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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



danger of severe frost, in order to get 



the apples sufficiently mature that the 

 flavor will develop and that there will be 

 a fair color. The wood of such trees, 

 also, is equally slow in arriving at that 

 stage of ripeness which will enable it to 

 withstand the winter, as has been 

 proven by the figures given above. 



Some winter apples are hardier than 

 others, but from our experience with a 

 large number of varieties we are forced 

 to conclude that unless the fruit of a 

 variety reaches a certain stage of devel- 

 opment or maturity every season a 

 certain time before it has to be picked, 

 owing to danger from severe frosts, 

 that variety is not a safe one to plant. 

 What that stage of maturity is we can- 

 not at present definitely say. 



In a nutshell, then, it is a physio- 

 logical impossibility for the majority of 



Russia. The growing and ripening sea- 

 son in two countries, or districts, while 

 about the same length of time, may vary 

 sufficiently to cause a marked difference 

 in the season of a variety. As an ex- 

 ample, I should like to refer again to 

 Prince Edward Island, where there is a 

 late spring, but where severe frost does 

 not come until late, and to the colder 

 parts of Ontario where the spring is 

 early but where fall frosts are early also. 

 In order, then, to get an apple most 

 suited to a district or climate, and to 

 get it of the season required, it must be 

 originated in that climate. 



The work of originating apples has 

 been comparatively recent in the north- 

 western states, and in the colder parts of 

 eastern Canada, and by far the largest 

 majority of seedling apples of merit 

 which have been produced are summer 



Apple Tree Top Grafted with Two Varieties on Hardy Stock 



One variety winter killed, other uninjured and requiring props to support load of fruit. It shows how a 

 hardy stock does not increase hardiness of a variety to stand a test winter. Hardy variety is Milwaukee; 

 tender variety, Martha apple (not Martha crab). 



winter apples which have yet been pro- 

 duced to prove hardy in the northern 

 parts of the United States and the 

 colder apple districts of Canada, because 

 the trees having originated where the 

 season is longer grow too late for our 

 short season. Must we then conclude 

 that the origination of a hardy winter 

 apple for the north of good color, and 

 the best dessert quality, is an impos- 

 sibility? I believe not. Apples that 

 will keep nearly all winter when grown 

 in some districts are autumn apples 

 elsewhere. Some of the hardy varieties 

 of Russian apples which have been in- 

 troduced, are found to be much earlier 

 in season in America than they are in 



or autumn kinds. This is due to two 

 principal causes. In the first place, 

 because most of the seedhngs have been 

 raised from summer or autumn varieties, 

 and we should naturally expect that 

 most of such seedlings would be of the 

 same season as their parents. In the 

 second place seedlings have been raised 

 from the best late-keeping varieties, but 

 which are not hardy enough to stand 

 a test winter, and the seedlings from 

 such trees have not, as a rule, proven 

 hardy. 



I do not believe that because seedlings 

 are raised in a climate with a short season 

 that the largest proportion of them will 

 prove early apples regardless of their 



ancestry. In most cases in the past 

 the ancestry of seedling varieties origin- 

 ated in the north has not been favorable 

 to the production of hardy winter varie- 

 ties. The importance of ancestry in the 

 origination of a hardy winter apple is 

 well illustrated in a number of cross- 

 bred apples which have fruited at the 

 Central Experimental Farm. Of a cross 

 between Scott Winter, male, and Mc- 

 Mahon, female, made by Prof. John 

 Craig when horticulturist, 23 trees 

 have fruited. None of these are earlier 

 in season than McMahon, and 14 of them 

 are later keeping apples. Practically 

 all of them have some visible resemblance 

 to the parents, and some are very 

 similar to both parents. All withstood 

 the test winter of 1903-4. 



The basis for the production of the, 

 desired winter apple for the north 

 should be a variety or varieties which 

 have withstood test winters in the north, 

 and are also the latest keepers of such 

 varieties. It has been said already that 

 late-keeping varieties mean late ripening 

 of wood, hence tender trees; but such 

 late-keeping, hardy varieties as have 

 already been originated in the north, are 

 of a different class. They are varieties 

 which, although they mature or are fit 

 for use early in the winter, yet keep all 

 winter with good care. The fact that 

 they are fit for use early means that the 

 wood has ripened comparatively early, 

 and hence is able to withstand the cold. 

 Pomologists are well aware that certain 

 varieties of fruits which are ready for 

 use at the same time as other varieties 

 will keep much longer. It is to this 

 class that the desired winter apple for 

 the north will belong. 



The following winter varieties origin- 

 ated in the north stood the test winter 

 of 1903-4 at Ottawa, and are just such 

 apples as have been described: Canada 

 Baldwin, originated in the province of 

 Quebec; Winter Rose, originated in 

 Dundas country, Ont. ; Calumet, origin- 

 ated in Calumet Island in the Ottawa 

 River; Baxter, originated near Brock- 

 ville, Ont. ; La Victoire, originated in 

 the province of Quebec; Stone, origin- 

 ated in Vermont; Scott Winter, origin- 

 ated in Vermont ; Milwaukee, originated 

 in Wisconsin. 



Other promising unnamed late-keep- 

 ing seedlings, obtained from the colder 

 parts of Canada and the United States, 

 are growing at Ottawa. We have also 

 crosses and seedlings of our own pro- 

 duction which have not fruited, from 

 which something good is expected. 

 None of the varieties above mentioned 

 have all the desired points, but we con- 

 sider the outlook very bright for the 

 origination of a hardy, productive, long- 

 keeping variety of good color and best 

 dessert quality for the north. 



Eat more fruit and less meat. 



