APPLE 



296 



APPLE 



Let other lands, exulting, glean 

 The apple from the pine, 



until there comes the realization that what is 

 meant is the familiar pineapple, which is not 

 an apple at all. The tomato was long known 

 as a "love apple," and the "apple of Sodom" 

 had an unenviable reputation which still per- 

 sists. Just what this fruit was is not known, 

 but ancient travelers in the East told of a 

 beautiful, luscious-looking fruit which tempted 

 the sight, but was but dust and ashes to the 

 taste. 



Related to the Rose. Like the peach, the 

 cherry, the strawberry and the plum, the apple 

 belongs to the rose family, and its exquisite 

 blossoms, white or pink-tinted, are much like 

 the first of the roses, the wild rose (see illus- 

 tration later in this article). The smooth- 

 skinned, juicy fruit, with its hard pulp and 

 its core containing the horny seed cells is too 

 well known to need description. Authorities 

 tell of thousands of varieties which differ in 

 color, in shape and in taste, but all these 

 have been developed from two -species the 

 common apple and the wild crabapple. 



Beginnings of Apple Culture. The devel- 

 opment has been slow, for remains of pre- 

 historic civilization show that even in those 

 far-distant times the apple was cultivated. The 

 Romans knew and prized it, and probably 

 introduced it into England. One of the early 

 governors of Massachusetts Bay Colony per- 

 formed a signal service to his newly adopted 

 country by introducing the apple in 1629; for 

 North America, the greatest apple-producing 

 region in the world, had no native apples. As 

 the colonists in the years that followed pushed 

 their way westward they planted apple 

 orchards everywhere; and a certain eccentric 

 character earned fame and the name of Johnny 

 Appleseed by traveling over Western Pennsyl- 

 vania and Ohio scattering apple seeds. 

 Wherever he came upon a fertile, well-watered 

 spot, there he planted his seed, and the little 

 orchards which sprang up he tended on his later 

 visits. Fantastic as were his methods, certain 

 parts of Ohio look upon him as a very real 

 benefactor. 



An Apple Orchard. The old unkempt 

 orchards with their spreading, gnarly-limbed 

 trees, thick with blossoms in the spring and 

 shining with their oval, bright-green leaves, 

 are most picturesque, but it is the carefully 

 tended orchard that produces the best yield. 

 The trees should be planted in rows from thirty 

 to forty feet apart each way, that the full-grown 



branches may not interfere with one another. 

 Careful pruning is an important factor, but 

 one about which no specific directions can be 

 given, as it differs according to the variety of 

 apple and the locality. In general, the trees 

 should not be allowed to attain a greater height 

 than twenty-five feet, and the tops should be 

 rounded and spreading. 



THE APPLE 



Below is the typical form of apple tree, as 

 seen in winter. Above, shape of fruit and leaves 

 and section showing core and seeds.. 



All about the roots of the trees the soil 

 should be carefully cultivated until about the 

 middle of July, but then tillage should cease. 

 No attempt should be made except on richest 

 soil to raise regular crops on orchard land, 

 or to graze animals there, but it -is well, at' 

 the time cultivation is abandoned, to plant 

 clover, cowpeas, alfalfa or some such crop 

 which, by demanding the strength of the soil, 

 will stop the growth of the trees and allow the 

 fruit to mature more slowly. 



Where Apples Are Grown. No fruit in the 

 world is more widespread than the apple, and 

 no other can be successfully grown so far 

 north, for its blossoms appear late in the 

 spring and thus escape the frosts. Europe 

 grows apples as far north as Scandinavia, and 

 the temperate regions of the Southern Hemi- 

 sphere have been found to be well adapted to 

 their production, but it is North America 

 which, as stated above, is the real home of the 

 apple. 



