SELECTION AMONG APPLES 



503 



originated, but an eatabls variety probably occurred in prehis- 

 toric times throughout the territory extending from the Caspian 

 Sea nearly to Europe. Small forests of wild apples have been 

 described in modern times, growing near the southeast end of 

 the Black Sea. 



The dwellers in pile-built houses in the lakes of northern 

 Italy, Savoy, and Switzerland, several thousands of years ago, 

 laid in stocks of apples cut and dried for winter use. Some 

 of these apples appear to 

 have been cultivated, but 

 they were very small, 

 inferior in size to any mod- 

 ern variety except some 

 crab apples. How great a 

 gain in the size of apples 

 has been brought about by 

 cultivation and selection 

 may be inferred from Fig. 

 376. This increase in bulk 

 is accompanied by a de- 

 crease in the number of 

 matured fruits in a cluster. 

 Originally several of the 

 flowers developed into ap- 

 ples, but in modern im- 

 proved varieties usually 

 all but one of the flowers fail, as is shown in the case of the 

 pear (Fig. 83). 



Most of the varieties of apples in our present orchards are 

 descendants of seedlings sprung from trees introduced from 

 western Europe. In the Northwest, where only the hardiest 

 kinds can endure the severe climate, some of the most success- 

 ful sorts are importations from central Russia, and others are 

 from seedlings of Russian and the hardier American varieties, or 

 from hybrids produced by accident or design. 



FIG. 376. Effect of cultivation upon the 

 size of apples 



The Bismarck apple, with a, the wild Asiatic 

 crab apple (Pyrus baccata), and 6, the Eu- 

 ropean wild apple (P. Mains). All half nat- 

 ural size. After Hodge 



