The Fremont County record. [volume] (Canon City, Colo.) 1877-18??, 1881-10-29
POMONA.
Fruit Growing Around Canon City.
and in Fremont County.
The Garden Spot Of The State.


Jesse Frazer, Esq, of Florence, near
Canon City, Uncle Jesse as he is fa-
miliarly called by his neighbors, is
justly regarded as the.pioneer of fruit
raising in Colorado. TO him belongs
the honor of being the first to demon
! strate, on a large scale, how to culti-
vate apple and fruit trees successfully.
and which kinds are best suited to
our climate.
The history ofhis trials and disap-
pointments in his first efforts, and the
difficulties he had to overcome before
achieving final suscess, would fill q
whole number OF the RECORD. As ~
guide for those entering upon the
cultivation of fruits, either for their
own domestic use or for profit, and
rs further evidence of the many ad-
vantages Canon City presents as the
future capital of this state, brief
sketch OF what Mr.. Frazer has accom-
plishcd, and the success he has
achieved, will be both instructive and
valuable.
Iu compliance with cordial invita-
tion representative of the RECORD
had the pleasure of beholding the evil
dences of Mr.. Frazer's success as an
orchartlist. The orchards are located
in the Valley of the Arkansas river,
about eight miles below Canon City.
The location and scenery from that
point are charming but on this beau
tiful autumn day, with its hazy at
mospiIere softeniDg the outlines the
hills and mountains covered with
oyergreens in the distance +; Pixies
Peak, white with recent snow tower
ing above them; and the autumn
shades of the trees and shrubbery in
the Valley of the Arkansas, ranging
in color from bright golden to tiery
verinillion, presents panorama more
beautiful than artists ever dreamed
/The orchard of bearing trees con-
lists of about twenty acres, contain
ing over two thousand apple trees,
and many pear, peach and plum trees.
The apple trees in this orchard aver
age about twelve years growth or
eight years since being set out. They
look clean and healthy, and nearly
one half of them are of kind which
bears every year. while the other half
bear light and heavy crops alternate
sss The ,rss v hich bears abundan,ly
Eevery year and the one ~hiess Mr..
Frazer regards as the best suited to
the locality for general purposes, is
the Ben Davis 1t is n large bright
red, winter apple and has never failed.
About one half the orchard is planted
with this tree. His next favorite is
the Wine Sap. 1t is q large, rich,
blood red apple, but the trees bear q
light and heavy crop each alternate
year. There are several hundred
trees of this quality The balance of
the orchard is filed with various
kinds of sHmmer and winter apple
trees, all of which LOOK well and
healthy, and yield as largely as such
trees produce any where. From q
casual look al the orchard there seems
to be no question bat the Ben Davis
is the tree to tie to for general pur-
poses and certainty of crop. You
may examine row after row of these
trees and for evenness OF growth aud
uniformity of size they will equal
anything ever seen in any locality.
Besides this orchard Mr. Frazer has
several thousand young trees, in vari-
Gus stages of growth, but not yet old
enough to bear, and many acres I'M
der vegetables, hay, etc.
The product of this young orchard
the present season has been two
hundred barrels of selected apples
sold three hundred barrels selected
winter apples stored in bius in an
outside cellar, thirty feet long by
fifteen feet W ide, making i've hundred
barrels of selected fruit. These at SO
per barrel are worth S3. 900. Besides
this, be sold several small lots of sum
mer apples to the people OF the neigh
borhood, of which he Kept no account.
From the small apples set aside in
picking he will make several barrels
of cider, which he has contracted for
at seventy cents per gallon. Scat
tered around among the trees are
about one hundred hives of bees,
which gave about eight hundred dol
lars worth OF honey. Thus it viii be
seen that this twenty acre orchard.
four thousand dollars per year with
little outlay FOR labor, needing only
watchf,ll care. These facts are gath
cred from Mr.. Frazer's own state
ments, and no one who knows him
would believe for momeat that he
would exaggerate them in the slight
est degree.
Mr.. Frazer's system of taking care
of his trees is peculiar, and is the re-
suit of his practical experience of
twenty years in this locality. HE
started with twenty trees, and a near
neis lhbor planted n like number. In
the spring his neighbours trees were
all dead. while his own were living.
His neighbor followed the popular
but erroneous plan of leaving the
ground perfectly dry before The -tsast
set in, while he saturated the ground
thoroughly with water and when the
frost came it froze the trees and
ground solid. This has been his in-
variable plan every winter since, and
| his reasons forit are quito conclusive.
| He saws when the ground is left dry
before tho frost the moisture soaks
down and leaves the ground loose.
The high Winds shake the trees back
and forth, tho roots gradually work
loose. Tho constant swayiug 70 and
fro breaks or wears on the snau
| fibrous roots and when spring coines,
instead OF growing, the trees die.
This is tho drst essential point. The
next Is the care Of the trees aud the
usnxl Irrigation. To keep the trees
clear OF lice aud borcrs he washes
them twice 1 year with lye. This