1416 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OP PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



by Mr. Prince is based upon a misappre- 

 hension of the facts, Mr. Yates' state- 

 ments are of interest because they tend 

 to show that prior to the Revolutionary 

 war the planting of grafted trees from 

 the nursery was not common in the 

 vicinity of Albany, one of the oldest set- 

 tlements in the state. Taylor says: 'Cer- 

 tain it is that in 1647 the apple is rec- 

 orded as grafted on the wild stocks in 

 Virginia. Grafting was also practiced in 

 New England at an earlier date than 

 that recorded by Mr. Prince.' 



Commercial Orchards 



"The development of domestic and 

 foreign commerce in apples and apple 

 products such as dried apples, cider, ap- 

 ple brandy and vinegar, naturally first 

 assumed importance in New York in the 

 vicinity of New York city because this 

 was the metropolis and seaport. Speak- 

 ing of the beginning of the foreign trade 

 in this country in fruits, Taylor remarks: 

 Trade in this fruit with the West Indies 

 probably developed early in the eigh- 

 teenth century, though we have no rec- 

 ord of shipments till 1741, when it is 

 stated apples were exported from New 

 England to the West Indies in consid- 

 erable abundance. No transatlantic ship- 

 ment has been disclosed earlier than that 

 of a package of Newtown Pippins of the 

 crop of 1758 sent to Benjamin Franklin 

 while in London. The sight and taste 

 of these brought to John Bartram, of 

 Philadelphia, an order for grafts of the 

 variety from Franklin's friend Collison, 

 who said of the fruit he ate: "What 

 comes from you are delicious fruit — if 

 our sun will ripen them to such perfec- 

 tion." Subsequently a considerable trade 

 must have resulted, for in 1773 it was 

 stated by the younger Collison that while 

 the English apple crop had failed that 

 year, American apples had been found 

 an admirable substitute, some of the 

 merchants having imported great quan- 

 tities of them.' 



"Statistics are lacking until 1821, when 

 the total export of fruit under the treas- 

 ury statement consisted of 68,443 bushels 

 of apples valued at $39,660. 



"It was not until after the first quar- 



ter of the nineteenth century had passed 

 that commercial apple culture began to 

 be developed in New York to any consid- 

 erable extent above the southern part of 

 the Hudson valley. 



"As transportation facilities gradually 

 improved by the opening of canals and 

 railways the farmers in many interior 

 localities found that they could send their 

 fruit to other than local markets and 

 receive profitable returns. Accordingly 

 commercial orcharding began to attract 

 attention, especially in the regions which 

 were found to be naturally favorable for 

 the production of good apples. From 

 1850 to 1860 the number of commercial 

 orchards which were planted increased 

 rapidly, particularly in Western New 

 York, and continued to increase there- 

 after till commercial apple orcharding 

 assumed the important place which it 

 now holds in the horticultural interests 

 of the state. 



"With the development of commercial 

 apple interests the losses from the dep- 

 redations of codling moth and other in- 

 sects, also from apple scab and other 

 fungous diseases, became relatively more 

 important. Commonly the causes of the 

 losses which were sustained were not 

 very well understood and in those cases 

 that were understood there appeared no 

 practical remedy. Because of these and 

 other difficulties which faced them some 

 orchardists became so discouraged at the 

 outlook that in a decade from 1880 to 

 1890 they began to cut down their com- 

 mercial apple orchards. The practical 

 use in the orchard of Paris green and 

 other arsenical poisons against the cod- 

 ling moth, the canker worm and other 

 leaf -eating insects, originated in most part 

 in Western New York in the decade from 

 1870 to 1880. (See Lodeman, ^Spraying 

 of Plants,' 61-62.) The use of fungicidal 

 sprays was introduced in the decade be- 

 tween 3885-1895. The demonstration that 

 by combined treatment with fungicides 

 and insecticides, some of the most de- 

 structive enemies of the apple might be 

 profitably kept under control put the busi- 

 ness of growing apples upon a more 

 stable basis than before. In the decade 



