XI. PANICS AND THEIR CAUSES.
A panic is generally due to inflation and speculation, and these, of course, have their origin in various sources not easily determined. An unusual increase in the production of precious metals, bountiful crops, a speculative craze taking possession of the public—such as the tulip mania in Holland—all these and many other causes lead to speculation. The fall in prices due to a stoppage in speculation brings on the panic. Sometimes the catastrophe is produced by war or rumors of war, often by the most trivial circumstances, and not infrequently without any apparent cause. Before everybody had desired to buy; they now became as eager to sell, and this rush to convert securities and commodities into money precipitates a panic.
Crises may be divided into commercial and financial. The last one in the United States, whatever may have been its ultimate developments, was in its inception and culmination essentially a financial panic. The Treasury and the banks were both regarded with more or less distrust.
Panics or crises more or less severe have occurred in the United States in 1814, 1818, 1826, 1837–39, 1848, 1857, during the Civil War, 1861–65, 1873, 1882, 1884, 1890, 1893. Some of these should hardly be called panics, as they were mere local disturbances. Different causes have been given for each of these revulsions. Overtrading and speculation were doubtless responsible for them. The panic of 1857 was coincident with large net imports of merchandise. On August 24, 1857, the onward wave of prosperity, which had been steadily rising to a great height, received a check by the failure of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co., followed by numerous other failures. On October 4 every bank in New York, except the Chemical, suspended specie payments, and they did not resume until December 12.
The speculation in gold in 1869 culminated in what is known as the Black Friday panic, September 24, 1869. Fiske and Gould were conducting a speculation in gold, and sought to corner it. They forced the price up to a high figure, but the Government suddenly appeared as a seller of gold and broke the “corner.”
The year 1873 witnessed another revulsion of confidence and another disruption of the commercial and financial affairs of the country. Business had long been unduly expanded, and the collapse finally came. The failure, on September 18, of the honored firm of Jay Cooke & Co., which had not only been identified with the building of the Northern Pacific R. R. but had been a strong supporter of the credit of the Government when it was in the direst distress, was the first bad news. House after house fell. The Stock Exchange closed its doors on September 20, and did not reopen them until September 30. More than fifty Stock Exchange firms suspended, and several of the leading banking institutions of New York and other cities had to stop business.
During this panic the New York Clearing-House Association issued clearing-house certificates to those of its members who needed available funds, and during the trouble issued $24,915,000 of them. In May, 1884, it issued $24,915,000; in the 1890 panic, $16,645,000; in 1893, $41,490,000.
Following the resumption of specie payments the times were good for several years. The production of the precious metals was averaging $75,000,000 or more per year. From 1879 to 1883 we imported about $190,000,000 of gold. Railroad construction reached a higher point than was ever recorded, either before or since, nearly 40,000 miles of track having been laid in five years. All seemed well, when another collapse came in May, 1884. This was preceded by the failure of Grant & Ward, and it was followed by the failure of the Marine and the Metropolitan Ranks. The disclosures of bad faith on the part of men occupying positions of great trust, made the 1884 panic one of distinct characteristics of its own. The previous activity in all lines of enterprise may have made the revulsion timely, but individual dishonesty greatly aggravated the situation.
The panic of 1890, in the United States, was but a reflection of the great Baring failure in London in the fall of that year. This crash was due to South American speculations, and was one of the greatest failures of modern times. It is the opinion of many well-informed financiers that this was one of the causes which operated to produce the panic of 1893 in the United States. The course of the United States in regard to the purchase of silver, doubts as to the tariff, deficiency in revenues—all, perhaps, had their share in creating distrust. But back of these were the conditions superinduced by an era of inflation and speculation. The 1893 panic bore most heavily upon the banks. There was a continued demand upon the Treasury for gold, and the deposits in banks were withdrawn so rapidly that hundreds of failures ensued. The period of depression continued for nearly three years, and has been succeeded by an era of general prosperity, which it is hoped may be long continued.
