It was a beautiful Friday afternoon in the Hudson Valley, 70 degrees in October and not a cloud in the sky: perfect weather for apple picking. A small crowd awaited a pig race, some of them clutching little checkered flags they had purchased for a dollar. “That’ll be eight weekends in a row,” Mr. Barton said. “It’s absolutely, absolutely unheard-of.”According to Mr. Barton, this has been, without question, the most miserable fall tourism season since he converted the family apple orchard to a pick-your-own outfit in the 1990s. In recent years, he said, the property has drawn more than 10,000 visitors on peak weekends.

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Persons: Peter Barton, “ That’ll, Mr, Barton, “ Organizations: Barton Orchards Locations: Hudson, Barton, Poughquag, Beacon