THE APPLE. 



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1. early, 2, midseason, 3. late; and as regards 

 a large part of central and southern England, 

 these periods roughly correspond to the dates: 

 May 1st to 8th, 9th to 16th, and 17th to 24th, 

 with local variations as earlier or later exten- 

 sions of these times. A few examples in each 

 may be given from our own observations over 

 a wide area, but it is impossible to arrange the 

 varieties in exact order: 



Keswick Codlin, 

 Irish Peach, 

 Tower of Glammis, 

 Duchess of Oldenburg, 



1. Early. 



Hanwell Souring, 

 Flower of Kent, 

 Golden Spire, 

 Hubbard's Pearmain. 



2. Midseason. 



Lord Suffield, 

 Warner's King, 

 Devonshire Quarrenden, 

 Kerry Pippin, 

 Manks Codlin, 

 Emperor Alexander, 

 Yellow Ingestrie, 

 Scarlet Nonpareil, 

 Stirling Castle, 

 Adams' Pearmain, 



I Baumann's Red Reinette, 

 Dutch Mignonne, 

 Sturmer Pippin, 

 Bramley's Seedling, 

 Royal Russet, 

 Cellini, 



Norfolk Beefing, 

 Lord Grosvenor, 

 Minchall Crab. 



3. Late. 



Blenheim Pippin, 

 Worcester Pearmain, 

 Cox's Orange Pippin, 

 Dumelow's Seedling, 

 Margil, 



Cox's Pomona, 

 King of the Pippins, 

 Fearn's Pippin, 



Lord Derby, 

 Ecklinville, 

 Annie Elizabeth, 

 Alfriston, 

 Golden Noble, 

 Lady Henniker, 

 Northern Spy, 

 Court Pendu Plat. 



Interpollination and Fertility. — Another matter 

 in reference to the fertility of Apples is receiving 

 more attention now than formerly, especially 

 when forming large plantations, as the occa- 

 sional defective pollen supplies can be remedied 

 by pollination from other varieties. If the 

 sterility arises from insufficient or unsuitable 

 soil -food the remedy is a cultural one, which 

 will be discussed later in this chapter; but where 

 it is peculiar to the variety other means must 

 be adopted. The subject is closely connected 

 with one of great interest, i.e. the influence of 

 foreign pollen on the formation of fruit. In- 

 stances have been recorded at intervals within 

 the past 150 years of such supposed influences 

 having been noted in Apples, Pears, Melons, Cu- 

 cumbers, Peas, Maize, The Egg Plant, Lilium, 

 Orchids, and other plants; and though most of 

 the observations may be open to question, a few 

 are worth notice. Perhaps one of the most 

 remarkable is that recorded by Thomas Meehan 

 of Philadelphia, to the effect that "the bough 

 of a Pear-tree, which had always been altogether 

 vol. ii. 



unfruitful, projected into the boughs of a neigh- 

 bouring Apple-tree, fruits were produced which 

 in skin, flesh, and other respects were altogether 

 Apples, and had only the seeds, carpellary parti- 

 tions, and stalks of the Pear ". 



The practical bearing of this was shown by 

 a gardener, who had come to the conclusion 

 from experience that it is a mistake to plant 

 large areas of one kind of Apple only. He had 

 found that better and more regular crops re- 

 sulted from mixed plantations, or where the 

 varieties were planted alternately. A high 

 authority in the United States says : " There is 

 little positive knowledge concerning the inter- 

 pollination of fruits, and no subject connected 

 with pomology is in greater need of study. 

 We chiefly know that the most productive 

 orchards are usually those of many varieties, 

 and that some varieties sometimes refuse to 

 fertilize themselves. The safest practice, there- 

 fore, is to plant no more than two rows of any 

 one variety together in fruits in which (like 

 many Apples and Pears) self-sterility is often 

 apparent." This may not be so generally appli- 

 cable to plantations in this country as to those 

 in America, where sterility is more often set up 

 in fruits, but it is well worth attention, and 

 cases do occur where trees flower freely yet 

 produce no fruit, and defective pollen supplies 

 is sometimes one of the causes. Instances have 

 been observed where advantageous results fol- 

 lowed from proximity to such free-flowering 

 Apples as Stirling Castle, Lord Grosvenor, 

 Seaton House, and others. A few hives of bees 

 also help interpollination, some growers who 

 have been successful in hardy fruit culture 

 attributing their good fortune in securing regular 

 crops of even fruits partly to the assistance 

 rendered by bees. 



General Culture. — The Apple grows and fruits 

 under so many different conditions of soil and 

 climate that the limits to its adaptability appear 

 to be widely placed. Unfortunately, this elasti- 

 city of constitution has led in some districts to 

 a course of neglect which now shows serious 

 effects. All earnest cultivators must desire the 

 highest possible results that intelligent care can 

 ensure, and the Apple is worthy of the best 

 efforts. Every detail should have the fullest 

 consideration, for even with the closest study 

 there are always sufficient difficulties to contend 

 with and problems to perplex when dealing 

 with plant life. In British gardens the greatest 

 success has been attained in the cultivation of 

 the Apple, yet examples of failure can usually 

 be found very near them, just as in some of our 



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