December 24, 1891. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
583 
them are inclined to emigrate if they could only get reliable in¬ 
formation as to some one fruit-growing district, I submit for their 
perusal the following particulars, collected during the past summer 
and autumn from practical fruit growers in Colorado, in each case 
giving the name and post office address of the fruit grower, and 
giving the amounts in English instead of American money, so that 
they can be more readily compared and contrasted with the figures 
quoted by Lord Derby. I abstain from any comment, as the 
particulars given speak for themselves. 
Mr. C. J. Coombs, address 2,332 Fifteenth Street, Denver, 
whose orchard and garden is five miles west of Denver, has a 
splendid five-acre orchard of Apples, Pears, Plums, Strawberries, 
Blackberries and Currants, has sold his crop this year for £1200, 
the working expenses being £300. 
Mr. J. Green, address, Villa Park Post Office, five miles west of 
Denver, has two acres of Strawberries which averaged this year 
6000 quarts to the acre, average price per quart being 6{d. One 
acre of Blackberries brought him £75 this year. The balance 
of his five acres is in Apple and Pear trees set out three years ago, 
and one of his Ben Davis Apple trees had 200 Apples this year. 
Mr. W. A. Benedict, P.O. address, Denver, has a Strawberry 
and Blackberry tract six miles north of Denver, which averaged 
him £100 per acre. 
Mr. E. H. Sumner, Post Office address, Denver, has acres 
in small fruits, about six miles north of Denver ; they yielded 
over 30,000 quarts last year, selling (in this market) for from lOd. 
to Is. a quart. The Apples averaged him £85 an acre. 
Mr. Elwood Easley, Golden, Jefferson County (twelve miles 
from Denver) says:— 
“I have about 40 acres in cultivation, of which 20 acres are in fruit 
and vegetables, and took £900 nett from it last year ; one acre of 
Cherries yielding £110 on sixth vear from setting out.” 
Mr. David Brothers of Wheatridge, near Denver (an English 
farmer from Suffolk) who came here in 1868, says :— 
“ A man can make money farming on irrigated land in Colorado, if 
he can anywhere on earth. The resources of this State are wonderful 
enough when the truth is told ; no need to exaggerate. I have a 
tract of about 25 acres Apples at my place, five miles west of Denver, 
from which I took £500 this year; but these are all young trees yet, 
and will increase, of course, as they grow older. Yes, I had rather raise 
fruit than farm ; there will be more money in it.” 
Mr. C. T. Wilmore, also of Wheatridge, near Denver, an ex¬ 
perienced grower of small fruits, assures me that his average nett 
returns per acre are—Blackberries £60, Strawberries £80, Currants 
£40, and Raspberries £60 ; selling his fruit retail in the Denver 
market direct to the consumer. 
Mr. James Ackerman of Hygiene, Boulder County, writes that 
he is raising all the tree fruits except the Peach and Apricot, that 
his nett profits are £40 an acre, and that he gets most profit from 
Apples, Pears, Plums, Raspberries, and Currants. 
Mr. W. B. Felton of Canon City, Fremont County,'President of 
the Colorado State Horticultural Society, writes :— 
“ It is easy to ask questions which it would take a good deal of time 
and space to answer fully. For instance, ‘ At what age do trees begin 
bearing in Colorado ?’ Varieties differ in that regard so materially that 
the question could only be answered by one who had had experience with 
many varieties. With Apples, for instance, the Ben Davis will bear the 
fifth or sixth year as full a crop as the trees should be allowed to bear. 
It is the same as to Missouri Pippin. Wine Sops will bear, but not so 
full a crop, at the same age, while the Red Astrakan and Northern Spy 
will not bear a crop till eleventh or twelfth year ; other varieties coming 
in between. But to answer the question generally as to Apples, I would 
say six years. As to Pears, there are dwarf and standard. The dwarfs, 
many of them, bear the next year after being set out, while standards do 
not bear for six, eight, or ten years, according to variety. Bartletts, 
Clapp’s Favourite, Sheldon, Beurr£ d’Anjou, Seckle, and other varieties 
(standards) gave me a good crop the seventh year, while I have some 
varieties that are full of fruit buds now for the first time, the eleventh 
season. For a general answer as to Pears (standards) I would say that 
they are from one to two years longer coming into bearing than Apples. 
Some varieties of Plums and Cherries commence bearing right away, 
while others are four or five years getting to it. The amount of fruit on 
a tree before it has been out long enough to attain size to hold a crop 
does not amount to anything as a crop. It is simply a curiosity. There¬ 
fore in speaking of trees bearing a crop it would be safe to say from four 
to ten years according to kind and variety. 
“ What do you consider a fair average yield per acre in money for a 
Colorado fruit orchard at mature age? That is a poser. Everything 
depends on the climate, varieties you have, the cultivation given, and 
the market. I can give you my experience. I have 10 acres of fruit 
that was set out ten years ago now—5j acres Apples, 1J- acre Pears. 
about £ acre of Peach, Cherry, and Plum trees, 1-J acre of Grapes, and 
about 1 acre of Strawberries, with a few Currants, Gooseberries, Rasp¬ 
berries, and Blackberries along the fences. In 1889 I sold the crop for 
a little over £1200, the expenses being about £480. In 1890, which was 
an off year for many varieties, the crop sold for £640, expenses £260. 