THE CENTURY’S PROGRESS IN FRUIT CULTURE
By H. E. VAN DEMAN,
Late Prof. of Horticulture, Kansas State Agricultural College.
From the earliest histories of civilization we learn that the cultivation of fruits has been a delightful pastime and also a substantial means of living. Their tempting colors, fragrant perfumes and luscious flavors are unequaled in combined attractiveness and satisfaction to the human senses by anything else among all the products of nature. Their juices are at once appetizing, nutritious, and wholesome. Millions of people have subsisted upon them largely, from time out of mind.
It is, therefore, not a matter of wonder that our forefathers, when they came to the shores of this New World, brought with them seeds, cuttings, and plants of the best fruits they had at their old homes. Thus it was that the apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry, grape, olive, date, almond, European walnut and chestnut, and many other less valuable fruits were first cultivated in North America.
The Beginning.—Previous to the beginning of the nineteenth century there had been considerable development in fruit culture in the colonies. Small apple orchards were quite common in the settlements, from New England to the Carolinas. The pear, peach, plum, grape, and a few other fruits were cultivated in less degree. The Spanish had introduced the peach and orange in Florida, and the French had planted the grape and pear in their sparse settlements in the Mississippi Valley and near the Great Lakes. There are to-day, and yet in a healthy condition, near Detroit, Michigan, several immense pear-trees from these first plantings, that are nearly three hundred years old. The Catholic fathers planted the vine and the olive, and occasionally the date palm, at their mission stations along the Rio Grande and on the Pacific coast.
Thus we see that when the year 1800 ushered in the century now closing, there were many feeble beginnings in the way of fruit culture scattered over the Continent. The Indians, contrary to what we might have supposed, helped materially in the distribution of some of the orchard fruits. In 1799, when General Sullivan made his famous raid against the tribes which composed the historic “Six nations,” he found bearing apple orchards in Western New York. In Southern Canada and Michigan the Indians occasionally planted the apple and pear. The tribes living along the Gulf of Mexico had peach-trees in their little cultivated patches, having obtained the seeds from the Spaniards; and to-day we find the descendants of these Spanish or “Indian” peaches commonly grown throughout all the Southern States, and to some extent all over the peach-growing sections of America.
The Experimental Stage.—During the life of the generation which existed for the first thirty or more years of the century the culture of fruits was still principally in the experimental stage. Some of the foreign species and varieties had not proved satisfactory, and they were being critically tested or abandoned. New varieties were being originated on our own soil. Our native fruits were being brought under culture, too, and with the most satisfactory results in many cases. It was learned that we had in them the foundation of almost unlimited development. Their progeny has revolutionized some lines of fruit culture. This is especially true in our vineyards and berry-fields.
There were men of noble and patriotic cast of mind, who devoted their lives to the development of this lovely and wholly humane work. They deserve to rank beside the heroes of our battlefields. Their victories were those of peace, and were followed by an increase of the delightful products of the orchard, vineyard, and garden.
Once that our forefathers were free from the bondage of European greed, this art of peace kept pace with our civilization on other lines. There is nothing in the whole list of our scientific attainments or material industries that can show more substantial progress. Nor is there a nation on earth that has so rich, varied, and adaptable soils, together with climatic conditions so admirably and generally suited to fruit culture; nor a people more alive to their opportunities in this direction.
The Age of Progress.—During the generation of fruit growers who lived from about 1830 until the time of the Civil War, the region lying between the Alleghany Mountains and the Missouri River, and extending from the Ottawa River in Canada to the mountains of Tennessee, which is now the great apple bin of America, as well as its granary, was being rapidly filled with energetic settlers. These pioneers carried with them carefully selected seeds, cuttings, and trees of the best varieties of fruits known in their Eastern and Southern homes. These were planted in the rich, virgin soil of the new territory, which was then known as “The West.” Under the happy influences of a congenial climate and careful cultivation, they developed into fruitful orchards and vineyards, yielding finer specimens, and, in some cases, larger crops than had ever been known in the older parts of the country. This gave a great impetus to the culture of fruits. The first large commercial orchards of the apple, peach, and pear in the central United States were then being planted in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky.
