- 5 - 



The industry is geared to the fresh market, thus varieties 

 with good eating and/or cooking qualities are preferred (Red Deli- 

 cious are considered too sweet and Mcintosh lacking in flavor and 

 texture. ) 



The Golden Delicious became the major variety during the 1960's 

 which is unfortunate because much of the EEC oversupply of apples 

 is of this variety. The production of Cox's Orange, a high quality 

 eating apple, increased, whereas Belle de Boskoop' and James Grieve 

 production has been stable. The popularity of Jonathan with the 

 grower has declinedrapidly since 1965. 



The Benoni variety may be of interest to the Massachusetts 

 apple grower since it originated in Dedham around 1830. This is an 

 early variety, by Dutch standards, ripening in late-August to early 

 September. Benoni is strongly biennial and requires chemical thin- 

 ing to insure the harvest of marketable-sized apples and repeat 

 bloom. At present ethephon is the best thinning compound for Benoni 

 It is applied in early bloom at 960 ppm on young trees and 1920 ppm 

 on older trees. 



Pear industry . This industry is small in comparison to the apple 

 industry, with Conference being the leading variety (Table 4). 



Table 4. Pear production in the Netherlands (thousands of metric 

 tons marketed)-*-'^ 



Year 



Variety 1965 1969 1971 1973 1974'' 



Conference 17 21 TZ 18 36 



Legipont 9 12 9 6 11 



Doyenne du Comice 3 5 12 6 17 



Beurre Hardy 2 7 8 2 19 



Clapp's Favorite 8 10 9 3 5 



Bonne Louise d'Avranches 7 7 8 3 12 



Triomphe de Vienne 2 8 



Precoce de Trevoux 4 6 



Beurre Alexandre Lucas 1 3 



Others 26 11 3^ 17 29_ 



Total Marketed Production 79 90 110 55 129 



^Metric ton = 2204.6 lbs. 



:^Source: Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics. 



^Forecasted marketed production. 



Pear production fluctuates considerably, as illustrated by the 

 production figures for 1973 and 1974, and in heavy crop years the 

 supply exceeds the demand. Much of the biennial bearing is due to 

 unfavorable weather for pollination. Fortunately, weather is gen- 

 erally more favorable for pollination of apple trees because they 

 bloom later. At present (March 10) a small pear crop appears pos- 



