Orchard Notes* 



Apples. 



Notwithstanding the vast planting of fruit trees through- 

 out the South during recent years, very little attention has 

 been given to the apple. It is an unfortunate fact that Ala- 

 bama does not begin to grow apples enough to supply the 

 home market, and that those brought in from the North are 

 usually poor in quality and are sold at so high a price as to 

 prevent their coming into general use as food. It is not unus- 

 ual for apples and oranges to sell at the same price per dozen 

 in our markets. There seems to be no good reason why we 

 should not have a much more abundant home supply of this most 

 useful fruit. In the laudable effort to achieve our agricul- 

 tural independence by growing all possible food supplies at 

 home, apples are worthy of attention as well as corn or pork. 

 It is true that Middle and South Alabama are below the apple 

 belt proper, and it is perhaps not likely that apple growing 

 will ever reach large commercial proportions in these parts of 

 the State, but with a little care a good home supply can be 

 grown. Some portions of North Alabama seem to be partic- 

 ularly well adapted to apples, and the planting of commer- 

 cial orchards is earnestly recommended in those localities. 

 No horticultural investment is safer or more certain to yield 

 reasonable and regular profits than a suitably located orchard 

 of properly selected market apples. 



It is just at this point that the prospective planter will 

 meet his greatest difficulty, for it is still an open question 

 what varieties are best adapted to, the different parts of the 

 State. One great cause for failure in apple planting at the 

 South has been the selection of varieties not suited to our con 