The South had not yet awakened to a knowledge of her possibilities in fruit culture. Under slave labor the land was almost solely given up to cotton and tobacco. Florida had not then even dreamed of her wonderful developments in orange culture. In Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas, and the great Northwest, where now there are fruit plantations of almost unparalleled extent, only the first trees and plants were being set, and it was only thought possible that some day fruits could be produced in abundance there. The Rocky Mountain and Pacific States had scarcely been heard of, even as Territories, and only an occasional plantation of vines and trees around some mission station could be found.
COCOANUT TREE, PALM BEACH, FLA.
The Age of Triumph.—At the close of the Civil War, which had somewhat distracted the attention of our people both North and South from the progress of the peaceful arts, there was a great expansion of our rural population. The love of travel had taken possession of many who had been in the armies. They were no longer content with the narrow boundaries and the poor lands of the old Eastern farms. They wanted new fields for their energies. The building of the great railroad systems across the continent solved the question of the settlement of the “Far West,” and the mythical “American Desert” that was supposed to lie this side of it. The prairies were covered with homesteaders’ shanties, sod houses, and “dug-outs.” The forests of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Arkansas fell before the axe of the pioneer. The “Boys in Blue” who had seen the natural advantages of the Southern States, while there on the dread errand of war, began the rehabilitation of the country they had helped to devastate. They took with them their Yankee notions and Western vim, and planted many kinds of farm crops, trees, vines, and berry bushes upon the old plantations where little else than cotton and tobacco used to grow. Florida was veritably turned into a garden of orange trees and truck patches. The chocolate hills and rich black lands of Texas were planted to grapes, peaches, and berries. The dry plains and mesas of the Rocky Mountain region, that were naturally almost devoid of vegetation, were irrigated and made to produce the most delightful fruits in abundance. The giant forests of Oregon and Washington were invaded by the lumberman and the homeseeker, and in their stead were planted trees which yielded the largest and best of fruits. And California,—what shall we say of her wonderful valleys, grassy foothills, and timbered mountain slopes? All of the fruits of the temperate zones are growing there, and in some places the hardier of the tropical kinds succeed. California is indeed a land of fruits.
Taking the whole of North America, except the frozen regions of the British possessions, and Alaska, where few cultivated fruits can be grown; and half-civilized Mexico, where progress is scarcely known; the last thirty-five years have witnessed such advancements in fruit culture as seem almost beyond belief. It has truly been an age of triumph. Not only has the territory of its successful culture been wonderfully extended, but the whole plan and science of fruit-growing has been almost revolutionized. Old things have largely passed away. New varieties, new methods of culture and new markets for the products of the fruit farm have been found. Some of the old varieties have been retained, but many new ones have been originated here; some by chance and others by scientific breeding. Valuable kinds that had long been lying in obscurity have been brought into public favor. Others have been imported from foreign countries. Almost the entire world has been ransacked in order to obtain fruits that might prove of value to us.
At the beginning of this period of unparalleled progress the 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.
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.
One of the first things the pioneers of civilization did in New England, at Roanoke Island, and at Jamestown, was to make wine of the native grapes. The Spaniards in 1564 also made wine of the wild grapes of Florida. After testing the wine and finding it inferior to that produced in their old homes, they were more determined to grow vineyards of the choicest grapes of Europe. The French established a vineyard of this kind in Virginia, and another in southern Illinois; and William Penn did the same near Philadelphia in 1683. The most notable attempt that was made was by John James Dufour, a native of Switzerland. He came to America in 1796, and at once set about doing the wisest thing that he could have done, by first visiting and critically examining the vineyards that had already been started. He was not favorably impressed by what he saw, for the European vines had done very poorly, because of some unknown disease or weakness that seemed to cause them to make but feeble growth, or gradually dwindle and die. The cause has since been found to have been the fungus diseases and insect pests that are peculiar to the eastern half of America. But Dufour thought the right varieties had not been tried, except a few that he found near Philadelphia. From these he secured a start, and in 1799 organized a stock company with $10,000 in capital, to plant a vineyard, Henry Clay being one of the stockholders. A tract of 633 acres was selected near Lexington, Ky., and there he began work in the most enthusiastic manner. He induced two of his brothers to come from Switzerland to join him, and they brought other varieties of their best grapes. But after three years’ trial he gave it up as a hopeless effort and turned his attention to the cultivation of our native grapes.
