30 The Commercial Apple Industry 



included in this region are Ontario, Yates, Seneca, Cayuga, 

 Genesee, Onondaga, Oswego, Wyoming and Tompkins. 



In reality, the world's most important barreled apple 

 region is largely in a ten-mile belt along Lake Ontario, ex- 

 tending from Niagara Falls to Oswego, New York, a dis- 

 tance of about 125 miles. In this section much of the 

 present bearing acreage was planted in the late sixties 

 and in the seventies of the preceding century. In 1 other 

 words, the average age of bearing orchards is over forty 

 years. Probably nowhere else in this country will trees 

 retain such vigor and productivity at forty to fifty years 

 of age as in western New York. The old apple orchards 

 along the ridge road from Buffalo to Rochester have with- 

 stood alternate periods of neglect and care, according to 

 the vicissitudes of the apple industry, and yet they remain 

 in most instances vigorous and productive at advanced age. 



The permanency of western New York as a leading 

 apple region may be explained partly by the conservatism 

 of the New York grower. Instead of devoting himself 

 entirely to apples, the average farmer in western New 

 York has 100 acres or more of farm land of which only 10 

 to 20 acres are in apples. His other crops have main- 

 tained him in poor apple years. The yields on the cony** 1 

 mercial full bearing orchards average from 75 to 100 bar- 

 rels to the acre. 



Some idea of the importance of New York as an apple 

 state may be gained from the fact that the 1918 commercial 

 apple crop was estimated at 5,950,000 barrels, over two- 

 thirds of which came from western New York. Baldwin 

 represents nearly one-half and Rhode Island Greening 

 about 20 per cent of the total production. Northern Spy, 

 Roxbury Russet, Tompkins King, Duchess of Oldenburg, 



