HORTICULTURE 185 



used also effects the amount, but an average weight a frequent basis 

 of estimates is about 6Mj pounds of white fruit and 3 a /2 pounds of 

 waste to a bushel of fresh fruit. When the apples are dried whole, 

 without slicing, they will make from 1 to 2 pounds more to the 

 bushel than when sliced. 



Storing the Fruit. In years of great abundance of apples, the 

 evaporated product is likely to exceed the immediate demand. While 

 fruit that has been well bleached and cured can be held for a con- 

 siderable period of time without loss it is by no means imperishable. 

 The color is first to deteriorate. The fruit appears to lose the effect 

 of bleaching after a time and turns dark. Though it may retain its 

 flavor for a long time, its unattractive appearance renders it more or 

 less unsalable. 



When it is desired to hold evaporated apples from one season to 

 another, recourse is had to cold storage. Some seasons large quanti- 

 ties are handled in this way. The temperature at which it is stored 

 is usually from 32 to 35 F., or about the same as for fresh fruit. 

 If well bleached and properly cured it may be held for a relatively 

 long period. Four or five years is said by commercial handlers to 

 be about the usual limit of time before the color deteriorates. It is 

 seldom, however, that it is desirable to hold the fruit for so long a 

 time. (F. B. 202; F. B. 291.) 



THE CRAB-APPLE. 



This group of apples is often very much neglected by the fruit- 

 grower and farmer. They are often regarded as a wild, rugged and 

 worthless form of the apple, bearing only thorns and insipid astrin- 

 gent fruit. Acquaintance with the rather common native crab 

 (Pyrus angustifolia) and its astringent fruit is largely responsible 

 for this notion. It is true that very few of the apples classed as crabs 

 have any value at all for dessert purposes, yet this group fills an im- 

 portant place in the list of culinary fruits, and some of the varieties 

 are excellent eating out of hand. No other apple fruit is superior 

 to the best crab-apples for making preserves, jellies and marmalades, 

 while the superiority of some varieties over the common apple for 

 making cider is recognized. It is more than likely that this type of 

 apple, because of its astringent qualities, is yet to play a very impor- 

 tant part in the manufacture of high class ciders. Moreover, if the 

 fruit of the crab-apple was absolutely worthless for dessert and culin- 

 ary use, it would still deserve some attention at the hands of the 

 farmer, for as an ornamental tree it furnishes a profusion of bloom 

 and fragrance during its blooming period equal to many ornamental 

 plants, and they are mostly hardy. From this standpoint alone, it 

 deserves the best of care and attention in every family orchard. A 

 few of the best varieties planted in the family fruit garden may be 

 made to serve the purpose of an ornamental plant and at the same 

 time furnish in abundance a very useful fruit. 



The origin of this group of apples and its relation to the 

 common apple are subjects of great interest to the horticultural stu- 

 dent, because of the part they may possibly yet play in the origin- 

 ation of hardy new varieties of commercial apples, but a brief state- 