The beginning of successful grape culture in America may be said to have been made by Dufour, in his next or second attempt, which was in 1802, at Vevay, Ind., on the banks of the Ohio, and with a variety of the wild Vitis labrusca, or fox grape, found near the Schuylkill River before the Revolutionary War. It was at first called the “Cape” grape, from a mistaken notion that it had been brought from the Cape of Good Hope. It was also known by several other names. Although this grape was the first of a very long list of native varieties which have made our country famous in grape culture, it has long since been entirely abandoned for better kinds. But the vineyard at Vevay, planted largely of this variety, was the first really successful one in America.
SINGLE VINE OF “LADY DE COVERLY” GRAPE (SEEDLESS) GROWN BY J. P. ONSTOTT, MARYVILLE, CAL.
The next forward step was the introduction of the Isabella and Catawba, both having originated in America, not long previous to 1820, although of unknown parentage; but, perhaps, as the results of accidental crossing between our native wild grapes and some of the foreign kinds. The Isabella is supposed to have originated in South Carolina, and was brought from there by Mrs. Isabella Gibbs and planted in her garden in Brooklyn, N. Y., where it came to the notice of William R. Prince in 1816, when in full bearing. He named it Isabella in her honor, and introduced it to the general public.
The Catawba is supposed to have originated as a seedling near the Catawba River, in North Carolina, but was not generally known until Major John Adlum, of the District of Columbia, found it in bearing on the premises of Mrs. Scholl, a tavern keeper of Clarksburgh, Md. He was at once delighted with its good qualities, and planted it in his experiment grounds at Georgetown in 1819, and introduced it to the fruit-loving public soon after.
The next impetus to grape culture was caused by the introduction of the Delaware and Concord. The exact origin of the Delaware is not known, but it came to public notice about 1855, through the efforts of Mr. A. Thomson and George W. Campbell, of Delaware, O. It was learned afterwards that the same variety was growing in 1850, in the garden of a Swiss immigrant, Paul H. Provost, at Frenchtown, N. J. It may be that it originated at this place from a chance seed, and that cuttings were thence carried to Ohio. It is evidently a cross between the foreign species and one of our natives, and is to-day about the best of all the grapes grown in the Eastern States.
The Concord is a pure native seedling, produced by Ephraim W. Bull, of Concord, Mass., and first shown to the public at Boston in 1853. It has proved itself to be the greatest blessing of all grapes that have ever been grown in America. Its thriftiness and reliability under all circumstances are unequaled. It is not only good in itself, but it has been the parent of a race of seedlings which have filled our vineyards, gardens, and markets with the most delicious grapes, and at a very slight cost of labor or money. Whoever gathers or buys a basket of blue-black Concord or Worden, purple Brighton or opal Niagara, should render a silent thank-offering to the memory of Ephraim W. Bull, who made their existence a possibility.
The first commercial vineyard of importance was planted by Nicholas Longworth, on the hills overlooking the Ohio River, about ten miles below Cincinnati, and it was largely of Catawba. Many others followed his example, and from about 1830 to 1860 so great an interest was shown that the hills bordering the Ohio for many miles were dotted with vineyards. But mildew and black rot devastated them and almost destroyed their usefulness. These diseases are now largely overcome by spraying with a solution of sulphate of copper.
