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The Commercial Apple Industry 



The following classification arranges most of the im- 

 portant commercial varieties into three groups according 

 to the time at which they reach bearing. In the first col- 

 umn are those which are known as early bearers in practi- 

 cally every region in which they are grown. In the last 

 column are those which are generally classed as late bear- 

 ers, while in the middle column are varieties which grade 

 between early and late bearers. Some variation will be 

 found, of course, in different regions. 



Of the varieties listed, Northern Spy is probably slower 

 to come into bearing than any other, while Oldenburg 

 (Duchess), Yellow Transparent and Wealthy, are among 

 extremely early bearers. The latter three varieties begin 

 to bear at about five years of age, even in New York state, 

 while the Northern Spy can not be expected to have a 

 good commercial crop before it is at least fifteen years of 

 age, and is not in full bearing until it is twenty-five. The 

 following examples will show the wide variation in full 

 bearing age for different regions : in the Wenatchee Valley 

 an orchard is considered in full bearing at ten to twelve 

 years ; in New York not generally before twenty to twenty- 

 five years ; in Virginia it requires about fifteen years, with 



