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Remarks by Senator Byrd

June 18, 2004

West Virginia Day 2004

Sunday will be June 20th.  It will be West Virginia Day!

On this day before West Virginia eve, there are so many things I would like to say about my great and glorious State.

I would like to talk about our rolling green hills.  How each year thousands of people come to West Virginia to camp in our state and national parks, to hike the Appalachian Trail, to fish in our mountain streams, or simply to relax and enjoy our majestic mountain scenery.  The only thing more beautiful than the sun rising over our beautiful green peaks is the sun setting over them. 

I would like to brag about all those great West Virginia "firsts."  The first patent for a soda fountain being granted to George Dulty of Wheeling in 1833.  The first bare knuckle world heavyweight championship was held near Colliers, on June 1, 1880.  The first rural free mail delivery was started in Charles Town on October 6, 1896.  The first female jockey to win a horse race was Barbara Jo Rubin at the Charles Town Racetrack on February 22, 1969.

I would like to boast about all the biggest and the best of West Virginia.  The world's largest axe factory was located in Charleston.  The world's largest clothespin factory was located at Richwood.   The world's largest Sycamore tree is in Webster Springs.   The town of Weirton is the only city in the United States that extends from one state border to the other.

I would like to talk about the people of West Virginia.  How they have endured disasters, exploitation, and national scoffs and neglect, but remain the friendliest, the warmest, the most courageous, and most patriotic people in the United States.  West Virginians are good people who care about each other and care about you, even if you are a stranger.  It has been said, West Virginians "don't just loan someone a socket wrench, we help them fix their cars."

I would like to talk about the importance of the West Virginia coal industry.  I could point out how West Virginia coal helped fuel the industrial revolution, and for a century heated American homes, fueled our warships, and provided energy for our industries.

But, as the great and glorious day known as West Virginia Day approaches, I decided to discuss another aspect to the West Virginia economy and society – the West Virginia apple industry.

I have to wonder how many people listening to me even realize that West Virginia has a significant apple industry.

Well, it does.  In fact, West Virginia ranks 9^th in the nation in apple production.

Furthermore, West Virginia is the home of two important and popular varieties of commercial apples.  In 1775, Thomas W. Grimes produced the first Grimes golden apple in Wellsburg, West Virginia.  The Grimes Golden became a highly esteemed dessert apple.

In the early 1900s, Anderson Mullins discovered on his family property in Clay County a mysterious tree bearing the Golden Delicious Apple.  This oval-shaped apple with a golden-yellow skin, and a juicy, firm flesh and sweet flavor won wide acclaim.  Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the founder of Kellogg's breakfast food company, wrote that he considered "the golden delicious the finest apple I have ever tasted."   The world renowned horticulturist Luther Burbank agreed, as he stated: "I have no hesitancy in stating that it is the greatest apple in all the world."  Offsprings of the Golden Delicious have now been developed in every area of the United States and on every continent.  It is recognized as the state's most famous contribution to horticulture. In 1995, the West Virginia State Senate designated the Golden Delicious apple the official state fruit.

The apple industry in West Virginia began in a storybook fashion.  Around the year 1800, a young man by the name of John Chapman traveled the northern regions of what would become the State of West Virginia planting apple trees throughout the region.

Chapman was born in 1774, and spent fifty years of his life planting tiny apple trees throughout the frontiers of Eastern and Midwestern states.  He was a simple man, whose clothes were said to have been made from sacks, and he wore a tin pot for a hat, which he used for cooking.  His dream was for a land where blossoming apple trees were everywhere and no one was hungry.  On the frontier, apples were not only a source of nutritious food, they were used for the making of cider, vinegar, and apple butter as well.  Mr. Chapman is known to us today as the legendary Johnny Appleseed.

Many people think of Johnny Appleseed as a fictional character, but he was a real person. I like to think of him as, perhaps, the "Father of the West Virginia Apple Industry."

As the apple nurseries that Johnny Appleseed planted in West Virginia developed, apple trees were distributed throughout the region, and apple production blossomed.  Soon, West Virginia apples were being loaded on flatboats and shipped down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to as far south as New Orleans, or loaded on canal boats and shipped to the capital city of Washington.

By 1889, West Virignia was producing nearly 5 million bushels of apples a year.  Apple production in West Virginia peaked in 1931, when the state produced over 12 million bushels of apples.

Today, apple production in West Virginia averages 143 million pounds (3.4 million bushels).  Apple production takes place on an average of 9,000 acres representing 126 commercial fruit growers.

In the autumn, drive through southern Berkeley County and you will find the strong, sweet smell of apples being processed in sauces, juices, ciders, and jams.  On any Saturday, ride through the Eastern Panhandle and see civic groups, church groups, or groups of high school kids stirring apple butter in old cast-iron/copper-plated kettles set over open fires.

Apples have become an important part of the culture as well as the economies of West Virginia communities.  In Inwood, for example, in the heart of old apple orchards, is Musselman High School, named after the world renowned maker of apple products, Christian H. Musselman, who started one of his first plants in West Virginia.  And the school's mascot is the apple, while the spirited students are known as "Applemen."  The school newspaper is the "Cider Press."

Each year, the towns of Martinsburg and Burlington celebrate Apple Harvest festivals, while the towns of Salem and Berkeley Springs celebrate Apple Butter festivals.  Clay County, the home of the Golden Delicious apple, celebrates with the Golden Delicious festival.

On Sunday, as we mark another glorious West Virginia Day, I suggest that you celebrate by biting into a piece of homemade apple pie, or tangy apple crisp, or savoring a delicious apple dumpling, or a sweet-candied apple and thinking of West Virginia!