762 THE FRUIT INDUSTRY iJS' NEW YORK STATE 



the orchards of the state indicates that many of the bearing trees 

 have passed their prime and that each year their number grows 

 less. It is questionable whether for many years to come the 

 decrease in the number of bearing trees will not be greater than 

 the increase in orchard planting. It appears, therefore, that 

 under right methods of orchard management and with the proper 

 selection of varieties, the planting of commercial orchards offers 

 an attractive investment for the New York fruit grower. 



The question as to what varieties to plant is, therefore, one of 

 perennial interest. It shall be the purpose of this paper to 

 sketch briefly the various pomological districts of New York 

 State with particular reference to the varieties of apples which 

 have come to be recognized in each as desirable for commercial 

 planting. Brief mention will also be made of the kinds that ai-e 

 suitable for the home orchard or local market. 



WESTERN ^EW YORK 



The most important apple region of the state is that which 

 extends from the shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie south- 

 ward to the Pennsylvania line. Its eastern border includes the 

 counties in which are located the cities of Oswego, Syracuse, 

 Auburn, Ithaca, and Elmira. The more elevated portions may be 

 regarded as the northward extension of the Alleghany Plateau 

 and for convenience will here be designated as the Western Plateau 

 of New York State. This descends into the less elevated region 

 which includes the Central Lakes, sometimes called the Finger 

 Lakes, and the middle of the Genesee Valley. Westward is the 

 plain of the Erie shore and northward the plain of the Ontario 

 shore. 



According to the last LTnited States census report, this western 

 New York region includes about GO per cent of the bearing apple 

 trees found in New York State, and in the census year of 1909 

 it yielded 68 per cent of the apple crop of the state, or approxi- 

 mately 17,308,000 bushels, out of a total of 25,409,000 bushels. 

 The region along the Lake Ontario shore, lying between the Os- 

 wego River on the east and the Niagara on the west, leads in the 

 relative amount of land devoted to apple growing and also in the 

 yield of apples as compared with its total area. In 1909 it pro- 

 duced approximately eleven million bushels of apples. Next in 



