No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



REPORT OF THE GENERAL ERUIT COMMITTEE. 



By Prof. R. L watts, Chairman, Scalp Level, Pa. 



The following report has been compiled from notes received from 

 nearly every county in the State. 



APPLES. 



The apple is the most imi^ortant fruit grown in Pennsylvania. It 

 is the most highly valued for home consumption and is generally the 

 most profitable for commercial purposes. This fruit is grow^n on 

 almost every farm. It attains a higher state of perfection in some 

 counties than others, but with good care and a judicious selection of 

 varieties, good apples are produced in every county. 



The apple crop in 1903 was much larger than the preceding year; 

 but when the entire State is taken into account there was only a fair 

 yield the past season. A good or very good crop is reported by 20 

 correspondents. Twenty-eight growers report a fair or medium 

 crop, while 15 write that the yield was poor. The crop seemed to be 

 heaviest in the southeastern portion of the State. The York county 

 crop was very heavy. Adams, Montgomery, Lancaster, Lebanon, 

 Dauphin and Franklin counties report full croj)S. The yield was 

 generally light in the central and western counties. Failures are 

 attributed to various causes. Unfavorable seasonal conditions have 

 received most of the blame. The spring was late, cold and wei, 

 preventing the proper setting of fruit. Late spring frosts destroyed 

 the blossoms in many orchards. The want of tillage, farming, fer- 

 tilizing and spraying were potent factors in the failure of hundreds 

 of orchards. 



The quality of the 1903 crop was generally good. Twenty-eight 

 correspondents report that the crop was good or excellent in quality. 

 Twenty-two state that the quality was fair or medium and only two 

 report poor quality. The absence of injurious insects, particularly 

 the codling moth, was noticable in many orchards, and this was at- 

 tributed by some to the cold, wet weather that prevailed during and 

 immediately following the blossoming period. 



The rej)orts on varieties are interesting, although no startling 

 facts are revealed on this important phase of apple culture. The 

 old tested varieties are still in the lead and there is little danger of 



