382 THE APPLES OF NEW YORK. 



to injury by the apple-scab fungus. It must be handled very care- 

 fully because it very easily shows bruises. It does not stand heat 

 well before going into storage and when it begins to deteriorate 

 goes down quickly. Some do not regard it as a good keeper, while 

 others find that it keeps pretty well. To get best results in storage 

 the fruit must be thoroughly protected from the scab in the orchard, 

 picked and handled with extra care and kept from heat from the 

 time it is picked till it is stored as well as while it is in storage. As 

 grown at Geneva it is in season from December to April with 

 January or February as the commercial limit. In cold storage it 

 keeps about with Tompkins King, but not as well as Rhode Island 

 Greening. 



The tree is a good grower and pretty hardy. In favorable loca- 

 tions it is healthy and long-lived. It seems to thrive particularly 

 well on warm, well-drained soils. Many orchards are found through- 

 out the state having from one to several trees of this variety and the 

 aggregate yield of Yellow Bellflower in New York is of considerable 

 importance. The surplus over what is required for home use is 

 commonly disposed of in the local market. Although the fruit sells 

 at good prices, Yellow Bellflower is not generally a satisfactory 

 cropper and is not a good variety to plant in commercial orchards in 

 New York except in the few districts where it has proved profitable. 



Historical. In 1817 Coxe (2) reported that the original tree, very large and 

 old, was said to be still standing on a farm near Crosswicks, Burlington 

 county, N. J. In 1852 Hovey (21) remarked that the Bellflower was then ex- 

 tensively cultivated in New Jersey, but its cultivation in New England was 

 as yet extremely limited. A century or more ago it was being grafted into 

 the farm orchards and propagated in the nurseries throughout New York, 

 and it is to-day well known among fruit growers in most parts of the state but 

 it is nowhere extensively cultivated. It was early introduced into cultivation 

 through the Middle West and within recent years it has come to be one of 

 the important commercial varieties in certain apple-growing districts in the 

 Pacific states. Wickson says that " The Yellow Bellflower, as grown in Cali- 

 fornia, has such conspicuous excellence that during its season it is hardly 

 likely to be misplaced for any other variety."! It is now offered by nursery- 

 men in nearly all of the more important apple-growing sections of the country. 



TREE. 



Tree medium to large, vigorous to very vigorous. Form upright spreading; 

 terals drooping, particularly after they have borne heavy crops. Tivigs 

 medium to long, rather stocky, geniculate ; internodes medium to large. Bark 

 'Letter, E. J. Wickson, 1899. 



