Money Does Grow On Trees--Apple Trees in North Carolina, 1922

“A Young Man’s Apple Land” from the Asheville Citizen, June, 1922

As William Harpe Dean sees it, money grows on trees in Western North Carolina. Mr. Dean, a member of the staff of the Country Gentlemen, has visited the principal orchard regions of the United States, carefully assessing their advantages and disadvantages. And therefore when he says that, if he were planting an apple orchard, he would plant it here, the verdict cannot be set aside on the grounds of bias due to local pride and enthusiasm.

Mr. Dean is careful to explain that his conclusion is based on facts and not sentiment. His article, “Where I could plant my orchard,” in the current issue of the Country Gentleman, begins as follows:

“At the very outset I want to say that my choice location for planting an orchard would be governed entirely by practical considerations. Sentiment would play absolutely no part in it. I should select a region where I knew the soil was an apple soil, where I knew the climate was an apple climate, where water and air drainage were conducive to crop infurance, where rainfall was abundant and where, in addition to the region’s demonstrated ability to produce fruit of first quality, there existed ample markets which could be reached without dividing my income on a 50-50 basis with railroads in return for their hauling my crop clear across the continent.

“And this section of my choice is Western North Carolina which, after careful study of its assets and liabilities, appeals to me as a young man’s country merely waiting for enough young men to make it famous as any horticultural region in America.”

On several trips to the mountain sections of this State, Dean found 20 counties which met his tests for what he calls “a young man’s apple land,” with soil, climate and market opportunities requisite for success. He does not mean to say that you should plant apple trees in any field you come to, or on the summit of the high peaks. Orchards are to be adapted to the location more carefully than most other crops. If you would have a virtual guarantee against freezes, plant in a thermal belt.

When Mr. Dean has discovered about the possibilities for orcharding in Western North Carolina leaves this section without excuse for the conditions which make it possible for apple growers in the Northwest to ship their products across the continent for sale here. And what Mr. Dean has learned is becoming common knowledge. Either through the foresight of Western North Carolinians or of those in other states who take Dean’s advice, this region will some day not distant dominate the apple orchards of the South west.