APPLES 



69 



that this orchard has received little or 

 no cultivation, and has not been pruned 

 or sprayed, nevertheless, as shown in 

 the figure (3) the trees are in vigorous 

 health, in full bearing, and the quality 

 of the fruit is good. This orchard was 

 in bearing before the days of railroads 

 in the state of Washington. This seems 

 to establish the fact that trees in this 

 Inland Empire will grow to be old and 

 bear profitably. 



Quality of the Fniit 



I do not know the variety of the fruit, 

 but the agent of the Oregon-Washington 

 Railroad & Navigation Company, Mr. 

 Kamm, who visited the place and brought 

 home some of the fruit, says that it is 

 of fine qualit.v, and believes that if it 

 had been properly picked and packed it 

 would have contested successfully for the 

 premium at the Washington State Pair. 



The lesson we learn is that if we sup- 

 ply our soil with water and with humus 

 and then give the orchards anything like 

 proper care in the destruction of insect 

 pests, there will be a profitable income 

 covering a long period of time. 



One of the notable landmarks of the 

 early pioneer days in the John Day val- 

 ley, Oregon, is the Rhinehart orchard, 

 now more than a half century old. One 

 of the remarkable things about this apple 

 orchard is that, notwithstanding it has 

 neither been cultivated nor pruned, nor 

 in any way eared for beyond what kindly 

 nature has done for it during the past 

 40 or more years, it is still in compar- 

 atively good bearing condition and annu- 

 ally yields a valuable crop of marketable 

 apples of such varieties as the Spitzen- 

 burg and Newtown. 



It is the largest orchard in the valley, 

 comprising some 40 acres. During all the 

 years of its half century of existence 

 such a thing as a wormy apple has never 

 been found on its trees. 



Granville Lowther 



APPLE ZONES 



The temperate zone is the native home 

 of the apple. All around the world it 

 finds its best general temperature for 

 growth In this zone. In the temperate 

 zone it inclines to the north and finds 



there rather than in the south its best or 

 optimum condition of growth. In the 

 south temperate zone the apple deports 

 itself much the same as in the north 

 temperate zone and inclines to the cooler 

 south rather than towards the tropical 

 boundary. As an evidence of the hardi- 

 ness of the apple tree and its love for a 

 cool climate it may be unknown to many 

 that most magnificent apples are grown 

 in Canada, away north of the Great Lakes, 

 on the forty-sixth parallel, north lati- 

 tude. In this region the lakes and rivers 

 are icebound for several months of the 

 year, the ground in winter is covered 

 with three or four feet of snow and the 

 thermometer is sometimes 30 degrees be- 

 low zero. In that region the apple is 

 nearing the northern limit of its growth. 

 Considering these extremes of tempera- 

 ture, one would begin to wonder how 

 North Carolina, with its mild climate, 

 could raise apples at all. It does show, 

 however, why apple growing is so com- 

 monl.v unsuccessful in the cotton belt. 

 Being a cool-loving plant, the apple tree 

 finds in the cotton belt its extreme south- 

 ern limit of endurance. The pecan tree, 

 on the other hand, being a southern 

 neighbor of the cotton plant, will grow 

 and thrive well In the area of cotton 

 production. About one-third of the area 

 of North Carolina is in the cotton belt, 

 one-third rolling piedmont and one-third 

 high and mountainous. It is in this 

 mountainous region of the state, where 

 altitude guarantees a cool climate, that 

 the apple grows and thrives. * * * 



Plants, like animals, have their prefer- 

 ences and also their means of showing 

 them. The environmental likes and dis- 

 likes of plants are easily seen. When 

 they are at home and comfortable in their 

 surroundings they give evidence of their 

 satisfaction in increased growth and pro- 

 duction and in the highest quality of 

 fruit. When they are not comfortable 

 they show a puny growth, scarcity of 

 foliage, susceptibility to the attacks of 

 insects and diseases, lack of fruit and 

 lessened longevity. 



It is interesting to note the instinctive 

 desires of the apple tree and what con- 

 formitv it shows to local conditions. In 



