CHERRIES ON THE PACIFIC COAST
The history of the cherry in America is not complete without some mention of its introduction, culture and the development of new varieties on the Pacific coast. Indeed, it is not too much to say that at no time nor at any place in its whole history has the cherry made greater advancement than during the last half-century in Oregon, California and Washington—naming the states in order of their contribution to cherry culture.
At about the time the colonies were beginning their struggle with the mother country for independence, Franciscan monks were establishing missions in California. To these they brought seeds of fruits, grains, flowers and vegetables, as several historians of the missions tell us, and as the trees found by Americans a few decades later make certain as regards fruits. It is probable that by the close of the Revolutionary war all subtropical and temperate fruits of Europe were to be found cultivated in the missions of California. Among these, in an enumeration of the products of the missions, the cherry is listed by E. S. Capson.[39] From its introduction at approximately the close of the Eighteenth Century, the cherry continued to be cultivated, at times more or less sparsely to be sure, until, by conquest in the war with Mexico, California passed into the possession of the United States. A new era in horticulture began in California soon after the influx of gold-seekers in 1849, some of whom, noting the opportunities of fruit-growing, at once began the importation of seeds and plants.
Modern fruit-growing on the Pacific Coast, however, began in Oregon. The California Argonauts of '49 were much too busily engaged in digging gold to think of getting it indirectly by tilling the soil, whereas the men who were then crossing the plains from Missouri or sailing around the Horn from New England to Oregon were home-makers and true tillers of the soil. These early Oregonians were the forerunners in the zeal and enterprise which have made horticulture on this coast the marvel of modern agriculture. But one of the several early horticulturists of Oregon can be mentioned here, he deserving special mention by virtue of his work with cherries.
Until 1847 the few cultivated fruits to be found in Oregon were seedlings mostly grown by employees of the Hudson Bay Fur Company. In that year there was a notable importation of cultivated fruits across the plains—a venture which quickly proved pregnant with results in fruit harvests which have not ceased and give promise long to continue. Henderson Lewelling crossed the plains from Henry County, Iowa, and brought with him a choice selection of grafted fruits. These he transported in boxes of soil which he hauled in a wagon drawn by oxen. Arriving in Oregon late in the fall of 1847 he found that he had 300 trees alive which he planted at what is now Milwaukee, a few miles south of Portland on the east side of the Willamette River. Later, seeds were brought for stocks, though for the cherry the wild species, Prunus emarginata and Prunus virginiana, were used and very successfully, until Mazzard and Mahaleb seeds could be obtained. In this travelling nursery, Lewelling brought to Oregon cherries of the Bigarreau, the English Morello and probably of several other types. The label of one of the cherries was lost and this unknown was renamed Royal Ann. Unfortunately, it was one of the best known of all cherries that for the time being lost its identity—the Napoleon, which probably has been cultivated for three centuries and since 1820 has borne the name of the great General. With dogged perseverance the West Coast fruit-growers continue the name "Royal Ann" to the great confusion of systematic pomology.
But of chief import to cherry culture were the subsequent operations in the Lewelling nursery at Milwaukee. Lacking proper stocks, Seth Lewelling, who had succeeded Henderson in the nursery business, grew a great many cherries from seeds. From these he afterward selected and disseminated varieties that have made Oregon famous not only for what are probably the finest sweet cherries in the world but for a long list of new and desirable varieties—as Republican, Lincoln, Willamette Seedling and Bing. We call to mind no greater success in bringing into being new fruits from a few lots of seedlings than in the case of Lewelling and his cherries. Lewelling's work stimulated others to breed cherries and among many seedlings that have since been named in the Northwest the Lambert and Oregon are well worthy of mention.
The facts of time and place in the beginning of cherry culture which we have tried to set forth in this chapter have, we think, some historical and narrative interest. Yet, the main value of the facts are not in history and story. Rather, at least so we hope they will be interpreted, these brief records show what the crude material was out of which our present cultivated cherry flora has been developed; what the steps were in the domestication and development of the cherry; what economic purposes they have served; and who the peoples are and what the methods were in bringing the cherry to its present state of development. In a word, the chapter will not have served the purpose for which it is mainly intended if it does not furnish facts and inspirations toward the further evolution of the cherry.
