APPLE-GROWING IN AMERICA

Marlborough Express, Volume XLV, Issue 64, 16 March 1911, Page 2

APPLE-GROWING IN AMERICA

(By R. F. Goulter.) , While travelling through. Jhe Urnied States of America >n^. Canada in September and October last— [the fall of the year—l had;the good i fortune to see the apple orchards in full bearing. The extent of land, -laid down to fruit-growing and the profits; imade from, this industry were alike . a revelation to me. As I think the soil and climate of Marlborough are specially suitable to apple-growing, Ipropose to-.-give a few facts and, i figures 'in connection with' the in--1 dustry in America, in the hope that ! they may help in promoting the esItablishment of the industry here-on a commercial, scale. # * Apples are much more used in America than here. They are a conspicuous item in every menu, and .are served at all meals. The production from the whole of the United States 'for 1909 was 175,000,000 bushels, (501bs each bushel) equal to, say 100 lbs per head of population. .Canada also is a great apple-producing country. I saw some splendid orchards in Ontario, which ■" has 7,000,000 appletrees yielding 35,000,000 bushels in one year. British Columbia has 100,----000 acres laid down to fruit-growing— mostly apples. I noticed many young orchards,in the bush clearings *bri i the slopes of the Rocky Mountains in the latter country. . .The orchards .in the State of ,Washington were the ones that_ I had the privilege of closely inspecting, and it is therefore of these that I will give particulars. There are nearly 8,000,----000 apple trees in this State, the soil afid climate of which seems to suit them. < > i r At the' Spokane Fair I saw 1,000,----[t)00; apples on exhibition. At the I National Apple Show, held at "the same place in 1909, there were %,- ---500,000 shown—sufficient, "if placed side by side in' one row, to reach 60 miles. The,champion prize was11000 dollars for the best car load of apples (650 bushels). ' * After-leaving, Spokane I visited, the" irrigation settlement of Wenatchee, having a letter of introduction to Mr W. !T. Clark, the founder. Thisgentleman received our party most courteously, gave us full "information relative to the settlement' ahtFj&ts, prospects, v and took us for a tour] through the,orchards .in his motorcar, I shall neverHrdirg'et the magnificent sigHt.. these orchards presented with tKeir" bountiful supply v i!t of j luscious fruit—JtSffe trees • and fiiuikf grow larger tUiii with us, and the' fruit is much more ' highly colored. The settlement: is pleasantly situated at the ' foot-hill's of the Rockies oh the banks ojP'the Columbia River1;' the ( Great Nonmern. Railway passes' through it, which gives facilities for sending the fruit either east or west. ! ' Eight years ago a block upland' 10,000 acres in extent (then an. arid waste, growing only stunted sage bush) was sub-divided into orchards; of from 5 to 10 acres, and a waterrace from the, Wenatchee River was brought in and water conveyed to each orchard, which was planted almost wholly with apples—peaches were tried, but were found not so profitable, and are now being cut down and replaced with apples. The settlement has a population of 10,----°OO, all living in or near the town of Wenatchee, which is thoroughly up-to-date, with paved streets, theatres, banks, etc., all built out of the profits of apple-growing. The settlers often pool their profits and sell m big lots. A deal of 475,000 cases for 500,000 dollars took place the ; day before I arrived. The orchards are being extended in every direction. A fine suspension bridge has been erected over the Columbia River to convey .water across -to irrigate 10,000 of new orchards on the eastern side. Mr Clark uiformed me that he estimated the value of the output of apples from the settlement in five < years' time at 20,000,000 dollars. Think of these figures—£4,ooo,ooo sterling— from an area, no larger than an average sheep run in New Zealand, equal in value to the whole of the j tfool clip of the Dominion of New | Zealand. Divide these figures by two, and even then the return is a magnificent one.

Again, imagine a town with a population (including those resident within a radius of a few miles) three times that of Blenheim built up in eight years almost exclusively on the profits of apple growing! The following figures taken from a pamphlet issued by the Spokane Chamber of Commerce may be of interest:—"Land in the irrigated districts sells for 150 to 400 dollars an acre; orchards with four to six-year-old trees bring from 500 to 1000 dollar* an acre, and four to seven-year-old orchards in the non-irrigated districts can be bought from 350 dollars to 650 dollars an acre. A matured apple orchard in full bearing, 80 trees to the acre, will yield From 500 to 2000 boxes (501bs each) of fruit to the acre. Five acres of land will furnish shelter, food, and raiment for a family, and enable its owner . and cultivator to lay aside from 500 dollars to 1500 dollars a year, equivalent to a net income at 6 per cent, interest a year of a capital of 25,000 dollars.

"A. V. Huff, from one acre of Ben Davis apples, picked 2200, boxes, or an average of 20 boxes to the tree. He received 1 dollar 50 cent's per box.

It cost him 50 cents per box to market his fruit, leaving a net income of 2200 dollars per acre (£440). "B. SHHalcomb sold his crop in 1907 at an 1 average "of 80& dollars pe)r acre. Het realised 1806 d«>Uars v (£i36^) for GOOJboxesJof apples gbwn ' l o'n i on,e acre." "" '' ''' ' j.l I saw an orchard of two acres planted with Ben Davis apples which had grown 2000 boxM#;tthe acre for 3-years previously, sold at an average of lildollar' per bW.' orchards Jn, Jfen^phf^j^jug.-. rigated three.; times: a year," "ana when the land dries it is cultivated and dry farming methods are applied to conserve the moisture until the next watering. The following i2O varieties of apples are mostly- grown .-—Jonathan, Winesap; Delicious, Gravenstein, Grime's Golden, Mclntosh' Red,' Northern Spy, Rh'<se Island Greening, Rome Beauty, Spitzenburg, Wagener, We^hy, Whi^e Pearmain, Winter Banana, Wolf River, Yellow Bellflojwer-,, Yellow Newtown, Arkansas Btiek, Baldwin, and Ben Davis. Of thtese the Jonathan and Delicious oonlmand the highest prices; the Ben j Dafis is one of the most prolific bearers, and the Winesap was recon|mended to me as one of the most"; payable apples to grow, being a dcs- ! serfc^pple of good quality and a long ■ keeper. j It'jwill be seen from the above that' theife is solid money in apples it j grown in a thorough and comprehensive|kay, and I think an effort should be Made to start the industry;; in -Mar|J)orough.< It may be urged that we t nave not a sure market; but it shomd be remembered that we have a stire and almost unlimited market in London. We can send out apples there when America cannot compete owing to the season. We know that Tasmania sends hundreds of thousands of cases to this^ market, and finds it profitable. America sends apples to Australia and New Zealand m our off season; 6Q,00Q, boxes of Wenatchee apples were sent to Sydney in October-December last, "and they realised up to 17s 6d per case.