experiments of former years had shown the success or failure of the
different species and varieties already in cultivation in many parts
of the country; and now, at its close, after nearly forty years more
of experience, there is scarcely a section within the entire domain of
North American fruit culture where it is not quite well known what is
and what is not adapted to each locality.
The methods of culture are changed from the old ones, which were
largely those practiced in Europe, to such as have been evolved by
the peculiar necessities of our soil, climate, and varieties. This is
especially true of our vineyards; for, except on the Pacific slope,
where the foreign grapes succeed, our native vines require much less
severe pruning, and a much more roomy trellis upon which to grow than
those old kinds. The first vineyards were planted very thickly and
trained by the stake method, which is the French and German style. I
remember working in such vineyards just prior to 1870, and of seeing
the dwarfing and dwindling effect upon the vines. Nothing of the kind
is now seen this side the Rocky Mountains, because our American grapes
will not endure such treatment and continue to bear well.
Horse culture has in a great measure succeeded hand culture. Without
such a change it would be impossible to profitably cultivate the vast
stretches of orchards, vineyards, and berry-fields that are to-day
found in many parts of the country. The common plow and harrow were
about the only tools available thirty or forty years ago. They are
now supplemented, and in some cases superseded, by various kinds of
cultivators, weeders, and improved plows and harrows. They are made to
carry out the modern idea of frequent but shallow stirring of the soil.
This method of culture disturbs the roots but little and retains the
moisture in the soil, by keeping the surface finely pulverized, thus
forming a “dust mulch.” Some of these tools are so made as to enable
one man with one horse to easily cultivate twenty-five acres per day,
and with a two or three horse implement, to thoroughly pulverize the
surface over fifty or more acres in that time.
The tendency during the last half century has been towards heading
orchard trees lower. The old style was to have them with trunks so
tall that a horse could walk under the branches. Low heads have the
advantage of giving the winds less purchase upon the roots, the fruit
is more easily gathered, and the sun is less likely to scald the trunks.
The old idea of our forefathers was, that apples were chiefly to be
used for making cider, peaches for brandy, and grapes for wine. We have
become a nation of fruit-eaters, as compared with our predecessors
and the Europeans. The greatest impetus ever given to American fruit
culture came from the increased demand in our own country for fresh
fruit. It is a staple article of diet here, rather than a luxury, as
it is in most parts of Europe. Nearly all of our fresh fruits are
consumed in the homes of our people, or exported. A very little is
made into cider, brandy, or wine, and the larger part of the remainder
is dried or canned. The proportion of grapes made into wine east of
California is trifling, while there it is considerable. The enormous
production and consumption of berries of various kinds by the Americans
is unparalleled in the history of the world; and nearly all of this has
come through the development of our wild berries.
Instead of buying largely of foreign fruits and their products, except
such as are strictly tropical and cannot be grown within our borders
only in a limited way, we have nearly stopped their importation, and
have, in turn, become exporters. The rapid increase in our population
demands more and more fruit, and it is not to be wondered at that our
imports of oranges and lemons is increasing; but if it was not for
our home production of these fruits the present amount would be more
than doubled. Our raisins and dried prunes have almost driven out
the foreign products, and their quality is so good that there is a
growing demand for them in England and some other foreign countries.
The same is true of our canned and preserved fruits. Our apples bring
the highest price of any that reach the markets of Europe, and the
demand for them is increasing. Fresh pears and peaches have also been
sent to England in limited quantities from as far west as California
and Oregon. Our oranges also have an enviable reputation there because
of their beauty and delicious flavor. Our apples are sent to Mexico,
China, and Japan. The street venders of Bombay, India, cry their sale
with great gusto: “American apples! true American apples!” and sell
them at a price which would require more than a whole day’s wages of a
good workman to buy a single one.
The world is beginning to know the value and goodness of our fruits.
We are selling, inside their dainty skins, a portion of our sunshine
and water; for the golden, pink, and crimson tints are from the glowing
sun, and the water, which is the main part of all fruits, is fresh from
nature’s fountain.
GROWTH OF APPLE CULTURE.—From the first settlement of the country well
into the present century, the principal purpose for which apples were
cultivated in America was to make cider. This was a common beverage in
England and on the continent of Europe, whence our forefathers came.
Here they introduced the Old World custom of drinking hard cider “in
season and out of season.” In 1721, in one “town” near Boston, wherein
lived about forty families, there were made in one year three thousand
barrels of cider, and in another of two hundred families, near ten
thousand barrels. This is fifty barrels to the family, which seems
ample for a great many drinks per day for each person, with plenty left
to sell to the cider-loving citizens of Boston. Colonel John Taylor of
Virginia wrote, in 1813, nearly one hundred years later: “The apple
will furnish some food for hogs, a luxury for the family in winter, and
a healthy liquor for the farmer and his laborers all the year.”
