APPLE 



297 



APPLE 



United States. The United States is the 

 greatest apple-growing country in the world, 

 and produces annually over 200,000,000 bushels, 

 of which by far the larger proportion is used 

 within the country. New York produces 

 almost a fifth of the total crop, Michigan 

 ranks second among the states, Pennsylvania, 

 third and Missouri fourth. The apples of the 

 Piedmont valley in Virginia have long been 

 celebrated for their juiciness and their excel- 

 lent flavor. Of late years the Northwestern 

 states, notably Montana, Oregon, Washington 

 and Idaho, have made vast strides in the indus- 

 try ; if the increase continues the Eastern states 

 will not long be sure of their supremacy. The 

 proportion of apples harvested to the number 

 of trees is low as yet in these Western states, 

 for many of the orchards there are young, and 

 some varieties do not produce fruit until they 

 are ten years old. The western apples are 

 of a beautiful rich color, so dark at times as to 

 look almost black. The finest apples are raised 

 in irrigated regions, and they are as carefully 

 harvested, graded and packed as are oranges 

 in California or Florida. 



Canada. In Canada the apple is rapidly be- 

 coming the chief fruit. In 1871 the apple crop 

 amounted to but 6,000,000 bushels, while in 

 1915 it was over 21,000,000. Ontario leads in 

 apple production, its orchards yielding more 

 than half of the crop of the Dominion. A 

 considerable part of the Ontario apples is sent 

 to the Western province, though some of these 

 are developing a rapidly-increasing industry 

 of their own. Ontario also exports to Great 

 Britain more apples than any other province 

 or state in North Amen- 



How Grown. Apple seeds, if planted in the 



proper soil, will grow and produce apples, but 



fruit will not be the same kind as that 



from which the seed was taken, and will, 



moreover, be decidedly inferior. Good v 



tics of apples, therefore, are usually secured 



by grafting (which see) and by far the larger 



part of this is done in nurseries. The plants 



to be grafted upon are raised from seed, but 



t>uds to be grafted are taken from a tree 



is known to produce excellent fruit of the 



- ty desired. No matter of what kind the 



seedling is, if a northern spy bud be grafted 



upon it ili,- fi:ll-nn\vn tree will produce north- 



-pios; if the bud be from a maiden blush 



. maiden blush apples will develop. A 



farmer wishing to start an orchard buys from 



a nurseryman trees which are one, two or 



>rs old. 'These, if properly cared 



will live and produce for a long time, an 

 orchard thirty years old frequently being still 

 in fine bearing condition. 



Kinds. Of the very numerous varieties of 

 apples produced in North America, not more 

 than one hundred are really profitable, and 

 usually not over twenty varieties are sur- 

 ra any one region. The kinds which do well 



RELATED BLOSSOMS 



The apple belongs to the rose family. The 

 flowers prove the relationship ; a is the apple 

 blossom; b, the wild -rose. 



in Canada and the northern part of the United 

 States usually do not thrive in Missouri and 

 Southern Illinois, and those which yield plenti- 

 fully in Virginia seem ill-adapted to the irri- 

 gated Western lands. Whenever apple culture 

 is begun in a new locality, trials have to be 

 made to determine which varieties best suit 

 the peculiar soil conditions of the region. 

 In general, the warmer apple-growing regions 

 t'd best with the early fruit, while the 

 colder regions produce the best late fruit, or 

 winter apples. The larger number of apples 

 m the market to-day are of this latter variety 

 that i>. tin -y are left on the trees as long as 

 there is no danger of their being frozen. They 

 do not, like the softer peaches and plums, rot 

 on the trees. 



It is impossible to mention all or even many 

 of the common varieties of apples, but a iV\\ 

 of the favorites are the northern spy, the pip- 

 pin, the russet, the Jonathan, the Spitzenbcrg, 

 the win. -sap. the hrllilmver. the snow apple, 

 the Baldwin, the greening, the duchess and the 

 maiden blush. The two last named are tart 

 summer apples, not as good as some others for 

 eating Tin- Ben Davis is raised in great 

 quantities because it is easy of cultivation 



