Fruit-growing in arid regions

Front matter

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•Tl

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO

Preface

This volume is the outgrowth of over eight years' experience in inter-mountain horticulture. From the nature of our work, much time has been spent in orchards in the various districts, and Mr. Whipple, in the capacity of Field Agent in Horticulture, has been stationed for the past three years at Grand Junction, Colorado, the center of one of the most famous fruit sections in the Union. During this time the writers have become acquainted with the many problems that are of interest to the experienced orchardist and most perplexing to the novice, through personal contact with fruit-growers and at horticultural short-courses as well as through correspondence. Arid horticulture is very different in many respects from that of the humid states, and a fruit-grower from the East has much to learn. But the majority of our fruit-growers had no experience in horticulture before coming West, and many of them had httle or no knowledge of country life. Such persons have everything to learn, and it is to them that this volume is especially addressed. Horticulture has only begun to be developed in the semi-arid West; consequently new settlers will continue to come to us for many years, and instruction in the elements of the art of horticulture will continue to be in demand.

vi Preface

The observing traveler is at once impressed with the inteUigence of the people who are engaging in fruit-growing in the inter-mountain country. We find here people from all walks of Hfe, attracted by the advantages of climate or the possibihties of money-making in a pleasant and healthful occupation. One may meet in a day's ride among the orchards, former doctors, lawyers, teachers, preachers, merchants, farmers, and young men recently graduated from an eastern university or college. It is such persons that create a demand for horticultural information, and their letters to officers of the Experiment Stations, while direct and intelligent, often would require one to write a book in order to supply the information. We have endeavored to meet this demand in the following pages.

The inter-mountain states include a vast territory, where a great number of different conditions exists, and inexperienced men are planting orchards in all parts of this region at the rate of many hundred acres a year. It is impossible to include everything of interest to the orchardist in a volume of this size; however, we hope to supply working information that will apply to the entire region; and in a general way this book should be of value wherever fruit is grown under irrigation.

Several of the chapters have formed the basis of experiment station bulletins, and the substance of most of them has been given many times at horticultural short-courses. The articles on Insects and Insecticides have been adapted from the numerous writings of Professor C. P. Gillette, Entomologist of the Colorado Experiment Station. The discussion on Live-stock on the Fruit-farm was prepared

Preface vii

by Professor H. M. Cottrell, Superintendent of Farmers^ Institutes in Colorado.

We are also indebted to other members of the College Faculty, for without their help and advice this work could scarcely have been completed.

WENDELL PADDOCK.

O. B. WHIPPLE.

Agricultural College, Fort Collins, Colorado.

June 15, 1909.