In northern Ohio, about Cleveland and Sandusky, and on the islands near the southern shore of Lake Erie, the Catawba was planted with much better success, owing, perhaps, to the climate not being so favorable to grape diseases. The lake region of western New York is perhaps more densely planted with grapes than any section east of California. Thousands of carloads of grapes of high quality are shipped from there every year. The Southern States have awakened somewhat to the importance of grape culture. Some of the poorest sandy lands of North Carolina and Florida have been planted to vines and found to produce, when fertilized, excellent grapes. Texas is also a most productive grape region. Their earliness causes them to find a ready market in the North.
But in all of North America there is no section where the grape flourishes with such wonderful success as in California and other regions beyond the Rocky Mountains. There the tenderest and most delicious of all the grapes of France, Italy, Persia, and Palestine ripen their luscious clusters beneath the glowing skies. The grapes of Eshcol, I imagine, did not surpass those now grown in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Idaho. All up and down their fertile valleys and foot-hills may be seen great stretches of vineyard after vineyard. The raisin industry alone is immense; and the product is of such high quality and is produced at so low cost that the importation of European raisins is becoming less each year, and may soon be practically at an end. We have already begun exporting our raisins to England and other parts of the world. Over 103,000,000 pounds, filling 5000 cars, were shipped from California alone in one year. Single clusters of grapes have frequently been grown in California that weighed from ten to fifteen pounds, and four or five pound clusters are very common. Truly, America is a land of grapes.
The Berries.—America stands alone in the popular use of berries. Except in the matter of gooseberries and currants, which are rather plentiful in some parts of Europe, and a few strawberries and raspberries there and in Japan, there are very few berries grown outside of America.
The strawberry was found wild here in all sections. The fruit was small but of most delicious flavor. A few of the varieties grown in the mother country were brought over here, but they did not flourish. About 1834 C. M. Hovey, of Cambridge, Mass., grew some seedlings of the old Pine strawberry, which is an offshoot of the wild strawberry of the west coast of South America, and his introduction of varieties named Hovey and Boston Pine marked the first step in our modern strawberry culture. Next came the Wilson, which originated about 1850 on the grounds of John Wilson, of Albany, N. Y. This variety really popularized the growing of strawberries, because of its hardiness and productiveness. Soon after this the Crescent was found at New Orleans, La. Other kinds were soon originated from seed by experimenters, and chance seedlings were found coming up in all fruit-growing regions. It was not long until there were hundreds of named varieties of good quality and that bore abundantly. Within the last decade or two there have been hundreds more originated by the most skillful hybridizers using our native species and the foreign ones also. Others just as good were picked up wherever they chanced to grow from seed. Thus, we now have the most wonderful assortment of varieties of the strawberry in the world. They are early, medium, and late. The facilities for shipping are so convenient that, now, it is possible to have strawberries in the fancy markets almost every day of the year, from some section of our great country. In the flush of the season they are so cheap and abundant that the poor can enjoy them along with the rich. From little garden patches fifty years ago, and very small ones too, we have now come to grow them by the thousand acres.
The raspberry is another of our delicious berries. At first our pioneers were satisfied with those they could gather from the wild bushes. Following the same plan that was used with most other fruits, the European raspberries were brought over the sea and planted in the gardens of America. But they did poorly, and about 1850 our people began to plant the native varieties. These grew and bore well. Now we have hundreds of the very choicest named kinds, black, red, purple, and yellow, early and late, and more being originated every year.
The history of the gooseberry is almost identical with that of the raspberry. The foreign kinds, although bearing very much larger fruit than our native kinds, were ruined by mildew. About 1845 Abel Houghton, of Massachusetts, grew a seedling from the wild berry, which was named Houghton, and from this came another seedling, the Downing, which was originated at Newburgh, N. Y., some years later. These two varieties are now among our very best kinds. Since the benefits of spraying with fungicides have been known, the larger and milder flavored English kinds are being grown with considerable success.
