The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-11
CEORG|A'S APPLE CROP ABUNDANT
 AND IN DEMAND
By HERvEy ". LAIRD

Atlanta, November ,f0.-tSpecfal)--Ap- ples, red and rosy, large and small, pien- tifuI-and che p-not on your life. Two dollars a box at the trees and takers for the entire lot. Such Is the apple story of that part of Georgia that lies In and about Cornelia, in the historic county of
 Habershan.
 As If anticipating that Mir. Hoover
 would ask much of them the Habersham
 orchards have tried themselves this year.
 Old trees did better than might have
 been asked of them, and new trees got
 busy in their earlier productions in way to make their owners happy. More than 300 900 trees have done well for the sea-
 son.
 On a small pleatau In the general sec
 ton of .Habersham county. nature has
 done wonders for apples. The altitude
 Is high, the seq Is full of lime and iron
 and the rainfall is excessive. These are the things that the fruit likes, and wher-
 ever they are found in working volume
 there Is good returns. For a great many
 years apples have done we'll in the neigh
 borhood mentioned, but it Is only lately
 that the people have known why.
 MUST HAVE CARE
 An apple tree Is small child in the attention it requires. It must In the be- ginning. be carefully selected. If great
 things are expected of it the first spring it must be an aristocrat, or, at least, of
 a prominent family. It must then be
 pruned and watered. cultivated and
 sprayed, all at the hands of man, save
 the watering. As one expert says, they must be fioorwalked. Men must go up
 and down the rows, ever on the watch. If tree shows a pale leaf, there is trouble somewhere It may be a worm, or it may be poor nourishment. If the first, long needle goes in and drags him out. If the latter bit of pungent fer tilizer Is laid at the roots. If there is nearby some growth that the trees do not like, they show 1t and out it must come. But If given this attention. a tree is 6 joy and pleasure. certain buwark against dependency and hard times. When tree is along about eight years old it begins to pay its keep, and year
 later starts In to recompense for its early education. From then on 1t is a revenue producer. It never fails in the Haber- sham territory, trough there are off and on years when the output varies some what. But a man with 1000 trees that are more than nine years old need not fear either the sheriff or the old ladies' home. They'll look right after his ma- terial welfare in return for bit of care that either man or woman can easily provide.
 MIGHTY BUSY SHORT LINE Out from Cornelia runs the Tallula
 Falls railway, about 50 miles through the apple and peach section. asked Super intendent D. W. Newell who was riding over the line, what he was doing in ap- ples. He replied that his road alone had 1 carried not far from 100 full cars in Oc- torber, not to mention what went over the main line of the Southern and by ex- press in box shipments. He is looking forward to a constant and extensive in- crease oyer these figures from now on Getting ready for 1t he Is laying much of this division with new rail. : | MT. Newells line has a number of load ing stations, upon which could be seen cars set in for consignments. The ap- ples are boxed in bushel lots, the boxes being made nearby. They find ready market in Atlanta and Savannah. always at high prices. They are pronounced just as sound and as nearly perfectiin textile and fiber as the Oregon. output, with a 1 far better flavor. Oregon must go 2o0( miles to the market at Chicago. and then Fmuch more tao the rest of the country, while the Habersham apple. is almost at the adpors of a market that will keep It busy for many years to come.