HANDLING APPLES FROM TREE TO TABLE 



37 



Table 4. — Condition of apples before they were unpacked and after display 



for sale 



Variety 



Sound in 

 original 

 package 



Sound when 

 on display- 



Jonathan 



Golden Delicious 



Baldwin 



Greening 



Percent 



Percent 



stores and found that 42 percent of the apples showed old bruises and 

 only 8 percent had fresh bruises, apparently as a result of handling 

 in the stores. 



If the retailer would give his trade the kind of apples that will 

 stimulate demand, he must consider the variety as well as grade and 

 condition. In order to make even such a rough classification as eating 

 apples and cooking apples, as is frequently done in grocery stores, the 

 dealer needs to know something about the principal commercial varie- 

 ties so that, for example, Rome Beauty, York Imperial, or even Ben 

 Davis will not be offered as eating apples or Delicious as a good 

 baking apple because it has good size. He also needs to know when 

 each is in season. It is not uncommon to find Jonathans and Wine- 

 saps offered together. In the fall only the former could give satis- 

 faction, but in late spring the Winesap would be preferred. 



While there are upwards of 200 varieties of apples grown more or 

 less in the United States, the list of those that may be regarded as the 

 principal commercial kinds is comparatively short and is given in 

 table 5 where they are classified as to color, whether they are best for 

 eating or cooking, whether their flesh is soft or firm, and when they 

 are in season or can be expected to be at their best. More information 

 on apple varieties can be found in Farmers' Bulletin 1883 (8) . 



The information in table 5 is needed for the intelligent buying and 

 handling of apples. Some of the varieties listed are good for both 

 eating out of hand and for sauce, pie, or other culinary purposes, but 

 others are best adapted to one or the other of these uses. Yellow 

 Transparent, for example, is too acid to be appreciated by most people 



Table 5. — Characteristics of principal commercial varieties of apples 



Variety 



Color 



Principal use 



Flesh 

 when 

 ripe 



Marketing season 



Yellow Transparent- . 



Yellow 



Striped- 

 Red 



...do 



Cooking . _ 



Soft... 



...do 



-_do 



...do 



Firm 



_-.do 



...do 



...do 



—do 



Hard 



Firm 



...do 



-_.do 



Hard 



...do 





Gravenstein 



Wealthy . 



Eating and cooking 



do 



do 



-—do-—" I""""I— 



Eating 



Cooking 



Eating and cooking 



Cooking 



Eating and cooking 



do 



Cooking 



Ealing and cooking 



do 



July to September. 



Mcintosh 



September to January. 

 Do. 





Yellow 



Red 



.do 







Delicious 



September to April. 



Rhode Island Greening. _ 



Golden Delicious 



York Imperial _. 



Green 



Yellow 



Red 



...do 



...do 



...do 



Green or 



vellow. 



Red 



October to March. 

 October to April . 

 October to March. 



Stayman Winesap 



Baldwin 



Rome Beauty 



Yellow Newtown 



Winesap 



November to April. 



Do. 

 November t o May. 

 January to June. 



Do. 