CHAPTER I Daniel Webster's Speech 2

The Mormons ^

Colorado's Horticultural History ..... .6

CHAPTER II Altitude and Fruit-growing 13

Eastern Slope Fruit Belt 13

Canon Breezes and Frost 15

Marl 19

Cement Soils 20

Sinking Land 20

Seepage 21

Alkali vs. Free Water 22

Soil Surveys • • . • .23

Windbreaks . . . « ^^

CHAPTER VII Handling Young Trees 80

Low-headed Trees Desirable 84

Form of Tree 86

Shaping the Newly Planted Tree ...... 88

Yearling Trees are Best 90

Second-year Pruning . . . . . . . .92

Contents xi

Third-year Pruning . 93

Pruning Bearing Trees 99

Pruning Young Peach Trees ....... 102

Training the Peach Tree 104

CHAPTER VIII The Justification of Pruning Ill

Physiology of Pruning . .112

Summer Pruning 112

The Healing of Wounds 113

System of Pruning influenced by Bearing Habit . . . 113

Pruning Tools 115

Pruning the Apple - . 117

Pruning the Apricot 123

Pruning the Cherry 125

Pruning the Peach 127

Pruning the Pear 133

Pruning the Quince ........ 138

Pruning the Plum . 139

Thinning Fruit 141

CHAPTER IX Top-working Eruit Trees 147-172

Top-working Desirable 147

Limits of Grafting 148

Top-working Old Trees 150

Cleft-grafting 154

Kerf-grafting 155

Bark-grafting . . .155

Terminal-grafting 155

Season for Grafting 158

Cion Wood 160

Growing the Top 162

Top- working Young Trees . 165 xii Contents

CHAPTER X The Propagation of Orchard Trees .... 173-178

Apple Seedlings . .173

Dwarf Apples 174

Northern Spy Roots and Woolly Aphis .... 174

How Root Grafts are Made 175

Budding 175

Budding Peach Trees 177

The Apricot 178

The Plums 178

The Cherries 178

CHAPTER XI The Tillage of Orchards ..,.., 179-183

Clean Culture can be Overdone 179

The Benefits of Tillage 181

Inter-mountain Practice 182

Irrigation and Clean Cultivation soon compacts Soil . . 183

Importance of Organic Matter 183

CHAPTER XII Soil Fertility not Inexhaustible 184

Elements of Plant-food 187

Fertilizer Experiment with Potatoes 189

Benefits of Green Manures 190

Cover-crops 190

Shade-crops 190

Decaying Vegetable Matter 191

Moisture 191

Puddling 192

Porous Soils 192

Freezing Dry , 193

Contents xiii

The Decay of Green Manures 194

Humus 196

Leguminous Crops 197

Soil Inoculation 198

Kinds of Crops to use for Shade-crops 199

CHAPTER XIII No Definite Rule can be Given 203

Irrigation during Blooming Period 203

Excessive Irrigation in Midsummer 203

Too Much Water causes Winter-killing .... 204

Film Moisture 205

Free Water 205

Condition of Surface Soil not a Guide for Irrigation . . 206

Sandy Soil requires Different Treatment from Heavy Land . 206

Deep Furrows for Heavy Soils 207

Fall Plowing Desirable 209

Late Fall Irrigation . . . . . . . . 211

CHAPTER XIV Horses 213

Baby Beef 214

Dairying well adapted to High-priced Land . . . .216

Feed and Care of Cows 217

Hogs 218

Poultry 220

Work plentiful in an Orchard Country 221

Kinds of Crops to Grow . . 221

The Canning Industry 223

Small-fruits in the Orchard 223 xiv Contents

CHAPTER XV Few Standard Varieties better than Many . • . . . 226

Testing New Kinds 226

Well-known Varieties best to Plant ..... 226

Adaptation of Varieties to Soils 227

Potato Soil 227

Adaptation depends upon Character of Growth of Variety . 228

Early Varieties profitable for Local Markets . . . 234

Hardy Varieties for High Altitudes 234

Description of Varieties 235

Apricots not so adaptable to a Variety of Soils as the Peach 238

Cherries do best on Dry, Loamy Land 240

Four Groups of Sweet Cherries 241

Two Classes of Sour Cherries 241

Peaches are Cosmopolitan 242

Pear Trees not particular as to Soils 244

Plums do well on Many Kinds of Soil 246

CHAPTER XVI Picking Apples 257

Picking Apricots 260

Picking Cherries 260

Picking Peaches 261

Picking Pears 262

Picking Plums 266

CHAPTER XVII Packing and Grading Fruit . . • 267

Association Management 269

Packing Appliances 273

Prices of Box Materials 275

The Apple Box 278

Grading and Packing Apples 278

The Different Kinds of Packs 281

Contents xv

Wrapping Apples .... = .... 282

Packing Apricots 283

Packing Clierries 284

Packing Peaches 286

Packing Table 289

Packing Plums 292

Grading and Packing Pears 292

CHAPTER XVIII Marketing Pruit 302-323

Cooperation in Marketing Necessary 303

Packing 307

The Hood River Plan . . 307

F.O.B. Sales the Rule 311

Express Shipments 312

An Association benefits the Entire Community . . .312

District Organization 315

By-laws . 316

CHAPTER XIX Prost Injuries, Secondary Bloom, and Prost Protection 324-354 Various Conditions conducive to Winter Injury . . .324

Prost Russet 325

Frost Blister 326

Injury to Buds or Bloom 326

Injury to Pruit 328

Second-crop Bloom 330

Prost Protection . 334

CHAPTER XX Orchard Pests and their Control ... * 355-390 Biting Insects . . 357

Sucking Insects 358

Orchard Insects and Diseases described and Remedies Suggested 359

Good Spraying Equipment Necessary . . . • • 382

Formulas ^^^ k

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FIG. 1.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6.

