, 1908-09-15
JACOB LUND's APPLES.

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Some years ago, perhaps twelve. Mr..
Jacob Lund came into The Republican
Office and Carefully laid upon the eii.
torial desk a few OF the prettiest red
apples 1t had eve been our good for
tune to see.
Where did you get those beautiful
apples, Mr.. Lund?p Raised them in
my orchard"
Ii seemed almost incredible, but
there were the apples and the state
ment OF a truthful man. Since that
time Mr.. Lund has had apples every
year. Occasionally his crop has been
short, In the off years, but again he has
had all the fruit he wanted for winter
use. This year he has a crop that
would cure the sore eyes of any Wyo.
ming ~horticulturist and drive all the
pessimists to the woods. Every tree
Is loaded, Limbs heavy with fruit
hang almost to the ground and dozens
of them are propped to save them from
breaking. SINCE limbs bear from a
dozen to twenty apples. their red
cheeks glowing in the autumn sun and
making a rare picture in this land OF
stock.
There are only three varieties of
apples in this orchard Of Mr.. Lund's
the Wealthy, the Ben Davis and a
c~rabapple the variety of which Is un-
known to the owner. He has perhaps
forty trees, covering a little more
than a half acre of ground. They
stand upon land rather low and it Is
protected to considerable extent by a
willow w~indbreak, but winds from
the northwest sweep 1t and the trees
are bent from the prevailing direction
OF the wind. Mr.. Lund has taken no
great pains to fertilize the land upon
which these trees stand, nor have they
been cultivated as horticulturists of
the east cultivate their orchards. They
have Just growed. as 'Topsy" did, and
ave returned to their owner a great
profit for his investment and little
trouble. Mr.. Lund says he will have
four or five barrels of apples this
year. 1t looked to the writer as though
he would be able to gather three times
that many. as the trees are full al
most to the breaking point. He is
modest in his statement. They are
now sufficiently ripe to make splendid
pies and sauce, but not ripe enough to
eat from the tree.
The question that naturally arises
In the minds OF Wyoming people is,
will they stand the drouth and rigors
of winter? Two of the trees In Mr..
Lund's orchard have lived for twenty
years. The remainder are from twelve
to fifteen a old. They all look
healthy and vigorous. Perhaps they
are not as large as they would have
been had he given them constant cul-
tivation in summer and care in winter
in the matter of mulching. but they
r a splendid demonstration that
fruit trees will stand the climate of
Wyoming at an altitude of 1850 feet
above the level of the sea Mr.. Lund
is to be congratulated upon this show.
ing In raising these trees and grow
ing this fruit he has proved what
other may do. He has shown to the
world what the vast majority has con.
tended could not be done-raised ap.
pies at almost a mile and a half above
sea level.
OF course Mr.. Lund has raised more
than apples upon this ranch of his,
situated 20 miles up the Big Laramie.
He has grown 5000 pounds of pota.
toes on less than an acre of ground
and has from year to year as fine q
garden as could be raised in the Mis-
sissippi or Missouri valleys. He has
tried currants with great success, and
the summer boarder has thrived and
waxed fat at a table richly supplied
by the god housewife and two charm
ing daughters. And the angler has
caught trout of several varieties and
Of monstrous size-to let them tell the
story.
Notice has been properly served
upon the people of Wyoming that
fruit will grow proitably up to an ele
walton of 1880 feet. There are thou
sands of places in the state where
Mr.. Lund's demonstration can be dup,
Heated and probably exceeded. for
there is a vast area of our state lying
between $500 feet and the elvation Of
his ranch Wyoming will in a few
years be exporting fruit. as Colorado
and Idaho and Utah are doing.