The agricultural history of Isle La Motte is unremarkable when compared to mainland towns whose fields and land are unhindered by the boundaries and constraints of island life.  Early settlers to the island were quick to exploit other resources for financial gain.  Farming and agriculture became a way to provide for the family and household, something not uncommon in early New England rural life.  Of paramount importance to the agricultural history of the island can be found in the proliferation of apple production which swept through not only Isle La Motte in the late 1800’s, but also the adjacent islands of Grand Isle, North Hero, South Hero, and the peninsular town of Alburgh. 

            To understand the agriculture of the island, one must first either visit the island, or read a description of the layout of the land.  The surface of the island is mainly comprised of small rolling fields and hills, divided in the center by a large marshy area.  Six miles in length and roughly two in width, Isle La Motte consists of eight square miles of land and 5000 acres.  The topsoil of the island consists of clay and loam, and is directly on top of the Chazy Limstone[i] Formation; the oldest coral reef in the world.  This layer of stone provides construction material for much of the island, and was commercially quarried for hundreds of years.  A number of stone barns and homes exist on the island, created completely from this fossiliferous limestone. 

            Material collected for the creation of the agricultural history of the island came from a number of sources.  Agricultural census date was an obvious source of information, bringing together every aspect of farm and orchard production for the years 1840 to 1880.  The bulk of secondary sources were created to show the apple production which was the main form of agricultural business for the island.  Material from the Agricultural Experiment Station provided a glimpse into the more science based production of the late 1890’s[ii].  Although the apple industry severely declined after the first world war, there was still data available on a county wide scale until the late 1990’s. 

 

             In his 1909 tercentenary celebration speech, Senator Henry Hill, a native to Isle La Motte, greeted the crowd with the following oration,

 

“The physical and atmospheric conditions are all that can be desired and everything has been done by the people of this town to make this one of the most enjoyable days of the celebration week.  Nature has bountifully bestowed its charms upon this scene, which is one of the most picturesque ever witnessed on this island, noted for its fine apple orchards, large marble quarries and at one time, for its flourishing high schools.[iii]”

 

            Senator Hill chooses to mention the key features of the island in this short excerpt from his speech, clearly making reference to the beauty of the island as well as the quality of the apple orchards. 

 

Apple Production on Isle La Motte

 

            The first apple production on Isle La Motte is widely credited to Ebenezer Allen in the year 1790.  From South Hero Island, Allen helped with the spread of apples on the Islands, and was soon instrumental in helping set up orchards.  In probate court records, the dispersion of Caleb Hill’s estate is shown as having produced 1600 bushels of apples in the year 1814[iv].  These apples were priced at .25 cents a bushel during this period.  The hill family continued to produce apples throughout the 1800’s and into the 1900’s. 

            Many types of apples were produced on the islands[v], and in 1896, an Agricultural Experiment Station bulletin was produced to show the variety and quality of apples on Isle La Motte as well as the rest of Grand Isle County.  This report describes the production cycle of apples, as well as grafting methods and apple varieties. 

            According to the report, Grand Isle County is an incredibly devoted region to the production of high quality apple produce.  When furthering the apple industry in mainland Vermont, orchard owners should look to Isle La Motte as a model.  The 1896 crop was a record setter, netting over 40,000 barrels of apples, 15,000 of these from Isle La Motte.  According to 1896 Agricultural Experiment Station bulletin, these are some of the key elements which make Grand Isle apples extraordinary,

 

~Sandy of gravelly soils, with a lack of slope .

~Multiple windbreaks.

~Systematic cultivation.

~Barnyard manure - which contains more phosphoric acid than some commercial fertilizers.

~Top grafting.

~Apples are picked directly into barrels and are sent to market early. 

~Specially crafted apple barns (see Illustration 1.1)

Figure 1.1 – Apple Storage Barn – South Hero, VT[vi]

 

            Apples produced on the island are considered more hardy than New York stock, and come in such varieties as Northern Spy, Baldwin, Point Sweet, Golden Russet, Ben Davis, and Arctic. 

            Isle La Motte apple growers used ingenuity when planning their orchards.  By using the space in between trees for growing crops, farmers were able to plant and sell various other products.  According to Bulletin 55 of the Agriculture Experiment Station,

 

            “Every commercial orchard in Grand Isle County is under cultivation.  Young orchards are planted to corn, beans, or similar crops, requiring summer culture.  Bearing orchards are plowed shallow late in fall, or early in spring, or both.  ….Buckwheat has been most used thus far.  Before picking time this may be cut and raked towards the trees.  It then serves to catch falling apples.”[vii]

 

            Why apples?  For the most part, apples were not being consumed in the raw, but were being mashed into pulp to create cider.  After harvesting apples in early September, farmers would store the family quota of apples in a root cellar and look towards the bulk of the harvest as either something to sell to market, or to make into apple cider.  By 1890, the peak of Isle La Motte apple production, most of the bounty was being used for apple cider production.  Apple brandy, hard cider, and ciderkins (for children) were all alcoholic beverages which were produced for resale and personal consumption. 

            Cidermaking involves numerous steps of production.  Wild and cultivated apples were wetted outside the apple mill and were carried to a second floor, where they were dumped into bins to sit.  This allowed the apples to lose some of their crispness, and become soft enough to squeeze.  After the apples were suitably softened, they were poured into an apple grinder.  This grinder would reduce the apples to a pulpy mixture.  This mixture was next pressed between large plank boards, with runoff being caught in barrels.  This runoff was allowed to sit and age until fermentation yielded hard, alcoholic, cider. 

            One can still witness apple cider production on Isle La Motte.  During peak foliage season, the owners of Hall Orchards allow visitors to participate in the entire process. 

