VARIETIES OF APPLES. 



29 



riety, and these local names, varying in different localities, have added 

 to the confusion. The aim has been, so far as possible, to properly 

 identif}^ these varieties and to refer to them in the foUomng varietal 

 notes under the leading names which conform to the rules of nomen- 

 clature of the American Pomological Society. The more common 

 s}Tionyms are also given in itahcs. 



The varieties referred to in the pages wliich follow do not include 

 all that are gro^vQ in the regions in question, but it is not known that 

 any important ones are omitted. In some cases a variety has been 

 mentioned during the course of these investigations by only one 

 grower, and the information secured concerning it has been too mea- 

 ger to warrant any reference to it at this time. In other cases varie- 

 ties have been omitted because their identity was uncertain, and in 

 all this work the importance has been emphasized of knowing beyond, 

 reasonable doubt the correct identity of each variety under consider- 

 ation. If this point be not insisted upon, the merits or demerits of a 

 particular sort would frequently be ascribed to some other one, thus 

 making the deductions unreliable. Still others have not been men- 

 tioned because of their lack of importance and the limited space. In 

 this connection, however, it should be stated that it has not been pos- 

 sible to make personal examinations of many of the stone fruits or of 

 the early-ripening varieties of apples which are mentioned, because of 

 the fact that the later apples constitute the most important fruit crop 

 of these regions, and it has been found necessary to make the field 

 investigations with reference to the late apples rather than to the rela- 

 tively less important stone fruits and earl}' apples. Hence, in the ma- 

 jority of cases it has been necessary to depend almost entirely upon the 

 information and experience of the growers for the data relative to 

 these fruits. 



An effort has been made to study the different varieties under rep- 

 resentative conditions, but not aU conditions could be observed. It 

 must necessarily foUow that where a variety is being grown on a differ- 

 ent soil, at a different elevation, or even under some other method of 

 treatment than those observed, there is likely to be a corresponding 

 difference in behavior of the variety itself. Hence, the notes relating 

 to varieties may not in every case accord with the experience of all the 

 growers in these regions who are familiar with. them. 



APPLES. 



Apples are b}^ far the most important commercial fruit grown in the 

 Piedmont and Blue Ridge regions under consideration except in 

 northern Georgia, where peaches are relatively of greater importance. 

 The range of varieties is large, though the commercial sorts which are 

 extensively cultivated are relatively few in number. This territory, 



135 