21. 22. 23. 24.

An Elberta Peach Orchard near Ogden, Utah

Leveling with Water .....

Hexagonal Plan of Planting ....

Method of Marking Land for Planting .

A Root-hair. (After Stevens)

A Cross-section of a Stem. (After Stevens)

Cross-section of a Leaf. (After Stevens)

Pear Spur on Left and Apple Spur on Right, showing Scars

produced by Death of Part of Spur .

Once a Fruit-spur ......

Opening Flower-buds on One-year-old Apple Spurs

Missouri (Pippin) showing Axillary Flower-buds

Mature Jonathan Apples from Axillary Buds

Axillary Flower Clusters of Duchess Pear

Flower-buds of Peach .

Flower-buds of Apricot

Flower-buds of Sweet Cherry

Flower-buds of Sour Cherry .

Flower-buds of Domestica Plum .

Low-headed Trees, with Ascending Branches. Paonia

Colorado

Yearling Whip, properly Headed-back when planted

improperly trained and Annual Pruning neglected , Shaping the Top ....

Shaping the Top ....

Failure

Neglected

Young Apple Trees well Headed-in but

PAGE

7. 31 43 60 65 58 62

69 69 69 70 75 76 77 78 78 xviii List of Illustrations

FIG. PAGE

26. Low-headed Peach Trees, Mesilla Park, New Mexico.

Photo by Garcia 103

27. Poor Head on Young Peach. The Result of Pruning for

28. The Same as Fig. 27 after One Season's Growth . . . 105

29. Two-year-old Peach Tree well Pruned 106

30. Same as 29 before Pruning .106

31. Same Tree as 29, but One Year later 107

32. Pruning Saw . . 115

33. Pruning Saw 116

34. Pruning Shears 116

35. Heavy Pruning Shears . . 117

36. Exaggerated Type of Open-centered Tree . . . ,118

37. Jonathan, well Headed-in 119

38. Jonathan, growing Long, Weak Branches, due to Lack of

proper Pruning 120

39. Ben Davis, Fifteen Years Old and ruined. Such Loss may

be avoided by proper Pruning 121

40. White Pearmain, showing Type of Growth .... 122

41. Well-trained Peach Tree, Seven Years Old. Palisade,

Colorado 128

42. Peach Tree, Nine Years Old, well Trained. Note how nearly

it conforms to a Right Angle ...... 129

43. Peach Tree of Same Age as Fig. 42. Note the Long Limbs

with Fruiting-wood only in the Top . . . .131

44. Peach Tree rejuvenated by Cutting-back, or "Dehorning,"

the Large Limbs , . 132

45. Improper Pruning of Neglected Pear Tree .... 134

46. Same as Fig. 45, after One Season's Gro^\^h .... 136

47. Longitudinal Section through a Graft, showing that Union

takes Place only around Outer Edge .... 149

48. Transcendent Crab grafted to Winesap . . . .151

49. The Same as 48, One Year later 152

50. The Same as 48, Two Years later. Grafts mostly Blown out 153

51. Showing Pear Tree Grafted in Small Limbs. The Large

Lower Limbs were Removed later 169

52. Good and Poor Cion Wood. Good on the Right . . .161

List of Illustrations xix

FIG. PAGE

53. A Well-formed Grafted Tree 164

54. The Operation of Whip-grafting 167

55. The Operation of Budding 170

56. Shade-crop of Clover 201

57. Heavy Land well Furrowed 208

58. Sandy Soil well Furrowed. Grand Junction, Colorado . 209

59. Cantaloupes Growing in Young Orchard .... 222

60. Gathering Newtown Pippins. Medford, Oregon . . . 225

61. A Newtown Pippin Orchard. North Yakima, Washington . 230

62. An Esopus (Spitzenburg) Orchard. Hood River, Oregon . 231

63. A Mcintosh Orchard, Montana 233

64. An Idaho Prune Orchard. Boise, Idaho .... 246

65. The Bowman Picking Bag 254

66. The Excelsior Picking Receptacle 254

67. A Good Type of Ladder 255

68. The Pole Ladder: 256

69. A Wheel Ladder . 256

70. A Packing Scene 263

71. Pear on Right Ready to pick ; the Other too Green . . 264

72. Box Press 274

73. A Typical Box Label for Extra Fancy Fruit ; also illustrates

the 2-2 Pack 277

7a Straight Pack 281

77. Box of Apples Ready for Shipment, showing Proper Bulge of

Top and Bottom 282

78. Cherry Packages (Courtesy of "Better Fruit") . . .285

79. Peaches, Q-Q Straight Pack 286

80. Peaches, 3-3 Pack 287

81. Peaches, 4-5 Pack 288

82. Peaches, 2-3 Pack 290

84. Pears, Five-tier Pack of Six-tier Grade 294

86. Wrapping Pears. First, place Pear in One Corner of Paper ;

