THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
All publishers interested in preserving their rights should 
communicate with their congressman in regard to’ H. R. 
213 21, and with the chairman of the Committee on Postal 
Regulations, the Hon. John W. Weeks. The bill strikes a 
blow at the liberty of the press. In this country such a 
principle is regarded sacred. If it is to be preserved, 
publishers must bestir themselves. 
Easterners have heard so much in recent 
COLORADO AS years of the output of the orchards of 
AN APPLE Oregon and Washington that many are 
PRODUCING prone to believe that the great mass of 
STATE western apples comes from the extreme 
western states. According to figures 
recently presented in the Intermountain Fruit Journal it 
would appear that in 1909 Colorado produced as many 
apples as all the other Rocky Mountain and Pacific Slope 
states combined. In other words, Colorado shipped 8000 
cars, while California shipped 3000; Washington, 1700; 
Oregon, 750; and Idaho, Montana and Utah, together 
shipped about 800 cars. 
Of the principal fruit growing counties in Colorado the 
county of Mesa led last year with an output of 2950 cars, 
followed by Delta with 2000, and Fremont with 1000 cars. 
These figures give the fruit production of Colorado an 
important bearing in relation to the total output of the 
Rocky Mountain and Pacific Slope states. 
The members of the American Association of Nursery¬ 
men will have an opportunity while in Denver to visit some 
of the great orchard projects tributary to the Convention 
City and will undoubtedly take advantage of such oppor¬ 
tunity. It will be somewhat of a surprise for eastern fruit 
growers to see orchard lands which are valued, indeed, 
which have been sold at $3,000.00 per acre, and these under 
such relatively temporary crops as the peach. 
Paragraphs appear frequently in the 
THE EAST western papers indicating that the East is 
AND THE jealous of the fruit growing ability of the 
WEST West. Possibly there are men with 
minds so small that such a feeling is 
harbored, but certain it is that the sentiment is not general. 
The fruit growers of the country as a rule are ready to 
appreciate the enterprise, the advertising and the business 
ability of the western orchardist. More important still, the 
men of the East are beginning to wake up to the importance 
of recognizing that success in fruit growing is not dependent 
exclusively upon ability to grow the fruit, but to a large 
extent upon the capacity to pack, advertise and sell it. 
The western men have developed the publicity bureaus in a 
most remarkable way. They have a right to do this because 
they grow good fruit, and more than all, pack that fruit in 
the most approved fashion, so that when they are selling the 
product they are presenting to the buyer an absolutely 
honest article. 
The western man figures that his orchard should bring 
him 10% on a $5,000.00 valuation per acre. Possibly it 
will do this in gross returns. Probably it will not do this, as 
62 1 
is claimed by some, in net returns, but either figure is good. 
The same possibilities are open to the grower in the best 
regions of the East, if he exercises equally good judgment, 
industry and intelligence. There is no doubt, however, 
that it will take the Easterner some time to get rid of bad 
habits, particularly in relation to packing, which have 
gradually grown up under the influence of tradition and cus¬ 
tom, in the course of many years, in connection with early 
amateurish methods. 
The American apple is now finding its 
way into the markets of the world. Its 
GRADING size, appearance and quality are the fac- 
APPLES tors which introduce it successfully, and 
which tend to fix attention upon it and 
hold the interest of the purchaser. These native good 
qualities of the American apple, however, are heavily handi¬ 
capped by the action and habits of the packers. Hardly a 
market report’can be found which does not bear some un¬ 
favorable criticism upon the methods of the American people 
packer. 
Consul Henry B. Miller of Belfast in reporting upon the 
consumption of American apples in that city, makes the 
following comments on the present market situation: 
“Two things stand in the way of success in marketing the 
American apples in Belfast. First, the lack of reliable 
grading, and second, the failure to have a local or traveling 
representative of American apples.’’ “Dealers claim that 
American apples are not well graded and that it is impossi¬ 
ble to rely on the American standards of grades.’’ 
The Consul goes on to state that twice as many Canadian 
apples are sold in Belfast market as American apples and 
that this larger sale is due to the greater confidence which 
the purchaser has in the uniformity of Canadian grading. 
This confidence arises out of the fact that the Canadian 
apples are inspected by a government official and in cases 
where the grade does not approximate the proper standard 
the package is stamped ‘falsely packed.’ The Consul con¬ 
cludes his report by saying that a traveling representative 
/ 
and a thoroughly reliable brand of apples would overcome 
this difficulty and enable the American grower to place his 
fruit most advantageously and directly in the hands of the 
Belfast dealer. 
The experience of last year in warding off 
ORCHARD frost by the use of heating devices in the 
HEATING IN orchard was so encouraging that the prac- 
COLORADO tice came into extensive use in the Grand 
Valley of Colorado and in some of the 
other orchard sections of the state this year. A writer in 
the Intermountain Journal describes the scene in the Grand 
Valley during the cold wave of April in the following terms: 
“The lower Grand Valley as viewed from the hills each 
night during the cold snap was truly a most spectacular 
sight. The brilliant flames of the homely smudge pots 
appeared as thousands of miniature volcanoes belching 
forth fire and smoke as realistic as any that ever issued from 
the mouths of Vesuvius or Pelee, while the moving torches 
