106 THE APPLE-TREE 



unless they have some superlative merit ;Yellow Bell- 

 flower is an example of a shy, or at least an irregular, 

 bearer. The great commercial varieties are of course 

 good bearers, as Baldwin, Ben Davis, Stayman, York 

 Imperial, Oldenburg, Rome, Mcintosh, Wealthy, Yellow 

 Transparent, Jonathan. 



An apple-tree at full bearing is a wonderful sight at 

 the harvest, particularly in such varieties as Mcintosh 

 and Baldwin, in which the fruit is highly colored and 

 hangs well toward the outside of the tree-top. While 

 the first bearing year may yield only a half dozen fruits, 

 the crop increases rapidly with the added years, — one 

 peck, one bushel, five bushels, ten bushels, thirty bushels, 

 even to sixty and seventy bushels on large sturdy old 

 trees of some varieties. The amateur, however, first 

 prizes the quality and regularity of his product for the 

 sheer joy of it; then every added bushel is so much to 

 the good, 