The blackberry is found native only in America. It has been one of the most useful of all our wild fruits from the earliest settlement of the country, and was used by the aborigines for centuries before. Until about 1840 there was not enough thought given to blackberry culture to make the least attempt in that direction, when Captain Lovett, of Beverly, Mass., gave the name Dorchester to a chance variety, and distributed it. Soon after 1850 the Lawton was taken from its wild habitat on the banks of the Hudson River. This variety was the first really good blackberry that was named and distributed. The Kitatinny followed about ten years later, having been found wild in the mountains of western New Jersey. At least two white varieties, and several having pink berries, that were found growing wild, were named and sent out. These novelties are yet cultivated by a few amateur horticulturists. It may seem strange to say that we have white and red blackberries, but it is a fact. At this date we have many kinds of later introduction, some early and some late, and of most delicious flavor.
Perhaps all Americans know that cranberry sauce goes with Thanksgiving turkey. No country in the world has so many cranberries as North America. The bogs of Cape Cod are famous for this fruit, and the Pilgrims of Plymouth colony knew of them, and served them on their rustic tables. Now the wild marshes along the Atlantic are nearly all under cultivation, and the product has been increased many fold. Fully 1,000,000 bushels are marketed when the crop is good. The same is being done with the bogs in the vicinity of the Great Lakes. Cranberries grow in untold quantities on the marshes of Alaska.
Citrus Fruits.—When the Spaniards invaded Florida in search of gold they brought with them seeds of the citrus fruits from the regions of the Mediterranean. There the orange, lemon, and lime were planted in the genial climate of our Southern borders. The fruit was carried hither and thither, and soon escaped the bounds of the cultivated areas. The forests in places were filled with wild orange trees, the most of which bore fruit of poor quality. When the tide of immigration set southward after the Civil War, these wild groves were budded to good varieties, and new land was cleared and planted with small seedlings. These were budded to good varieties in due time. Orange culture was soon a fixed industry in Florida. This increased rapidly up to the time of the severe freeze of 1894–95, when there were shipped over 5,000,000 boxes. Since then the results of the freezing of the trees has greatly lessened the product, but it is steadily increasing again.
The lemon has attracted much less interest than the orange, but I have seen one lemon orchard in Florida of more than two hundred acres, and there are many smaller ones.
The lime is but little called for, and is therefore grown more as a novelty than for commercial purposes.
The pomelo, by some misnamed “grape-fruit,” is a very large, wholesome, and delicious citrus fruit that is becoming quite popular where it grows, and in the northern markets.
ORANGE ORCHARD OF LYMAN PHELPS, SANFORD, FLA.
In California the orange was first planted by the mission fathers centuries ago. The first real orchard is said to have been planted at San Gabriel in 1804. Before the discovery of gold in that far-away region very few orange orchards existed there, and they were of small size. Up to 1872 very little more than this was done, when the founding of the colony at Riverside, and the fortunate introduction of the Bahia or Navel orange from Brazil by our government, at this juncture, was the start of prosperous citrus culture on that coast. Now there are annually about 5,000,000 boxes of oranges sent out of that State alone, and the amount is steadily increasing. A large part of these are of the justly famous Navel variety.
Lemon growing is also becoming a great industry there. Orchards of one hundred acres are rather common, and some are fully five times larger. Over 2,000,000 boxes of lemons were produced the past season.
The Olive.—Among the historic fruits of Palestine and southern Europe the olive holds a conspicuous place. Numerous but futile attempts were made in early times to establish it in Virginia and along the Atlantic coast, the climate there proving unsuitable. But in the warmer parts of California the olive is perfectly at home. The first olive orchard of consequence was planted by Ellwood Cooper, at Santa Barbara, in 1872, and in 1876 he made oil from the fruit grown on the trees. Now there are many extensive orchards in many parts of the State. It is estimated that there are nearly 2,000,000 olive trees now growing in that State. The oil and pickled fruit are steadily becoming popular in our fancy markets in competition with the foreign product.
OLIVE ORCHARD, QUITO RANCH, NEAR SAN JOSE, CAL.