But hard cider did not always satisfy. “Applejack,” which is the
strongest kind of brandy, suited the taste of many of the old-fashioned
folk much better. The Virginia gentleman, the Dutch burgher, whose
ample acres fronted upon the Hudson, the solemn Philadelphia Quaker
and the staid Puritan of New England, all loved their dram and took it
frequently.
Besides alcoholic liquors, vinegar was made in considerable quantities.
But as late as the middle of this century there was scarcely a good
family apple orchard to be found, such as we now have, with varieties
arranged to ripen from early to late. Nor were there many commercial
orchards of consequence. The famous orchard of Robert L. Pell, in
Ulster County, New York, was a remarkable exception. It consisted of
20,000 trees, all of the Yellow and Green Newtown apples. Fruit from
this orchard sold at wholesale in London, England, in 1845, at the
enormous price of $21.00 per barrel, but the next year the price had
fallen to $6.00 in New York city, ready for foreign shipment. This
orchard gradually fell into decay, and was not soon followed by others
of so large acreage. The Newtown apple proved unsuitable for general
culture, and is now grown only in two localities with much success.
In the mountain “coves,” or sheltered slopes and valleys, of the Blue
Ridge, in Virginia and North Carolina, where it is called “Albemarle
Pippin,” there are many orchards that produce as fine fruit as any from
the Pell orchard, and it now sells from $5.00 to $12.00 and more per
barrel in England. In the higher foothills of California and Oregon
this variety does equally well, and apples from there are being sold in
England during this closing period of the century at almost fabulous
prices.
In the old days, if an orchard furnished an abundance of apples for
cider, brandy, vinegar, apple butter, some for drying, and a few of
fair quality that would keep for winter use, it was all that was
expected.
[Illustration: PACKING APPLES FOR EXPORT, IN ORCHARD OF MR. PAY, ST.
CATHARINES, ONT.]
Most of the trees in those old orchards were inferior seedlings, and it
is no wonder that the people of those days did not use apples as we do.
A few of them were very good, and it is from such chance favorites that
we have preserved to us, by grafting, the Baldwin Winesap and hundreds
more that fill our orchards to-day. We have developed a new race of
American seedlings. Most of the old varieties that were so highly
esteemed across the ocean are now rarely mentioned. Our newer and
better kinds have largely supplanted them. As time advanced more choice
varieties were added, until we may now confidently boast of having
the best apples in existence. Whoever has eaten our delicious Grimes
Golden, Jonathan, and Northern Spy, need not look for better kinds,
because they cannot now be found. Indeed, the name “Seek-no-farther”
has been triumphantly applied to one variety. However, we are still
seeking and expecting to produce by skillful breeding, if not to find,
others which may be even better than those we now possess.
A history of the recognized and named varieties of apples of American
origin would be a book in itself. It should begin almost with the first
settlement of the country. At the beginning of this century the Early
Harvest, Baldwin, Swaar, Esopus Spitzenberg, Rhode Island Greening,
Yellow Bellflower, and a few others which are yet popular, were already
grafted into hundreds of orchards, some of them being as far west as
the Mississippi River. William Coxe, in his excellent book on fruits,
published in 1817, mentions 100 kinds. William Prince, of Long Island,
who kept the first nursery of note, had 116 varieties of apples in his
published list in 1825, of which about half were of American origin.
Now there are nearly 1000 kinds offered by the nurserymen of the
country, and the books on pomology contain nearly 5000 varieties, a
large part of them being American. Truly this is progress.
We have the best and by far the most extensive apple country in the
world. The largest apple orchards in the world are in America. The
biggest of all belongs to F. Wellhouse & Son, of Kansas, in which there
are 1600 acres. There are others in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado,
and New Mexico that are nearly as large.
The variety principally grown in these orchards is the Ben Davis. It
is a thrifty, rugged grower, a most productive bearer, and a handsome
apple to sell. Its brilliant red stripes, large size, and ability to
keep, make up for its deficiency in flavor. It is, to-day, the business
apple of America. Baldwin is the business apple of the Eastern States.
Both these varieties are well known in every market of this country,
and wherever our apples are exported.
The first government record of exported apples was in 1821, when
“68,643 bushels,” or about 22,781 barrels of apples, were sent abroad.
In 1897 there were 2,371,143 barrels exported, which is the largest
quantity ever shipped to foreign countries in one year. During the same
year there were also exported nearly 31,000,000 pounds of dried apples,
94,000 gallons of vinegar, and 750,000 gallons of cider. Certainly this
is a good showing for the surplus products of American apple orchards.
The year 1898 gave a lighter yield, but 1899 will, perhaps, about equal
it.
