Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1910-01-26
APPLE INDUSTRY OF
SHENANDOAH VALLEY
Editor of Rural New Yorker
Writes of Virginia Apples
FINE EXHIBIT At WINCHESTER
Variety of Color and Quality Like
a Flower Garden

In the current issue Of the Rural
New Yorker, the noted agricultural
publication, Mr.. H w. Collingwood.
the editor, whose travels and OBJ
servations have covered a wide
range, prints over his initials the
following interesting and suggestive
letter about the recent exhibit of
Virginia apples at Winchester:
Like Flower Garden
Last week l went down to Win
chester, Va, to attend the Virginia
State Horticultural Society meeting.
IT we call Vermont the "bashful"
State and Maine "contented" be-
cause they will not let people know
the full truth about their apples, L
do not know what name to apply to
Virginia. This valley produces APP
pies in such variety and of such
bea utiful color and quality that a
fruit show here is like flower
garden. At the Boston fruit show
Baldwin, r. I. Greening. Russell
and Northern Spy provided most OF
the specimens. At Winchester /
found only one plate of BaIdwins
and not one Greening, though some
North western Greetings were
shown. There was great display
of York Imperials, Crimes, Wine
sap, Albemarle and varieties which
apparently grow to perfection in
this valley. Mr.. Van Heman, who
Judged this fruit, and who has been
doing similar Judging all over the
Northwest, told me that several
boxes shown at this Virginia eXhi-
bition we're the finest he ever saw.
The color was superb, and as for
| quality do not know what more l
can say than that some of those Vir-
GINA Ben Davis were plenty good
enough to eat.
Proved An Eye-Opener
This great fruit show would
surely have proved an eye-opener
to thousands of Americans who do
not realize what the people in this
valley have been doing. Quietly
and without any buster or bluff
they have been growing and ship
ping these beautiful apples. A
large share Of the fruit has gone to
Europe. Once let these Virginians
get together in cooperative socie-
ties such as they have in Oregon.
and this box fruit will be put into
our Northern markets. Then "Sher-
idan's Ride" will be forgotten in
the rush after these York imperials
and Albemarles. 1 presume that
the oldtime Virginian would object
to anything that seemed like ped
ding" fruit. He would rather sell
in wholesale way to exporterers,
and give them the profit. This
spirit is passing away, for there is
no good reason why our old enemy,
prejudice, should take his big share
of the consumers dollars. l met
one man who sold 10 barrels of Al.
bemarle Pippins for $l2O. l saw 9
barrel of fruit much like this lot,
and we estimated that there were
about 800 apples in it. A man who
had just come from New York
bought at fancy fruit store "Vir-
ginia Albemarle" about like the
average in this barrel, and paid IL
cents for it. This means $50 bar,
rel at retail, so this grower did moi
rob the retailer after all. / could
tell true stories of the money re-
turns from single trees or from or
chards in this valley that woulG
read like fairy tales. The grea
wonder to a Cape Cod man is thai
men living in section possessing
such natural advantages do no
even possess tin horn" and have
no inclination to- blow one If they
had it.
Why, these men do not seem Il
care for new varieties of apples
Why should they, when their quar-
tette of York, Albemarle, Crime:
and Winesap grow to such perfect
ion?