a Twist to the Right and a Cone-shaped Package results 297

XX List of Illustrations

FIG, PAGE

87. Frost Russet of Apple ........ 326

88. Frost Blister of Apple Leaf 327

89. Abnormal Pears, the Result of Injury by Frost . . . 328

90. Longitudinal Section of Frozen Bartlett Pear . . . 329

91. Anjou Pears. The Smaller injured by Frost when Young . 330

92. Mature Chenango from Second-crop Bloom . . . .331

93. From Second-crop Bloom arising from Large Limbs or Tree

Trunks 332

94. Various Types of Orchard Heaters . • . . . .341

95. Method of distributing Oil . . . . . . .345

96. Orchard Heaters in Position 349

97. An almost Perfect Pack of Apples, by A. I. Mason, Hood

River, Oregon 371

98. Three-year-old Elberta Peach Trees at Farmington, New-

Mexico 383

FEUIT-GROWING IN ARID REGIONS

Chapter I

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE FRUIT IN- DUSTRY IN THE ARID AND SEMIARID WEST

Twenty years ago the idea that the inter-mountain states would ever become important in fruit-growing was scarcely thought of. The romance of mining and of cattle grazing was then at its height and but little thought was given to developing the agricultural resources. Fruit-growing is one of the highest types of intensified farming, so it is but natural that it is the last of the great resources of a new region to be developed. The same has been true of all new countries.

The idea prevailed in the early days that the semiarid part of the United States was destined to remain an unfertile and an undeveloped tract; and public sentiment is no small factor in the development of a country. Daniel Webster's speech in 1838, in which he characterized the entire region, beginning with the great plains and extending westward to the Pacific Ocean, as a ''vast worthless area" could not be soon forgotten. Forty years later the horticultural side of the question was still being debated. W. G. M. Stone of Denver, writing in 1892, discusses this incident in the following apt words : — fe 1

"It was in 1838. A measure was before Congress to establish a post-route from Independence, Mo., to the mouth of the Columbia River. During the discussion, Daniel Webster, on the floor of the Senate, opposed it and closed his speech as follows : ' What do we want with this vast worthless area? this region of savages and wild beasts, of deserts, shifting sands and whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs? To what use could we ever hope to put these great deserts, or those endless mountain ranges, impregnable, and covered to their very base with eternal snow? What can we ever hope to do with the western coast, a coast of 3000 miles, rockbound, cheerless, uninviting, and not a harbor on it? What use have we for such a country? Mr. President, I will never vote one cent from the public treasury to place the Pacific Coast one inch nearer to Boston than it now is ! ' To stand here in this city of 150,000 people, to see these grand structures for business, these palatial homes, and think of the countless interests of trade and far-reaching enterprises; when we survey the state at large with its cities and towns, its growth and energy; and we take a still broader view and think of five great railways crossing the continent to this same rockbound coast, 'cheerless and uninviting,' and when we see these ' impregnable ' mountains traversed with railways and yielding their ready millions of gold and silver, and find them also stored with coal and iron and marble, we wonder how Daniel Webster could have uttered such words as the above. Ten years later there was a change — the treaty of Hidalgo ; and ten years after that the discovery of gold in the 'shifting sands' of this /worthless' region. Had all possessed the same wisdom of foresight as Webster, this country had never reached 'Beyond the Mississippi,' and the Indian, the buffalo, the cactus and prairie dog would be in full and undisputed possession of it, and the Hudson Bay Company would be buying skins at Vancouver. Had every one been Websterian in his range of adventure, 'Pike's Peak,' the Unioii

