How the West Grows Good Apples— By J. g. Cooke, 



New 

 York 



THE ESSENTIAL POINTS AS VIEWED BY AN EASTERNER —THE COMMERCIAL OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE 

 PRESENTED AND FINANCIAL FACTS THAT SHOULD BE BORNE IN MIND BY THE PROSPECTIVE ORCHARDIST 



THE demand for first-class apples is 

 growing the world over. A fruit so 

 lovely to look at, so delicious, so wholesome, 

 which can be transported thousands of miles 

 over land and sea unimpaired, is never likely 

 to lose favor. A very noteworthy interest 

 was shown in the apple exhibits at the Seattle 

 Exposition. There were always groups of 

 the interested before the beautifully packed 

 boxes of perfect, symmetrical, brilliant, and 

 fragrant apples. Those in charge were con- 

 tinually questioned as to the varieties, where 

 grown, the marketable qualities. Such a 

 box of apples is a striking contrast to the old- 

 time barrel of good, bad and indifferent that 

 stood in the family cellar. Apple growing as 

 a profession is attracting a great deal of atten- 

 tion. Many a young engineer or surveyor 

 or traveling salesman is quitting his job to 

 buy Western fruit land and plant apple trees. 



It is not a business in which the penni- 

 less may engage. A bulletin recently issued 

 by the Department of Agriculture advises no 

 family to undertake it with less than $2,000 

 in hand. From what I know of the situation, 

 I should regard this as an under-estimate. 

 Most families would find from $3,000 to 

 $5,000 none too much for necessary ex- 

 penditure, and to keep them going while 

 waiting for returns. 

 Although these 

 Western trees per- 

 f o r m prodigies of 

 growth, far outstrip- 

 p i n g Eastern apple 

 trees, still the grower 

 must wait four or 

 five years for any 

 considerable yield. 



It is a wonderful 

 sight to visit the 

 orchards of Wash- 

 ington, Idaho, and 

 Oregon, the even 

 rows of sturdy young 

 trees reaching farther 

 every year, obliter- 

 ating the sagebrush. 

 They form a modern 

 army of civilization 

 fast triumphing over 

 the desert. They do 

 not look at all like 

 the orchards back 

 East. They are low 

 and trim, never per- 

 mitted to be gnarly 

 and raggedly pictur- 

 esque. You may not 

 repose under a West- 

 ern apple tree, for 

 the ground is kept 

 ploughed and culti- 

 vated. The crops are 

 a revelation of what 

 may be obtained by 



modern science plus the best modern intelli- 

 gence. Visit the orchards when the autumnal 

 sunshine is plumping out the fruit, deep- 

 ening the reds and greens and yellows, and 

 you find yourself in a color land more brill- 

 iant than Aladdin's magic garden, where 

 all the fruits were jewels. 



What is the cost of an irrigated orchard? 



Unimproved land already under an irri- 

 gation project or shortly to come under one, 

 is being sold in Washington, Oregon, and 

 Idaho, from $60 to $110 an acre. 



Too many people recognize the possibilities 

 of apple culture for suitable land to be 

 cheaply obtainable. For some years indi- 

 viduals and real estate concerns have been 

 buying up unimproved and still arid lands, 

 and are holding them for the sure leap in 

 prices. 



Most raw land costs from $80 to $250 an 

 acre, or with water rights, from $130 to $300. 

 Orchards in bearing, if within a few miles of 

 a town, cost from $800 to $1,200 an acre. 

 The finest bring from $1,500 to $3,500 an 

 acre. Such prices for apple trees sound 

 high back East. The owners justify them by 

 showing the yearly receipts from these 

 orchards. 



Unimproved land must be cleared of sage- 





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The low-h.ead.ed tree finds much favor in the orchards of the "West where economy of labor and a high 

 standard of quality in the fruits are cardinal points 



. 17 



brush — ploughed, levelled. It costs from 

 $5 to $25 an acre, depending on the con- 

 ditions, to make ready for planting. 



Yearling trees cost from ten cents to thirty 

 cents each. They should be planted not less 

 than 22 feet apart; 30 feet apart is better, 

 say the experts. Every kind of apple seems 

 to do well here, and yet some better than 

 others. For all-around marketable qualities 

 the Winesap is most commended. Spitzen- 

 burgs do finely. So do Baldwins and a great 

 variety of Pippins. It is an interesting fact 

 that the most successful of these Western 

 apples are varieties which have been trans- 

 planted from New York State, well known 

 and long popular. 



It costs from $10 to $15 a year per acre to 

 take care of an orchard until it gets into bear- 

 ing. Ploughing, harrowing, pruning, pinch- 

 ing, spraying, must be methodically per- 

 formed. 



People sometimes talk as though it is only 

 necessary to plant the trees and shortly one 

 may pick dollars from the boughs. This is 

 misleading, and the unvarnished truth is 

 good enough. But here, as elsewhere, the 

 unintelligent, the shiftless, and the lazy come 

 to grief. 



Probably no business offers better return 

 for skilled labor. 

 From the moment the 

 seedling strikes its 

 head above ground, 

 grows up to be 

 grafted, it is in every- 

 way stimulated to 

 growth and produc- 

 tion. Here you have 

 application of the 

 most intensive 

 methods. 



From its first year 

 the tree is pruned 

 once, often twice a 

 year, to keep it sym- 

 metrical whatever its 

 situation and the 

 direction of the pre- 

 vailing winds. In 

 general, the aim is to 

 force production of 

 fruit rather than 

 wood, to keep the tree 

 low and spreading 

 for the better distri- 

 bu ti on of air and 

 sunshine through the 

 boughs, and to facil- 

 itate picking. The 

 ideal of the economist 

 of labor is to produce 

 orchards which can 

 mainly be harvested 

 from the ground. 



Spraying is not 

 neglected. Even if 



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