The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-06-11

away prizes which aggregated $300 GOO, the first prize being a sweepstake of S10o0. At that show there were displays from s6 gon. California, Idaho and Montana, and the apples were shown in all sorts of packages, from the carload to the box They sent one train load to the exhibits from there to Chicago. It went by ex- press and 1t carried just 1,000, GOO apples.
 Our Best Apple Lands
 Where are our best apple lands? I have asked this question of several of the leading pomologists of the agricul- tural department, and we have gone over the country with a map laid before us. Take first the Pacific northwest. The most famous regions are pockets such as the Wenatchee valley and Hood River lcountry. They have not a large area, but the land has been divided up Into small patches, ten acres being enough for any one man to handle The Yakima region is larger, and there are other ex- tensive tracts in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. There is big apple coun- try in California a little south of San l Francisco, from whose port, Watsonville, are shipped more apples than from any other port in the world. The most of the northwestern apples go by rail to Chi- eago, New York and New England, and not few are sent across the continent | by rail and thence by steamer to London. l It surprised me to learn that one of the most profitable apple regions is in Colorado. It lies in the western part of the state, on the other side of the Rock ies, and quite a distance from Denver The climate there is such that it has had crops when those of the northwest have failed. Ss
 Coming farther east, there Is big ap- pie region in Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. The Ozark mountain country in many years has lead the United States in the production of the big red apple, and there are large orchards in Kansas and Nebraska and also in the states on the other side of the Mississippi river
 Just now some of the most successful orchards of the country are in western Michigan. They run up along the coast of the lake and extend some distance back into the interior. I know of one agricultural scientist who has an or chard of 200 trees there. It was planted by his father some 30-odd years ago. That orchard brought in $500 this year. mak- ing met profit of about s6O0 per acre.
 Apples of New York and New Eng
 Land
 The old reliable apple country of the United States is northern New York. It has been producing large crops of fine fruit for years and with modern spraying and improved cultivation it Is now yielding more than ever. Rep rosentatitve apple buyers of the coun- try have annual meetings at Niagara Falls, where they arrange the manage inent of this crop and whether 1t is big or little largely affects the market prices all over the country.
 New England Is raising great deal of apples. This Is especially so of south eastern Maine and some parts of Massachusetts. Vermont and New Hampshire. The most of the apples from that region are Baldwlns. Among the new movements there is the renoya- tien of tic old orchards after meth ods laid down by the department Of agriculture. 4 large number of aban- doned farms have been made profitable by the retuvenation of the old apple orchards through trimming and culti- vation.
 Apple Pie Ridge
 There is a district in Virginia known as Apple Pie Ridge. It is in the Appa- iachian mountains, and I shall dignity the whole of that system by that name Apples can be raised in selected spots