New Series, March, 1906. 385 



WINTER APPLES 



Ada E. Georgia 



" What cheer is there that is half so good. 

 In the snowy waste of a winter night, 



As a dancing fire of hickory wood, 

 And an eas\' chair in its mellow light, 



And a Pearmain apple, riidd}- and sleek. 

 Or a Janetting with a freckled cheek? " 



After you have read the htlle verse above, close your eyes and try to 

 see the pleasant picture it describes. Apples do, indeed, taste good when 

 eaten in good company about a glowing home fire in the evening; but i 

 think the place where I have seen them eaten with the greatest gusto, is 

 by hungry boys and girls at noon lunch at school. The fresh fruit seems 

 to give the whole lunch a more wholesome taste. 



How many can tell the name of the apple which you have in your 

 lunch basket? How many varieties can you name with certainty? There 

 are so few kinds that keep as late as March that it will not be difficult 

 for you to learn their names, and observe so closely the characteristics 

 of each that you may be sure of them always. 



Not all the grown-ups are careful to make the acquaintance of apples 

 by name. " Have you any Northern Spies ? " I asked a groceryman. 

 " Yes, I have some fine ones," and he pulled forth a crate. They were, 

 indeed, such fine apples that I immediately bought some — but they were 

 Spitzenburgs. I suppose that to him, apples were just apples, yet it would 

 have paid him to have placarded his crate, " Choice Spitzenburgs." 



Let us see how many apples we can name. H you live in the country, 

 ask your father to tell you the names of all the kinds in his bins or on the 

 shelves. Perhaps you have some Roxbury Russets laid away in the 

 coolest, driest place to grow more mellow and spicy tuitil far in May or 

 June. I remember once eating " Roxbury Rusticoats " on the Fourth of 

 ]n\y. They are the best of long keepers. Nobody could mistake a Rhode 

 Island Greening. Its golden flesh seems to show through its green coat, 

 and when thoroughly ripe, how delicious ! And the King's oily red coat 

 covers meat fit for kings' tables. Sometimes the Gilliflower's mealy sweet- 

 ness appeals to the taste ; this apple you may also know as the Sheep- 

 nose. Seek-no-furthers are as good as their name, and keep well. And 

 the dark red coat — sometimes almost black — of the Ben Davis, is very 

 attractive and makes for it a ready sale. 



If you live in town or village, see how many varieties of the fruit 

 you can find in market now. Most grocers are careful to buy and sell by 

 name. Different kinds are favorites in different parts of the State, but 

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