NORTHERN SPY 



OAKLAND 



47 



form, and the fair size of the fruit, with hardi- 

 ness, healthfulness, reliability in bearing, vigor 

 and productiveness in the tree, make the 

 Northern Spy one of the leading American ap- 

 ples. The fruits play an important part in 

 commerce, having a well established reputa- 

 tion in all American fruit markets; they stand 

 usage in shipping, storing, and marketing very 

 well, after which they sell at highest prices. 

 The trees bloom remarkably late and thereby 

 often escape spring frosts; they are long-lived, 



37. Northern Spy. (X%) 



nearly perfect in form; and grow to maturity 

 with rapidity from the nursery. The last three 

 characters make them favorites upon which to 

 graft less vigorous sorts. Northern Spy is not 

 without faults, however. Those of the fruit 

 are : the skin is thin and tender, making careful 

 handling necessary; and when poorly grown, 

 the flavor deteriorates. Other faults are: the 

 trees are most capricious as to soils; come in 

 bearing only after several years of care; and 

 are an inviting prey to apple-scab, both fruit 

 and foliage suffering. The Northern Spy tree 

 is of largest size and must be given plenty of 

 room in the orchard; it prefers a warm, fertile, 

 well-drained, gravelly or sandy loam in a cool 

 and somewhat moist climate. This excellent 

 apple was grown from seeds planted by Heman 

 Chapin about 1800 in East Bloomfield, New 

 York. Long considered one of the best apples 

 in New York and New England, its culture 

 has spread westward to the Pacific. 



Tree large, vigorous, upright, dense, becoming round- 

 topped, with willowy, slender, drooping laterals ; branches 

 long, stout, curved. Fruit large, round-conical, some- 

 times oblong, flattened at the base, symmetrical, ribbed ; 

 stem thick ; cavity large, acute, very wide and deep, 

 broadly furrowed, usually with greenish-russet radiating 

 upwards to the brim ; calyx small, closed ; lobes short, 

 broad, obtuse ; basin small, narrow, deep, abrupt, fur- 

 rowed ; skin thin, tender, smooth, glossy, the pale yellow 

 ground-color nearly concealed with bright red, mottled 

 and splashed with carmine and overspread with thin 

 bloom ; dots small, scattering, white, gray or russet ; 

 prevailing effect striped-red ; calyx-tube large, long, 

 narrow funnel-form with very narrow cylinder ; stamens 

 basal ; core large, abaxile ; cells symmetrical, open, often 

 not uniformly developed ; core-lines clasping the funnel 

 cylinder ; carpels concave, broadly round, emarginate, 

 tufted ; seeds small, wide, plump, obtuse, dark, tufted ; 

 flesh yellow, firm, fine-grained, tender, crisp, juicy, 

 sprightly, aromatic, subacid ; very good to best ; No- 

 vember to April. 



NORTHWESTERN GREENING. Fig. 

 38. Possessed of a constitution which enables 

 it to endure as much cold as any other apple 

 excepting, possibly, a few Russian sorts, North- 

 western Greening has found a niche in the 

 apple flora of the cold Northwest that it fills 

 very well. The tree grows with rapidity and 

 vigor, and while it does not bear early, eventu- 

 ally becomes a reliable and productive pro- 

 ducer. The apples are mediocre in quality, 

 and the flesh within the core-lines is often 

 corky and discolored. Northwestern Greening 



38. Northwestern Greening. 



originated in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, and 

 was first described in 1895. It plays an im- 

 portant part in the fruit-growing of Wisconsin 

 and Minnesota. 



Tree vigorous, upright-spreading, dense, with long, 

 stout, crooked branches. Fruit large or very large, 

 variable in size and form, round, oblong or oblate, often 

 conic, more or less irregular, sometimes elliptical, some- 

 times ribbed ; stem short ; cavity small, acute, narrow, 

 deep, often compressed or lipped, with outspreading 

 russet ; calyx variable, small, closed or open ; basin 

 small, narrow, abrupt, deep, furrowed and wrinkled ; 

 skin smooth, waxy, pale yellow, sometimes faintly 

 blushed ; dots small or large and irregular, usually white 

 and submerged, sometimes gray with russet point ; pre- 

 vailing effect yellow ; calyx-tube wide, conical or urn- 

 shaped ; stamens median ; core large, axile ; cells sym- 

 metrical, closed or open ; core-lines meeting ; carpels 

 broadly round, mucronate ; seeds small, often abortive ; 

 flesh yellow, crisp, firm, juicy, mild subacid ; fair to 

 good ; November to April. 



OAKLAND. Oakland County Seek-no- 

 further. In Michigan, Oakland is prized in 

 many orchards, but it seems not to be grown 

 elsewhere. The apples, while not remarkable, 

 are attractive and so pleasantly flavored that 

 they elicit praise from all who taste them. 

 The trees, though slow in growth, eventually 

 make large specimens which bear abundantly 

 but, as a rule, only biennially. The name 

 commemorates the county in Michigan in 

 which the variety is supposed to have orig- 

 inated. Oakland was first described in 1883. 



Tree slow of growth, open, spreading, with long and 

 stout branches. Fruit medium to large, uniform in size, 

 round, usually somewhat oblate, sometimes conic, sym- 

 metrical, irregular, often obscurely angular or ribbed ; 

 stem slender ; cavity acuminate, wide, deep, angular, 

 sometimes lipped, often russeted and with some out- 

 spreading russet ; calyx pubescent, small, closed ; basin 

 shallow, abrupt, compressed or furrowed ; skin thin, 

 tough, smooth, yellow blushed and mottled with dark 

 red, striped with carmine and overspread with thin 



