The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1914-10-08

great apple district.
If ANYTHING further is required in or
der to correct the ideas of Eastern peo-
ple as to this matter, it may be stated
that there are five railroad stations in
New York State from which more ap-
pies are shipped every year than from
the whole of Washington or Oregon COM
bined. No, indeed, the effete East has
not surrendered its apple-growing supre-
macy vet and is not likely to, for the
Western growers are finding that they
have q. much harder row TO hoe than they
had been led to expect.
The Westerners have won their repu-
tation on the unusually high quality and
handsome appearance of the fruit they
ship and the neat manner in which they
pack it. In these respects they have
taught Eastern growers much needed
lesson, but the fruit they send has no
better flavor than that raised here. More
fancy apples are being raised in New
England and New York each year, and
soon the Hood River growers will find
their monopoly of this kind of fruit
broken.
TEN MILLION APPLE TREES IN VIRGINIA.
More than ten million apple trees have
been planted in Virginia, of which num-
Der only about one-sixth have come into
bearing. For the past two or three years
there has been big apple boom in many
parts of the country, yet it is probable
that there are fewer trees in bearing now
than there were twenty years ago. When
the San Jose scale made its dreaded
march across the country hundreds of
orchards were chopped down or allowed
to go to ruin. Now that the farmers
have found that controlling the scale is
very simple matter, they are setting
out trees again.
In these days, though, no one can hope
to succeed unless he gives his trees close
attention from first to last, spraying,
cultivating, trimming and fertilizing
them as their needs may require. Many
farmers fail to receive any profit from
their apples simply because they have
not the capital necessary to give their
trees the care they demand. Yet some
men have made fortunes. A year or
TWO ago doctor with 26O-a acre apple
orchard in Missouri sold the fruit on the
trees for 100000. He knew his bust
ness, though, and earned his money
fairly. On frosty nights in spring he
had 5000 little smudge pots burning in
inherent pdiCS VI lue OTCUdFu III OrUer 10
keep the buds from being nipped.
Visitors to commercial orchard are
amazed at the extreme care taken in the
handling of the fruit. The apples are
picked by men on ladders and carefully
laid in baskets, every precaution being
taken to avoid the slightest bruise, for
bruised apples must be sorted out and
sold at a reduced price. Skillful picke,s
not oaSu fo find op6 rrood
wages. They grasp an apple so that the
joint it at the fruit spur by rolling ard
bending motion.
When the fruit has been picked, it is
carefully sorted, tables having strips of
burlaps for the tops often being used.
Some growers sort their apples with the
aid of a board in which are holes to indi-
cate the different sizes. Apples for dis
play on street STANDS need to be rubbed
until they shine and there are apple pol
lshing machines for the purpose.
Modern apple growers try to get their
fruit into cold storage as quickly as pos
sible and many of them have cold stor-
age plants on their farms. Often trac-
ton engines are used to haul train of
fiat cars or trucks, on which the barrels
of apples are loaded.
1t costs about twenty cents to pick a
barrel Of apples from high headed tree
and ten cents if the tree is a low one.
Special ladders which come together at
the top are sometimes used because thew
are less likely to slip than the common
kind, and some growers build regular
stagings to pick from.
BARREL MAKING NEAR BOSTON.
Oftentimes 1t is difficult to get enough
barrels to go around and this year the
demand will be particularly heavy. Bar