44 



months will include several which will be missing by mid-winter 

 and spring. As each apple variety passes toward the end of its 

 marketable period, its flesh becomes progressively mealy, 

 owing to the gradual digestion of the middle lamellae. The 

 best keeping types are those in which this change is delayed the 

 longest. The old Russet variety probably holds the record in 

 this respect, as it can be kept in ordinary farm cellar conditions 

 well into the July following its harvesting. The early ripening 

 summer and fall apples, some of which have extremely delicious 

 flavors, are poor in keeping qualities. 



During the past fall, in a casual study of the varieties of- 

 fered in a few city stores, and with contributions from two or 

 three friends, the following sixteen difi'erent sorts were collected ; 

 Winesap, Jonathan, Delicious, Greening, Pippin, Lady, Snow, 

 Mcintosh Red, Winter Banana, (eastern and western), Spit- 

 zenberg (eastern and western). Russet, Baldwin, York Imper- 

 ial, and Rome Beauty. The average store keeper cannot be 

 relied on for identification. Two of them insisted that the 

 Pippins were Greenings, although admitting that real Green- 

 ings were difi'erent. As a matter of fact, all the above list 

 displayed rather well marked differences. In a larger field of 

 varieties, their differentiation would not be so easy, but for the 

 purposes of classwork, the number obtained would probably be 

 even smaller and the difficulties fewer. 



From the standpoint of plant breeding, the recognition of 

 the distinctive varieties and their differential characteristics 

 would offer an excellent basis for considering the problems of 

 selection as for flavor and texture, keeping and marketing etc. 

 The fact that apple breeding has been chiefly a matter of 

 discovery of branch mutations or chance seedlings, and their 

 propagation by grafting, and that most of our current varieties 

 are old, — the Mcintosh Red is a 1796 seedling, — would serve to 

 re-emphasize the relative newness of modern scientific as 

 opposed to the older empirical breeding methods. The distinc- 

 tive forms in the same variety, as represented by western and 

 eastern fruit of the same name, constitute an excellent example 

 of variation due to environment. 



Adaptations of the Apple 

 It is always interesting to propose for the first time to a class 

 of youngsters the problem: Why are ripe apples bright-colored. 



