52 



IRISH GARDENING 



These experiments and others conducted at 

 the experimental farms have proved that varie- 

 ties of apples cultivated in the Eastern States 

 do not become paying' until after five years 

 planted, and may not until after ten years. On 

 the other hanii, with iudicious cultivation, re- 

 munerative crops are obtained from trees 60 to 

 100 years old. The Canadian Government has 

 made many attempts to improve the varieties 

 of apples cultivated and to introduce new 

 varieties and varieties which will stand the 

 severe frosts of the colder districts. The 

 definition g^iven of a desirable apple is "A 

 hardy, late-keeping, productive apple, of fine 

 colour and g-ood qualit). ' To obtain this 

 numerous varieties ha\ e been tested at the ex- 

 perimental farms. I'p to 1910, 569 varieties 

 were tested, and ot these the Russian and 

 German varieties g-ave best results. Numerous 

 seedlings have been raised between the best 

 varieties, but with discouraging results ; in fact 

 from crossing the best selected apples only, 

 one really first-class apple results from 400 

 crosses, and the further discouraging factor is 

 in evidence that some of the best varieties now 

 grown, such as Northern .Spy, Mackintosh, 

 and Baldwins, have been chance seedlings. 

 F'urther attempts to obtain hardiness are being 

 made by using stocks, antl as parents, the very 

 hardy crabs, such as Pyrus baccata and P. 

 prunifolia, the efforts of the Government being 

 well seconded by the good trade growers. 

 From some of these remarks it will be 

 gathered that tiie \arieties grown for home 

 consumption and for exports are a ery different 

 from those cultivated in Ireland. The most 

 popular varieties are : — 



Karly — Red .\straclian, Duchess of Oklen- 

 burg, Wealthy. 



Autumn — Wealthy, (iravenstein, limperor 

 Alexander. 



l-iarly Winter— l-'ameuse (.Snow), Mackintosh, 

 King of Tompkins L'oiuit)-, Rhode Island 

 Cireening. 



Late Baldwins, Northern .Spy, Golden 

 Russets, Ontario. 



With one or two exceptions these are not 

 satisfactory in 1 1 eland, ami not one of them is 

 extensively grown. Blenheim is one of our 

 generally grown apples, which is also satis- 

 factory in America. Owing to the climate and 

 the greater ripening power of the sun and dry 

 atmosphere, most .American apples are fniner 



in flesh than our apples, and the skin is tougher, 

 with more "bloom.'" It is not necessary to 

 store or " sweat " apples for any length of time 

 before packing. 



During the latter part of September and in 

 early October it is quite a common sight to see 

 large heaps ot apples in the orchards with 

 people busy packing them. .\ temporary bench 

 is put up, loads of clean, new barrels are con- 

 veyed to the spot, and in the cipen, the apples 

 are placed on the bench, where they are sorteil, 

 graded, and packed ready for transpcirt with 

 practicidl}' no danger of fermentation or heating. 

 In some districts they are conveyed to large 

 sheds, or packing houses or stores, where this 

 process is carried out. The damaged, blem- 

 ished, or worm-eaten fruit is sold locally, or 

 sent to the jam or jelly factories, or to the 

 drying houses to be preserved. 



It is not necessary to flood the market with 

 all the packed fruit at cine time, as much o( it 

 can be safely stood in frost-proof cellars or 

 sent to large co-operative cold-stores which 

 exist in some localities. 



For home consumption and local markets, 

 fruit generally — that is to say, pears, grapes, 

 peaches, plums, as well as apples^ — is very 

 attractively put up in chip baskets holding one 

 stone. The baskets have a cross-handle, and 

 there is a cover, consisting ol a wooden rim, 

 one to two inches wide all round, the interven- 

 ing space being covered with pink gauze or 

 muslin, which enables the contents to be seen, 

 and protects from pilfering and dust, the whole 

 forming a most attractive package which the 

 purchaser can easily carry. In this we have 

 lessons to learn. Such baskets, full oi sound, 

 good tiuality apples, were selling in earlv 

 October at about one shilling each wholesale. 



We are all tamiliar with the bushel bo.Nes 

 and the barrels in which .Vmerican apples 

 reach this country, but we are not familiar with 

 the enormous extent oi the trade. Gaiiaila 

 alone now produces ci\er 1,000,000 barrels 

 annually, and the area under cultivation is 

 rapidly being extended. The Ciov ernment, the 

 Hanks, the Railway Companies, and the Ship- 

 ping Companies are doing all they can to Ibstcr 

 and expand this trade, recognizing its \ ast 

 importance to the National wealth and pros- 

 perity, anil to ensure that it is placed on a 

 healthy and sound tooting. 



Such efforts may achieve much, but without 



