416 The Commercial Apple Industry 



The skin is often pale in color and not attractive, some- 

 times having but very little red coloring, yet at times under 

 favorable conditions being nearly covered with red. The 

 fruit stands handling well because it is very firm and has a 

 thick tough skin. It keeps till June in ordinary storage 

 and for that reason is regarded as a good apple for export 

 trade. The variety has a wide range of adaptibility in 

 regard to soil and climate and is recommended for planting 

 in cases where orchards are long distances from market 

 and the climate is rather severe. Many other varieties of 

 its season are much superior in quality and this will pre- 

 vent the Stark from attaining any great popularity. 



Hubbardston. 



The Hubbardston, which originated at Hubbardston, 

 Massachusetts, has long been known to the commercial 

 grower. /Kenrick, as long ago as 1832, recommended that 

 it was one of the most desirable varieties for Massachusetts. 

 The commercial importance of the Hubbardston, although 

 considerable, has never been great in any one region. It 

 is a fairly good variety for commercial planting in the 

 more northern sections of the country, but varies remark- 

 ably in market quality, size and color, smoothness of skin 

 and flavor. For this reason, it is known locally in many 

 places by other names. Normally it ripens between the 

 autumn and the late winter varieties, comes into bearing 

 early, is a heavy cropper and fairly annual bearer. It is 

 somewhat susceptible to winter-injury and apple-canker 

 and seems to be more satisfactory when grafted on to more 

 hardy varieties such as Northern Spy. The quality of the 

 fruit is excellent for dessert, but is excelled by many other 

 varieties for culinary purposes. It is an uncertain keeper, 



