

 as to crowd each other. 



Tillage. — As before stated, the best system for gen- 

 eral practice in conserving soil moisture and fertility 

 is tillage thmughout the growing season, till late July or 

 early August . followed by a good cover-crop. The great- 

 est care must be used not to bruise the trees when 

 cultivating. In this interior climate, it often happens 

 that such wounds do not readily heal and they may 

 result in the loss of the tree within a very few years. 

 If a wound happens to be made, the loose bark should 

 be at once cut away and the exposed surface coated 

 with a thick paint of pure white lead and raw linseed 

 oil and kept thus protected till completely healed 

 over. 



Mice and rabbils. — For the last few years in the 

 writer's experience, lime-sulfur sprayed on the trunks 

 and low branches of the trees as soon as the leaves drop 

 has prevented attacks of mice and rabbits. Use at same 

 strength as indicated for the dormant season. 



Handling the crop. — At the present writing, the 

 apple crop of the mid-continental regions is marketed 

 locally, cither in bulk, open packages, or in barrels, or 

 it is shipped in barrels or in bulk. Box-packing is 

 practically unknown here. It is just beginning to be 



Jractised by a few scattering enterprising fruit-growers, 

 t would extend more rapidly but for the fact that very 

 few persons in this region know how to pack apples in 

 boxes. The Iowa Experiment Station has taken the 

 lead in introducing box-|)acking among the apple- 

 growers of the interior by arranging for schools of 

 instruction in apple box-packing in that state and 

 assisting in introducing them into other states. The 

 effect of this work is already shown in the rapidly grow- 

 ing local interest in improved methods of grading and 

 packing apples for market. 



The methods follo%ved in barrel-packing and in hand- 

 ling apples in bulk do not differ materially from those 

 which are prevalent in the eastern states. So also the 

 handling of apples in cold storage follows the general 

 lines of this business as practised by eastern growers 

 and dealers, but the storage facilities are not yet 

 developed as extensively as in eastern apple-growing 

 sections, although many strictly up-to-date storage 

 establishments are found. 



Fruit-grower.'i' orgaidzalions. — There are as yet com- 

 paratively few apple-growers' organizations in this 

 mid-continental rt^gion. Generally speaking, these are 

 organized along lines similaf to those which character- 

 ize the fruit-growers' organizations of the Rocky 

 Mountain and Pacific coa.st states, except that in no 

 case are they yet combined in a fruit-growers' exchange. 

 With the increa.sf' of intensive orcharding, it may reason- 

 ably be exfjected that apple-growers' organizations in 

 this region will become more abundant and more thor- 

 oughly .sy.stematized. 



fjrchard-heating. — The recent advent of the practice 

 of fighting late spring fro.sts by orchard-heating un- 

 doubtedly marks a new era in fruit-growing in the mid- 

 Cfintinental regions. It reduo-s the hazards by bring- 

 ing an heretofore uncertain factor under some degree of 



control and thus puts the industry upon a more stable 

 basis. 



The amount of losses in this region during only the 

 past decade from injury to orchard blossoms and fruits 

 by late spring frosts and freezes aggregates an enormous 

 sum, a considerable part- of which doubtless might 

 have been saved by proper orchard-heating. In the 

 Iowa Horticultural Society Report for 1910, Laurenz 

 Greene estimates the amount of loss from frost injury 

 to the api)le crop of Iowa alone from 1905 to 1910 at 

 .?5,000,000 to $10,000,000. In some of the other states, 

 the losses have been even greater. 



The practice of orc^hard-heating for this region is in 

 many respects still in the experimental stages, and 

 much will need to be learned before all the details shall 

 have been definitely worked out into the most efficient 

 and economical practice. Nevertheless, it may now 

 rightly be regarded as a good method of insurance 

 against frost injury. 



For detailed treatment, see Orchard Protection. 



S. A. Beach. 



Apple-growing in the western mountain states. 



Accepting the common geographical grouping of the 

 states, the mountain division embraces the states of 

 Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Wyo- 

 ming, .Vrizona and Nevada. According to the census 

 report, these states produced in 1909 a little less than 

 4 per cent of the total apple crop of the United States, 

 or .5, .500,000 bushels. While New York alone produced 

 four times this amount, a.nd the New England states 

 more than 10,000,000 bushels, these mountain states 

 are competitors worth considering in commercial 

 apple-growing. In 1910, these states reported only 

 40 per cent of their total acreage of apple orchards in 

 bearing, while the New England states, as well as New 

 York, reported about 80 per cent of their apple trees of 

 bearing age. 



The mountain states. 



In the two years that have passed since these figures 

 were gathered, at least five of the mountain states have 

 greatly extended the plantings of apple orchards, and 

 it is safe to say that in no group of states is the apple 

 industry growing more rajjidly. Of this group, Colo- 

 rado stands first in production, Idaho second, Utah 

 third, Montana fourth and New Mexico fifth. In 

 total acreage planted to apple trees, Colorado ranks 

 first, Idaho second and Montana third. Colorado has 

 a substantial lead and promises to hold its place for 

 some years to come. Comparing Utah and New 

 Mexico, it would be unsafe to say which leads in 

 total acreage of apple orchards. The same is true of 

 Arizona, Nevada and Wyoming. The fruit-growing 

 industry of the region has grown up in comparatively 

 recent years and, with the exception of Arizona and 

 Nevada, all states reported the larger per cent of the 

 apple trees too young to bear in 1910. The status of 

 the apple-growing industry in these states individually 

 may be briefly summarized as follows: 



Colorado.— In 1910, Colorado reported 1,688,000 

 apple trees of bearing age and 1,973,000 trees not 

 bearing. In 1909 the state produced, according to 

 census figures, 3, .559, 000 bushels of apples. The state's 

 principal apple-growing sections are the Grand Valley 

 (Mesa County) ; the North Fork Valley (Delta County) ; 

 the Uncompahgre Valley (Montrose County); the 

 Canon City district (P>cmont County); and a new and 

 promising district embracing a large part of Monte- 

 zimia County. The varieties most largely grown are 

 Gano, Jonathan, Rome Beauty and Winesap. In the 

 older orchards, there has been a considerable planting of 

 Ben Davis, but many of these are now grafted to the 

 better varieties. Little is done in the way of apple- 

 growing without irrigation. Most of the orchard land 



