The General Outlook for Apples 
Twenty-five yeas ago when Mr. Hale, ourselves, and a few others began to plant peach 
trees by the thousand, there were many that said, “You will overdo the business.” “If 
those trees all bear, you never can sell the fruit at a reasonable price.” etc. These people 
did not foresee that the local markets would become larger consumers as years went by, or 
that we would be able to reach other than local markets. It is a fact that now our local 
markets consume many times the amount of fruit they did 25 years ago and we know no 
reason why consumption of fruit should not increase in even greater ratio in years to come 
as cost of meats and grain increases, as it will. 
Years ago the local markets were the only ones considered by the northeastern growers, 
but in 1913 peaches from this locality were shipped successfully as far as Montreal, Canada, 
Tampa, Fla., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Portland, Me. In the future, we expect apples will be 
exported to South America, the Tropics, Europe and the Orient. These countries will be 
enormous consumers as soon as our production is sufficient to develop the markets. 
Another point must be taken into consideration, that there has been and will continue 
to be large numbers of trees become non-productive. The United States Census shows that 
for ten years ending 1910 there was a decrease in the number of apple trees in every state 
from Canada to the Mason and Dixon Line and from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, except 
Connecticut and Wisconsin. The combined loss was over 15,000,000 trees. This is con¬ 
siderably more than the total number of trees reported for Montana, Idaho, Oregon and 
Washington combined. In short, there is an enormous loss each year, from various causes, 
that is not taken into consideration by many people. 
Profits in Apple Growing 
At the expiration of a ten-year experiment with a ten-acre apple Orchard in full bear¬ 
ing, the New York Experiment Station reports the average cost of a barrel of apples, not 
including package, to be 93 cents. This price included all cost of production, such as inter¬ 
est on investment, taxes, superintendence, etc. 
Another experiment conducted in the State of New York by the United States Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture for two years with a fifteen-acre apple orchard in full bearing, showed 
the average cost of growing a barrel of apples as 80 cents exclusive of package. Every 
item of cost was charged in these experiments and the fruit could have been sold for from 
80 to 90 cents per barrel without loss. 
The fruit was sold during the ten years at an average of $2.24 per barrel, exclusive 
of package, or at an advance of $1.31 above cost of production, in other words, a net profit 
of 140%. There are very few legitimate business enterprises that will show such a rate 
of profit as 140%, one-tenth of this would be considered a splendid showing. Fifteen years 
after planting, an apple tree should produce four barrels per year, we have had them do 
better than this, but wish to be conservative; with thirty-five trees per acre, the yield 
would average one hundred forty barrels at $1.31, showing net profit to be $283.40 per 
year. There are few farmers who could not care for a ten-acre orchard without neglecting 
other business, and the $2,800 net profit per year would come in mighty handy sometime. 
Dwarf Apples 
There are two species of dwarf apples, 
those grafted upon Doucin roots and those 
upon French Paradise roots. Those upon 
Doucin grow to the size of a good large peach 
tree, they bear earlier than the standard trees 
and, while they may not produce so much 
fruit per acre as standards, the size of the 
trees enables the grower to care for the trees 
and fruit in a manner not possible with 
standards and grow a strictly fancy grade 
that is always in demand at fancy prices. 
Trees upon French Paradise are very much 
more dwarf in habit than those upon Doucin, 
and are valuable only for those who have 
limited space and want a variety of fancy 
fruit in a short time. They may be planted 
6 or 8 ft. apart, and frequently begin to bear 
the second year from bud in nursery or the 
second year from transplanting. They require 
liberal culture which they repay by produc¬ 
ing bountiful crops. 
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