THE 



Canadian Horticulturist 



AUGUST, 1902 



Volume XXV 



Number 8 



THE STAEK APPLE 



A COMPETITOR OF THE BEN DAVIS— AS 

 GOOD A SHIPPER — BETTER IN QUALITY 



RECENTLY we received the foUowingf 

 letter from Mr. A. C. Sabean, Ross- 

 way, Nova Scotia : 



Sir, — I mail you an apple for name. It was 

 grown in a neighboring orchard under the name of 

 Stark. The tree is a strong grower and of spread- 

 ing habit. Please identify the apple and if con- 

 venient please give a description of the Stark in 

 the Canadian Horticulturist. Is this a true Stark ; 

 is it a fair sample compared with those grown in 

 Ontario ? 



The apple came to hand in good condition, 

 and it is a fair sample of Stark as grown 

 here. We do not know of the variety being 

 much grown in Ontario, except by Mr. W. 

 H. Dempsey, of Trenton, who has a good 

 many bearing trees, the fruit of which he of- 

 ten shows at our winter meetings. Mr. 

 Dempsey considers it one of the best com- 

 mercial apples and one which compares 

 favorably with the Ben Davis for profit, 

 while at the same time surpasses it some- 

 what in quality. He finds it an excellent 

 shipper, not easily showing bruises, and a 

 good seller in the foreign market. 



The frontispiece is made from a photo- 

 graph of a Stark apple grown by Mr. 

 Dempsey in 1898, which we find in our col- 

 lection. The following is a description of it. 



Origin. — Ohio. 



Tree. — A stout, vigorous grower, pro- 

 ductive. 



Fruit. — Large, 3^ x 3^ inches; form 

 roundish, slightly one sided, somewhat con- 

 ical ; skin covered with shades and splashes 

 of light and dark red on a greenish yellow 

 ground, thickly sprinkled with brown dots ; 

 stalk one-half inch long, stout, in a small 

 cavity of medium depth, calyx large, half 

 closed in a large shallow plaited basin ; flesh 

 yellowish white ; texture a little coarse, firm 

 and moderately juicy ; flavor, mild subacid, 

 good. 



Season. — ^January to May. 



Quality. — Dessert, poor ; cooking, good. 



Value. — Home market, fair ; foreign mar- 

 ket, good. 



In response to our inquiries regarding the 

 behavior of the Stark apple in Ontario, we 

 have received the following : 



W. H. Dempsey, Trenton, Ont. : — "The 

 tree has made very rapid growth ; the foliage 

 is large, dark green in color and somewhat 

 subject to fungus ; very productive every al- 

 ternate year ; the fruit is large, clean, dull 

 in color and not so attractive in appearance 



