26 The Commercial Apple Industry 



the High Line Canal, designed to water 9000 acres of or- 

 chard land. This ditch was completed to Wenatchee in 

 October, 1903. The completion of the High Line Canal 

 marked the beginning of important orchard development 

 in the Wenatchee Valley. By 1913 there were about 

 20,000 acres of irrigable land under the different ditches 

 established in the Wenatchee Valley. 



The Indians occupied the Grand Valley until 1880, at 

 which time the history of fruit-growing in western Color- 

 ado begins. In the spring of 1883 several hundred root- 

 grafts were put out in the Grand Valley, only a fraction 

 of which lived. The first fruit plantings were made in 

 the lower lands of the Valley about 1885 or 1886. In 

 1882 a farmer living at Paonia, in Delta County, a local- 

 ity of lesser importance than the Grand Valley, purchased 

 twenty-six trees of mixed varieties from Rochester, New 

 York, at one dollar each. Of these, three survived. As 

 in the Yakima and Wenatchee valleys, principal orchard 

 development occurred in Colorado after 1900. 



From this fragmentary history of apple-culture in the 

 United States, it may be seen that while apple trees have 

 been grown in home orchards for nearly 300 years, it has 

 only been within comparatively recent years that the in- 

 dustry has assumed commercial proportions. 



SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION 



The apple belongs to the important genus Pyrus, of the 

 Rose family (Rosacex). This genus includes the apples 

 and pears. The common apple is Pyrus Mains, sup- 

 posed to be native to Europe and Western Temperate Asia. 

 Within this species, as it is commonly broadly accepted, 

 are included the commercial apples, the Paradise and 



