The Opelousas courier., 1903-02-14
SCIENCE IN TIE ORCHARD.
APPLE GROWING NOW REDUCED
TO A BUSINESS BASIS.

Phenomenal Yields Secured-There
Are Now Many Orchards in This
Country Covering Many Thousand
Acres, Formerly a Neglected Crop.
Apple orcharding is one of the mod
ern farming industries. Until within
the last few years apples were raised
in a small way by farmers all over the
country, but in general this was for
home or local consumption. Little at
tention was paid to the crop and no
one thought Of devotfng his entire time
and lands to it as a staple crop. Yet
conditions have so changed now that
there are many orchards in the West
and middle West, where all farming
operations are done on a magnificent
scale, which cover not hundreds but
thousands of acres, the receipts from
which compare favorably with those
of some of the moderate-sized indust-
rial corporations Of the day. In the
meantime the demand for apples has
increased in proportion. Time was
when the apple was a luxury, now it
is a staple article Of food with q large
part of the American population.
Owing to the extensive display of. the
Department of Agriculture at the Paris
Exposition, Continental Europe has
been educated to the American apple
and the export demand has markedly
increased, resulting in valuable new
VI -1-NHr F~, 4Is1 4I>o GI[t-~ 90 TN~,,i+c -
Mr.. G. B. Bracket, pomologist of
the government, makes the statement
that mo other fruit brings so sure a
return to the grower in proportion to
time and money expended upon it's
productions. In conjunction with the
wide range of climate and diversified
soil conditions under which some one
of the great variety of commercial
types may be grown, the u of the
sudden rise into prominence of the
apple as a specialized crop is apparent.
Planting may be done with nursery
stock from one to two years old, and
in three or four years the trees are in
bearing. The trees continue in profit
able bearing condition for a lifetime.
At SO years of age a Baldwin tree in
Monroe County, New York, produced
IS barrels. selling at SO a barrel. The
original Mcintosh apple tree-a va
riety that is making steady gains ow-
ing to it's intrinsic merits still stand
ing at Dundela, Ontario, and is more
than a century old. With a compare
lively safe over-wintering perennial
orchard that will last a lifetime, and
with a crop that can hardly be called
perishable, and a good market at fair
prices for all offerings, it is small o
der that capitalists are going into ap-
pie culture in a wholesale manner.
Inc chief sections where this innova-
ton has been made are in Missouri
and northern Arkansas, known as the
Ozark region, and the elevated por-
tons of North Carolina and Virginia,
where similar conditions exist. The
New England, Middle and some of the
Western States are especially favor
able for producing fine crops of this
fruit of highest quality, and certain
sections of Idaho. Colorado, Oregon
and Washington are rapidly coming to
the front in successful orcharding.
One of the most noticeable features
of the modern apple. orchard is in the
shape of the trees, as a result of care
full and systematic pruning. This is
done partly for the purpose of protect
ing the tree from injury, partly to
make picking easy and partly to give
light and air to the branches, so that
they may produce fruitful crops. In
the West a goblet form is very much
in vogue, while elsewhere the pyram-
idal form is popular, while in still
other sections a modified form of these
two gives a round, symmetrical shape.
Formerly from 4 to 5 feet in height
was considered the common practice
of training apple trees. but two to
three feet is now considered az the
proper height for the top head of the
tree.
Packing the fruit for market has al
SO undergone considerable change in
recent years. The standard barrel,
still so prevalent in Eastern markets,
is being displaced in the West by a
box package. This measures about 10.
inches high, II inches wide and 81
inches long, holding about one bushel.
OF course, all apples are hand-picked
and sorted and the better grades are
practically free from blemishes of any
kind. Popular taste runs to a rather
large apple, well colored. preferably
red, and shapely in form.
AS in all modern industries the by
products of commercial apple orchard
ing play an important part in the
profits. All the culls and bruised fruit
are either sold to eyaporating and
canning establishments or to cider
makers, or worked up into these pro-
ducts themselves on the place where
the orchards are of sufficient size to
the special machinery requir-
ed. In some instances the b%y-products
of the orchard have been known to
exceed in value returned the receipts !
from the main crop.
In Praise of Checkers.
AS a mathematical game checkers