Omaha daily bee., 1907-01-25
Nebraska Grown winter Fruit.

Nebraska Grown winter Fruit.
CRETE, Neb., Jan. 21.-To the Editor
of The Bee: Four-hfth of the people OF
Nebraska believe that winter fruit of SUI
perior quality does not grow in Nebraska
and that for really good fruit that can
be kept through the winter they must
send to New York. Michigan or Colorado
large proportion of the merchants of
the state believe that If they desire to
cater to the best trade in the community
they must get in New York or Michigan
apples in barrels or buy box lots from
Colorado.
1t is an Interesting matter for discus
sion. Why is this opinion 50 prevalent?
Very few of the people who grow apples
in the state OF Nebraska make orcharding
their leading business. They are, first
of ALL farmers. or at any rate engaged
In sCme other line of work occupying the
Ereater portion of their time. When they
ought to be spraying the orchard to guard
against the ravages of the cooling motn
they are busy planting corn. When they
ought to be spraying to check the work
of the second brood in the latter part of
July, they are busy with hay or harvest.
The average farmer is not familiar with
ne PROPER methods of guarding against
the spread of fungus disease Probably
there are not twenty men in the state
of Nebraska who are orchardists rather
than farmers or devoted to other lines of
work.
The greater portion of the orchards of
Nebraska we're planted under the thought
common forty to fifty years ago that If
an orchard could be planted and Guilt
waited until of bearing age all that re-
manned to be done was to pick and sell
the fruit. This was measurably true at
that time 1 remember that in our boy
hood days back in New England we did
not think OF cultivating the old orchard.
The trees stood in grass and apparently
did not need cultivation in that climate
and under those conditions.
Under our western conditions, with
higher elevation and many sunny days,
the evaporation is at least twice greater
than in the climate of the state of Maine.
This suggests either cultivation or mulch
ing to retain the moisture. During re-
cent years the codling moth has gained
on us with great rapIdity. We must now
spray against this suffer from wOrmy
fruit. Apple scab and some other fungus
diseases are prevalent. These require
skillful work at the right time. The con-
dltions are now such that the commercial
orchardist should be able at critical pc
RODS to give his first and best efforts
to the care of the orchard rather than
be diverted by the duties incident to gen
eral farming.
From the above condition of affairs has
resulted this fact, that the greater por-
tions of the orchards in the state of Ne
braska are not protected by intelligent,
well-directed work against the work of
scab and codling moth. This has led to
such conditions can we expect our fruit to
compete with apples grown in New York,
Michigan and Colorado, grown by parties
who give their orchards their first and
best attention?
What we need to enable our Nebraska
orchards to regain control of their own
home markets is: First, better methods
of culture and protection; second. more
intelligent methods of packing and mar
keting; third. to supply the public with
O better grade of fruit; fourth to make
II ee use of the press of the state, con-
ylncing the public that fruit of the best
possible quality can be grown in the state
and that choice winter fruit can be sup
piled the season through; fifth, the Cali
fornians have for many years given away
great quantities of fruit. They have made
expensive exhibits at fairs and in public
places, all to advertise the superior quail
ity of their products and to create taste
and market for their fruit.
The writer has for many years annually
given away 200 bushels of choice apples
in the effort to convince the public that
fruit OF superior quality can be grown
| in Nebraska. We have the soil, the eli
mate, all the natural conditions. We need
only that our growers should give the
same skiIlful care to their work that is
| given by our competitors BY avaiIing
ourselves of our natural advantages and
adding thereto suitable care. culture and
packing, we should recover our home
! market and control the nearby markets
west and north. e. F. STEPHENS.