Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1906-03-30

APPLE MINES VS.. GOLD MINES.

APPLE MINES VS.. GOLD MINES.
Capt G. v. Gardner Shows Great Profit in
Raising Apples in the Black Hills.
Ii any one had asserted previous to
the time that the exhibit car was taken
east last fall that the Black Hills can
produce thirtythree varieties of apples
all matured and that in flavor, size an d
freedom from defects in apples in any
portion of the United States could ex-
Gel them, should have considered
him fit subject for the insane asylum,
but seeing is believing. All the six
counties were represented and while
one or two may have eXcelled in some
varieties, they we're all a continued
source of surprise, wonder and delight
to the many thousands who visited our
Car, and while they we're, handsome to
the eye, it was the splendid flavor COM
pared with the apples in the states
visited which included Iowa, Illinois,
Wisconsin and Minnesota, that was the
most remarkable.
Since my return | have tested the
SAVIOR of the apples grown in Colorado
and the famous Yackima Valley, Wash
ington, and with one or two exceptions
they do not compare with those grown
in the Hills.
People rush to Washington and
Colorado and pay from fifty to two
hundred dollars an acre for raw land
on which to plant an orchard-while
acres that can be had for one-fourth of
the money, on which can be grown
just as good and better apples, in fact
are being grown here, if the same
painstaking and intelligent care is
given as in those states. | have inter
viewed a large number of our most
successful apple growers this last win
ter-men who have given the subject
careful study and who have made a
success of the business by applying
practical knowledge and experience in
their work. And right here comes in
the almost vital necessity of live
horticultural society to educate on
practical lines of horticulture. We
have the material from which to build
such an organization, who in intelli-
gence, culture and practical knowledge
are the peers of any men in the state.
Can they not-will they not get to-
gether and lay broad the foundations
of wealth, beauty and luxury al
most greater than we can imagine
The mass of our people are hungry for
the knowledge these men can impart
and for lack of which are cropping in
the dark, afraid to make the venture
becauge of ignorance of the conditions
necessary to insure success. l would
appeal to such men as President Cook
of the State Normal, Joseph Wells,
Milton Brenn: Chris Thompson, Judge
Grant, Henry Stearns, Mr.. Seawright,
MIR. Fletcher, Mr.. Trimmer, Capt. j.
S. Pratt, Robert Evans, Matt Eaton,
Henry johnson and other men like
them to rise up and put their shoulders
to this great wheel and make 1t go
round and round until all the people
of the country shall know of and eat
of our Incompatible apples.
Here are a few facts | have cleaned
from talking with a large number of
our most practical orchardists: Num-
Der OF trees to acre, ninety; cost of two
year old trees purchased direct from
reliable nurserymen, (never buy of a
tree peddler however GLIDE his tongue,)
laid down at any railroad station,
eleven to eighteen cents each The
crops grown the first five or six years
ii conditions are favorable will not only
pay for the trees and their cultivation,
but will in addition in many instances
pay dividend on the investment. At
the end Of five years, the trees, if given
careful attention will average one
bushel to the tree on the basis of one
thousand trees, and in ten years from
the time Of setting out, from five to
nine bushels. One of our most sue
cessful apple growers states that some
of his trees eighteen years old yielded
as much as sixteen bushels to the tree
this last year; that from an orchard of
ten acres many of the trees not bear.
ing full crop he sold 1874 bushels at an
average price of 81 25 per bushel, saved
enough for his own use, made eight
barrels of cider, sold $4,000 worth of
cherries, plums and pears, and cut
from the same ground eighteen tons
of hay which he sold for $500 per
ton.
President Cook, Milton Brenn and
Joseph Wells asserts that an orchard
at ten years after planting if given
thorough cultivation will pay ten pei