THE PROBLEM OF VARIETIES. 55 



seasons the general behavior is more favorable. For instance, field notes for the 

 season of 1906 frequently contain the comment "better this year than usual." Cer- 

 tain other exceptions have also been noted, but in most cases these are in orchards 

 which had received much better care and more thorough spraying than the average. 

 Doubtless, however, its behavior in the "average" orchard is a manifestation of the 

 inherent characteristics of the variety. 



In this connection it is of interest to note that south of the Boston Mountains, in 

 the valley of the Arkansas River, where the elevation is relatively low, and continuing 

 to the southern limits of the Ozark region the defects noted above become much less 

 marked. In fact, by some growers in this portion of the region, apparently not with- 

 out good reason, it is considered one of the best winter varieties they have. On the 

 eastern border of the Ozarks, in southern Missouri, where the elevation drops to about 

 1.000 feet and below, its behavior is similar to that south of the Boston Mountains, 

 where, in the immediate valley of the Arkansas River, the elevation is only about 500 

 feet. 



It has been repeatedly noted that the fruit of this variety grown at less than 1,000 

 feet elevation on the eastern border of the Ozarks. in southern Missouri, is strikingly 

 similar in its minute characteristics to typical specimens of this variety as it develops 

 in the Piedmont region of southern Viriginia at an elevation of about 1.000 feet, where 

 it attains a high degree of perfection. 



Furthermore, its behavior in southwestern Missouri and northwestern Arkansas, as 

 already described, is strikingly similar to its behavior in some of the mountain orchards 

 of Virginia, the elevation of which is considerably above that of the Piedmont region. 

 The similarity of behavior in these two regions is still further brought out in the way 

 it responds to high cultural conditions and thorough spraying. In certain Virginia 

 orchards which are located on sites considerably exceeding 1,000 feet in elevation, 

 where unproductiveness and extreme susceptibility to apple scab were formerly dom- 

 inant characteristics, it has been made of value by applying better cultural methods 

 and especially by proper attention to spraying. This has also been the experience 

 of some of the Ozark growers. 



A most interesting correlation of the Winesap apple in its behavior in the Ozark 

 region and in certain portions of the Piedmont and Blue Ridge regions in Virginia is 

 thus indicated. 1 



Summarizing the foregoing discussion, it may be stated that in that portion of the 

 Ozarks north of the Boston Mountains which has an elevation much exceeding 1,000 

 feet the Winesap apple in the average season may be expected to produce only light 

 crops of fruit, which is usually of low grade on account of scab, small size, and inferior 

 finish — except when thoroughly and properly sprayed and under high cultural condi- 

 tions. At 1,000 feet elevation and less in southern Missouri and south of the Boston 

 Mountains in Arkansas it appears to be a desirable variety and well adapted to the 

 conditions in those sections. While some of the elevations south of the Arkansas 

 River considerably exceed 1,000 feet, the unfavorable influence of the higher eleva- 

 tions is largely equalized by the more southern latitude of this section. 

 Yellow Bellflower. 



This variety is considerably grown throughout the older apple-producing sections 

 of the North as far west as Michigan, and it is a prominent sort at some points on the 

 Pacific coast, especially in California. It is also more or less widely distributed in 

 other regions, and assumes as much importance in the Ozarks, perhaps, as in any sec- 

 tion outside of those designated above. In the Ozark region it forms a secondary 

 variety in many orchards, especially in southern Missouri and in Arkansas north of the 



1 For a rather full discussion of the behavior of the Winesap apple in Virginia, see " Orchard Fruits in the 

 Piedmont and Blue Ridge Region of Virginia and the South Atlantic States," Bulletin 135, Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, 1908, p. 4.j. 



275 



