WESTKINGIA 



ol.loni,'-laiu-eulate to linear, >..-l i„. l,-,,,-. Ms wl,itc 

 axilUii-y, almost sessile; calyx ;i lines Ion-; rorolhi not 

 fwu-e as lon^;- as the calyx. Siuulv bills, lu-.n- the s,.a- 

 ooast. Australia, -Offered in S. Calif, 



F, W, B,u-;, LAV, 



WEST VIRGINIA HOKTIC0LTUEE (Fi-, -7"! ) like 

 that of most other states, had its I.eKiuninu- as a side 

 issue of the usual operations of the farm. In fael, even 

 to-day it is considered a,s a sort of oompleuient lo ui-aiu- 

 growing' or stock-raising in most sections of the stale. 

 In some localities where towns have sprung np as the 

 result cd' coal, oil or railroad operations, the demand for 

 vegetables and sumll fruits has been largely met by 

 local producers. The market-garden work, aside from 

 the growing of waternudons, peas and tomatoes, is such 

 as has been encouraged by the growth of the neighbor- 

 ing towns. Melon-growing, which has an exn^nsive 

 acreage along the Ohio river bottom, is the only liranch 

 of vegetable-gardening which seeks uui.rkets outsiile the 

 state. What has been said of vegetable. gardening ap- 

 plies equally well to small-fruit culture," but -the" tree 

 fruits-notaldy apples aud peaches-fall under quite a 

 differeid category. 



The apple industry in West Virginia is chiefly of two 

 characters and has two regions,- the lower, and the north- 

 ern Ohio valley counties of the state. The former region 

 gives considerable attention to the production of earlv 

 apples for the northern markets. Several early harves't 

 varieties are grown, Yellow Transparent, Red Astrachan 

 and Ponnne Royal predominating; these are followed 

 by Maiden Blush, (-iriuies t-iolden and Rome Beauty. 

 Because of the favorable climate in this region, the pro- 

 duction of this class of fruits has grown to be a profit- 

 able, altliough not a large industry. The northern Ohio 

 river valley counties, including what is known as the 

 Northern Panhaudle, and the counties in the eastern part 

 of the state, bordering on the Potomac, form the present 

 areas for the commercial growing of winter apples. 



The Hancock county orchards (northern end of Pan- 

 handle) are unique in storage facilities. Here nearly 

 every grower with any consideral)le acreage (fifty or 

 more acres) is provided with a storage-bouse, so that in 

 seasons of greatest fruit production there is sufficient 

 capacity for storing the crop. Previous to the fall of 189B 

 all the houses were constructed of stone and provided 

 with ice chambers for maintaining artificial cold. In 

 1S9G one house was built of wood on the primdple of 

 confined air between walls constructed of wood and 

 paper. In this house, which has lieen used two years, 

 no ice is carried, and good results have followed. These 

 houses are of various capacities, ranging from 2,,')(I0 up 

 to 3.5,000 barrels. 



The plan most in vogue is to have the fruit removed 

 from the trees by expert pickers, placed in barrels in 

 the orchard, headed and then transferred immediately 

 to the storage-bouse. In general, the barrels are stored 

 in tiers on the side. They are left in this position until 

 shipping season arrives, which usttally begins in March 

 or early April aud extends well into Blay, Before ship- 

 ment each barrel is opened, the contents placed in a 

 sorter and the fruits carefully assorted and graded. 

 The barrels are stenciled w^ith the grower's trade-mark 

 aud with the grade of the fruit. Through a series of 

 years these practices have been strictly adhered to and 

 as a result the fruit, the bulk of which goes south and 

 west, has a reputation in the markets to \\bich it finds 

 its way. This region alfitULf the upper i.Hiio is peculiar 

 also in possession of a variety suited to its climate 

 and to the prai-tices of the growers. This is known as 

 the Willow Twig, an a]"»ple of good size, go(.)d ajipear- 

 ance and fair qualitys a long keeper and a good cooker. 

 Willow Twig and Ben Davis yield the greater iia.rt of 

 the crop of this region, altlnalgh among varieties of 

 minor importance the Rome Beauty and Bi-ntley Sw-eet 

 are some of the best. 



