OCR Text |
Show DEMAND FOR OGDEN APPLES. An authority on fruit, says the country around Ogden has 6,000 acres of orchards in bearing and that, with the trees now planted, there will be 14,000 acres of fruit trees in bearing within three years. That means the fruit shipments from here are to. be doubled and even quadrupled within the next four years, and Ogden is to rank as the center of one of the most productive fruit districts in the United States. And even then, only a beginning shall have been made, for there are thousands of acres of suitable soil to be converted to orchard or-chard purposes. Utah apples are making a name for this section, and this has been made possible by the spraying and pruning which has been Insisted on by the horticultural inspectors for three or four years past. The Utah apple was wormy and unmarketable three years ago. Today it is the best apple in the American auction sales, being free from worms, perfect in color and rich in flavor. It is estimated that 98 per cent of the fruit is free from worms. From 60 apple tree3 in the orchard of Fred Wheeler at Plain City, 500 bushels were gathered last week, for which $1.50 a bushel was paid. This proves the value of a good apple orchard near Ogden. There seems to be no limit to the market. The local shippers have had orders for trainloads of Utah apples that they cannot fill. Last year heavy shipments of this fruit were made to California, and this season heavier orders from that state are being received, many of which have come too late to fill. Five years from now, the transformation in the fruit districts of thi3 part of Utah will be so great that fruit lands, today selling for comparatively little more than wheat lands in Idaho, will be commanding com-manding hundreds of dollars an acre. |