Fischer: Apples of the Cordilleras 



359 



their original home. It is generally 

 recognized, for instance, that, under 

 cultivation at least, it has found more 

 favorable conditions for its development 

 in North America than in Europe or 

 Asia from whence it originally came, 

 although it has never escaped to a large 

 extent nor gone far from the orchard 

 or fence corner. De Candolle speaks 

 of the apple as "appearing most 

 indigenous" in the region between 

 Trebizond and Ghilan in Persia. It is 

 doubtful, however, whether it appears 

 more indigenous there than it does in 

 the southern Cordilleras of Chile and 

 Argentina. In this case the question 

 as to whether it is indigenous or not 

 could hardly arise, and its presence 

 there constitutes one of the most 

 remarkable phenomena in the great 

 movements of plants on this earth. 



THE CORDILLERAN APPLE COUNTRY 



Roughly speaking, the wild apple 

 country of Chile and Argentina is cut 

 in half by the 40th degree of latitude 

 south, having a total extension of 

 about 200 miles north and south and 

 lying on both sides of the continental 

 divide. In Chile it extends to the 

 Pacific coast and in Argentina to the 

 eastern limit of tree growth. The 

 Argentine side without doubt, on ac- 

 count of the more definite landmarks in 

 the history of its settlement, offers 

 the more interesting and profitable 

 field for study. The heart of this 

 apple country, a region of many moun- 

 tain lakes, snow-capped peaks, small 

 rivers and valleys, vying in scenic beauty 

 with the Alps and the Yosemite, lies 

 just north of the beautiful lake Nahuel 

 Huapi, between the river Limay and 

 the divide, and drained for the most 

 part by the Colloncura, a branch of 

 the Limay, and its extension the 

 Aliimine. The general level above the 

 sea of the valleys is about 3,000 feet; 

 there are no extremes of temperature, 

 the minimum, so far observed, being 

 7° F. The region lies within the sphere 

 of the western trade winds of the 

 southern hemisphere which bathe the 

 Chilean slopes of the Andes in the same 

 latitude with from 100 to 120 inches of 

 rain annually, but which lose their 

 moisture on contact with the cold 



Andean peaks and sweep down on the 

 eastern side with great velocity and 

 drying powers. One small district still 

 has, however, the greatest rainfall of any 

 in the Argentine Republic, something 

 like 75 inches at San Martin de los Andes 

 not so very far from the Chilean 

 boundry; but it varies greatly, amount- 

 ing to only 32 inches at Junin de los 

 Andes, for instance, not more than 20 

 miles distant, and decreasing to about 

 15 inches at the beginning of the Patago- 

 nian tablelands in the interior. About 

 three-fourths of this precipitation occurs 

 during the winter months, making the 

 seasons similar to those of the Pacific 

 Coast and the Mediterranean. The 

 indigenous vegetation varies with the 

 rainfall and according to the amount of 

 protection found against the cold drying 

 winds from dense rain forests, similar 

 to those of Washington and Vancouver, 

 with almost impenetrable undergrowth, 

 and more open coniferous forests of 

 Araucaria, to mountain meadows and 

 dry grass-lands bordered and broken 

 by forests or clumps of trees and shrubs. 

 In the moister regions, strawberries, 

 currants and potatoes are native, while 

 white and red clover, timothy and other 

 grasses have escaped from cultivation. 

 The region is quite thickly dotted with 

 ranches and settlements at the present 

 time, although not yet accessible by 

 railroad. 



The apple is especially abundant in 

 the valleys of the Alumine and its 

 continuation the Colloncura, their nimi- 

 erous tributaries and the lakes which 

 drain into them. It is found along the 

 borders of forests, streams and lakes 

 and reaches its greatest development 

 in the regions of moderate rainfall, 

 where it is found singly or in groups 

 wherever there is some protection from 

 the cold dry winds, in sheltered valleys 

 and ravines, and especially near streams 

 and springs where the roots can find 

 water. It is Pyrus malus L., the apple 

 that is planted throughout the world; 

 all plants are seedlings, of course, and 

 the fruit, as might be expected, is of 

 all sizes, forms, shades, flavors and 

 degrees of sweetness and acidity. Where 

 the trees are much exposed they seldom 

 bear on account of the hard winds 

 prevalent at blossoming time. But on 



