The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1895-09-12
FRUIT RAISING IN COLORADO.
Something About the Fruit Farms Near
Canon City.
Editorial Correspondence

No we'll constituted man could ever
deliberately aspire to win fame as a
successor of Annanias, and yet hest
tate to tell the simple unsandpapered
truths in regard to some of the fruit
farms / saw in Colorado, especially at
Canon City near the mouth of the
Royal Gorge. Where no water is, Col
orado soil is the picture of desolation.
Nothing grows but cactus, grease weed
and prairie dogs. Turn on the water
and garden blooms. The fruit grow
er touches the water button, and God
AMI nature do the reSt-and do it
gloriously.
believe that nowhere else in Colo
RADIO can there be found the equal of
Canon City's success in fruit culture.
A splendid opportunity was given me
to see for myself the wonderful fruit
orchards of this vicinity. Editor Meg
nard of the Clipper, very kindly devoted
drive through the numerous tracts, and
l was surprised at the magnitude of
the apple and pear crop in this section
all owing to irrigation and just the
right sort of climate.
The Arkansas river furnishes an
abundant supply of water for this irri-
eating scheme, and all the canals have
proved up water rights dating back to
1862, and so divided that each half
acre sold has it's independent share,
but | do not understand that the age
of these canals and the settlements
under them preclude the possibility of
a new conner getting foOthold, as
there are still abundant opportunities
for securing small tracts of fruit lands
under those old bitches; besides two
new canals are in progress of construc-
ton which will place under ditch 5000
acres of fruit land adjacent to Canon
City. But the results of irrigation:
During our stay in Canon City we
visited four or five orchards the fruit
just ripening-and such fruit, every
tree loaded until the limbs had to be
propped up to save them from break
Ing. Perhaps the most notable among
the orchards visited was that owned
by Judge W. B. FELTON,, who has a
fruit farm in South Canon about mile
from Canon City, consisting Of fVe
acres set to winter apples and four
acres set to early apples, pears, grapes,
etc. Mr.. Megnard had the figures
giving the receipts from these ranches
last year. From the five acres Of win
ter apples, Judge FELTON, received for
the product $5777 50; receipts from
four acres of other fruit, $767.54 MAX
ing his total receipts $6545.13. His
total expense of marketing the crop
was $1535.87, leaving a net profit of
$5019.26. This orchard was set out in
the spring Of 1881. The prospects for
this years yield are better than ever
before.
B. F. Rockefellow has twenty four
acres two miles from Canon City, ten
acres of it in apples. We drove through
his orchard and beheld what is ac-
knowledged by every one in Canon
City, the best bearing orchard in that
valley. The yield last year in fruit
was 1850 barrels of apples; 100 barrels
of pears; 5000 quarts of cherries and
5000 baskets of grapes. Mr.. Megnard,
our conductor, told us that the place is
for sale as the owner is going to the mines
The price asked for it is 5000 with
the fruit on the trees, or $4,000 pos
session given January |, 1896 An
other orchard visited was that of Uncle
Jesse Frazier, who is the pioneer fruit
grower Of the state. His orchard was
set out twenty-five years ago and last
year he marketed more than $500 bar
erls of apples.
Besides the irrigating canals hereto
fore mentioned, the state of Colorado is
building a canal at an enormous eX-
pense, which will bring under cultiva-
ton $4,000 acres of new fruit lands be-
tween Canon City and Pueblo. There
are but one and a half miles Of this
ditch to be completed, but it should be
added that this distance is through
solid rock, and it will be several years
before the work is finished.
/ trust that no reader of this article
will be misled in the matter of fruit
farming in Colorado. While [ am con-
vinced Of my own eyes that the state
ments related in this letter are abso-
lutely true, there is another side TO the
picture and that is-Work and lots of it
to bring the soil Of Colorado into bios
som and bearing. One might be dis
couraged upon alighting from his train
some fine morning and looking about
him, seeing nothing but very yellow
dirt covered with sage brush, but it was
so in the beginning of all these orchards
to which / have referred. Those
pioneers conquered and others will also
prove winners, but the same character
istics which win success anywhere are
very necessary in that new country.
Without them failure must come, be
ing possessed of them almost every
thing is possible. F. FL. I'll.