The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-07-05
APPLE, KING OF FRUITS
BIZ Frederic J. Hdskf,t

Guiding Idaho, grow apples for com.
mercial purposes. Every State IN tho
enlon has its apple orchards whore
trWt ts grown Tor home consumption
The modern orchard is planted with
young trees Whips they are called
one or two years old on land specially
prepared according to scientific pripci
pies; Apples will flourish on many
Kinds of soil, but each kind must be
properly treated and prepared. The
trees are cultivated Just as other crops
like corn or potatoes, by frequent plow-
! ing, and grass is not allowed TO grow
IN the orchard. Crops of corn or COW
peas are often grown between the rows
of young trees. When the trees get
large the cultivation is sometimes left
off, but then red clover is grown in the
orchard and this is turned under with
plows each alternate year. Grass is
forever banished The trees are kept
pruned to uniform shapes, varying ac-
cordlng TO the requirements of climate
The trees are pruned to make them
branch out short distance from the
ground, generally only about two or
three feet This makes a low tree
more convenient for spraying, for gath
ering the fruit. and capable Of better
resisting the wind. Apples must have
air and sunlight to do their best, and
the trees are kept so pruned that the
sun may penetrate through and through,
while the air has good circulation.
In the good old DAYS" one of the
boys climbed the tree and shook the
limb and the others gathered up the
apples which fell to the ground. Every
apple was more or less bruised and its
keeping qualities so much injured,
ln,v I,I, T,,11
from the trees as soon as their color
is perfect and before they begin to get
mellow. The apple is taken off with
great care, so that the stem is moi in
iurcd, is gently placed in the gathering
basket and then taken TO be packed.
The packing is a delicate task. but in
orchards where the best methods are
used, the apples are so placed in boxes
or barrels that practically none of them
are bruised, Apples thus gathered and
packed may be sent around the world,
may he kept in cold storage for months,
and will then come out Of package
without blemish
Carelcssncss on the part Of the farm
rchardmen caused the apple buyers
for the large domestic markets and the
export trade 10 inaugurate the custom
of buying the apples on the trees and
doing the gathering and packing them
had Young orchard Just coming into
full bearing was astounded few years
since when an English buyer offered TO
pay him 100000 for his apples as they
were. The offer was accepted. the Eng
lishman s force of gathcrers went INTO
the orchard and gathered and packed
the fruit. all of which went 30 London.
Frost sometimes kills the apple crop
in large section, and southwest Mis-
buc ffsraI r,nsh thln n
fact, the apple crop will be quite short
this fall, and if the demand increases,
the recent shipment from Australia may
he the beginning of many. Three
brothers who have farms and orchards
near Fayetteville, Ark, have already
sold their crop Oh the trees for $4,000.
The Arkansas portion of the Ozark
region escaped the blighting frosts.
New York. New England and Vir-
ginia apple growers receive even higher
prices for their product, being nearer
TO the great domestic markets, but the
orchards are not so large IN area as
in the Western and Middle States.
There was fear in some quarters that
orchard planting might he overdone,
and The fact that the market is often
SO glutted that the fruit is wasted
seemed to be foundation for uneaslncss.
But those who have studied the Ques. =
tiou say that IL is not overproduction
but faulty distribution which caused
thousands of bushels Of apples TO rot
in the orchards last year. Railroads
could not furnish cars, cold storage
houses had not sufficient capacity, and
the fruit growers themselves were not
prepared to husband their crop. Efforts
are being made. of course, 10 correct
these shortcomings, and il is safe TO
say that when the distribution and
storage questions are solved the apple
orchards of America will be the premier
fruit gardens of the world.