THE PEAR.—Whoever has eaten a delicious little Seckel pear must know
that its equal in richness and spicy flavor is not to be found. This
little gem is one of the triumphs of American fruit culture. How far
beyond and above the old “choke” pear of our grandfathers’ days
is this one, and many more of the delicious pears that grow in our
orchards and gardens to-day!
Pear growing was only a side issue until lately. A few trees were
planted about our forefathers’ houses or in the edge of the apple
orchards; but these were often sprouts from some neighbor’s seedling
trees. As the appetite for good fruit increased, the false idea that
pears should be ground and pressed into cider, called perry, decreased,
until now no one thinks of wasting this delicious fruit by making it
into an intoxicating drink.
The Bartlett is our most popular pear of good quality. It originated
in Berkshire, England, about 1770, where it was called Williams. When
brought to America early in this century and planted at Dorchester,
Mass., the original name was lost, and it was renamed in honor of Enoch
Bartlett, who first propagated and distributed the trees and grafts.
The old tree, from which came the millions that have been and are now
a source of delight and profit to our people, is still in bearing
condition at Dorchester, and I have lately eaten as good Bartlett pears
from it as ever were grown. The variety flourishes better in America
than in its old home, and every year large shipments of the fruit are
sent to England and sold at a very high price.
Some fifty years ago there were brought from China seeds of a type of
a pear that was entirely new to this country, and was called by us the
“Sand” pear. The only apparent reason for giving it this name is, that
it is gritty, hard, and little better to eat than so much sand. But the
seeds made trees that grew with remarkable vigor and were much alike,
and so was their fruit.
From this stock came up a seedling some thirty years ago, in the garden
of Peter Kieffer, in Philadelphia, that has almost revolutionized
pear growing in America. It is supposed to be the result of a cross
between a Chinese Sand pear-tree and a Bartlett that stood near each
other, although this is mere supposition. The fruit is only of medium
quality, and some say it is very poor; but it is large, very beautiful
when fully mature, late in ripening, and endures rough handling with as
little harm as so many potatoes. It is very popular with the canners.
The greatest point in its favor is the freedom of the tree from blight,
its vigor and almost never-failing and abundant bearing. It is the
business pear of to-day, despite its inferior quality.
THE PEACH.—When the peach was first planted in America by the Spanish
and French, and later by other nationalities, there was little thought
of it ever becoming a great commercial fruit. The trees that sprang
from the seeds brought across the ocean grew so luxuriantly and bore so
abundantly that their progeny was soon scattered far and wide. Peach
trees were early found growing wild, like our native trees, wherever
seeds had been dropped by travelers or hunters. There was no attempt at
commercial peach orcharding until well into the present century, and
for the first half of this there were scarcely more than a few seedling
orchards planted for family use or for making brandy. In some sections
dried peaches were an article of trade before any commercial peach
orchards, in the true sense, had been planted; but they were always the
product of women’s work, and were prepared under the disadvantageous
conditions with which they are usually hampered. It is no wonder that
the grade was low, for the peaches were generally of poor quality,
and no other mode of drying was then known than on boards and wooden
trays, exposed in the open air to flies, moths, and dust. All that
was sent to market was first taken in at the stores where the country
people came to trade, and it was a mixed mess, indeed, that was thus
collected. What fresh peaches were sold brought a very low price,
rarely more than twenty-five cents per bushel.
Early in the century budded peach-trees were almost unknown in America.
A few were brought over from France and the fruit houses of England,
all of which did very well here. However, it was soon learned that
there were seedlings of American origin that were equal to the best of
the foreign kinds. Among the first of these were Heath, Early York,
Tillotson, and Oldmixon Cling and Free. A little later, two large
yellow freestones came up by accident on the premises of William
Crawford, of Middletown, N. J., one ripening early and the other late.
Early Crawford and Late Crawford are, after more than sixty years of
trial, still very popular upon the markets. Many other kinds, once
popular, have long since been discarded and forgotten.
Just before our Civil War the Hale peach was discovered and, being
earlier than any kind then known, it became very popular. About 1865,
the Amsden, Alexander, and some others came to notice. They were a
month earlier than the Hale. A peach, called Peen-to, was imported from
southern China about the same time, that ripened still a month earlier;
but as it belonged to a very different race from our other peaches, and
was exceedingly tender, it has been found suitable only to Florida and
other semitropical regions.
The most popular peach of the present day is the Elberta. It was
originated by Samuel H. Rumph, of Georgia, about twenty years ago.
Its large size, creamy, yellow color, and good flavor, added to its
productiveness, make it very acceptable to both grower and consumer.
The most extensive peach orchards in America are located in Georgia,
North Carolina, Southern Missouri, Western Colorado, and California. A
few are each more than a thousand acres in extent.