The Fig.—Very little is done in fig culture east of California, although the trees are not tender along the Gulf coast, except in case of extremely severe winters. In California it is a decided success, commercially as well as for mere pleasure. The past year dried figs to the amount of nearly 4,000,000 pounds were sent to market, and the quantity has been constantly increasing for several years.
The Pineapple.—Those who have never seen pineapples growing are apt to think they are produced on trees. This is far from the fact. They grow on the tips of stalks about two feet high. The plants have large narrow leaves that cluster at the ground, from the centre of which these stalks spring. A few patches were planted on the islands near the Florida coast in 1860, but it is only about fifteen years since the first vigorous attempts were made to grow this delicious fruit in the United States. Florida is the only region within our country where the climate is sufficiently moist and warm for it to flourish. Along the east coast, from Rock Ledge southward, and on the west coast below Tampa, are the most favorable sections. Many acres are devoted to its culture there. Frosts damage the plants sometimes, but they soon recover. In central Florida, many acres are grown under sheds. These are made of frame-work, which is covered with slats or boughs as a protection from frost. Upwards of 3,000,000 fruits of marketable size are now produced in Florida annually.
Other Fruits.—The date is just beginning to be set in the arid regions of Arizona and southern California, and with good prospects of success. Already many trees are in bearing, and the fruit is of excellent quality. The choicest varieties have been imported from Africa. The guava is being grown in the warm parts of Florida and California. The mango has been fruited in the warmest parts of Florida and California.
PINEAPPLE FIELD AT PALM BEACH, FLA.
Nuts.—The sweet almond of southern Europe has long been tested in America, but nowhere with success except in California, where there are almond orchards of several hundred acres each. The Persian (wrongly called English) walnut is a great success in the richer lands of California, where orchards of majestic trees have been in full bearing for many years. Of our native nuts the pecan is the best of all, and it is about the only one that has so far proved worthy of cultivation. It is found in a wild state in Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. The creek and river bottoms suit it best, but it will do very well on almost any rich land. On some of the hammock lands of Florida hundreds of acres are now planted to the pecan. The largest pecan orchard is that of F. A. Swinden, of Brownwood, Texas, which covers over five hundred acres, and is being increased from year to year.
Our native chestnut is of better quality than the foreign kinds, but the nuts are much smaller. The largest are from Japan, some of which are two inches in diameter. Many of these choice kinds have been imported, and others were originated from seeds, which are now being planted in orchards. The best of the European chestnuts have also been imported, and new kinds have been grown here from the nuts. Nearly all of these varieties succeed in America, and many small orchards have been planted. Some have grafted sprouts from our native chestnut stumps and small trees with these improved kinds, and found them to grow and bear abundantly.
The cocoanut is strictly tropical, and can only be grown in the very warmest parts of Florida. It will not endure as low a temperature as the pineapple without injury. As a commercial venture its culture will probably never pay in America, but for ornamental purposes and as an interesting novelty it is already a success from Lake Worth southward. The waving plumes of this giant palm are a source of constant delight to those who are privileged to see them. The huge clusters of nuts are indeed an interesting sight.
Surely we have a great and fruitful country, from the cranberry bogs of arctic Alaska to the waving cocoanut groves of Florida. This century closes and the new one begins with wonderful advances in fruit culture beyond those of a hundred years ago.
THE CENTURY’S COMMERCIAL PROGRESS
By EMORY R. JOHNSON, A.M.,
Asst. Prof. of Transportation and Commerce, University of Pennsylvania.
Commercial activity has three phases, trade, shipping, and shipbuilding. In each of these three phases of commerce the nineteenth century has witnessed a remarkable progress. The expansion of both domestic and international trade has far exceeded the anticipations of those who lived a hundred years ago; and the agencies of transportation by water, the numerous auxiliaries of commerce and the shipbuilding industries, have undergone a technical revolution so complete, and with consequences so beneficent to our social and industrial life, as to make the commercial progress of the past hundred years one of the salient features of the history of the century. We shall better appreciate the nature and scope of the commercial progress of the past hundred years, if we glance for a moment at a picture of the commerce of the world at the close of the eighteenth century.