Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1911-12-14
Apple Culture in Virginia.

BY Dr. E. A. shubert, Re,an-ke, q.
\
No state N America offe geehter
advant ,ges to ,h4 fruit or wnr than
Virginia. There. are advantages II the
cl.mbis atian Of suitable soil, climate
and nearness To the markets that few
.,tne~ states possess. The yisld from
sler orchards have been excelled fy few
ether states. SAILS from apple orchards
Rave been made at from $500. to S80f,
ner acre Mr. Whitacre seld Els crop
of apples from four acres for $500.
An orchard of about forty acres in
Rotetourt County has several times
yielded crops that sold for $40, 900. Dr..
Robinson, of Albermarle, has sold his
pippins in London at $6.75 per barrel
A northern paper advertises that sone
famous apple tree has yielded during
its life $3.50 worth of apples, while it
is well known in Nelson County that
the really famous old Maxwell Pippin
tree yielded in one crop $110 worth Of
apples, and is still bearing choice
Pippins. The old Handy apple tree.
still living in Patrick County. has
yielded 1872 bushels in one year. A
well cared for apple orchard in Vir-
GINA will bear fruit for fifty years
due to the unsurpassed soil and climate
as found in this State The yield and
quality Of fruit grown in Virginia has
never been surpassed by any other
state. Peaches are also very profit
able crop The sale from one ofchard
in Albermarie County. from lees thar
two acres, amounted to 1,200 net or
one crop. All the stone fruits can be
profitably grown in Virginia. Fruit
culture in this state is rapidly increas
ing each year. The investments in
commercial orchards will in he near
future yield enormous profits. Offers
! Of one thousand dollars an acre for
good orchards have recently been made
in this State. The fruit crop III Vir
ginia brings more money than the
wheat crop, or the tobacco crop. or hay
crop. The proper handling. packing
and sale Of our fruit now demands the
!. careful attention of the fruit growers.
Fruit and apple lands equal to the
',cst, can be had along the mountain
! mes of the Shenandoah Valley at an
sgerage price 81 Sis to $50 per acre aip
! small tracts, and in tracts of several
thousand acres it can be obtained at
about one. half these prices. In other
words. it is positive fact that high
class apple land can be purchased along
the western slopes of the Blue Ridge
| Mountains, overlooking the beautiful
81, ,nandeah Valley, intersected here
and there by the silver ribbon of ice
tcold, clear as crystal mountain trout
streams, endowed with climate I'm.
surpassed and charming social en-
vironment that, combined with the
golden sunshine and the invigoratinp
breezes, make this one of nature's
beauty spots-delights the traveller
and brings peace. contentment and
prosperity to the resident. It Is a fact
that these mountain slope fruit lands
| can be had unimproved in large tracts
OF several thousand acres for ever
less than half of the price per acre
quoted above, and we can prove that
these same lands are capable Of pro
ducing twenty 10 one hundred times
their cost from one years crop Of APP
pl . after the trees come into bearing
These lands would be considered cheap
in some apple growing states at twenty
times the price asked here and still we
have almost their advantages, with the
great additional advantage of close
proximity to railroad and the large
Eastern markets. No better opening
can be found for the Inauguration of
an orchard planting campaign on a
large commercial basis. From Better.
Fruit published at Portland, Oregon
4 E 45