APPLE 



APPLE 



317 



THE ORIGINAL NORTHERN SPY APPLE TREE 



stood about 14 rods south of this spot, in a seedling 

 orchard planted hy Heman Chapin about 1800. 



The Early Joe and Melon Apples 

 also originated in this orchard 



The Mcintosh apple (Mcintosh Red) is comineni 

 orated (Fig. 265) by a monument at Dundela, Dundas 

 County, Ontario, as follows; 



THE ORIGINAL McINTOSH RED APPLE TREE 



stood about 20 rods north of this spot. It was one 



of a number of seedlings taken from the border 



of the clearings and transplanted by John Mcintosh 



in the ^'ear 1796. 



Erected by Popular Subscription 1912. 



The history is that John Mcintosh came to Canada 

 with the United Empire Loyalists. After spending 

 some time along the frontier, he settled on his home- 

 stead in the county of Dundas in 1790 at a place later 

 called Mcintosh's Corners, although that place has 



now become extinct and 

 Dundela has taken its 

 place. In the year 1796 

 while clearing some for- 

 est land, he came upon 

 a clump of young apple 

 trees, about twenty in 

 nimiber. As apples were 

 at that time a luxury, 

 the apple trees were left 

 unharmed, and a few 

 days after were replanted 

 in a clearing nearer his 

 house. Most of the trees 

 thiived for a few years 

 but finally died. In 1830 

 only one tree out of the 

 twenty remained. As 

 this apple wa.s unnamed, 

 Mr. Mcintosh combined 

 his own name with the 

 color of the apple and christened it "Mcintosh Red." 

 From the time it was transplanted, it grew rapidly 

 and in a few years bore an abundance of fruit the 

 color and flavor of which attracted the attention of 

 the earUer settlers. It was situated about fifteen feet 

 from the house, and when in 1893 the house was 

 burned, the tree also received its share of the fire and 

 one side was badly burned. Nevertheless, the other 

 side continued to bear until 190S. That summer the 

 leaves began to wilt and the apples to fall off until it 

 was entirely bare. Thus the old tree which had with- 

 stood the storm of 112 years was forced at last to sub- 

 mit to the injuries received from the fire of 1893 (Fig. 

 21)6). The wide ciiculation of the Mclnto.sh apple is 

 due to his son, the late Allen Mcintosh, who, fully 

 appreciating the fruit, wished others to enjoy it also 

 and started propagating by grafting and budding from 

 the original tree. This has been repeated year after 

 year since 1836. 



The origin of the Wealthy apple, the leading va- 

 riety of the upper Mississip|)i Valley, is commemorated 

 on the monument erected to the memory of Peter M. 

 Gideon, Excelsior, Minnesota (Fig. 267). The tablet 

 was unveiled and dedicated with apjiropriate cere- 

 monies on the old farmstead, where he pa.ssed the last 

 forty-six years of his life, at 2 o'clock on the afternoon 

 of Saturday, June 1.5, 1912. The memorial consists of 

 a block of granite, raised on a platform of solid con- 

 crete, surrounded by a chain supported by a number 

 of black iron posts. On the sloping top of stone is a 

 bronze tablet bearing this inscription: 



265. 



Monument to the Mcintosh 

 apple, to ft. high.) 



This Tablet commemorates Peter M. Gideon 

 who grew the original 



WEALTHY APPLE TREE 



from seed on this, his homestead, in 1864. 



Erected by the Native Sons of Minnesota, June, 1912. 



The triangular piece of ground on which this is 

 placed containing approximately a half-acre, is sur- 

 rounded by a chain and post fence. This ground, the 

 gift of O. P. Briggs, is dedicated as "Gideon Memorial 

 Park." It lies on 

 the main traveled 

 boulevard be- 

 tween Excelsior 

 and Minnetonka 

 Beach, a few 

 hundred feet 

 south of the Mani- 

 tou station on the 

 electric fine. 



Special literature. 



Several books 

 devoted wholly to 

 the apple have 

 appeared in North 

 America: Warder, 

 Apples, 1867; 

 Todd, Apple Culturist, 1871; Waugh, The American 

 Apple Orchard, 1908; Burritt, Apple Growing, 1912; 

 Woolverton, Canadian Apple Grower's Guide. For va- 

 rieties, the two volumes, Beach, Apples of New York, 

 published by the New York Agricultural Experiment 

 Station, at Geneva, are invaluable. Consult, also. Vol. 

 25, Nebraska State Horticultural Society, 1894; The 

 Apple, a report of the Kansas State Horticultural 

 Society, 1898. Nearly all the fruit manuals devote 

 space to the apple. L. H. B. 



Apple-growing in the northeastern states. 



Although the eastern region (New England, New 

 York, Pennsylvania) early developed an apple industry, 

 it had few commercial orchards until near the middle 

 of the last century. About that time many named 

 varieties of American origin were disseminated. At 

 first the product was used largely for the making of 

 cider. Gradually there arose a demand for fresh fruit, 



266. Original Mcintosh apple tree. 



267. Monument to Peter M. Gideon and the Wealthy apple. 



and as transportation facilities improved and the busi- 

 ness became more profitable, there was a rapid increase 

 in the number and size of the orchards. The prodiic- 

 tion of apples increased more rapidly than the faciUties 

 for distribution and soon the supply apparently ex- 

 ceeded the demand. The low prices received in the 

 following years discouraged the growers from fur- 

 ther planting. Many growers, being attracted by the 



