Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1899-08-16
Decided Interest to Fruit Growers

ID. Il. Kelley, one of our leading fruit
growers, was in the city Sunday. In a
| quiet chat with him it was learned why
| and how he had made his orchard. farm
OF I4o acres, located twenty miles below
Lewiston ON the Snake, so successful and
profitable.
In nearly his own words we repeat
The idea struck him twenty years ago
that the time would come when an
orchard of deciduos fruit bearing trees
| in the Lewiston valley would be no in
considerable value to the owner, and he
set out I25 trees, comprising apples,
peaches and pears. They were source
OF profit from the time they commenced
bearing and bringing forth fruit.
In later years he discovered what he
planted then were not altogether
desirable fruits, and are not at all
desirable now. The eye governs to
great extent the taste. You can take for
instance the Ben Davis apple, nicely red
streaked upon green ground. 1t was
for few years the only apple in the
| market; but today the eye does not
govern the taste, for the palate has be-
come supreme. The taste of the present
time is in harmony with the flavor of the
fruit and successful fruit growers govern
themselves accordingly.
The commercial value to-day is with
the yellow Newton pippen and Spitzen-
berg the two comprising the ready
marketable apples of general commerce
their value is due to their size, to a great
extent, whether in boxes or teers of As
and 5s, and are eagerly sought by
purchasers, though the smaller sizes are
| undesirable.
The commercial value of peaches de-
pends upon the size and the variety
capable of holding up under long transit
There are a few varities of freestone
peaches which will withstand period of
protracted transit. The Early Crawford
in the minds, of many, is the only peach,
yet there are better peaches of finer
flavor that the cultivated taste demands.
There is the Muir, for instance, the
Susquehana and the Salwan; They are
the peaches of to-day, and the leaders in
the markets of the country.
The clingstone peach, that is without
coloring at the pit, is desirable on the
part of general consumers. Their value
is also according to size, 2s and 3s find
ing the ready sale. The as, however,
are good-sized peaches, and command
the highest price in any market The
lesser sizes are frequently forced upon
the market, and invariably down the
market to the detriment of better fruit,
The average persons in the valley do not
realize the true value of growing large
fruit. They think the lesser number OF
peaches i'll box the greater amount of
weight, but the true condition is the
lesser the number of peaches in box
and the box full the greater amount of
tangible fruit. When it is considered
the pits and the peelngs are ds so much
shriveled wheat, the greater the siftinps,
the greater the loss, and the greater the
amount of tangible fruit one must have
TO secure the desired result-in other
words, the profit.
After twenty years experience he
would recommend for profitable growth
in Lewiston valley two varieties of pears.
They are the Bartlett and Winter Nellis.
They are of standard commercial value,
and invariably speak for themselves in
appearance and flavor.
In the above Mr.. Kelly tells the secret
of his success as a fruit grower. 1t can
be sumed.up i'll few words. He has
kept i'll close touch with the tastes and
demands of the purchasers of fruit, and
he studies in order that he may always
be up-to' date--or so to speak, in fashion
with the fruit eating world. Under the
circumstances, it is not to be wondered
at that he is successful and prosperous
and his fruit-farm is favorably known
through Dut Idaho and Montana II is
surprising, howe yer, that others of our
fruit growers have not caught on to his
secret before.