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.