28 



VARIETIES AND NURSERY STOCK 



oldest standbys, like Rhode Island Greening, have any place in 

 that market, unless they are red, and even these standbys are at 

 a certain disadvantage on account of their color. Of course there 

 is also a difference in the attractiveness of yellow varieties, and 

 this ought to be given due weight. One is a fine, waxy color, such 

 as a Grimes Golden or an Ortley, while another is dull and un- 

 interesting, as a Mann. 



<■ 6. Good Quality. — This is a point which the writer likes to 

 give special emphasis. It is astonishing what an influence quality 

 has in the demand for apples, or any other fruit, for that matter. 



Give a man a really fine 

 apple and he wants some 

 more at once, and inciden- 

 tally he is not so particular 

 just what he pays for it. 

 But give him one that is in- 

 different or poor in quality, 

 and he does not care just 

 how long he has to wait for 

 the next. 



One winter the writer 

 began on some Baldwin 

 apples, some particularly 

 fine Baldwin apples grown 

 in western Massachusetts. 

 It was the custom each evening to bring up a plate of them for the 

 family circle. It usually required two apples in his own particu- 

 lar case to satisfy the ' ' demand. ' ' Later in the season, after these 

 Baldwins were used up some rather indifferent apples of various 

 varieties were brought forward. They were good sound apples, 

 and well preserved, of such sorts as Rome Beauty and locally 

 grown Stayman Winesap, but they were not of particularly high 

 quality. It was certainly astonishing to see what a change took 

 place in the attitude of the family toward the evening apple 

 feast. The custom was still kept up and with fair regularity, but 

 nobody felt very badly if it happened to be omitted, and it was 

 nothing uncommon to have a part of an apple (and a good big 



k '""" - ^ - J 



Fig. 7. — A Baldwin apple. Probably more 

 people know and like the Baldwin than any other 

 variety. 



