VARIETIES FOR THE HOME APPLE ORCHARD 175 



into consideration with their age will tell the tale. In poor apple 

 soils the growth will be meager or poor. Soil also influences the 

 length of life of apple trees. Medium loams and heavy loams are 

 to be preferred to the light sandy soils for apples. The soil does 

 not need to be extremely rich, but a moderate degree of fertility is 

 desired. 



Varieties for the Home Apple Orchard. — Nurserymen speak of 

 the varieties of apples under three heads, depending on their 

 season of ripening — summer, fall and winter varieties. If the 

 grower intends to have a surplus of apples for market he ought to 

 be careful to have enough of one or two varieties rather than a 

 few of a great number of varieties. When the orchard comes into 

 bearing one of the most harassing things which will confront the 

 grower is to spray and otherwise care for varieties which blossom 

 and ripen at different times. This task will be greatly simplified if 

 he has only a few varieties to demand his attention at spraying 

 time, picking time, etc. 



In theory the home orchard which is not to have any fruit for 

 market may have a great number of varieties with only a tree or 

 two of each kind. This sounds ideal, because the tastes of different 

 members of the family at different seasons will be gratified and 

 fruits for all purposes will be produced. 



On the other hand, apples of many varieties will shed their 

 petals at different seasons and require spraying to fight the codling 

 moth at as many different times. The close attention which this 

 mixture will require may cause the spraying to be neglected or 

 even abandoned in busy seasons. Another point about having too 

 many varieties is that there may not be enough trees blossom 

 during the same time to pollinate each other. A study of a table 

 of blossoming dates at the time of selecting varieties should settle 

 this point before the orchard is planted. 



A good list of varieties for the home orchard will include one or 

 two good standard varieties of summer apples, one or two of the 

 fall varieties and the list should include good winter keepers. 

 Perhaps three of the winter varieties of keepers will be enough. 

 If we bring this plan down to its simplest form we might have one 

 summer variety such as Duchess, one fall variety, such as Grimes 

 Golden or Mcintosh Red, and one variety of winter apple such as 

 Winesap or Newtown Pippin. 



In choosing the varieties for any region study the results of 

 trials made by other growers. No general recommendation can be 



