The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-11-16
APPLES IN AMERICA.

The Planting of Large orchards in the West.
 Along the Hudson river fruit region and in the western part of the state the apple orchards are shining golden and green With the fruit of another crop, and the growers are anXiously making themselves if the low values or two seasons ago are going to pre- vail again this year Every one at all familiar with the fruit industry will remember the heavy depression that obtained throughout the east in 1896 when the tremendous crop of apples almost annihilated values in many re- gions. Along the seaboard of Massa- chusetts the writers remembers seeing placards hung from trees offering the apples at 15 cents per barrel, cider ap- plea l5 and 20 cents delivered at the mills, and fine hand-picked Baldwlns delivered on the cars at 40 cents a barret. Considering that the average cost of picking apples is from 16 to 1z cents per barrel, sorting, heading and getting to the railroad cost cents more, and the average cost of barrels IS II, cents, it does not take much fig uring to estimate the profit and loss to he grower who is forced to dispose of his crop at 40 or 50 cents per barrel.
 But since that exceptional season of low prices, when all the markets at home and abroad were glutted with apples, when even good vinegar was selling at 10 cents a gallon, and cider could be had almost for the asking at any big cider mill, changes of great importance have been effected in the apple market. Before that eventful var the growers of fine apples in the east could usually depend upon the ex- porters to take most of their surplus crop, but in the season of 1896 they suddenly awolSe to the fact that even this market was being closed to them, or fiercely disputed by the western ap- pie growers. The west had become an important factor in the apple problem. They had been quietly planting or chards down in Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, and, like all other phases of western farming, they were on a large scale. Twenty, thirty, fifty, 100 acres were planted; then these numbers were doubled, and the output became so enormous when the trees reached maturity that the local markets were swamped by the fruit, and the growers had to rush their apples to the east and to Europe to save themselves from bankruptcy. It was this sudden flood of fruit which had been growing per ceptibly year by year, but which reached it's climax in 1Sxo6, that star tied the growers of the east and finally fiemoralized the apple markets of Eng Ia, tl,,@
 It was no use saving that the east ern apples had a finer and sharper flavor than those from the west and that they were better packed and ship ped for Europe. The whole industry was paralyzed by the surplous of fruit. More than this, the growers realized that there would no longer be "off years" in the apple supply. There were enough orchards planted in the west, the eastern states and Canada to make a crop large enough for all apparent needs even though half the trees failed to produce every other year.
 There was only thing to do. The outlet had to be enlarged. Either new markets had to be found or new methods discovered for utilizing the fruit Along both of these lines scien- tfic and practical business men have been working, and the result is there is a wider market for the fruit this year and the machinery for dsposing of the fruit was never in such perfect order
 To begin with factories for the man. ufacture of cheap iel'ies have multi piled rapidly and to-day there are about 130 of them in the United States, with an annual capacity of between GOO and 200,0O0,0 GOO pounds In the apple season all of these factories run night and day and they consume an enormous amount of raw material. Originally these factories were estab- lished for manufacturing jellies out of the apple Waste--that is, the cores and peelings of the apples, which the can neries and eaporators threw away. From these cores and peelings the juice was expressed and this became the foundation principle of all the ap- p,e sellies. Tn 1896 the surplus of apples greatly increased the output of the evaporators and canneries, and it was due to this that more jelly factories were established It is estimated that
 
 waste sent to these jelly factories. In time the offerings of apples were So large that the jelly factories purchased ordinary apples direct from the or chards and turned them into apple syrup.
 Incidentally a false impression con- csrning mary of the clear jellies, es Decially those made of apples, should
 
 be corrected. They are not unWhole- some or injurious. They are not made from chemical compounds, simply be- cause it is cheaper to make them from the juice of apple cores, Deelings and second-grade apples. These jellies, ex- cept in quality of taste, are as rule, just as wholesome as the more cXpsn- sic brands, the only difference being that the latter are made from large good sized apples. It is only fair that this truth should be generally known, for the factories are rapidly increas- ing the market demand for our apples
 Pure apple syrup is made at these factories and put on the markets un- der various names. The syrup, when