290 



Profitable Apples for Market. 



[JUNE, 



PROFITABLE APPLES FOR 

 MARKET. 



There is at the present time a heavy demand for fruit trees 

 for planting purposes, and this demand is Hkely to continue. 

 It is desirable that prospective fruit growers should be well 

 informed as to the profitableness or otherwise of the different 

 varieties available, so that they may place their orders early. 

 The Ministry's Leaflet No. 134, as recently re- written, is there- 

 fore here reproduced for the information of those interested. 

 It should be read in conjunction with Leaflets Nos. 283 (Picking 

 and Storing Apples and Pears) and 148 (Planning and Planting 

 a Fruit Plantation). 



Trade catalogues offer such a bewildering choice of varieties 

 that the prospective apple grower often finds it difficult to make 

 a satisfactory selection. The difficulty is increased by the 

 fact that the descriptions given, are usually confined to the good 

 points. The object of this article is to give an impartial des- 

 cription of both the good and bad quafities of the varieties of 

 apples commonly grown and generally to assist the grower in 

 choosing the varieties most suitable for the purpose he has in 

 view. 



Although the varieties selected for fresh planting should 

 be chosen mainly on the lines indicated below, the ultimate 

 effect of the produce of these plantations on the British apple- 

 growing industry as a whole should not be lost sight of. In 

 order that home supplies may be in a favourable position to 

 compete with imported produce it is most important to eliminate 

 the m.any varieties now grown which are not of first-rate 

 market importance, and to confine the selection to a few stan- 

 dard sorts, so that a considerable bulk of these varieties may be 

 produced at home annually. If standardisation of varieties on 

 these lines be combined with up-to-date methods of grading 

 and marketing, British produce, by reason of its lower cost of 

 production, must eventually replace a large proportion of that 

 imported. 



FACTORS INFLUENCING THE CHOICE OF VARIETIES. 



(i) Marketing. — Where the fruit is disposed of through the 

 wholesale markets, only five or six varieties at most should 

 be chosen ; on the other hand, the grower who sells his fruit 

 direct to retail shops, or who has a local connection to main- 

 tain, is obliged to make a wider selection, so that the supply 



