Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1912-11-16
GEORGE BYRNE
WRITES ABOUT
OUR STATE FRUIT
Developing An Orchard To Con-
tain 10000 Trees.
SOMETHING ABOUT
A BIG ORCHARD

Manufacturers Record Has Interest
Ing Article on the erwin Mountain
Orchards" Which Tells What the
Company Hopes to Accomplish
When Trees Reach Maturity.
Tho following from the pen OF
George Bryne, appeared in this weeks
Manufacturers Record:
KEYSER, w. VA, Oct. 19.--"Twin
Mountain Orchards" is the name of
a corporation that is developing
large orhard propertyon the Twin
Mountains" in the counties of Mineral
Grant and Hardy, West Virginia,
about rs miles from this place The
company was orgnized some three
years ago. and purchased 1900 acres
OF land, of which 900 acres ebert and
600 ares limestone Development
was begun in November, 1909, and TO
date there have been 800 acres clear
ed and planted with $500 trees, of
which $1,000 are peach trees and
2l,000 apple trees. When the develop
ment is completed there will be 120,.
900 trees.
To the man who sees this ebert
land for the first time 1t appears that
nothing could be grown upon it, for
1t looks as though all the railroads In
the world had been abandoned their
tracks torn up and their ballast scat.
tered over the hills In the orchard
In qquestion, where the thrifty young
trees are seen, the mountais are COZ.
cred with unnumbered thousands of
tons of broken stone that resembles
nothing 80 much as railroad ballast,
and surely nothing but great steam
scoop is needed to gather there suf
ficient stone to ballast all railroads
This broken stone lies to a depth OF
from few inches TO many feet, and
in most places there is not a particle
OF soil in sight. But going down a lit
tie way below the surface humus is
found filling the intsrstices between
the stones, and it becomes rather
larger in quantity as It goes farther
down, and keeps it there. The ebert
protects the soil and Keeps il from
washing, else after the timber is
cleared off il would sooa be carried
down into the streams and washed
away and lost The greatest obstacle
the planter encounters IS that OF keep
inc sufficient soil about the young
trees to nourish them until they can
drive their roots down into the humus
that is undisturhed by digging. Once
that is done. the trees become strong
and thrifty, and there Is no further
trouble.
Having seen orchards growing on
these lands for the past dozen or SO
years, have speculated somewhat
upon the question Of how the first man
came TO know that fruit trees would
thrive in such, for surely to the eye
there could be nothing more unprom-
Using. The discovery must have been
accidental BE that AS il may, how
ever. | learn here thai the first man
TO plant an orchard in the ebert was
Or. Thomas Neal Of this place. He
put out a small orchard near this city
not of any improved" variety of fruit
and was not cared for scientifically,
but it prospered, nevertheless. and
some of the trees are said to be stand
ing now, and to be thrifty. DR. Neal
was thoroughly laughed at by all his
neighbors. and his orchard was one
of the community jokes until it prov
ed its value by its fruits.
The first commercial orchard set in
the ebert was the Knobly Mountain
peach orchard of the Allegrany Or
Guard Co, some four or five miles
from this place. This orchard is now
II years old, ana this wear bore a
large crop of very fine fruit, Though
several years past the time the peach
tree is ordinarily supposed to live and
thrive, the trees in this orchard are
healthy and thrifty in appearance and
seemingly good for a number Of years
OF usefulness The longevity OF the
trees is doubtless induced by tho per
feet drainage of the sell, which keeps
them free Of wet feet those deadly
Toes Ol iTuil anu uloN ~ R4iN
excellent air drainage, which keeps off
the deadly frosts and freezes. BY
this unobstructed air drainage the
cold air rushing down into the valleys
drives the warm air to the heights,
thus protecting the buds and bios
SONS. and the tender shoots No bet
ter illustration OF the advantage com
ing from this air drainage could be
asked than was furnished by the
crop yields of the season just ended.
Below l400 feet elevation the severe
weather OF the past winter ruined the
crop, while above that line the yield
was abundant, and the fruit large and
fine. The property of the Twin Noun
tain Orchards lies az an elevation OF
from 1870 TO ESQ feet,
Nor is oreharding the only use TO
which these ebert lands can be put
with profit. Other things can be gro n
during the time the trees az s.4ns
A.. NJ