Fruit Varieties 191 



APPLES 



Without any question, the apple is far and away 

 the most valuable fruit, both because of its greater 

 scope of usefulness and its longer season — the last 

 of the winter's Russets are still juicy and firm when 

 the first Early Harvests and Red Astrachans are 

 tempting the "young idea" to experiment with colic. 

 Plant but a small proportion of early varieties, for 

 the late ones are better. Out of a dozen trees, I 

 would put in one early, three fall, and the rest win- 

 ter sorts. 



Among the summer apples are several deserving 

 special mention : Yellow Transparent is the earliest. 

 It is an old favorite and one of the most easily 

 grown of all apples. Its color is indicated by the 

 name, and it is a fair eating-apple and a very good 

 cooker. Red Astrachan, another first early, is not 

 quite so good for cooking, but is a delicious eating- 

 apple of good si2e. An apple of more recent intro- 

 duction and extremely hardy (hailing first from 

 Russia), and already replacing the above sorts, is 

 Livland (Livland Raspberry). The tree is of good 

 form, very vigorous and healthy. The fruit is ready 

 almost as soon as Yellow Transparent, and is of 

 much better quality for eating. In appearance it is 

 exceptionally handsome, being of good size, regular 

 form and having those beautiful red shades found 

 almost exclusively in the later apples, The flesh is 



