64: Lessons in Fruit Growing. 



It is said that the flavor and keeping qualities of apples 

 are considerably affected by the soil on which they are 

 grown, and that apples grown on strong, heavy soils are 

 finer in flavor, higher in specific gravity, and possess better 

 keeping quality than those grown on lighter soils. Apples 

 grown on healthy trees keep better than those grown 6n 

 feeble, poorly-fed or parasite-injured trees. 



68. The crab apple. The fruit of the crab apple is smaller, 

 firmer in flesh, and is borne more in clusters than that of 

 the common apple; the foliage and shoots are smoother 

 and the shoots and fruit spurs are more slender. The tree 

 is more resistant to the cold than that of the common 

 apple, which adapts it to severe climates. The fruit is 

 chiefly used for jelly, cider and preserves. Two species of 

 the crab apple are native to the United States, but the one 

 coDimonly cultivated here was introduced from Europe. 

 The latter hybridizes freely with the common apple; some 

 valuable hybrids have thus been obtained. 



The culture of the crab apple does not differ from that 

 of the common apple. 



SUMMARY OP THE PRECEDING SECTION 



1. The apple commonly fruits on short branches (spurs) 

 from three or four-year-old wood. After the spurs have 

 fruited once, the}' may fruit annually or biennially there- 

 after (44). 



2. Old fruit spurs of the apple commonly produce small 

 fruit because the nourishing sap must pass through so 

 many branches. It is probably best to prune off the older 

 spurs (44). 



3. The apple tree has generally proved most productive 

 and enduring on deep, rich, well-drained clay loams (45). 



