BACKGROUND

In 1933, a Frederick County, Virginia apple grower, Wilbur Cather wrote, “Fruit growing is the highest type of agricultural endeavor.”¹ Fruit growing is also an extremely difficult agricultural endeavor. There is a significant initial investment with a long wait for a return. Planting a new orchard means “tying up of capital in land from 10 to 15 years before the income from the land and capital approaches the interest on the investment.”²

As one Winchester farmer put it,

Apples have a long history in North America. In 1639, the Virginia General Assembly enacted a law that those who obtained patents for a hundred acres should be required to “establish a garden and orchard.” In 1642, Virginia Governor William Berkley was instructed by the Virginia Company that every Planter be required to plant orchards and a garden near his house.⁴ “Lord Fairfax, the proprietor of the northern part of Virginia stipulated in all deeds issued after 1748 that at least 100 apple trees be set upon each grant of land.”⁵

Apples became the staple crop in Winchester and Frederick County Virginia in the twentieth century. Winchester called itself the Apple Capital. Around 1900, it was not uncommon for a Virginia apple orchard to have thirty-five varieties of apples. During the early years of the century, apple storage space was almost wholly in the hands of speculators. Grower-controlled cold storage did not develop to any extent until after 1910. Speculators bought crops on the trees and often made more than the owner received for his work and investment since apple speculators were able to obtain more reliable crop estimates than the individual grower could. Since 1914, Federal Crop estimates have enabled the grower to have better information for setting prices. ⁶

During World War I, the foreign market was shut off and th ere was inflation in apple and land prices. ⁷ Following World War I, apple prices rose as high as $18.00 a barrel in the English markets. After 1919, there was a decline in apple and orchard values and during the depression, orchard values declined.⁸

In 1928, Frederick County produced 2.6 million bushels of apples valued at $2.2 million.⁹ The domestic market was limited. Two thirds of Virginia apples were shipped to England in 1930. The export market went into a decline in the 1930's because of an English import duty and competition from duty-free apples of the British Commonwealth. As the number of home orchards declined and urban population grew, the domestic market expanded. World War II had a catastrophic effect on apple exports. The foreign market was shut off completely. Apples were exported to Canada and Europe in 1960 and they were shipped to most of the eastern states.¹⁰ Cuba was a good market until the market was closed by the ascent of Castro.

The United States has approximately 7,500 apple producers that grow nearly 100 varieties of apples in 36 states. The top six apple-producing states are Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and Virginia. The largest U.S. apple crop on record, of 277.3 million cartons, was harvested in 1998.¹¹ The Department of Agriculture reports that 7,648 acres with 476,160 trees were planted in apples in Frederick County in 1987. There were 62 trees per acre. By 1997, there were 7169 acres with 644,624 trees and 90 trees per acre. Undoubtedly there had been a movement to smaller trees.¹²

Harry Flood Byrd, who became Governor and United States Senator from Virginia, was the most prominent apple grower in the region. Although he resided in nearby Clarke County, Byrd grew up in Winchester and was associated with the apple industry there. He began raising apples in 1906. By 1933, his orchards were producing half a million bushels of apples from over 150,000 trees. Byrd was President of the Winchester Cold Storage Company, the largest cold storage facility for apples in the world with a capacity of 1.5 million bushes.

The Byrd operation was a forerunner of today’s agribusinesses. He was interested in every aspect of apple production. His orchards produced over 17 varieties. Byrd investigated the use of heaters to protect the crop from early spring freezes. He was among the first orchardists to use tractors. To assure quality, apples were inspected 6 times, by the spotter, the crew leader, then by the picking foreman, the hauling foreman and lastly by the Quality Control Manager. He allowed Virginia Experimental Station personnel to conduct tests with fertilizer and spray on his land and exchanged information with the Department of Agriculture. By 1930, Byrd was exporting 75 percent of his apples to Britain, Germany, Argentina and Cuba.¹³

By the 1950’s, H. F. Byrd Inc. had 1,800 workers at the height of the season, sales in excess of $5 million, 200,000 trees in 11 orchards on 5,000 acres, 5 packing houses, 5 camp houses, 60 two ton trucks, 22 buses, 53 high pressure sprayers, 200,000 packing boxes, and 250,000 smudge pots. In 1958, the orchards produced over 2 million barrels which was 2% of the national crop.¹⁴ In later years, Byrd was reported to have 6 packing house and 3 cold storage plants. The operation used wood and fiberglass containers in addition to poly consumer bags. Products of the cannery came under the continuous inspection of the US Department of Agriculture. Byrd’s operation canned and sold apple sauce. They also produced apple juice, and vinegar stock. Dried apple pulp was sold for cattle feed.¹⁵ His biographer, Ronald Heinemann, calls him the ‘Apple King’ of America.¹⁶