20 
The Colorado Experiment Station 
of sturdy and productive trees. The trees come into bearing early, 
and, with most varieties, large annual crops are produced. 
The heavy wood growth makes the problem of proper prun¬ 
ing an important one, and this phase of fruit growing in the Val¬ 
ley has, in most cases, been given less attention than it deserves, 
for it is a well recognized principle in fruit growing that a tree, 
in order to produce the maximum crop of first-class fruit, must 
be reduced in wood growth so as to permit a free circulation of 
air and light through the tree and to produce fruit of sufficient 
size. If pruning is not systematically performed, the trees become 
too heavy in wood growth, which, in turn, will produce a large 
number of small, poorly colored fruits. In general, it should be 
said that fruit growing in the Grand Valley represents the ad¬ 
vanced process in American fruit growing. 
There is danger of neglect during a year of failure when the 
grower does not feel like spending money on the proper care of 
his orchard because there is no income. This is a mistaken prac¬ 
tice, because it is universally recognized that no agricultural crop 
will suffer greater permanent injury from neglect than a fruit or¬ 
chard. A few years of neglect will, in most cases, completely ruin 
the orchard and spoil it for future profitable crops. 
SOME POINTS REVEALED BY THE SURVEY 
The fruit survey shows that the development of the fruit in¬ 
dustry in the Valley has been along logical lines, so far as the 
adaptation of the different kinds of fruit to the soil and climatic 
conditions is concerned. In the Palisade District, which occupies 
the upper end of the Valley, the peach industry predominates. 
This is natural because of the topography of this section. The 
Valley at this point is narrow and is shaped like a crescent, pro¬ 
tected on the north and northeast by high bluffs, which retain the 
day’s heat and make this part of the Valley practically frost¬ 
proof. The soil is of a sandy loam nature and admirably adapted 
for the growing of peaches, sour and sweet cherries and pears. 
The Clifton District, immediately below Palisade, is the larg¬ 
est apple-producing section of the Valley. The Valley broadens 
out immediately after leaving Palisade, yet it is sufficiently close 
to the mountains to afford some protection against belated spring 
frosts. The soil bed is intermediate in character between a heavy 
adobe and loam, and is admirably adapted for the growing of 
apples. The topography of this section of the Valley provides for 
a better system of air and water drainage than sections below. The 
section immediately surrounding Clifton is planted almost solidly 
to fruit trees. 