The advent of patent evaporating machines, about 1870, aided greatly in
the production of high grade dried fruits of all kinds, and the peach
shared in the progress. California and Oregon alone shipped in a single
recent year nearly 40,000,000 pounds of dried peaches. The peach is
canned more than any other fruit, as may be seen upon the shelves of
any grocery store, or in the fruit closets of the country housewives.
Whether eaten fresh from the trees, served up with cream and sugar (a
dainty dish unknown in Europe), evaporated or canned, the peach is one
of the blessings of our great country.
THE PLUM.—There are three general classes of plums grown in America
to-day, the European, American, and Japanese. European plums were
introduced here at an early day, but were grown very sparingly until
within the last thirty or forty years. The principal reason for this
is the presence of a deadly enemy to the plum, apricot, and some other
fruits, commonly known as the plum curculio. It is a _little_ enemy but
a _mighty_ one; for it deposits its eggs in the young fruit, and they
soon hatch into little grubs that work their way into the fruit and
cause it to die and drop off. West of the Continental divide there are
none of these insects. There the soil, climate, and all else seem to
conspire to enable the plum-grower to prosper. Great prune orchards are
planted in the fertile valleys from New Mexico and Colorado westward.
Some of them cover thousands of acres in a body, and the yield is
enormous. The rainless autumns of California permit the drying of the
fruit in the open air and in the most economical and perfect way. From
an infant industry twenty years ago it has now grown so great that,
in 1897, California alone produced nearly 98,000,000 pounds of dried
prunes. Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and some other western States are
almost equally well suited to this industry.
East of the Rocky Mountains plum-growing is not so easy. The curculio
damages all classes of plums to some extent, but the European kinds
seem to be much less able to endure its attacks than any other. This
led to the selection and cultivation of the best varieties of our
several native species. Their fruit is not so large or so richly
flavored as some of the foreign kinds, but much of it is very good, and
the brilliant red, purple, and yellow colors are greatly admired. The
Japanese plums are of quite recent introduction. The beginning was in
1870, when the Kelsey, which is the largest, the latest to ripen, and
about one of the least valuable varieties of this class was brought
to California. Later importations have brought us many very valuable
kinds. The trees bear well, the fruit is mostly large, handsome, of
good quality, and resists the stings of the curculio quite as well as
our native kinds.
One of the most interesting and promising steps in plum-growing is only
beginning to be made, in the crossing of the three classes named. The
most skillful and patient worker in this field is Luther Burbank, of
California, who has already produced, by artificially pollenizing the
flowers, some most excellent varieties. Some of these new varieties
are larger than any plums ever before seen, delicious in flavor, and
blood-red to the stone.
THE CHERRY.—Away back in the history of our country, cherry trees were
planted here and there, but only for family use. The list of varieties
was meagre. Most of them were sour, bitter, or small. Now we have
hundreds of named varieties and of all grades of color, from creamy
yellow to black, and both sweet and sour, early and late.
In Washington, Oregon, and California the cherry does better than in
any of the regions farther East. The first cherries of the season
to ripen are in the famous Vaca Valley of California, and sometimes
shipments from there reach New York as early as April 1. The largest
cherry trees in America are found in the foot-hill regions of
Pennsylvania and Virginia. Trees are sometimes seen there that have
trunks three feet in diameter, with a spread of branches of more than
fifty feet. Such trees sometimes yield more than fifty bushels of fruit
at a time.
THE APRICOT.—All over the Eastern and Central States the apricot is
almost an entire failure because of the ravages of the plum curculio.
After many years of trial its culture there has been almost abandoned,
except by those who are willing to follow the jarring of the trees to
catch the insects. Across the Continental divide, where this enemy does
not exist, the apricot flourishes as well or better than anywhere else
in the world. It is one of the profitable fruits from western Colorado
to the shores of the Pacific. California dried and sent to market
in one year over 30,000,000 pounds. There is also a great amount of
apricots canned there every year, a large part of which are shipped all
over the world.
THE QUINCE.—Although sour and unfit for eating from the hand, the
quince is one of our most delicious fruits when cooked. No store of
sweetmeats is complete without a generous supply of quince jelly. This
fruit delights in a moist soil and a cool but not severe climate.
However, it succeeds very well over the main part of North America.
Almost every home plot has a tree or two. In western New York
many commercial quince orchards have been planted within the last
twenty-five years, some of them being of forty acres in extent.
AMERICAN GRAPE CULTURE.—In no department of American pomology has
there been more remarkable advancement than in grape-growing. It was
the belief of those who first began to grow fruits here, that the
grapes of Canaan, Persia, Greece, and Rome, which were brought down
through the ages to the vineyards of modern Europe, would grow equally
well in America. One great reason for this belief was the abundance of
wild grapes of many kinds that were found from Nova Scotia to Texas.