APPLES 69 
that this orchard has i1eceived little or 
no cultivation, and has not been piuned 
or sprayed, neveitheless, aS shown in 
the figure (3) the tiees are in vigorous 
health, in full bearing, and the quality 
of the fruit is good This orchard was 
in bearing before the days of railroads 
in the state of Washington This seems 
to establish the fact that trees in this 
Inland Empire will grow to be old and 
bear profitably. 
Quality of the Fruit 
I do not Know the variety of the fruit, 
but the agent of the Oregon-Washington 
Railroad & Navigation Company, Mr. 
Kamm, who visited the place and brought 
home some of the fruit, says that it 1s 
of fine quality, and believes that if it 
had been properly picked and packed it 
would have contested successfully for the 
premium at the Washington State Fair. 
The lesson we learn is that if we sup- 
ply our soil with water and with humus 
and then give the orchards anything like 
proper care in the destruction of insect 
pests, there will be a profitable income 
covering a long period of time. 
One of the notable landmarks of the 
early pioneer days in the John Day val- 
ley, Oregon, is the Rhinehart orchard, 
now more than a half century old. One 
of the remarkable things about this apple 
orchard is that, notwithstanding it has 
neither been cultivated nor pruned, nor 
in any way cared for beyond what kindly 
nature has done for it during the past 
40 or more years, it is still in compar- 
atively good bearing condition and annu- 
ally yields a valuable crop of marketable 
apples of such varieties as the Spitzen- 
burg and Newtown. 
It is the largest orchard in the valley, 
comprising some 40 acres. During all the 
years of its half century of existence 
such a thing as a wormy apple has never 
been found on its trees. 
GRANVILLE LOWTHER 
APPLE ZONES 
The temperate zone is the native home 
of the apple. All around the world it 
finds its best general temperature for 
growth in this zone. In the temperate 
zone it inclines to the north and finds 
there rather than in the south its best or 
optimum condition of growth In the 
south temperate zone the apple deports 
itself much the same as in the north 
temperate zone and inclines to the cooler 
south rather than towards the tropical 
boundary As an evidence of the hardi- 
ness of the apple tiee and its love for a 
cool climate it may be unknown to many 
that most magnificent apples are grown 
in Canada, away north of the Great Lakes, 
on the forty-sixth parallel, north lati- 
tude In this region the lakes and rivers 
are icebound for several months of the 
year, the ground in winter 1s covered 
with three or four feet of snow and the 
thermometer 1s sometimes 30 degrees be- 
low zero In that region the apple is 
nearing the northern limit of its growth. 
Considering these extremes of tempera- 
ture, one would begin to wonder how 
North Carolina, with its mild climate, 
could raise apples at all It does show, 
however, why apple growing is so com- 
monly unsuccessful in the cotton belt. 
Being a cool-loving plant, the apple tree 
finds in the cotton belt its extreme south- 
ern limit of endurance. The pecan tree, 
on the other hand, being a southern 
neighbor of the cotton plant, will grow 
and thrive well in the area of cotton 
production. About one-third of the area 
of North Carolina is in the cotton belt, 
one-third rolling piedmont and one-third 
high and mountainous. It is in this 
mountainous region of the state, where 
altitude guarantees a cool climate, that 
the apple grows and thrives. * * * 
Plants, like animals, have their prefer- 
ences and also their means of showing 
them. The environmental likes and dis- 
likes of plants are easily seen When 
they are at home and comfortable in their 
surroundings they give evidence of their 
satisfaction in increased growth and pro- 
duction and in the highest quality of 
fruit. When they are not comfortable 
they show a puny growth, scarcity of 
foliage, susceptibility to the attacks of 
insects and diseases, lack of fruit and 
lessened longevity. 
It is interesting to note the instinctive 
desires of the apple tree and what con- 
formity it shows to local conditions. In 
