July, 1926] .Atple Industry ix Xkw H.\MrsiiiHK 11 



are all aboA'c a\-crasc for th(^ state in i)cr ccn; of trees under 15 years. 

 Belknap County shows a relative!}' larjie jiroportion of trees between 

 20 and 30 years of age, there being more than 4,000 trees in this group, 

 which is nearly 34 per cent of the county total. In conclusion it may 

 be said that the trend in orcharding in general is one of rather rapid 

 expansion, although at not quite so rai)id a rati> as that at which ex- 

 pansion took place during the j'ears of 1915-19.10. 



VARIETIES 



New Hampshire is predominately a winter apple slate. The New 

 Hampshire faimer has felt that those \:irieties are safest which have a 

 reasonably long harvest season, which nvc har\c-;ted in cool weather and 

 which need not be marketed hastily. Some 67 per cent of all trees in 

 the state are classified in the list of winter sorts. The leading fruit 

 counties of Hillsborough and Rockingham have respectively 68 and 69 

 per cent of winter \ arieties. almost exactly- the same as the average for 

 the state. In Merrimack Count.y, howe\er, more than thrc^e-fourths of 

 the ai)i)les are of winter sorts. 



The leading variety is Baldwin with nearl\- 185,000 trees, making uii 

 more than 50 per cent of the grand total of all trees and three-fourths 

 of the 1924 crop. The New Hampshire faru'.er has Icarnotl through 

 long years of experience that he can dejjend upon the Baldwin for good 

 retinns. It is a variety relatively resistant to ordinary diseases, easy to 

 handle, and one for which, although it is not of extremely high dessert 

 ciuality, the market has for many years shown a decided preference. It 

 is particularly well adapted to a locality where the summers are cool 

 and develops its best texture, color and ciuality in a light soil such as 

 that in which most New Hampshire orchards are i)lanted. Therefore, its 

 popularity appears to be justificHl e\ en although it has two serious faults, 

 its tenderness to winter injury and its susceptibility to Baldwin spot. 

 The four leading fruit counties have each i)lanted more of the Baldwin 

 variety than the average for the state. As may be expected, the propor- 

 tion of Baldwin trees is lower in the northern counties, there being 

 onb' 5 per cent of this variety in Coos, 15 jier cent in Grafton and 

 approximately 30 or 40 per cent in Sulli\-an and Belknap. In Carroll 

 County 45 per cent of the trees are Baldwin, a relatively high propor- 

 tion considering the geograjthical situation of the county. 



While discussion of the jiractice of using fillers will be taken up later, 

 it is of interest in connection with our observations of the different 

 \arieties to note the proportion of each planted for that purpose. The 

 reader will, of course, understand that a filler tree is one planted to 

 occupy temporarily the space between the trees of the permanent or- 

 chard. Not a single Baldwin tree has been planted as a filler. This is 

 indicative of the faith which the New Hampshire fruit growers have in 

 this variety. The remo\al of other \arieties which are planted between 

 the Baldwins will tend to raise the proportion of this variety to the 

 total trees during the next 15 years. 



