The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-05-25

At the meeting of the State Horti-
cultural Society held at the Mary
land Agricultural College on Decem-
Der 27-26, 1904, the printed report of
which has just been received at this
office, Mr. w. McCulloh Brown, vice
president of the Society for Garrett
county, read a paper setting forth the
great advantages of this county as a
farming and fruit raising community,
which paper we republished below:
The season of 1904 has been q most
profitable one for the hOrticulturist
and farmer of Garrett county. The
spring was a late one with SHOW and
ice on May 18th, but after that the
month turned warm, and constant
showers until the middle Of August
pushed vegetation along rapidly and
kept everything growing. A remark
able fact is that throughout the sum
mer there was no continuously rainy
day. The crops of fruit. vegetables,
hay and grain have been unusually
large and generally of good quality.
Systematic and scientific horticul-
ture are in their infancy in Garrett
county. The great majority of sarm-
ers are still working in "cIearings,n
reducing the forest lands to subiec-
ton, the process necessarily being
one of destruction and subiugation
with hard and laborious work There
are signs OF an awakening, however,
from which good results will surely
follow
Deer Park, Oakland and Mt. Lake,
with their thousands Of summer Wis
itors, furnish good local markets for
vegetable growers who are now syste-
matically working TO provide for this
demand, and thus far the mark et IN
head ofthe supply.
In the line of apple culture l hear,
for the first time, of one man who is
aiming to, and will shortly be able
tosSship a car load of one vare ty of
apple to market. The apple tree is
as old as the earliest farm, but form
erly the orchard seldom contained
more than two of one kind, and three
fourths of the whole were summer
and fall apples, but now the winter
and late keeping varieties are select
ed and much larger lots Of one par
ticular kind planted
Taking now the results of the Sc
son more in detail, the potato crop
has been unusually large, and the
potatoes Of good size throughout the
county. Upon my own place, with
out any particular care, one hundred
and two bushels were tire yield from
tritle oyer quarter of an acre.
Vegetables generally have done
well. Asparagus was good and free
from disease, so also was celery.
Early celery is profitable, the later
varieties, however, come in comreti-
ton with the Michigan crop, which
is sold at low figure. Tomatoes did
well, but a portion of these ripening
late caught upon the vines by early
frosts. Our soil and climate seem
well adapted to caulihower. and
Messrs. Weber & Sons, of Oakland,
exhibited some fine specimens at st.
Louis, obtaining silver medal. This
firm has sold over $1,000 worth in
Philadelphia, and will increase their
planting for another season. Rasp-
berries, black berries and strawb erries
are native and grow wild IN great
abundance, the latter often two
inches in circumference; consequent
ly, as might be expected, the cult
waited varieties are a success Four
men in particular are giving atten-
ton to berries with considerable pro-
fit, raising fifty to one hundred crates
of Strawberries each, which sell at
$500 per crate; from twenty-five to
one hundred crates of raspberries, as
perfect and fine fruit as can be seen
anywhere, at f4.00 per crate, and
from twenty-five to seventy five crates
of blackberries selling at 1920 per
crate.
These men supply the summer
hotels and cottages, and have not as
yet brought the supply up to the de-
mand. All the above fruits do well
and are free from parasites and dis,
eases.
Plums haye yielded abundantlY
and could be cultivated with profit.
Cherries, peaches and pears have not
been raised to any extent.
Apples are the staple fruit and
much more attention has been given
to old orchards and TO the setting out
of young trees of approved and late
keeping varieties. The Spy, York
Imperial, Ben Davis, Grimes Golden,
Baldwin, Smokehouse and Fallawat-
er are common. The yield of apples
for 1904 was heavy, but the trees were
so loaded down with fruit that the