Traditional Arts in Upstate New York. Traditional Arts of Upstate New York
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The Forrence Family Orchards

Peru, Clinton County
Apple Growers


A commitment to agriculture runs deep for the Forrence family, who ran a subsistence farm in Clinton County as early as 1807. Starting in 1917, Virgil Henry Forrence raised several crops to sell, including apples. In 1940, he bought another farm, and with his three sons--Roger, Bill, and Virgil--developed one of the region’s largest apple orchards. Today the Forrences raise mostly Macintosh, an apple perfectly suited to growing conditions in the Champlain Valley. They now produce over 600,000 bushes a year. The farm is operated by the third and fourth generations of the family, including brothers Mason and Macintosh, their cousin Peter, and Mason’s son Seth. “But,” says Mason, “the women in this family are part of the story too. My grandmother baked johnnycake for the work crews, my mother supervised the apple sorters, and my wife Joan is very  involved in the day-to-day business.”




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