Pacific, with all these Rocky Mountain railways, these cities, including San Francisco and the entire Pacific Coast, would to-day be with the unawakened atoms still floating in the primordial abyss of being. While Webster, with his giant strength, was holding this worthless region away from Boston, the Carsons, and Fremonts, and Gregories, and Greeleys, and their thousands of assistants were breaking his hold; and while at that time these mountains were sixty to seventy days from Boston, they are now within about as many hours, and becoming nearer and nearer with the opening of each succeeding decade. Humanity is stronger than any one man; enterprise more powerful than conservatism; exploration and discovery more potent than apathy and inanition.

'^ Daniel Webster sleeps at Marshfield; his words finger as curios. The energy and genius of his fellows and their posterity are converting these 'deserts' into gardens, and causing these mountains to pour their long-hidden treasures into the lap of the world. Strong cords of interest and fellowship now bind us to the Atlantic and the Atlantic to us, and Denver stands to-day in the midst of those cheerless realms of fancy pictured by the great statesman to attest the wondrous change on this half of our continent within a lifetime, and the memory of thousands.

''For fifty years the new states have one by one passed through a peculiar period of 'We can't raise fruit.' Illinois had it; and Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota. It is like measles and chicken pox, 'must go round.' Colorado caught it when a mere infant and had it very hard. 'We can't raise fruit ' was impressed on almost every mind from the very first. 'Too high! ' 'too dry!' 'too cool o' nights!' too this! and too that! so that Fruit Culture was not admitted for many years, and when a few men less conservative than rash asked to enter apples at the annual exhibits, as Colorado Grown, they were subjects of legitimate suspicion as lunatics or knaves, — just as though

4 Fruit-grovjing in Arid Regions

they had 'salted' their gardens from a barrel of Ben Davis or Greenings from beyond the Mississippi. The stranger just arrived and full of the dreariness of the plains may smile at the mere suggestion of fruit in Colorado, and may ask, in the slang of the day, 'What are you giving us?' We shall offer neither bananas nor oranges, pomegranates nor figs, but shall beg to place before the mind's eye every kind of fruit grown in the belt north of Mason and Dixon's line."

The prevailing opinion that fruit could not be grown in the arid regions was fostered locally by the disastrous failures that resulted from many of the early attempts at tree-growing. But it is a difficult task for a man who may have been a successful farmer in the East to work out, unaided, the principles of irrigation. Failure often stimulates desire. So with the pioneers, they seem not to have been disheartened, and the repeated attempts finally proved to the world that fruit and forest trees can be grown. It surely took a man of courage in the face of almost universal opposition and no small amount of ridicule, to make the round trip from the Rocky Mountains by wagon to Iowa for a load of nursery stock. The general trend of public opinion w^as that this region was to be devoted forever to mining, and to some extent, to grazing. Anything Hke the present development in general agriculture was not dreamed of; and that it should ever become noted for the production of fine fruit is not yet reahzed by a majority of the people.

The Mormons were the first to grow fruit in the arid section. The history of their immigration to Utah, the hardships and privations they endured, are so well known that it would be out of place to recount them here, even if space would permit. In regard to their early efforts in fruit-growing, Mr. Anthon H. Lund, Historian of the Latter Day Saints, communicates the following: —

''In a General Epistle of the Church, dated 1847, to the Saints throughout the earth and signed by Prest. Brigham Young, the following paragraph appears: 'To all Saints, we would say, come immediately and prepare to go West, bringing with you all kinds of choice seeds, of grain, vegetables, fruits, shrubbery, trees, and vines, — everything that will please the eye, gladden the heart, or cheer the soul of man, that grows upon the face of the whole earth; also, the best stock of beast, bird, and fowl of every kind that shall tend to promote the comfort, health, happiness, or prosperity of any people.'

