CHAPTER XXVIII 



FRUIT CULTURE IN AMERICA 



By H. E. VANDEMAN (Ex-Pomohgist, U.S.A. Department of Agriculture) 



The aboriginal inhabitants of North America paid only slight attention to the 

 culture of fruits. The Aztecs and other tribes of the arid south-western 

 country practised irrigation, perhaps for thousands of years before what we call 

 civilisation reached them, and probably cultivated a few fruits along with the 

 cereals and vegetables which they grew. When the Spaniards first established 

 colonies on the coast of Florida, they brought with them seeds of the orange, 

 lemon, lime, and perhaps other fruits ; and the natives, seeing that the trees 

 produced good fruit and were of easy culture, planted them in their rude way. 

 The Catholic Mission Fathers introduced the peach and some other fruits at 

 Santa Fe, New Mexico, and other places along the southern border of what is 

 now the United States ; and in California they planted the orange, lemon, 

 olive, apricot, date palm, the European grape, and a few of the more common 

 fruits. 



The English settlers at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1620, perhaps first planted 

 the apple and pear. They also planted the grape and some other European 

 fruits. The colony of William Penn at Philadelphia did the same. The 

 Pilgrim Fathers of New England brought over the apple and other fruits that 

 were the foundation of many of the earliest orchards in that region. The 

 French planted the apple, pear, peach, and the grape in all their settlements in 

 the valley of the Mississippi and along the Great Lakes of the north. 



Thus we see that American fruit culture dates from the earliest settlements 

 that were made on our shores, if not from time out of mind by the aborigines. 

 Those who came to establish homes in the New World brought with them the 

 fruits that they knew and prized in the old country beyond the seas. In 

 addition to the fruits just mentioned there are many native fruits, and nuts of 

 great value that have been brought under cultivation, and mostly within the last 

 century. Nearly all our berries, with which we are especially well supplied, 

 have principally been developed from those growing wild. The same is partly 

 true of the grape. 



For the first two centuries after America was settled by the white race 

 there was very little progress in fruit culture, and for several reasons. The 

 means of transportation, both at home and to foreign countries, was slow and 

 expensive. The principal uses for fruits then were the making of wine and cider. 

 Refrigeration, evaporation, and canning were practically unknown. The 

 varieties were mostly inferior, and some of the best in quality were unadapted 



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