The varieties chiefly grown in the eastern cottnties 

 differ quite as much from those of the Hancock region 

 as do the varieties of New Y<n-k, In the eastern coun- 

 ties York Imperial or Johnson Fine Winter is the va- 

 riety upon which most dependence is placed. It is not 

 only a sure cropper, but is a good market variety, pos- 

 sessing high color with good flavor aud fair keeping 



WEST VIRGINIA 



1973 



qualilirs. M is one <d' the ten varietiivs included by 

 Taylor in his exjMO-t list. Tliis \arietv, |daced in store 

 in October, c-an be moved from the cold room in Feb- 

 ruar\'. with little oi- no sbi-iiikage fi-om loss of mcjisture 

 tiud ail ecioally small loss fr^aii decav. 11. .]i |ia\is here, 

 as well as ill Hancock county, forms a. valuable second, 

 although the crop is better in the north. -rn than in the 

 eastern counties. Among fall varieties for both sections 

 of the state none exceeds the (irimes (-Jolden, This 

 apjdc, as w.'ll as the Willow Twi-, is a native of the 



1 / , fAf 



: i>-'-N,'Vi|i''i'i!' &^ xV/ Oommercial apple 



%i'J-^- ^..-ff,^^ ^ areas. 



Com'l. apple and 

 peach areas. 

 ^[flfnt^Ty^/ H'lilli Suited to apples. 



Peach districts. 



2721. West Vireinia. to illustrate the pomological regions. 



state. Aiiotlier apple belt in which yoiuit,' orchards give 

 mucli prouii.se lies at the extreme southern border of 

 the state. 



Peaches thrive in various secfiitns of the state. In 

 fact, hardly a locality is -without its supidy; but strange 

 to say, in many instances tlio trees are cliance seedlings, 

 and tiie quality of the fruit is correspojidingly low. In 

 the tive counties bordering upon the Potomac, however, 

 the industry has grown to important commercial pro- 

 portions. The orchards under the control of the Alle- 

 gheny Orchard Company aggregate nearly 150,000 trees. 

 Beside.s this there are numerous private eiitrrprises 

 with orchards ranging from 500 to 5,000 trei-.-^. The 

 most succrssful orchards are situated upon lite t^rst 

 terraci- of the mountain, usually three to tive iniles 

 from the Potomac, and at an elevation of from 900 to 

 1,500 feet above tide. The soil is gravelly in nature, 

 resulting from the breaking down of shale and sandy 

 rocks. The methods of the ()rcbard Company above 

 mentioned mark a n>-w era in tin- maiiiier of handling 

 the peach crop. Instead of seiidini: their product to 

 some commission house to ))e again sewlteretl over the 

 country to the small towns, this com]iauy has a head 

 office in the city of (.'umberland. and from there, as a 

 distributing j)oint. iieaches go diri'ct to the dealers Ux 

 the small towns and cities, the eoinniission of tlip mid- 

 dleman is saved, the retailer gets ;, fresb prodin-t .lirei't 

 from r)ie orchard, and the constmier is ]iri.i^"ideii with a, 

 betti-r article. 



In West ^^iri.^nia. wln^re ]nrk of tr;ins[Mirtation i-^ 

 often an obst;ii.di', <-anneries are vahiabjc ;is furnishing 

 a nnirket foj- horl icuUnral products. In the city of 

 ^^'heeling there aj-e three extensi\'i- pi(-)<ling and can- 

 nin:r factoj-ii's where larii'e (plant i ries ci' cueninber^, 

 lonniffieR and onions, a.s well as various fruits, are pre- 

 pared for winter consumption. In I\Iartinsbnrg, in con- 

 nection with the cold storage ho\ise already mentioned, 

 a modern cannery of large capacity is oj.erated, whieji 

 furnishes an annual market for the prinlncts of b(db 

 (.rcbards and gardens. Beside.? these there are several 

 smnller concerns wliiidi c<iufine their parking to one or 

 at most to two vegetables, tomatoes being the favorite. 



