Jasper County Democrat, Volume 6, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 August 1903 — OUR IMMENGE APPLE CROP. [ARTICLE]

OUR IMMENGE APPLE CROP.

Few Persons Have Any Conception at Its Bias and Velas. Few people have any conception of the enormous volume and value of the apple crop of the United States. The exports of applt* last year from the United Sjatee were 2,543,769 barrel*. All of them went to Great Britain except 140,041 barrels to Germany and 94,092 to other countries. The census of 1900 showed a total of 210,000,000 trees in what are known as Commercial orchards—that la, orchards maintained to sell fruit to the regular trade. This does not include the millions of tree* in the back yards of the towns and villages throughout the country. The increase during the last ten years, since the census of 1890, was 75,000,000 trees —more thafi 40 per cent —aryl tbe yield of 1900 from the commercial orchards akme was more than 176,000,000 bushels. By districts the north Atlantic States have 20,500,000 trees, the south Atlantic 25,600,000, the northern central States 92,000,000, the southern central States 31,000,000, end the rest of the country 13,000,000. Out of the total number of ( trees in the United States, the north And south central districts have 123,205,000, or nearly three-fifths of the whole. These are divided among the principal applebearing State* as follows! New York 19,004,832 Ohio 12,602,623 Pennsylvania 11,774,211 Michigan 10,927,899 Virginia 8,190,025 Missouri 20,040,399 Illinois 18,430,006 Kentucky 8,757,289 Indiana 8,624,503 West Virginia 9,441,112 Tennessee 7,714,093 North Carolina 6,438,871 lowa ..... .. 6.869,988 Kansas 11,848,070 Arkansas 7,486,149 Total .201,791,764 The crops of the fifteen leading States, In order of productivity, for the last three years have been tabulated from the reports submitted to the United States Department of Agriculture on Aug. 1 of each year, as follows: 1900. 1901. 1908. Bushels. Bushels. Bushels. New York 45,077,502 13,628,082 86,166,833 Ohio 22,458,309 16,935,774 14,720,760 Penna. ... 26,891,308 14,507,153 19,814,648 Michigan . 15,466,853 8,060,191 16,991,754 Virginia .. 12,765,836 12,975,112 7,538,936 Missouri . . 11,322,322 6,125,196 10,023,048 Illinois ... 11,599,198 5,648,096 9,354,659 Kentucky. 0,158,157 8.226,819 9,898,474 Indiana .. 8,408,047 7,961,690 6,831,786 West Va.. 6,774,956 7,351,948 9,333,476 Tennessee. 9,357,678 7,089,150 5,829,537 N. Carolina 10,207,020 8,065,280 7,961,200 lowa 6,832,850 8,129,879 6,724,350 Kansas ... 6,734,806 8,649,422 5.461,024 Arkansas . 4,786,551 3,708,650 9,318,890 Total . .207,402,004 126,752,198 161,789,875 Barrels .. 69,134,001 42,250,732 93,929,958 Per Ct. full crop .... 60 42 64 Apple trees are peculiar and require a certain kind of soil and climate to flourish, hence there is great Irregularity In localities of production and enormous yields in spots. Thirty-five eountie* in the United States have more than 400,000 each. Illinois has three of those counties. The most productive counties are aa follows: No. of trees. Bonton County, Arkansas J. 818,365 Washington County, Arkansas .f 1,656,146 Niagara County, New York ....... 929,086 Wayne County, New York 796,610 Marion County, Illinois 795,188 Monroe County, New York 789,409 Clay County, Illinois «... 751,727 Erie County, New York 631,283 Orleans County, New York 629,401 Wayne County, Illinois 604,215 It will be noticed from the above tables that there is a great difference In the bearing capacity of the apple trees of the country. Missouri has nearly twice os many trees as Michigan, and yet Michigan raises nearly 60 per cent more apple* than Missouri. This is explained, like many other thing*, by the character of the trees and the amount of Cultivation given them. New York undoubtedly has the best apple trees in the country, and the returns of her apple harvest show it.—William E. Curtis in Chicago Reeord : Herald.