66 



The Apples of New York. 



from scab it may be held as long as Rhode Island Greening (48). 

 In the Champlain district and in portions of the St. Lawrence val- 

 ley it is one of the most important varieties found in commercial 

 orchards. Generally speaking, it grows to a higher degree of per- 

 fection in those districts than it does in other apple-growing regions 

 of Xew York. In the more southern sections of the state it appears 

 to succeed best in the high elevations and on light well drained 

 soil with clay subsoil. The tree is of medium size, a moderate 

 grower, hardy, healthy, rather long-lived, and a reliable cropper 

 yielding good to heavy crops biennially or sometimes nearlv annu- 

 ally. The fruit hangs pretty well to the tree. Fruit of marketable 

 grades is fairly uniform in size, but there is a considerable amount 

 of it that is too small for market. In those portions of Xew York 

 south of Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence valley the fruit 

 does not usually develop its best color, and in some seasons, and 

 particularly in unfavorable localities, it is so poorly colored as to 

 be quite unsatisfactory. In such locations it is better for the fruit 

 grower to plant ]\IcIntosh instead of Fameuse if he desires to 

 grow a variety of the Fameuse group. 



Historical Wangh (44) gives the following historical account of the 

 Fameuse. " The history of Fameuse is obscure, probably beyond clearing 

 up satisfactorily, but extremely interesting as far as we know or can guess 

 at it. The turning point of speculation for ye^rs has been as to whether 

 the variety is of American or European origin. One of the most interesting 

 contributions to this discussion was made by I\Ir. Chauncey Goodrich. (16) 

 of Burlington, Vt., in 1851. We quote the following extracts from this 

 article : 



' It is here one of the most common as well as oldest varieties : hundreds 

 of barrels are sold in a single season in this tOAvn alone. . . . All Ameri- 

 can writers call it a Canadian apple : of this I think there is no proof. One 

 hundred and twenty years since, the French planted this variety on the 

 eastern shore of Lake Champlain. opposite Fort Frederick on Crown Point, 

 at a place called ' Chimney Point " — more than fifty years before any other 

 permanent settlement. From these old trees cions have been scattered 

 through Vermont, and called the Chmmey apple. A very intelligent and 

 highh^ educated French seigneur residing on an old seignory eight}* miles 

 below Quebec informed me that this was one of the first varieties of apples 

 planted on the place ; that the trees were very old and were brought from 

 France. The early French settlers planted the same A"ariety at Ogdensburg, 

 Detroit, and other places on Lakes Erie and Ontario, where it is still known 

 as the ' Snow Apple ' ; also at Kaskaskia, Illinois, more than one hundred 