This year I have prospect for a £1600 crop. An orchard in bearing is 
worth what it will pay—a profit of 10 per cent, on taking an average of 
two years. We never have two full crops of all varieties in succession. 
While the off years are not so marked in Colorado as in the Eastern 
States, yet there is a difference. I know of no diseases that affect our 
fruit trees here. We have the Codlin moth that makes wormy Apples 
and the leaf hopper that injures the Grape crop, but neither affect the 
tree or Vine. The conditions in the different fruit sections of Colorado 
are so varied that a general answer cannot be given as to what varieties 
are most profitable. Here at Canon City I believe the Apple to be the 
most profitable in the long run. Pears would be more profitable than 
Apples, but as they bloom earlier are more liable to damage from late 
frosts, and therefore are more risky than Apples. All kinds of fruit are 
profitable in Canon City except Peaches and Gooseberries. Peaches are 
not reliable. Gooseberries bear well, but do not sell well, and cost too 
much to pick. If an orchard is handy to express (parcel company) 
Strawberries and Grapes are good paying crops, also Blackberries and 
Black Raspberries. We do not raise Red Raspberries at Canon City 
because we would have to cover them in winter. They always pay well 
where they do well.” 
Mr. W. B. Osborn of Loveland, Larimer County, where he has 
a fine orchard, and who is the Vice-President of the Colorado 
State Bureau of Horticulture, writes :—• 
“ In regard to the age that trees begin to bear in this country, &c., I 
answer, Earlier than in any fruit country that I have ever been in. It 
depends much on the variety of the Apple, Plum, or Peach. Some 
varieties of Apples will begin to bear at four years old from root 
grafts. Some varieties of Pears will do the same. Some varieties of 
Plums at two years old. I have them that did so. 
“ I believe a fair average yield per acre in money of an orchard well 
cared for at mature age might safely be put at £60 ; many acres more. 
The cost to produce that much from beginning depends upon the value 
of the lands, Ac. As an investment par acre, I will answer in this way. 
Plant a healthy three-year-old tree this spring, and if it does well 
next spring you can count quite safely the tree to be worth 4s., the 
second year 8s., and so on until it is ten years old, £2. This can be 
done with well selected varieties with good careful cultivation. If 
eighty trees to the acre it brings it up to £160 per acre. Now deduct 
£40 per aero for unprolific trees and other disadvantageous things, and 
you have £120, which you might count on in a fruit season. An orchard, 
as an investment, can be made to be worth £60 per acre per annum. 
“ As regards diseases, or climatic influences that are liable to prevent 
a full crop, we have had a little touch of twig blight in Larimer County, 
which has done some damage, but there are more trees planted this year 
than ever before. The climate is all right. If locality has proved 
favourable for fruit by experience, that is the place to plant. To 
explain, the Peach is not at home with us in Larimer County, but the 
Apple, Pear, Plum, and small fruits are. So we need not plant the 
Peach ; but in other localities in Colorado it is at home. Apples, Plums, 
Peaches, and Pears will, in my opinion, do as well in some localities in 
Colorado as in any State in the Union, California not excepted, and I 
am fully convinced that fruit trees bear younger and are more prolific 
in Colorado than in any fruit country that I have ever visited.” 
Mr. H. R. Brown of Arvada, Jefferson County, about six miles 
from Denver, writes :— 
“ In regard to the age at which Apples begin to bear in this district, 
I would say at from five to six years, occasionally sooner. As to the 
value per acre in money, that depends very much on circumstances, but 
I think, judging from the age and yield of my trees, 200 barrels, per 
acre would not be over-estimating it, and as the price ranges from 14s. 
to 24s. per barrel here, you can easily get at the approximate value. 
“As to the cost of production that also depends very much on 
circumstances. Cultivation, pruning, watering, and picking would not 
exceed £15 per acre. As to the cost of marketing and barrels, that 
would depend on the nearness of the markets and facilities for reaching 
them. I would consider a bearing orchard anywhere near a good market 
very cheap at £200 per acre. I do not know of any fruit more profit¬ 
able than the Apple for extensive culture in this district. I have great 
faith in the future of Colorado as a fruit-producing State, and believe 
in the near future it will be one of the leading fruit producers of the 
Union.” 
The orchards and gardens owned and operated by the fore¬ 
going gentlemen are all on the eastern slopes of Colorado, but 
the instances now quoted are all from the western slopes of the 
State. 
Mr. C. W. Steele, owner of the Hopedale Fruit and Vegetable 
Gardens at Grand Junction, Mesa County, writes :— 
“ Some varieties of Apples bore a few specimens at three years of 
age. Notably the Missouri Pippin, Ben Davis, Rome Beauty, and Yellow 
Transparent bore at four years of age. My orchard at five years (four 
years from planting trees one year old) was profitable, though many 
varieties were not in fruiting. Peaches and Plums, Apricots and 
Nectarines, came well into bearing two years from planting. No trees 
in this valley have reached mature age. I have sold 100 lbs. of Peaches 
from a single tree of Hill’s Chili Peach three years after planting, 
bringing in the Grand Junction Market 5d. per lb. The same trees this 
year, five years after planting, promise 200 lbs. per tree. Other varieties 
have done quite as well. Contracts are made for Peaches delivered in 