"On the 23d of July, 1847, the advanced company of the Pioneers camped on what was subsequently known as the 8th Ward Square of Salt Lake City. Apostle Orson Pratt called the camp together, dedicated the land to the Lord, invoked his blessings on the seeds about to be planted. 'What,' in the language of Apostle Woodruff, ' was to hinder the house of God from being estab- Hshed in the mountains, and exalted above the hills, and these valleys from being converted into orchards, vineyards, and fruitful fields.' The first successful plowing was done by Wm. Carter, and a company commenced the work of getting out water for irrigation.

"'By August the 26th,' the historian records, 'the colonists had laid off a fort, built 27 log houses, plowed and planted 84 acres with corn, potatoes, beans, buckwheat, turnips, etc' Among the 'seeds' blessed by Elder Pratt and afterwards planted were peach, apple, pear, plum and other fruits. In due course of time these bore fruits, to the great joy of the people. Nor were shade trees lost sight of, for quarts of locust seeds were also put into the ground by the pioneers, and at this writing many of the pioneer shade trees can be seen in different parts of the city.

'' During the year 1856 the Desert Agricultural and Manufacturing Society was organized for promoting the introduction, improvement, and multiplication of everything needful in land culture, stock-raising, manufactures, etc., suited to our varied conditions. Fruit-raising formed one of its principal considerations and industries.

'^It has always been our custom to plant fruit and shade trees in the formation of new settlements at the seasonable time of the year. Our cities and towns and homes all over the inter-mountain region, including the neighboring states, Canada and Mexico, are embowered in and surrounded with fruit and shade trees, flowers, etc.

'^ Bancroft, the historian, states that in 1875 Southern Utah produced 544 acres of grapes, the total yield being about 1700 tons; and that the value of Utah's orchard products in 1883, including apples, — of which there were at least 90 varieties, — pears, plums, quinces, cherries, peaches, currants, and berries of many descriptions, was estimated at $157,000. The yield of apples was about 90 bushels to the acre, of pears 75, of peaches 120, of plums 165, and cherries 75." (Fig. 1.)

Colorado was probably the next to undertake fruit-growing, although it was not until fifteen years after the settlement at Salt Lake that the first attempt was made. The experience of the Mormons seems not to have reached the world at large, as we find that the first attempts at tree -planting near Denver were generally regarded as being impracticable. Fortunately, Colorado's early horticultural history has been recorded. Mr. Stanger, the author, is a pioneer, and as editor of the Colorado Farmer had much to do in finally impressing the people with the fact that fruit can be grown in tbe state. The following extract from Mr. Stanger is taken from the Report of the Colorado State Board of Horticulture for 1903: —

''In the early spring of 1862, Henry Lee, of Denver, sent from Iowa City to his brother, William Lee, then, as now, living on his farm in Jefferson County, four miles

Fig. 1. — An Elberta Peach Orchard, near Ogden, Utah.

east of Golden, 125 apple, peach, pear and plum stock; they came to Denver by express, and cost Mr. ,Lee $30. This nursery stock was planted on a little island in the Clear Creek bottoms, the spring they were sent. March 24, 1864, William Lee arrived in Denver with a mule team, bringing 6000 one- and two-year-old apple stocks, also 500 stocks each of peach, pear, plum and cherry, which he planted in a nursery on his island farm; then no one thought of planting anything on the uplands.

''May 27, 1864, a great flood in Clear Creek destroyed this nursery, and also all that was left of the 125 trees saved from a fire set by a careless hand to destroy weeds. Only about 150 of the 6000 trees were rescued from the debris left from the flood, and in 1866 these were set out in an orchard on Mr. Lee's upland farm. Many of these trees are living yet, and yearly yield crops of golden fruit, and look as if they will continue to do so for many years to come.

''In the spring of 1863, Hirman C. Wolf, of Denver, received by express a box packed with different kinds of fruit stock, principally berries and some apple, pear, and plum, for which package he paid $62. Owing to poor condition and lack of knowledge to handle the stock, they failed to grow.

