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Ten Points About the Cortland Apple 



This is the title of an interesting article in a recent issue of 

 the Rural New Yorker by H. B. Tukey. He points out that three supposed 

 characteristics of the Cortland are no longer being emphasized^ namely, the 

 similarity of Cortland and Mcintosh, the long hanging qualities of Cortland, 

 and its long keeping qualities. Hw also says that the similarity of tree 

 characters are no longer stressed since the Cortland is found to be a smaller 

 tree with a willowy habit of growth similar to the Ben Davis. Ozhar points 

 mentioned in this article are the susceptibility of Cortland to rosy aphis 

 injury, the tendency of the variety to succeed in part because the trees now 

 in comm^jrcial production are young, and that the higher proportion of low grude 

 Mcintosh on the market reflacts the many older Mcintosh trues from marginal 

 orchards and from n-glect>id orchards, whereas most of the Cortland crop is 

 coming from young trees in relatively better tended orchards. V/Tiile the Cort- 

 land, according to the author, may never be called an improved IJcIntosh it 

 generally is a good all purpose apple. At the same time the claim is no longer 

 pressed that Cortland will do well wherever Mcintosh succeeds. In some northern 

 sections Cortland quality is none too good in comparison. The final pbint is 

 this. Cortland is succeeding not because of th* somewhat extravagant claims 

 made for it but because there just doesn't seem tO bo anything better to plant 

 to supplement the plantings of Mcintosh in eastern orchards. The variety may 

 go into the discard when something bett«r comes along. 



Must All Drop Apples Be Picked Up? 



iiach season we find an occasional grower going through the orchard in 

 late fall picking up every apple in the belief that such a pr-ctico ie essen- 

 tial for pest control. For this reason a suggestion just now concerning the 

 why and when of picking up drop apples may be in order. It is absolutely a 

 v^aste of time to pick up and destroy or haul to a distant dumping ground any 

 apples which do not contain larvae of such insects ^s curculio, codling moth 

 and apple mi^ggot. Late June ^nd July is the oniy time for picking up drop 

 apples containing curculio gruba because tne latter ure found only in the 

 little withered fruits vi/hich full before mid-bummer • As regards apple maggot 

 any infested apples which tend to soften readily and bocomo mushy should be 

 gathered up promptly (ut least once a w«ek) and disposed of in a way that will 

 prevent the maggots entering the ground. The t'.vo coirimonly accepted methods of 

 disposal are feeding to livestock promptly or emptying on an area of soil 

 wnich has been previously saturated with vi/astu crankcase oil. Codling moth 

 larvae may bo found in the apples over a considerable period although the num- 

 ber of drop apples infested by codling moth is relcttively small in comparison 

 with the two pusts mentioned :ibove. 



It is Well to remember that the apple maggot develops only in those 

 apples which soften readily, as for extjnple, V.'ealthy, Gravenatein, etc. Very 

 few of the maggots mature in hard, winter apples like Delicious i.nd Baldwin. 

 Such apples may show the characteristic tunnels although a much smaller per- 

 centage of the ra,=.ggot3 survive to emerge and enter the ground. The point we 

 are trying to make is briefly this. There is nothing about an applsf rotting 

 on tho ground to injure an orchard in any way. It actually provides a little 

 fertility. To pick up drops in late fall is a waste of time and a needless 

 cause of backaches. Timing is important here as it is in spraying. 



