Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-11-25

oeantlIu' 70 look at but In navor tney
were not nearly SO good as our eastern
grown fruit, and their flesh seemed by
comparison to be coarse and watery.
In connection with the problem Of fruit
growing in New England an article
under the significant title I'm the Ser
vice Of Quality" printed in the Novem-
Der magazine number Of The outlook. Is
of absorbing interest. 1t Describes In a
general way the methods OF fruit grow
ing on the Pacific slope. but in It's es-
sential part II tells why the apples Of
that section have come to dominate the
Eastern market as table fruit ana TO
command such fancy prices. IT IL, In
short. because the growers subordinate
every other consideration to the quality
OF their fruit. Two extracts from the
Outlook article will be an eye-opener to
those of the East who imagine that
fruit growing in the (supposediy) favor
cd regions Of the great West is a pas
time md a cinch:
1.-THE orchard beyond the Rockies is all
business. a hard. prosinc. fruit-producins
factory In which reluctant nature Is
forced into tile harness by the grower.
The hills TINT form the background are
naked, treeless Their harsh contours
stand unveiled against the hard sky. No
shade trees but ragged rows Of eucalyp-
tus break the sweep OF the landscape.
No green meadows moderate the glare
Of gray plain and purple hills. Dry.
brown dust covers the ground beneath
the trees two and three inches deep. Not
vestiEe of green. not a patch Of grass,
mitIgates the forbiddink aspect Of the
floor out Of which the orderly rows OF
trunks rise. Nothing but q blanket Of
fine dust, lahoriouely maintained by
tho grower TO break Up capillary attrac-
ton. prevents the baking OF the surface
in the rainless summer and enables the
soil TO retain its moisture with mini
mum OF irrigation. The trees are lack
Ing In individuality. They are all OF one
monotonous size and shape. low. bush
! like, the crowns starting but few
feet from the ground that their every
portion may be easily and conveniently
| reached"
| There are no periods Of rest for the
western fruit-prowers. From January to
December he must fight for his crop. He
must irrigate he must cultivate the soil
| continuously: he must SOW and plow
under cover crops to maintain the hum
us supply: ne must spread tons Of fer
tilizer; he must prune and trim his rank
growing trees; he Nmust defend them
against insects. fungus. and bacterial
| enemies: and he must even fight the pro-
/ diRality of appeased nature that his
fruit may be OF the desired quality. For
II he Ia loyal to his orchard. the trees
in the mild climate will proceed TO COW
er themselves with such an enormous
i load OF fruit that many OF the branches
would break and the vitality Of the trees
| become exhausted In the East nature
can take care that the trees load shall
not he excessive. Wind, torrential rains
frost, hall-thcy all take their share Of
the blossoms and immature fruit. often
until nothing is left to ripen in the fall!
In the West the grower must assist ma
ture and tighten the load his trees are
bearing II is a cruel. tedious task, this
thinning ont OF the growing crop. 1t
hurts the growers heart to see bushels
upon bushels OF small apples. peaches,
or pears stripped off the branches and
thrown on the ground. but the progress
sive grower will not let his greed over
come his reason. He knows that the
balance left on the trees will moro than
recompense him for the loss. BY a sys-
temat!c thinning OF the immature fruit
the grower can determine with almost
mathematical accuracy what size the re-
mainder shall attain. The more fruit
he re,roye. tho I. roer tho .nece NO.
tween tho snec,n,.ns left an tho hr,rch.
es tho larger tho diameter ~ tho ,r,,;+
will he when II rinens nv d.craa.ing
tho snace h. con raise LARGO nusntitv
~ sna1,.r.i,od ,rui, Two ,bir,irg
nroce.s intelIircntlv n.rforned riyes N.
grower = chonc. to remove all malform
cd. injured. worm-eaten. or diseased
,rui, enabling the ire. ia devote nil i,s
enersirs ia rho productio, ~ n sound
healthy cron Of uniform s,ze"
And af,er tho ann,.s ara .rovn u,b,+o
| Eoth,ny los. ,r,r foI,ow,nv tho mos, 70.
leutl.ss harJ-beaded bustness m.thods
"a IN. erd The +ru,, !. r,cL.d with tho
most exactinr care TO nrevent even IN.
s,iph,est bruisinc or hr..k,ns ., IN. .kir
and then comes the grading. which I,
nerbans IN. most RELENTLESS. nroc.s, ~
all-for western annles do mot sell for
Ave To nrtesn cents aniece IN the Ncw
York fruit stands becruse III. frui, as n
whole is 40 much halter than that grown
in the East hu, bec,use only the very
hest ~ the cro-, is allowed 10 come Eas,
and the rest stovs et home rhe.e West,
ern rrowers b,d M, b..r long IN the
hrs,ness h.,ore ,hev dis,ov.red tint their
nocket hooks would no, stand ,he nav.
r1ent Of fr.irh, charges across tho Rocky