Pip Fruits: Apples 



59 



From the above table it will be seen that six counties Devon, 

 Somerset, Hereford, Kent, Gloucester, and Worcester having an area of 

 5,489,482 ac., devote 115,209 ac. to the cultivation of Apples, or nearly 

 65 per cent of the total Apple area of the United Kingdom. According to 

 the latest returns this area has been reduced by about 390 ac. to a total 

 of 114,919. There are over 973 ac. less in Somerset, and 333 ac. in 

 Gloucester, but there have been increases in Kent, Worcester, and Hereford. 



Of the 5797 ac. devoted to Apple culture in Ireland the province of 

 Ulster absorbs 3638 ac., and of these there are 2463 ac. in the county 

 of Armagh alone. The province of Munster has 1151 ac., of which 435 

 are in the county of Cork. The province of Leinster comes third with 

 784 ac.; and Connaught, with 224 ac., last. 



In Wales the most important Apple -growing county is Brecon, with 

 1120 ac. Radnor, with 706 ac., comes second, and Montgomery, with 

 502 ac., third. The other counties vary from a minimum of 13 ac. in 

 Anglesey to a maximum of 262 ac. in Glamorgan. Of the Scottish coun- 

 ties, Perth is a long way ahead, with 355 ac., the next largest Apple 

 county being Lanark, with 138 ac. Apples are least grown in Suther- 

 land, Nairn, Bute, and Peebles, the first- named having a record of only 

 \ ac., and the last named If ac. On the whole Wales has declined by 

 246 acres up to the end of 1911; and Scotland by 112 acres. 



In addition to Great Britain and Ireland, the Isle of Man has 37 ac., 

 Jersey, 1055 ac., and Guernsey and the other Channel Islands, 136 ac. 



Taking the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands together we 

 have an area in round figures of 170,000 ac. at the end of 1911, against 

 179,700 ac. at the end of 1908, upon which Apples are grown. Assuming 

 that there are only 160 trees planted on each acre of land, this would 

 give the total number of Apple trees for the area mentioned as 27,200,000. 

 It may be taken for granted, however, that there are very few market 



