390 The Commercial Apple Industry 



breeding is a much discussed subject and the layman may 

 conceive that new varieties of apples are being developed 

 by this method. As a matter of fact, the experiments thus 

 far conducted in crossing different varieties of apples have 

 been very inconclusive and unsatisfactory. 



New varieties are being constantly discovered and very 

 often widely advertised. Some are worthy and some are 

 not. The most noted new variety is the Golden Delicious 

 which is being planted very extensively and in the next 

 decade will appear in most of the commercial markets. 

 Wherever tried, it has proved productive and highly profit- 

 able. The grower may experiment but should not plant 

 new varieties extensively before they have been firmly 

 established, or have proved profitable. High quality var- 

 ieties are very often the most profitable, but occasionally 

 they prove undesirable on account of their tendency toward 

 shy bearing. The Ben Davis apple, on account of its 

 high annual yield, has proved more profitable over a period 

 of years than some of the better quality varieties. The 

 public, however, is becoming more fastidious in its selec- 

 tion, and in the competition between high and low quality 

 apples some of the latter are being crowded out. 



Seldom do two varieties ripen at exactly the same time, 

 and with a maximum of four or five leading kinds there is 

 usually a sufficiently long harvest period to permit of the 

 most economical harvesting practice. Buyers and even 

 cooperative organizations insist on a limited number of 

 varieties, and prefer them in carlots. The grower with a 

 miscellaneous list of varieties is the last to sell his crop, 

 whereas the one with two or three kinds of uniform size 

 and color has a decided advantage in the market. The 

 farmer planting a home orchard selects a few trees of each 



