REPORTS OF LOCAL SOCIETIES. 379 



A HINT TO OECHARDISTS. 



NEW APPLES. 



[An essay upon apples, and the way to procure the best varieties, 

 read by M. J. Eountree before the Greene county Horticultural Soci- 

 ety, Feb. G, 188G.] 



There are many hundreds of varieties of apples offered by nur- 

 serymen which do not pay to plant, many of them are first rate in qual- 

 ity, some of them do not keep well, others keep, but are poor in qual- 

 ity, others are deficient in color. All our apple lists need revising-; if 

 they were cut down 75 per cent, we would still have too many varie- 

 ties. The apple we want for profit we have not got. We may never 

 g-et it. The ideal coming apple should possess all the following char- 

 acteristics, viz. : The tree should be symmetrical and perfectly hardy ; 

 it should be well adapted to the various soils and conditions existing- 

 in the apple growing belt. The fruit should be medium or above in size ; 

 the color should be unexceptionable or such as to attract the attention 

 of the most casual observer ; the quality should be of the very best. It 

 should be a uniform free bearer ; it should keep well until May at least ; 

 it should be sufficiently firm to bear shipment. The Ben. Davis pos- 

 sesses several of the above mentioned characteristics, but is deficient in 

 some of the main ones. It bears well and its size and color is quite sat- 

 isfactory, but it is deficient in flavor and keeping quality. But so far, it 

 is, all things considered, the best investment we can make as a winter 

 market apple. It would be well for horticulturists to experiment in 

 the growing of new seedlings. A few seeds could be sown each year 

 from several different good varieties. Young seedlings should be 

 thinned out and only the smoothest and thrifty ones retained. Buds of 

 these young seedlings could be bujided in August upon young thrifty 

 bearing trees, and in from two to four years these buds would bear 

 fruit. The best specimens of these could be kept and fully tested. In 

 this way much might be accomplished without much loss of time, as 

 many varieties could be budded on one tree, and in this way the ideal 

 apple might be discovered. We certainly have not found it yet, or at 

 least, it has not been generally disseminated. Such an apple would be 



