History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

FRUIT CULTURE. 725
were raised in California and Oregon. 17 With the
exception of Indian corn, all the cereals raised in
Utah thrive vigorously when under irrigation, fall
wheat requiring only one watering a year. In the
basin of Great Salt Lake the fruits of the temperate
zone grow to good size, and are of excellent flavor,
the crop being remarkably sure. The value of orchard
products in 1883, including apples, of which there
were at least ninety varieties, pears, quinces, cherries,
peaches, currants, plums, and berries of many descriptions,
was estimated at $157,000. The yield' of apples
was about 90 bushels to the acre, of pears 75, of
peaches 120, of plums 165, and of cherries 75. 1H
Pro-
duction was largely in excess of the demand, most of
the surplus being dried for shipment, though for want
of a market thousands of tons were fed to hogs, or
allowed to rot on the ground. 19
On the Rio Virgen and elsewhere in southern Utah
below the rim of the basin were, in 1883, a few vineyards,
but viticulture was not a profitable industry,
as both grapes and wine were slow of sale, the latter
17 See, for list of prizes awarded in 1S79, Deseret News, Oct. 22, 1879; for
report of directors in I860, Id., Oct. 17, 1860; for exhibition in that year, Sac.
Union, Oct. 20, 1860; for condition, operations, and financial exhibits, Utah
Jour. Legist., 1S63-4, pp. 59-60; 1864-5, 79-81; 1865-6, 82-4, 123; 1S70, 177
-8; 1876, 133-4; for rules and regulations, Deseret Agr. and Man. Soc.— List
of Premiums; S. L. Dy Herald, July 19, Aug. 9, 1S79; for description of last
fair, 8. L. Wldy Herald, Oct. 6, 1881; for agricultural fair held at Provo in
1870, Deseret News, Oct. 12, 1870; for Utah co. fair in 1800, Id., Oct. 3, 1S00;
for fairs at various settlements and prizes awarded, Id., Oct. 8, 1862; for complete
list of agricultural societies, Id. Aug. 21, 1872. In 1865 lands and funds
were appropriated for an agricultui'al college. See Utah Jour. Legist., 1865-6,
p. 40; Utah Acts Legist., 1865, p. 88.
18 Utah Gazetteer, 1884, p. 46. These figures are for 1875. Of late years
apples, peaches, vegetables, and grain have been infected with worms, and the
trees with noxious insects, four or five large worms being sometimes foifnd in
a single ear of corn. Jennings' Mat. Progr. of Utah, MS., 7; Ilollister's lies,
and Attract, of Utah (1S82), 18.
19 See, for review of fruit culture in Utah, Deseret News, March 20, 1861;
for tables showing area under fruit, product, yield per acre, and sketch of
fruit-growing interest for 1S75-9, S. L. C. Tribune, Apr. 2, 1879; for other
statistics and reports on horticulture, Deseret News, Dec. 31, 1856; Utah Jour.
Legist., 1866-7, pp. 159-62; 1808, 163-8. Among the leading men engaged
in the wholesale fruit business may be mentioned H. L. Griffin, who commenced
operations in 1881 and met with fair success. Mr Griffin, a Pennsylvanian
by birth, came to Utah in 1S79, having previously resided for many
years in Kansas, to which state he removed after his father was crippled in
the war of the rebellion. GriJ/ii/s Fruit Cult., MS.