COLORADO 
from the standpoint of the grower is one 
of high-class fruit. Colorado orchardists 
do not claim that fruit can be grown 
cheaper in the Rocky mountain district 
than in the Hast, or that cheap grades of 
fruit are profitable in this district. The 
aim of the orchardist is to grow fruit 
that will sell in the best markets rather 
than fruit for the low class trade of the 
country. 
“From the standpoint of soils it would 
be hard to say what would be considered 
a typical Colorado soil. Orchards are 
successfully grown on soils all the way 
from heavy, adobe bottom lands to the 
lightest sand and gravel soils of the 
higher mesas. The essential thing is suf- 
ficient fertility and water enough to en- 
able the trees to develop the fruit in the 
best manner. 
“The most important fruit for the Rocky 
mountain district aside from the apple 
is the peach. Peach growing in the state 
is largely limited to the protected valleys 
where the air drainage is such as to give 
a minimum of losses from late spring 
frosts and extremes of cold in winter. 
Palisades in the valley of the Grand, 
Paonia in the North Fork valley, and a 
few other districts comprise the larger 
part of the peach territory of the state. 
These lands that are particularly well 
adapted to peach growing have become 
world famous for their great returns from 
peaches. A thousand dollars per acre was 
once not an uncommon return from 
peaches, and peach orchards have been 
sold as high as $4,500 per acre. 
“The pear is still more localized in its 
production owing largely to the ravages 
of the pear blight which has made pear 
growing a precarious business in some 
districts. Districts that are well adapted 
to pear growing and are not seriously 
troubled from this disease, have made 
big returns from the industry. The pear, 
however, is not increasing in production 
in this state to any such extent as are 
many of the other fruits. 
“Not the least important of the fruit 
products of Colorado is the cherry. The 
cherry is adapted to a greater variety of 
soils and conditions in Colorado than any 
829 
of the other fruits except possibly the 
apple, and in fact the cherry will grow 
without irrigation in many districts 
where the apple is not particularly success- 
ful. In the west slope districts as in the 
valleys of the Grand, Uncompahgre, North 
Fork, Animas and in Montezuma county, 
the sweet cherry is grown possibly more 
extensively than the sour. On the east 
side of the mountains the sour cherry pre- 
dominates. Of the sweet cherries, the 
Royal Ann (Napoleon), May Duke, Royal 
Duke and Bing are more largely grown. 
Of the sour cherries the Montmorency, 
Morello or Wragg are the leading vari- 
eties. The sweet cherry is largely mar- 
keted fresh in boxes. Some of the sour 
cherries are utilized in the same way, al- 
though there is a growing tendency to- 
wards canning the product at canneries 
near the orchards. The cherry will make 
a gross return of from $200 to $400 per 
acre, and is one of our most dependable 
fruits as fewer failures come in cherry 
growing than with most other fruits.” 
Grand Valley 
The Grand valley is situated on the 
western slope of the Rocky mountains, in 
Mesa county, and extends westward to 
the Utah line. It has an altitude of about 
4,600 feet, is about 40 miles long, and 6 
to 10 miles wide. It contains approxi- 
mately 150,000 acres of land, capable of 
irrigation, some of which is already un- 
der water and planted to orchards, while 
about 60,000 acres will come under the 
Government irrigation project now in the 
process of construction. The principal 
crops are apples and peaches. Of the va- 
rieties of apples best adapted, the Jona- 
than is the favorite. Here the soil and 
climatic conditions seem favorable for its 
growth and a high state of perfection is 
reached. 
GRANVILLE LOWTHER 
Grand Junction Weather for the Past 
Sixteen Years 
Temperature 
The mean annual temperature is 52.6 
degrees. The highest annual mean was 
54.5 degrees in 1900, the lowest 50.1 de- 
grees in 1903. The highest temperature 
ever recorded was 104 degrees on June 
