APPLES 



233 



juicy, subacid with a pleasant but not 

 high flavor. 



York Imperial 



The York Imperial is an important ap- 

 ple which Is grown commercially in the 

 middle Atlantic states and over a belt of 

 country extending from these states west- 

 ward into Missouri and Kansas. The 

 tree is a thrifty, vigorous grower, and 

 pretty regular annual or biennial bearer. 

 It seems to prefer rather heavy clay soils 

 and seldom does well on soils that are 

 light or in any way thin or leachy. When 

 properly developed the fruit is large, 

 finely colored and of good quality. There 

 are some objections to it on account of 

 the shape of the fruit, which is oblique 

 or lop-sided, and consequently difficult to 

 pare with a machine. Storage men give 

 its season in cellar storage as extending 

 to December, and in cold storage to Feb- 

 ruary. It stands heat fairly well before 

 going into storage, but often scalds badly 

 and when it begins to deteriorate goes 

 down rather quickly. It seems not well 

 adapted to the northern sections of the 

 apple districts of the United States, as 

 it does not color well. However, in the 

 Pacific Northwest, where the sunshine is 

 bright, this would not be true. 



Historical. It originated at York, 

 Pennsylvania, about the year 1830. It 

 soon became a leading market variety of 

 Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, and 

 was exhibited at the State Pomological 

 Society of Ohio in 1855. 



Tree vigorous or moderately vigorous. 

 Form upright, spreading or roundish, 

 rather dense. Twigs short, above me- 

 dium, straight or nearly so, stout or mod- 

 erately stout and tapering at the tips; 

 internodes medium to long: bark dull 

 brownish red. 



Fruit rather uniform in size and shape, 

 medium to large, roundish, oblate or 

 truncate, usually wath an oblique axis. 

 Flesh yellowish, firm, crisp, somewhat 

 breaking, a little coarse, moderately ten- 

 der, moderately juicy, subacid to nearly 

 sweet. 



TEXDE>TY TO FEWER VARIETIE.S 



In connection with the subject of va- 

 rieties to plant, it is well to remember 



that for commercial orcharding the tend- 

 ency is toward the planting of a few well- 

 adapted varieties. G. B. Brackett says: 



"Owing to the greatly diversified soil 

 and climatic conditions that exist through- 

 out the territory of the United States, it 

 would not be safe to attempt to give more 

 than general advice on the subject of va- 

 rieties to plant. Among the very extended 

 list of cultivated varieties of merit there 

 are few, if any, sections where the apple 

 will grow for which varieties may not be 

 found that will give satisfaction if they 

 have a fair trial. But it is a well-known 

 fact that but few of the many varieties 

 can be safely recommended for a special 

 locality. There are certain varieties that 

 have a wider range of adaptability than 

 others. Instances of this character may 

 be found in the Ben Davis, which has a 

 wide range of adaptability, while the suc- 

 cess of the Yellow Newtown or Albemarle 

 is confined to a few localities. 



"Then, again, a variety may succeed in 

 widely separated regions, while in the in- 

 tervening sections it may be an entire 

 failure. This fact is well established in 

 the case of the Yellow Newtown, which 

 reaches its highest state of perfection in 

 certain sections of the Pacific coast fruit 

 regions and in the Piedmont sections of 

 Virginia and North Carolina, while in 

 most of the widely diversified intervening 

 territory it is nearly worthless. 



local Conditions 



"With these facts before the reader he 

 will readily see how unwise it would be 

 to attempt to offer in this connection other 

 than general advice on the subject. A 

 comparatively safe guide for the planter 

 to follow or to be governed by is to study 

 well his immediate environs and to take 

 counsel of those of his neighbors who have 

 had practical experience in growing va- 

 rieties on soils and exposures quite sim- 

 ilar to his own. In this way he may be 

 able to obtain valuable information in re- 

 gard to varieties that have been tested 

 and found to succeed in his neighborhood. 



Present Demand 



"In the pioneer days of fruit culture, 

 especially in the Mississippi valley sec- 

 tion of our country, the great aim and oh- 



