APPLES 



85 



time. The significance of this fact is 

 of the greatest importance. A 69,000,000- 

 barrel crop of apples now, with the pres- 

 ent storage capacity, would be a very 

 different matter from the "over-produc- 

 tion standpoint" that it was when told 

 storage was in its infancy. 



Then, too, transportation facilities are 

 constantly being extended and improved. 

 This makes it possible to reach new mar- 

 kets. And as a matter of fact, very many 

 domestic markets are now well supplied 

 with native-grown fruit which ten or fif- 

 teen years ago had never had a consign- 

 ment of fruit shipped to them. Con- 

 sumers in vast numbers have been form- 

 ing the fruit-eating habit, and habit once 

 formed is hard to break if the means of 

 continuing it can be made available. 



In addition to an increasing fruit-con- 

 suming people at home, the export mar- 

 kets are an important factor in this mat- 

 ter of over-production, though their im- 

 portance is because they serve as sort 

 of a "safety valve" for market conditions. 

 The quantity of apples exported in any 

 one season in relation to the quantity 

 produced in any ordinary year is so small 

 that the influence of the export trade can 

 hardly be due to the number of barrels 

 shipped abroad. 



Up to and including the year 1908, the 

 million-barrel export trade was reached 

 only twice prior to 1903. The first time 

 was in 1881. when 1,117,000 barrels were 

 Bent abroad. The second time was in 

 1897, when 1,500,000 barrels were ex- 

 ported. From 1903 to 1908, inclusive, 

 more than a million barrels were exported 

 each year, the maximum quantity on rec- 

 ord being in 1904, when the export trade 

 exceeded 2,000,000 barrels. A million bar- 

 rels of apples shipped abroad in any sea- 

 son out of a crop of 30,000,000 to 40,- 

 000,000 produced is only a very small part 

 of the crop. Yet with the export mar- 

 kets open even for quantities that are 

 small in comparison with the totals, the 

 pressure at home may be greatly relieved. 

 In this same line of argument we 

 should not forget our constantly and rap- 

 idly increasing population. A million and 

 a quarter of immigrants coming to Amer- 

 ica every year will consume some of our 



siuplus apples if we only get them to the 

 markets and within their reach. This in- 

 crease amounted to 21 per cent during 

 the decade 1900 to 1910. The people who 

 make up this increase are helping to make 

 a market for some of the fruit produced 

 on the 68 per cent increase in the number 

 of bearing apple trees from 1890 to 1900. 



H. P. Gk)ULD 



Fifteenth Annual Session Vermont Horticultiiral 

 Society. 



APPLE ORCHARD 



Selection of the Site 



In selecting the site on which to plant 

 an apple orchard, several things should 

 be kept in mind. These various requi- 

 sites may be discussed under the gen- 

 eral heads of Soil, Climate and Market 

 conditions. By soil conditions we mean 

 all those factors which affect balance of 

 ration, physical condition, drainage, fer- 

 tility, etc.. By climatic conditions is 

 meant those factors which have to do with 

 temperature, such as elevation; proximity 

 to large bodies of water, air drainage; 

 exposure to sun; prevailing winds; soil 

 erosion; frost conditions, etc. 



Soil Depth 



The first and most important soil con- 

 dition is depth. Apple and pear trees live 

 longer and grow to be larger than peach, 

 plum and most other classes of fruit 

 trees. They will, therefore, need a root 

 system large enough to support the large 

 trunks and tops which they will have 

 when they come to be old. 



In Southern New Mexico there are ap- 

 ple trees large and healthy, but the fruit 

 is not of good quality, which were planted 

 by the Spanish missionaries 300 years 

 ago. There is an apple tree at Vancou- 

 ver, Wash, (see Fig. 1, History of Apple), 

 which is said to be 87 years old, having 

 been grown from seed planted about the 

 year 1825 or '26. There is a pear tree 

 near Bloomlngton, III., of the variety 

 called the Suddith, which is more than 

 100 years old, and has been used within 

 the last few years largely for grafting 

 purposes because of its tendency to long 

 life. 



These facts prove to us the importance 

 of selecting a deep soil for apples and 



