22 



Promising New Fruits. 113 



each of which has gained considerable prominence in some 

 districts. Moreover, severaLunnamed apples of evident value 

 reported to be seedlings of the Winesap and which resemble 

 it in many respects have been called to the attention of this 

 department. It therefore seems probable that a rather high 

 percentage of Winesap seedlings possess more than the ordi- 

 nary merit. The usefulness of that variety for breeding pur- 

 poses is thus indicated. 



The specimen of McCroskey apple illustrated in Plate VIII 

 was grown in 1912 by Mr. L. C. H. Ayres, of Midway, Green 

 County, Tenn. 



OPALESCENT APPLE. 

 Synonyms: Hudson's Pride of Michigan, Hastings. 



[PLATE IX.] 



EARLY HISTORY. 



The Opalescent apple originated with Mr. George M. 

 Hudson, Shultz, Barry County, Mich. The circumstances 

 of its origin as given by him are as follows : l 



A number of years ago I was digging out the oak stumps in my orchard 

 and found a thick cluster of sprouts by the side of one. I picked out the 

 best sprout and set it out, intending to top-graft it, but you will see the 

 result. 



At the same time, specimens of the fruit were submitted 

 to the department by the originator under the name " Hud- 

 son's Pride of Michigan/' with the request that a suitable 

 name be given to the variety. Accordingly "Hastings," 

 the township in which the variety originated, was suggested 

 as an appropriate name. In due course this was approved 

 by Mr. Hudson, and the name was published by the Ameri- 

 can Pomological Society. 2 But prior to such publication, 

 this variety had been disseminated by the Dayton Star 

 Nurseries, 3 of Dayton, Ohio, under the name " Opalescent." 4 

 The original tree was still standing and in fairly good condi- 

 tion in 1912. 5 



1 Letter from Mr. Hudson, December, 1896. 



2 Proceedings, 25th session, American Pomological Society, 1897, p. 38, 1898. 



3 Letter from J. AV. McXary, receiver, Dayton Star Nurseries, February, 1899. 



4 Historical and descriptive notes concerning this variety have been published compara- 

 tively recently as follows: Varieties of fruit originated in Michigan, Michigan Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, Special Bulletin 44, p. 18; New or noteworthy fruits, New York Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 364, p. 181. 



6 Letter from George W. Thomas, December, 1913. 

 43038 14 2 



