JUNE, 1908 
collection, for as you walk down those green 
alleys between the families of shrubs, a 
slight turn is always bringing a new picture 
in sight. The great part of each picture 
is greenery rather than flowers, as it always 
ought to be, but whenever the shrubs them- 
selves do not present a note of color by 
ELTA is a prosperous little town 
about forty miles south of Grand 
Junction, Col., on the western slope of the 
Rocky Mountains. The “western slope,” 
including chiefly the counties of Montrose, 
Delta, and Mesa, is the great fruit district 
of Colorado, from which come the remark- 
ably perfect apples and peaches that are 
capturing highest prices in Eastern markets 
and abroad. Grand Junction in Mesa 
County is the horticultural and commercial 
centre of this noted region, but Delta 
County is likely to be a close competitor. 
In 1906 it shipped 550 cars of peaches, 
660 cars of apples, and 4oo cars of other 
fruits. 
The western slope is a rocky country and 
vegetation, especially trees, is very sparse. 
The region has a rainfall of but ten to fifteen 
inches, so that irrigation is necessary. In 
fact, it looks very desert-like to a traveler 
from the humid East; but if he stays there 
awhile, he soon becomes fascinated with the 
rugged scenery and delightful climate. 
Tucked away here and there among the 
rocky hills and mountains are the fruit 
growing lands, the valleys and mesas. A 
“mesa” is a sort of plateau, or an elevated 
and comparatively flat piece of land, usually 
on the side of a valley. A mesa is really a 
monstrous mudbar made by water centuries 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
their flowers you may be sure that Mr. Dun- 
bar has provided the necessary accent 
by means of a bed of some one noble flower 
with a permanence that comports with that 
of shrubbery. 
To sum up: A hardy border is better 
for a home than beds of tender plants; 
ago. Some mesas are as big as several 
Massachusetts counties; others are only a 
few hundred acres in extent. Mesa land 
is usually preferred to valley land for fruit. 
Fruit trees on mesa land are never injured 
by frost during the blossoming season, as is 
sometimes the case on valley land. The 
soil of a mesa, like all water-formed soils, 
varies greatly, but is generally deep and 
well drained. 
The farm of Mr. Sweitzer is on ‘‘ Garnet 
Mesa,”’ about two miles out of Delta. The 
road to the farm leads through considerable 
land that is in the natural state, sparsely 
covered with sage-brush, greasewood, and 
cacti. One who has not seen the trans- 
formation himself, cannot even imagine the 
contrast between the dry, barren-looking 
sage-brush land and the green, cultivated 
area, which results when this land is irri- 
gated. 
The name that my host had given his 
farm, ‘“‘ Mountain View Fruit Farm,” is an 
expression both of his esthetic sensibility 
and his business sense. Giant peaks, snow- 
covered the year round, are his daily inspira- 
tion. I recall no fruit region that has a 
more inspiring setting, unless it be the Hood 
River Valley, with Mt. Hood and Mt. 
Adams, looming white and majestic upon 
the horizon. Mr. Sweitzer has turned this 
281 
a formal garden should be dominated by 
hardy perennials; and the best bedding 
effects in genuine landscape work are made 
with hardy perennials, rather than annuals 
or tender plants. Finally, hardy plants 
can now be had from pots any day during 
the summer. 
Contrast the dry, barren sage-brush land in the foreground with the luxuriant orchard—a product of irrigation. Windbreak on further side 
Growing Fancy Apples in Colorado on Irrigated Land 
Worth $300 an Acre—By S. W. Fletcher, vies 
ACTUAL FACTS AND EXACT FIGURES THAT WILL GIVE THE EASTERN MAN SOME IDEA OF THE 
SPECIAL ADVANTAGES AND THE PECULIAR DIFFICULTIES OF THE COLORADO FRUIT GROWER 
[Epiror’s Norr.—A previous article in Tue GarpENn MAGAZINE (September, 1907) called attention to the opportunities in growing fruit for a local market, especially in 
the East. The present article reports the methods of a grower at Delta, Colorado, who raises fruit only for the general market and for long distance shipments. ] 
feature of his environment to his commercial 
advantage in his fruit label. 
Twelve years ago Mr. Sweitzer bought 
the 160 acres of land in this farm for $38,250. 
Now the thirty-five acres of fruit upon it 
could not be bought for $1,500 an acre. 
It would be hard to get land equally well 
adapted for fruit in this region, but un- 
planted, for much less than $300 an acre. 
I heard astonishing tales of prices asked 
and taken for fruit land, and I am pretty 
sure they were not merely tales to astonish 
a tenderfoot. Let the man who yearns 
to go West ‘“‘to buy cheap land”’ for fruit 
growing pause over these figures. After 
he has considered that $10 to $20 buys an 
acre of rocky, New England hillside land, 
which will grow A No. 1 peaches and 
apples, and with city markets just over 
the fence, he should count his cash to see 
how many acres of Western land he can 
buy, and leave enough capital to run the 
business. 
Fifteen hundred dollars an acre struck me 
as a big valuation for an acre of bearing 
orchard in that country. But I soon found 
that the figure is justified by the returns. 
I take from my notebook the gist of a 
conversation with Mr. Sweitzer in January 
of last year. 
“T planted thirty-five acres of fruit twelve 
