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II 
History of Commercial Apple Growing 
The apple industry in the United States has re¬ 
sponded to rather definite cycles* Periods of heavy 
planting and high prices have alternatea with periods 
of less extensive plantings and low prices* Commer¬ 
cial apple growing dates back to about 1350. It was 
about this time that two brothers, A. J. Downing and 
Charles Downing, were devoting much of their time to 
the development of the apple industry in the Hudson 
Valley* The former in 1845 published one of the 
first treatises on apples entitled "Fruits and Fruit 
Trees of America" which served as a reliable guide on 
apple growing fa* many years* 
Another early leader in the apple industry was 
Patrick Barry, part owner of the Mt. Hope Nurseries 
at Rochester, New York, founded in 1840. Mr. Barry 
was a pioneer in the commercial development in West 1 -* 
ern New York, a region which long has held first 
place in the commercial apple industry in the United 
S t at es • 
Another region which has held an interesting as 
well as an important place in the history of apple 
growing is the Piedmont or Albemarle Pippin Region 
at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia* 
It was the Albemarle Pippins which Arthur Stevenson 
