PREFACE. 



This report on the apples of New York is the outgrowth of one 

 of the lines of investigation which from the first has been a distinctive 

 feature of the work carried on at this Experiment Station. During 

 the period when this Station was being established there was an in- 

 sistent popular demand that the testing of varieties of fruits and 

 vegetables be made a prominent line of work here. Variety testing 

 was accordingly undertaken at once with great thoroughness, as is 

 shown, in part, by the bulletins and reports published by the Station 

 during the first decade of its existence. A collection of apple varie- 

 ties was begun by Professor Goff as early as 1883, and since that time 

 it has been continually enlarged by annual additions. For many 

 years it has been one of the most noteworthy collections of its kind in 

 America. By 1900 it had come to include over seven hundred named 

 varieties of apples and crabapples, besides a large number of unnamed 

 seedlings. Professor Goff resigned his position at this Station to 

 become horticulturist in the University of Wiconsin in 1888, just 

 as the first fruits of the varieties which were grafted into the 

 orchards in 1883 were beginning to appear. He was succeeded here 

 by the writer in the fall of 1891. 



Very many of the varieties herein treated have been collected and 

 grown in the Station orchards. Descriptive notes and other records 

 of these varieties have been made year after year till a mass of first- 

 hand information has accumulated which has been invaluable in the 

 preparation of this report. We have also been favored with the 

 cooperation of fruit growers from all parts of the state. Hundreds 

 of them have assisted by giving information concerning the varieties 

 of apples which are known in their respective localities, and in many 

 cases have supplied samples of the fruit. The leading American and 

 some European pomological works have been constantly referred to 

 in verifying descriptions of varieties ; various Experiment Station 

 publications and horticultural reports and periodicals have also been 

 freely consulted. 