CHAPTER III
CHERRY CULTURE
The magnitude of the cherry industry in the United States is not generally appreciated. This is because cherries are very largely grown in small home plantations and the product is either consumed at home and in local markets, or is sent to canning factories and is therefore disposed of without the display attending the production and marketing of fruits sold in the general market. The following figures from the last census show the importance of the industry. There were in 1909, according to the census taken in 1910, 11,822,044 bearing cherry trees in the United States and 5,621,660 trees not of bearing age. The bearing trees bore 4,126,099 bushels of fruit valued at $7,231,160. When this, the thirteenth census, was taken, the cherry ranked fifth in commercial value among orchard fruits, being surpassed in the order named by the apple, peach, plum and pear.
The yield of fruit was 43.6 per centum greater in 1909 than in 1899. This high percentage of increase has been brought about in several ways. The recent development of rapid transportation, refrigerator service and of marketing facilities has greatly stimulated the culture of this as of all other fruits in the United States. An increased demand for canned and preserved cherries has sprung up so that cherries are much more used now than formerly, the trade in preserved cherries for confections and various drinks in particular having greatly increased. Lastly, better care of orchards and better means of combating insects and fungi have increased the yields during the last decade.
Cherries are grown in greater or less quantities in every state in the Union but commercially the industry is confined to a few states having especial advantages in climate, soil and markets. In but six states, according to the last census, was the value of the cherry crop more than a half-million dollars, the states being: California $951,654, Pennsylvania $909,975, Ohio $657,406, Michigan $590,829, New York $544,508, Indiana $508,516. In New York in particular, recent plantings of this fruit have been so great that at this writing, July, 1914, the figures given for this State could be increased by a quarter at the very least, and no doubt they could be largely increased also for California and Michigan. The great growth of the canning industry is most largely responsible for the large plantings of cherries in recent years in regions especially suited to this fruit.
In the several states named, the cherry industry is further localized. Thus, in the 61 counties in New York, the cherry is grown largely in but 12, the number of trees in each of these being: Columbia 78,526, Niagara 61,786, Monroe 49,831, Ontario 36,394, Wayne 35,385, Erie 29,483, Onondaga 25,932, Seneca 27,063, Chautauqua 24,483, Steuben 15,412, Orleans 14,682 and Cayuga 14,319. If the figures just given, the total number being 413,296, are compared with the number of trees in the State, 674,000, it will be seen that the industry is quite localized, two-thirds of the cherries being grown in 12 of the 61 counties, though the fact is brought out in the census that cherries are grown on 59,408 farms in New York, showing that this fruit is much grown for home use. Further figures of interest as regards New York are that the cherry crop in 1909 amounted to 271,597 bushels which sold for $544,508. The plantings in the State cover in the neighborhood of 9,500 acres.
A canvass of the leading cherry-growers and nurserymen in the United States shows that, in all parts of the country excepting California, Oregon and Washington, Sour Cherries are much more commonly grown than Sweet Cherries. In New York at least 90 per cent of the cherry trees are of sour varieties and this proportion will hold for the region east of the Rockies. The leading commercial varieties of Sour Cherries, in order named, are Montmorency, Early Richmond and English Morello. No other variety is nearly as commonly grown as is even the least well known of these three. No one of the Duke cherries is mentioned as of commercial importance, but May Duke, Late Duke and Reine Hortense are frequently grown in home plantations.
Growers of Sweet Cherries are not nearly as closely in accord as to the best varieties as are those who grow sour sorts. The most popular Sweet Cherries in the East seem to be Windsor, Black Tartarian, Napoleon and Wood with a very insistent statement of the few who have tried it that Schmidt is better than any of these for the market. On the Pacific Coast honors go to Napoleon, which the Westerners continue to call Royal Ann despite the fact that it has been cultivated for three centuries and had been called Napoleon for nearly a half-century before Lewelling took it to Oregon in 1847. Other popular sorts on the Pacific seaboard are Bing, Lambert and Republican—all western productions.
Rather more important than the information obtained from growers of cherry trees as to varieties was that as to the stocks on which cherries are grown in America. This brings us to a discussion of the whole subject of stocks for cherries.