1958 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Tennessee 



Tennessee lias an area of 42,050 square 

 miles. 



On the east a part of the Appalachian 

 range extends through the state, rising to 

 a height of 6,600 feet, with many coves 

 and beautiful valleys adapted to fruits 

 and vegetables. Adjoining this section 

 on the west is what is called the Valley 

 of Bast Tennessee, a beautiful section 

 lying between the Unaka mountains on 

 the southeast and the Cumberland moun- 

 tains on the northwest. This valley is 

 undulating, and viewed from the higher 

 elevations looks like the waters of the 

 ocean arrested in their movement. It 

 is an extension of the Shenandoah valley 

 of Virginia. Next, going westward, is 

 what is called the Cumberland tableland, 

 rising 2,000 feet above the sea. Next 

 to this is a portion of uneven surface 

 extending from the western edge of the 

 Cumberland tablelands to the Tennessee 

 river. In the center of this section is 

 a basin or depression called the Central 

 basin, probably once the bed of a lake, 

 which is now the richest body of farm- 

 ing land in the state of Tennessee. It 

 is on an average 300 feet lower than the 

 lands around it, and contains 5,450 square 



miles. West Tennessee is an undulating 

 plain stretching toward the Mississippi 

 river. 



The great drainage systems of the state 

 are the Mississippi river, the Tennessee 

 and the Cumberland rivers. The av- 

 erage rainfall is 50 inches, and from the 

 lower elevations on the Mississippi to 

 the mountain lands, 6,000 feet higher, 

 there is a marked difference in climate. 

 It is said that on the mountains the 

 climate is about that of Montreal, while 

 in the Mississippi valley near the river 

 semi-tropical fruits may be grown. 



On account of the many \ geological 

 formations the soils of Tennessee are 

 perhaps more varied than those of any 

 other state in the Union. One of the 

 proofs that Tennessee is well adapted to 

 horticulture is that all kinds of wild 

 fruits and nuts, such as blackberries, 

 raspberries, strawberries, grapes, goose- 

 berries, dewberries, June berries, cherries, 

 pawpaws, persimmons, huckleberries, 

 crabapples, walnuts, chestnuts, pecans, 

 hazlenuts, butternuts, and other fruits 

 and nuts grow there. All classes of fruits 

 commercially grown in the northern cli- 

 mates are grown in Tennessee. 



Granville Lowthbr 



Production of Fmits in Tennessee 



Small fruits: 1909 and 1899. The following table shows data with regard 

 to small fruits on farms. 



OEOP 



Small Fruits, total 



Strawberries 



Blackberries and dewberries. 

 Raspberries and loganbCTries . 



Currants 



Gooseberries 



Other berries. 



Number 



of farms 



reporting 



1909 



6,046 



3,884 



830 



52 



141 



1 



Acres 



1909 



12,539 



10,761 



1,514 



263 



2 



9 



1899 



12,944 



11,648 



733 



471 



12 



114 



Quantity 



(quarts) 



1909 



13,895,493 



12,339,684 



1,316,100 



222,331 



3,726 



13,740 



12 



Value 

 1909 



$923,613 



835,739 



65,476 



20,931 



261 



1,205 



1 



1 Reported in small fractions. 



Strawberries are by far the most im- 

 portant of the small fruits raised in 

 Tennessee, with blackbejrries and dewber- 

 ries ranking next. The total acreage of 

 small fruits in 1909 was 12,539 and in 

 1899, 12,944, a decrease of 3.1 per cent. 

 The production in 1909 was 13,895,000 

 quarts, as compared with 15,200,000 in 



1899, and the? value was $924,000 in 1909, 

 as compared with $593,000 in 1899. 



Orchard fruits, grapes, nuts and tropi- 

 cal fruits: 1909 and 1899. The following 

 table presents data with regard to or- 

 chard fruits, grapes, nuts and tropical 

 fruits. The acreage devoted to these 

 products was not ascertained. In com- 



