SEEDLING APPLES OF MAINE. 117 



tling- strip the limbs from the young trees, and the mice, which 

 also work havoc in young orchards, have combined to render the 

 nursery business risky and unprofitable. 



The catalog of Maine seedlings, though necessarily incomplete, 

 includes all of the best known sorts, and some which, though 

 listed by Downing, Cole and others, have been discarded. The 

 fact that a variety has been called to public attention in fruit 

 lists and pomological manuals, is deemed sufficient reason for 

 consideration at this time. Doubtless many sorts have been 

 omitted, and it is hoped that these, with other corrections, may 

 be included in a subsequent and more complete list. 



Besides the varieties above mentioned, are several more or less 

 obscure ones, listed at different times by Downing, Thomas, Cole, 

 and others, and mentioned in reports of the Maine Pomological 

 Society. Many of these were simply of local importance and 

 were never generally propagated. Others were more or less 

 widely distributed about 50 years ago, but have been superseded 

 by the sorts more commonly grown in the New York nurseries. 

 Among these varieties may be named : Blake, Chase Seedling, 

 Childs, Dayton, Kennebec Russet, Lambert, Peachblow, Rock- 

 wood, Smith Favorite, Table Greening. As these are now 

 wholly, or practically extinct, descriptions are omitted. 



TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING APPLES. 



In describing the apples named below, the usual technical terms are 

 employed : 



.The base is the ; ' stem end"; the apex, the end opposite the stem or 

 stalk, in other words the " blossom end " ; the cavity, the hollow in 

 which the stem or stalk is inserted ; the basin, <-he depression at the 

 apex, in which is the calyx. 



A fruit is round when nearly spherical, as in Fameuse or Mcintosh ; 

 oblate or Hat when the breadth is greater than the length, as in Maiden's 

 Blush; conical, when tapering from base to apex, as in Bullock, and in 

 a common type of Baldwin or Ben Davis ; round-conical, as in Red 

 Canada ; oblong-conical, as in Yellow Bellflower ; oblate-conical, as in 

 Rhode Island Greening. Various other combinations of forms are men- 

 tioned, but the terms used are perhaps sufficiently obvious. 



The terms used in describing color, texture, and flavor, are self explan- 

 atory. Quality is designated as " good," " very good," and " best," in 

 accordance with the usual custom. A fruit rated only as " good," must 

 have some other very desirable qualities, as earliness, hardiness, produc- 

 tiveness or beauty, to warrant its continuance in cultivation ; such for 

 example as Ben Davis, Red Astrachan, Pewaukee, etc. " Very good " 