''September 24, 1863, Mr. Wolf left Denver with a four-horse team and drove to Des Moines, Iowa, about nine hundred miles, for the purpose of bringing to this territory a full load of apple, pear, plum, cherry, and berry stock. Loading there, he, on the 3d day of November, started for Denver and arrived here on the 16th day of December, 1863. The stock he bought was buried, and in the spring of 1864 was set out in orchard, principally in the Clear Creek bottoms, but some on the uplands of Mr. Wolf's farm one mile south of Arvada, in Jefferson County.

"The great flood in Clear Creek in 1864 destroyed nearly all of the orchard planted in the bottom, and the lack of irrigation caused that planted on the uplands to perish. None of the trees of this costly experiment of Mr. Wolf's lives to-day, and it is only a reminiscence.

"In 1870, Mr. J. W. Cook, of Ralston Creek, Jefferson County, brought from Illinois a lot of orchard, berry, and grape stock, and set them out on his farm in that valley. Mr. Cook was a practical nurseryman in IHinois, but failed to succeed in Colorado with Illinois methods of tree culture. He was an enthusiast and somewhat erratic, but he did make a success of his orchard and vineyard, and taught us many a profitable lesson. He has been dead many years, but neither he nor his enthusiastic endeavors to impress all with whom he came in contact as to the possibilities of Colorado for fruit-raising are forgotten.

'' Henry Lee, in 1870, brought from Iowa fifteen thousand nursery stock and sold these from his place of business in Denver to many customers, most notable of whom are David Brothers, Mart L. Everett, Joseph Morris, Wilson Perrin, and others, principally located on Wheat Ridge, a suburb of this city. Many of these trees are living to-day and yearly produce crops of apples.

"As nearly correct as can at this time be positively determined, the late Wilson Perrin started in 1869 or 1870 the first nursery in the territory of Colorado on his farm on Wheat Ridge, four miles west of Denver. His example was soon followed by others, notably H. G. Wolfe, of Denver, and G. W. Webster, of Longmont, Boulder County, Colorado, and J. W. Cook, and also, about the same time, nursery stock was set out in the Union colony at Greeley, Weld County. And here permit me to digress and read to you part of a private and characteristic letter from the Hon. J. Max Clark, in reply to an inquiry of mine for facts on fruit-raising in the Union colony.

''Mr. Daniel Stanley, a settler in Boulder County, in 1865, brought by mule team from Iowa a lot of orchard stock and sold them to his neighbors, notably of whom were G. W. Webster and J. W. Goss, of Hygiene, Colorado. I here incorporate into this address an extract from a letter of a late date from the latter gentleman. He says, writing of Stanley's venture: 'I bought six out of this lot and set them out in 1866. I paid for six trees, $30. Four of those six trees are alive to-day, and have been bearing since about the fourth year after setting out. Two of them are yellow sweets (I do not know the name), one is Red Astrachan, and the other is a winter variety, something like the Ben Davis, but better in flavor.'

"In 1870 Mr. G. W. Webster planted a considerable orchard, the trees being brought from California, and for years was an ardent and persistent advocate of the possibihties of Colorado for fruit-growing, and was one of the first, with William Lee and J. W. Cook, to exhibit home-grown orchard-fruits at the yearly fairs of the agricultural association of Colorado. Others there were in northern Colorado who planted about this time orchard-fruits, but who, from modesty or other reasons, kept their light under a bushel, and I have not been able to bring them to the light of history.

''In 1864 or 1865 Mr. Jesse Frazier, of Florence, Fremont County, Colorado, brought from Missouri, by team, a quantity of different varieties of orchard-fruit stock, and set them out on his farm at that place. In the files of the Colorado Farmer is a letter to me, giving a full history of this venture of Mr. Frazier's; but these files are not now accessible. This nursery and orchard was the nucleus from which has sprung the grand achievements of the orchardists of the Arkansas Valley. His example was followed by Mr. Helm and others. I have been disappointed in obtaining more definite information of Mr. Frazier's orchard, but the honor is to him for being the pioneer orchardist of this grand fruit-growing section of our state.