 

 

 

Town	Orchard Products	Value
Alburgh	Apples	$2381
Isle La Motte	Apples	$688
North Hero	Apples	$885
Grand Isle	Apples	$2053
South Hero	Apples	$1398
		$7405

Table 1 - 1840 Grand Isle Apple Production

 

1896 Apple Production

 

Town	Number of Growers	Fruit Bearing Trees	Trees Too Young	1896 Crop in Barrels
Alburgh	14	710	320	1,030
Isle La Motte	45	11,007	5,550	14,687
North Hero	30	1,607	2,549	2,349
Grand Isle	60	12,769	5,460	12,576
South Hero	43	8,792	3,350	9,782
	192	34,885	17,229	40,424

Table 2 - 1896 Apple Production

 

 

 

            Profitability is always an issue when regarding agriculture.  Are apple orchards a viable way to make a living?  According reports from 1889 and 1896, Nathaniel Hill had a production of over $440 per acre.  In 1896 his orchard was able to produce 1000 barrels of apples, with an average selling price of over $1.50 per barrel. 

            Profitability was also a concern on the minds of many Vermonters.  Looking at this excerpt from an 1875 report[viii], it is clear that apple production was considered a profitable and lucrative venture.

 

1875 Fruit Culture Report – State Board of Agriculture

By J.H. Putnam of Grafton

 

We are Yankees.  This is an age and we are a people of utility.  Will it pay?  Is the test to which everything is brought.  Consequently, in considering the matter of planting an orchard, the first query that is arises is this: Is it reasonable to expect that the requisite amount of money land and labor invested in orchard culture will yield as large returns as though invested in any other ordinary farm product?  We answer Yes.  We contend that there is no ordinary farm crop from which so much can be realized as from the apple orchard, in proportion to the capital ad labor invested.

 

           

            Until 1900, when a new method of railway shipping was introduced, Isle La Motte orchards depended on waterways to transfer their apples to prospective buyers.  William Montgomery ran a schooner which made weekly trips from Isle La Motte and Burlington to points south.  Canal boats were also used extensively until the railroad appeared in the early 1900’s. 

            An excerpt from a town history shows the following,

 

December 12^th, 1912 – Isle La Motte has shipped over 11,000 barrels of apples this season.  Prices ranged from $1.75 to $2.25 per barrel for No.1 Sized apples.[ix] 

 

 

            To better describe the production of apples on Isle La Motte, a family breakdown of the top three orchards will be looked at.  These top three producers of apples depended on the apple market as a main source of income. 

 

Holcomb Family

Figure 2 - Holcomb Orchard Advertisement[x]

 

 

The Holcomb family of Isle La Motte consisted of two main growers, Cyrus and Ephraim A. Holcomb.  The earliest records for the family come from an account book of Cyrus, where he makes reference to the various sales of apples and apple barrels from his orchard. 

 

Census Year	Acres of Orchard	Tree #	Bushels	Total Value
1850				$100
1860				$75
1870				$270
1880	33 1/2	1200	1300	$735

Table 3 - Holcomb Family Apple Production

 

 

 

 

 

 

1900’s Apple Production – A Move Towards Science

 

            Starting in the late 1890’s, apple producers on Isle La Motte began to turn towards science to aid in the production and resale of apples.  Methods of grafting, thinning, and storage are all mentioned in the various reports and articles written for Vermont agriculture societies. 

            In 1926, a national apple week was adopted by some Massachusetts and Vermont growers to help popularize the apple and its many varieties.  The project utilized the different efforts to help promote Vermont apples with urban markets.  In 1926, over 15,000 Vermont McIntosh apples were given away in Boston during a Halloween parade.  The motive behind this give away was to familiarize Bostonians with the variety and taste of apples produced in Vermont.  Without a doubt many of these apples were from Isle La Motte, which still produced apples, although with less orchards. 

            Early on in the 1900’s, a new method of apple shipping was introduced with the Rutland Railroad, which built an island line.  Some were shipped directly from Isle La Motte, while others were transferred to Alburgh where they could be directed to the Vermont Central Railroad.  These apples were transferred to markets in Boston, New York, and Montreal.  In 1893, a buyer from Bismark North Dakota purchased 1700 barrels for transfer to his home state. 

           

 

Decline of Isle La Motte Apple Production

 

 

            By 1922 the number of non orchard based agriculture on Isle La Motte was incredibly low.  According to a census in 1921, there were 4 Silos, 169 horses, 66 sheep, 400 cows, and 19 pigs on the island.  An exact number of orchards on the island is not known for the time, but it is worth mentioning that many of the larger orchards of the previous three decades are defunct by the time of prohibition in America.  Perhaps the lack of demand for apples for use in cider mills is in direct relationship to the rapid decline in Isle La Motte apple production? 

            One thing can be certain, apple production began to decline in 1916, when market prices began to drop and rising costs of fertilizers and transportation made orchards a losing industry.

            By 1945, apple production was at an all time low.  According to a census taken in 1945, the number of farms reporting apple production was 5, with a combined total of 78 acres. 

Figure 3 - 1945 Orchard Census

 

 

Vermont Year	Total Apple Production (1,000 Bushels)	Price per Bushel	Total Value ($1,000)
1984	976	6.11	5965
1985	1167	6.92	7742
1986	1167	7.42	8480
1987	1048	7.58	7576
1988	1071	7.73	7920
1989	1071	8.08	8274
1990	1024	8.94	8725
1991	1262	9.12	10200
1992	1190	5.00	4998
1993	905	7.15	4960

Table 4 -  1980's Vermont Apple Production