APPLE 



APPLE 



319 



the coast, in many sections, and on the shores of the 

 Great Lakes are fairly broad low-lying plateaus. These 

 areas, with the broatl river valleys and their bordering 

 slopes, are of great importance from a fruit-growing 

 standpoint. 



In a rough way, the lands may be divided into two 

 main groups. The first embraces the river valleys, 

 including tlie vallej- slopes, and the lower plains adja- 

 cent to the Great Lakes, and certain areas near the coast. 

 To this group belong the most conspicuous apple-grow- 

 ing areas, such as those along the valleys of the Con- 

 necticut, the Hudson, the St. Lawrence, the Mohawk, 

 the Susquehanna and other smaller rivers, and the 

 shores of Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Champlain 

 and various inland lakes. 



The second group of lands embraces the uplands, 

 composed usually of more or less rolling land with 

 innumerable hills, narrow valleys, and great plateaus. 

 This territory embraces much rough mountainous land 

 that is of little value except for forestry. In general, the 

 upland territory is devoted mainly to diversified farm- 

 ing. As a rule, only the hanlier varieties of apples are 

 grown, but in the uplands there are innumerable 

 areas of restricted dimensions that are well 

 adapted to the growing of apples in conjimction ■ 



with other interests. 



In the East apples are extensively grown for 

 home use and for local market. For this reason 

 the apple industry is not so centralized as it is 

 in some other regions, although there are many 

 large commercial orchards. Many individual 

 orchards are small, being on diversified farms. 

 According to the thirteenth census, the ave- 

 rage value of farm lands throughout the eight 

 states is .$23.28 per acre. The price recorded 

 for the states of Pennsylvania, New York. 

 Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island 

 was about the same, averaging $33.92 per acre, 

 while that for the remaining three states, 

 Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont was 

 much lower, averaging S13.31 per acre. 



The apple-growing area in the northeastern 

 states is rapidly extending and comprises much 

 of the cheaper lands of the territory. In New 

 England, the area embraces the southern half 

 of Elaine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, pro- 

 jecting somewhat northward along the west- 

 em border of the latter state, and extending south- 

 ward to include the greater part of Massachusetts, 

 Connecticut, and Rhode Island. Here the leading 

 ■varieties in the older orchards are Baldwin, Rhode 

 Island Greening, Northern Spy, Roxbury, Ben Davis, 

 Fameuse, Tolman, Hubbardston, Oldenburg, Red 

 Astrachan, Bethel, Twenty Ounce, Mcintosh, Yellow 

 Bellflower, and Wealthy. The later plantings are 

 mostly of higher quality varieties, including Northern 

 Spy, Mcintosh, Wealthy, Fall Pippin, Sutton, Wagener, 

 Red Canada, Esopus (Spitzenberg), Gravenstein, Yel- 

 low Transparent, Red Astrachan, Fameuse, Tompkins 

 King, and Williams. The Baldwin, however, continues 

 to be the most popular variety in New England. 



In New York, the main apple-growing section extends 

 along the south shore of Lake Ontario, but the industry 

 is rapidly developing in many other parts, including 

 the Hudson, Champlain, St. Lawrence, and lower 

 Mohawk valleys, and the lands surrounding the central 

 lakes. The leading varieties in the bearing orchards 

 are Baldwin, Rhode Island, Northern Spy, Tompkins 

 King, Roxburj', Hubbardston, Esopus (Spitzenberg), 

 Golden Russctt, Ben Davis, Tolman, Black Gilhflower, 

 Twenty Ounce, Swaar, ^Vestfield, Pumpkin Sweet, 

 Fameuse, Fall Pippin, Yellow Bellflower, Mcintosh, 

 Wealthy, Oldenburg, Red Astrachan, Jonathan, Yel- 

 low Newtown, Green Newtown, Maiden Blush, Graven- 

 stein, Blue Pearmain, Early Harvest, Alexander, and 

 Yellow Transparent. Many of these varieties are still 



being planted, but the tendency is to set fewer varie- 

 ties and more of the leading commercial sorts. 



The apple-growing area in Pennsylvania is limited 

 largely to the southeastern part of the state. The 

 industry has reached its highest development in the 

 Cumberland Valley, especially in Cumberland, Adams 

 and Franklin counties. Much planting is now being 

 done along the upper Susquehanna in Luzerne, Lacka- 

 wanna, and Wyoming counties. In the southwestern 

 part of the state, Bedford and Somerset counties also 

 have many commercial orchards. Southern Pennsyl- 

 vania has a longer growing season than New York and 

 New England and this is plainly shown by the nature 

 of the varieties most commonly grown. The older 

 orchard.^ are composed mainly of York Imperial, Bald- 

 win and Northern Spy, but the newer plantings are 

 mostly Stayman Winesap, Mcintosh, DeUcious, and 

 Northern Spy. 



Cultural peculiarities. 



While there is diversity of opinion regarding cul- 

 tural methods, the common practice embraces a sys- 









268. Apple orchard at bearing age, as seen in the northeastern states. 



tem of clean culture with cover-crops. In some regions, 

 especially on the heavier soils, it has been found that; 

 this treatment, if practised year after year, produces 

 too much growtrh. In such cases, the cover-crop, in- 

 stead of being turned under, is allowed to stand till 

 about June, when it is out and allowed to remain on the 

 surface as a mulch. In New England, clover is most 

 commonly used as a cover-crop. In New York and 

 Pennsylvania, various crops are used for the purpose; 

 among these the most common are clover, vetch, rye, 

 buckwheat, turnips, cowpeas, and soybeans. Some 

 growers in various parts have secured good results 

 from growing their trees in sod, mowing the grass and 

 leaving it as a mulch. The success of this method 

 depends largely on the quantity of herbage that can 

 be grown in the orchard. If the orchard does not pro- 

 duce enough, it must be supplemented with some form 

 of coarse material from other sources. A system 

 of this kind ma.y be very satisfactorily employed 

 in various parts of Pennsylvania, New York and New 

 England, where there is much land that, although well 

 adapted to apple-growing, is oftentimes too steep for 

 cultivation. 



As a rule, chemical fertilizers are used in the orchard. 

 Since the supply of hiunus may be maintained in the 

 orchard by the use of cover-crops, most growers prefer 

 to use the available stable manure for crops like corn, 

 hay, or vegetables, that are not so easily adapted to 

 cover-crop treatment. Stable manure, however, ia 



