68 THE APPLE-TREE 



duces the variety of products, whether in manufacturing 

 or horticulture, and aims at uniformity. Under the in- 

 fluence of this leadership, we are losing many of the old 

 products, varieties of apples among the rest. 



Why do we need so many kinds of apples? Because 

 there are so many folks. A person has a right to gratify 

 his legitimate tastes. If he wants twenty or forty kinds 

 of apples for his personal use, running from Early Har- 

 vest to Roxbury Russet, he should be accorded the priv- 

 ilege. Sonie place should be provided where he may 

 obtain trees or cions. There is merit in variety itself. 

 It provides more points of contact with life, and leads 

 away from uniformity and monotony. 



The leading varieties of apples, that have become 

 dominant over wide regions, have been great benefactors 

 to man. The original tree should be carefully preserved 

 till the last, by historical or other societies; and then a 

 monument should be placed at the spot. Monuments 

 have been erected to the Baldwin, Northern Spy, Mc- 

 intosh and other apples. We should never lose our 

 touch with the origins of men, events, notable achieve- 

 mentSj outstanding products of nature. 



I fear it is now a habit with many fruit-growers to 

 minimize the interest in varieties, placing the emphasis 

 on tillage, spraying and management of plantations. Yet, 

 the only reason why we expend all the labor is that 

 we may grow a given kind of apple ; the variety is th^ 

 final purpose. 



In this little book we cannot discuss varieties at 

 length. There are special books on this fascinating sub- 

 ject. But we may have before us a compiled list by way 

 of interesting suggestion. The list is sorted from the 



