STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 349 



" AntonovTca. — This is the leading apple of the Russian steppes, 

 the king apple of that vast prairie region from Tula to the south of 

 Kharlvof, from Kozlof to Kiev, a vast prairie region unsurpassed in 

 fertility b}- any region on this continent. It is the leading a[)ple 

 over a larger section of country than any other in Europe, than any 

 other apple I know of. No apple holds so high a rank above others 

 in an}- large section of this continent ; and 3'et if the Baldwin were 

 equally hardy I would much prefer it." 



'' At Kursk we still find it their leading market fruit, and on the- 

 Bogdanoff estates, find it being planted in quantity as about the- 

 best investment the proprietors know of. Such investments scatter 

 broadcast innumerable little dividends in the form of food and labor. . 

 What a l)lessing to a countr}- is a horticultural aristocracy — it begets . 

 a horticultural peasantry, a home-loving, peace-loving, law-abiding, 

 peasantry. In Horticulture, we find the safest anchorage for a. 

 peasant population." * * * * * 



"At Warsaw, where the climate is a cold North German rather 

 than a steppe climate, we find the Antonovka one of their leading 

 apples, but not their best, and there not a late keeper. * * * 

 In qualit}- it is not quite like any apple I know. It maj', certainly, 

 be rated as second qualit}- for eating and, I hope, first for cooking. 

 But few of the best commercial apples of this continent are of first, 

 quality as dessert apples. * * * * j^t Warsaw it rarely 

 keeps past Christmas. At Moscow, Mr. Shroeder cautiously says, 

 till January or February. In Central Russia it was often said till' 

 March, and, I think, even April was mentioned. I doubt if it will 

 prove a much better keeper than our Fameuse. 



How long an apple keeps depends very largely upon how it is 

 kept. The Russians handle their fruit, pack it and keep it, with 

 more care than we do. The}' seem to look upon an apple as a 

 living thing, to be kept alive as long as possible. If allowed to 

 ripen on the tree it has a rich melon flavor but then it will not keep. 

 All apples in Russia picked for a distant market are picked rather 

 earlier than we should pick them. When we arrived at Saratof, on 

 September 11th, the apples were all picked and shipped to Moscow. 

 At Tula, on September 18th, Antonovka was in huge piles in the 

 orchards five feet wide, covered with basswood bark matting. At 

 Orel we find what has not been shipped in aa opea shed in layers 

 with straw between them." 



