Historic Colorado apples are being revived
I've lived in the Denver metro area for almost 40 years so I'm a bit embarrassed to say I had no idea that SW Colo was once very well known for it's apples.
The snip below explains why these large orchards all but vanished, but the linked article focuses, primarily, on the efforts to save and restore the numerous varieties. It's a lengthy but good read.
https://coloradosun.com/2019/11/28/colorado-heritage-apples-orchard-restoration-hard-cider/
"Blame Prohibition for some losses
All these apple-revival areas suffered from the same historical forces – weather, politics and industrialized farming – that sidelined so many varieties of apples.
The many varieties came to Colorado with pioneers who planted so many types of apples for good reason. Because different varieties ripened at different times and had different shelf lives, they yielded a year-around supply of fruit. Families could also handle the staggered harvests without having to hire outside crews.
Some of the trees were chosen to yield the spitters for hard ciders. Because they had no use other than to make booze, most fell to the axes of FBI agents during Prohibition.
Washington state played a big part in killing off the cornucopia of apple varieties in Colorado. Growers in Washington, a less challenging place weather-wise to grow apples, embraced the idea of an apple monoculture that could yield huge amounts of long shelf life fruit that could be shipped across the country by rail. Old varieties were torn out to make way for the Red Delicious which, at its height of popularity, accounted for 80% of all apples grown in the country.
That shift turned apple farming into the apple industry. Colorado tried to join that industry to compete with Washington. Crops were rejiggered to favor uniform, blemish-free globes. The Pitt’s Bitters, the Knot Heads and the Wine Kissed didn’t stand a chance. But Colorado was never able to catch up, and many orchards were ripped out to make way for more profitable crops."
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