Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1911-10-07
FREDERICK MEN VISITED
GREAT APPLE ORCHARDS
Frederick Men Attend Apple Show
Here and Tell Of the Fine Or
chards and Fruit.


On Friday last four men from Fred
erick who are interested in apple Gull
ture attended the apple show that was
being held in Martinsburg, w. Va.
The display of apples at the show,
which was held in the market house,
was not very large, but the specimens
Of apples exhibited were very dne.
This was chiefly because the show was
held at date that was too early for
many varieties of winter apples to be
ready for exhibition.
The program of the three-days
show, however, was an interesting and
instructive one. One reason why the
pple show was held at so early a
date was in order that visitors might
have the opportunity of visiting some
of the many orchards around Martins
burg in order to see and examine the
fruit on the trees and note the method
employed in picking and spraying. Ga
Friday numerous automobiles were on
hand to convey visitors out to the
orchards.
The first orchard visited was that
O. Mr.. Stewart. 1t consisted of 100
acres of bearing trees, ranging from
twelve to eighteen years. The vari-
cites were York Imperial, Ben Davis,
Jonathan and Grimes's Golden. Mr..
Stewart, the owner of the orchard
said he expected to pack and ship fif-
teen thousand barrels of apples, for
which he expected to get a fraction
better than So per barrel. He had
about one hundred pickers and pack
ers employed, who are lodged and
boarded in large, well-equipped
building for that purpose. The apples
on the heavily-laden trees, of which
York Imperials predominant, were per-
feet specimens, it being difficult to
find an imperfect apple. This is be-
cause they were sprayed several times
once for scale and twice for coddli1g
moths.
Mr. Stewards orchard last year also
produced very heavy crop.
The next orchard visited was a
small one of thirteen acres of thir-
teen year-old trees, owned by Mr..
Thatcher. This was a model orchard
and shows the effect of the intelligent
care and work of the owner. Mr..
Thatcher said that last year he had a
heavy crop of good apples, and that
buyer offered to give him check for
$4,000 for his apples as they hung on
tie trees. AFTER considering the offer
lie decided to refuse it and handle his
and pack the fruit himself and sell it
by the barrel. This, he said, resulted
IN the orchard netting him $4,000, or
$500 per acre. This year Mr.. Thatch-
er's crop is not so heavy as last year.
hut he expected it to net him $4,000.
The merchants, bankers and far
mers in and around Martinsburg are
all very much interested in and en-
thusiastic about the possibilities of
apples.
After returning to Martinsburg from
the inspection of orchards, two of the
Frederick men called at the Martins
burg Loan and Trust Company to pay
their respects to the president and
cashier, who had shown them many
ccurtesies during the day. While there
they were introduced to a farmer
whose name was forgotten. This man
stated that year ago he sold his
bearing orchard to a local orchard
company for 100000 When asked
the size Ct his orchard he said 140
acres and the age of his trees were
from 10 to % years. When some sur
prise was exhibited at the price OF
something more than 500 per acre,
enc of the offic ais of the bank stated
that he was secretary of the company
that bought this orchard and if the
listeners would step back into the
bank Office he would show them some
interesting figures.
He produced the books of the COM
Tany, showing this purchase and price
pad and the names If those who were
interested in the company, one of
whom was a Frederick county man.
The most interesting figures we noted
were those of $23.SOO which repre-
seLted the net results of the crop OF
apples picked, which was just after
the purchase had been made. Since
then the two Frederick men have
been trying to figure out who got the
long end of that transaction, The far
Ioer who got 100000 for his 14O acres
or the company who paid this price
ard received nearly "a per cent return
on their investment the first year
The slogan at the Martinsburg apple
show was "a million barrels in 1925"
which refers to what they hope their
county win produce in 1925.
Mr. Thatcher, the owner of the 49,
acre orchard referred to, remarked
that he was in Frederick about a year
ago and what impressed him more
than anything he saw was the mag
nificent apple-producing land that sur
rounds Frederick.