VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 67 



With these facts in view we feel that many more farm 

 owners in Vermont ought to become interested in the cultiva- 

 tion of this noblest of all fruits — the apple. 



LOCATION AND SOIL. 



Grand Isle county is undoubtedly the most famous lo- 

 cality in Vermont for the production of apples. Other parts 

 of the Champlain valley, especially in Addison and Chitten- 

 den counties, are known to grow good apples; but aside from 

 these the commercial orchards are few and far-scattered. 

 There is an opinion prevalent, both in Grand Isle county and 

 in other parts of the state, that the surrounding waters of 

 Lake Champlain give this county a great advantage over oth- 

 er localities in the production of fruit. In our opinion this 

 advantage has been greatly exaggerated, if it be not, indeed, 

 wholly imaginary. 



On the other hand, much of the farming land of [Grand 

 Isle county possesses a rich, porous, gravelly, deep, well- 

 drained soil, most admirably adapted to the growth of the 

 apple tree. All the successful orchards of the islands are on 

 such soils. There are other spots in the county, as for exam- 

 ple the southeast corner of Isle LaMotte, where apples entire- 

 ly refuse to grow, in spite of the proximity to the lake. Out- 

 side Grand Isle county one still finds the best orchards on the 

 same kind of soil. The famous orchard of Dr. T. H. Hoskins 

 in Derby has the same kind of soil, and was, a short time ago, 

 one of the thriftiest and best plantations in Vermont. It 

 could not owe its prosperity to any body of water ; but it was 

 built on the right kind of soil. 



For these reasons we are led to recommend deep, well- 

 drained, rather gravelly soils for apples, in this state. And 

 we would say to anyone who has such soil, "Go ahead and 

 plant it to apple trees, no matter what part of the state you 

 live in. You stand as good a chance of success as anybody." 



varieties. 



In starting into the apple business the first question is 

 naturally the selection of varieties. There are a great many 

 different sorts to be had of the nurserymen, but only a few of 

 them are successful when grown for the market in this state. 

 A canvass of Grand Isle county, made in 1896, showed the 

 following to be favorites at that time : Northern Spy, Rhode 

 Island Greening, Baldwin, Fameuse, Tolman Sweet, Pound 

 Sweet, Golden Russet, Ben Davis, Bellflower and Arctic. The 

 sweet apples have been so badly attacked by the apple maggot 

 of late that they would probably now be ommitted from the 

 list. This list might be improved, perhaps ; but it is fairly 

 representative of the varieties now grown in the islands. 



