March 8 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
l 62 
as lungs are to our bodies.. The second is that this 
class of men are merchants; they do not produce milk 
at a cost of three cents per quart and sell at 2% cents. 
Neither do they grow apples for the pleasure of seeing 
them rot under the trees. They cause their lands to 
produce what may be considered enormous crops, then 
dispose of them at a profit, which is not shared or 
given to the middleman. There is an active demand 
for good vegetables of all varieties; that demand is 
constantly increasing. To meet it and make the grow¬ 
ing profitable the vegetable growers must awake from 
their slumbers; they must produce vegetables of a 
better quality, and get them to market in an attrac¬ 
tive shape. Quality can only be secured by intensive 
cultivation. Any vegetable grown quickly is tender 
and delicious, while one that takes all Summer to 
grow is tough and tasteless. To secure such, frequent 
plantings are necessary. Radishes are only at their 
best for a day or two, particularly in midsummer, 
beets but a week or two; the same is true of sweet 
corn, peas and beans. To grow vegetables quickly 
the soil must be prepared as directed, manure must be 
liberally supplied, and in a condition that will excite 
or encourage plant growth rather than plant disease. 
It will not do to apply it in lumps or masses; on the 
contrary, it must be so thoroughly incorporated in 
the soil as seemingly to be a component part The 
plant delights to send its roots far and wide for its 
food, at the same time getting its strength from min¬ 
eral agents in a way it has said but very little about. 
In fact, the plant has innumerable cunning devices 
that we know but little about; one thing, however, is 
certain, it loves best to grow for those who love it. 
Our best gardeners employ both manure and ferti¬ 
lizers to advantage. Those who depend wholly upon 
the market use both in equal proportions, so far as 
money value goes. Those near Greater New York use 
$50 worth per acre. But let me be understood, the $50 
worth of stable manure does not cost more than half 
that amount; it only costs the cartage, as they can get 
free of other cost all they require, but what they use 
per acre has a market value of $50. chas. l. allen. 
THE SMALL APPLE PACKAGE. 
SELLING PROBLEMS.—What shall we do with our 
apples? This question was not asked by eastern fruit 
growers during the past season, but it is not neces¬ 
sary to look back far to see farmers hauling fine Spies 
or Baldwins four miles to market for 50 cents a bar¬ 
rel, which comes quite near to paying for the privi¬ 
lege of working. Such seasons of surplus are rare, 
yet the problem of how best to dispose of a large crop 
is often a difficult one. We may raise too many per¬ 
ishables, like peaches, pears, plums, grapes or small 
fruits, but the danger limit is far away for the pro¬ 
duction of that many-purpose, all-the-year fruit, the 
apple. In New York City, for instance, in flats and 
apartment houses, are hundreds of families who use 
but few apples. They scarcely know that there are 
such fruits as fine-grained Northern Spies, good and 
reliable, but slightly coarser Baldwins, and Bellflowers 
and Spitzenburgs which, when baked or stewed, need 
no lemon or orange-peel trimmings. Here is a pos¬ 
sible additional market for thousands of bushels of 
apples, right within arm’s length of eastern fruit 
growers. 
SMALLER PACKAGE NEEDED—The barrel is an 
excellent package, strong and easily handled, but it is 
too large for the city retail trade. Most city houses 
have no suitable place for storing this quantity of 
fruit. Many flats are so thoroughly occupied that 
were a barrel to appear at the door and insist on com¬ 
ing in (Fig. 62) the cat and child would have to run 
for the fire escape. The box could be easily stored 
and would be welcomed as in Fig. 61. Grocers and 
peddlers sell apples in the residence districts. The 
peddler’s stock is usually a lot of culls, handled over 
and bruised until nearly worn out. The grocer buys 
medium-grade barreled apples and sells them in lots 
of two to four quarts, mixing in plenty of culls. With 
practically nothing but such wretched specimens of 
the apple tribe within reach, it is not strange that 
these people use few apples. What is required is a 
package small enough for the average city family to 
use before becoming stale. There is no better place 
to do this packing than where the fruit is grown or 
at the point of shipment. The less apples are handled 
the better they are. If packed on the farm where 
picked, and properly stored, there would be no need 
of any extra handling, and the consumer might 
actually get fruit with the bloom on, just as it came 
from the tree. Where this plan has been tried in a 
small way good results are reported. There is no 
doubt that when fruit growers get ready to put up 
their best apples uniformly and properly they will 
have no trouble in making connection with dealers 
in the city who will carefully carry out their end of 
the plan. Here is what Charles Forster, a New York 
apple man of wide experience in foreign and domestic 
trade, says: 
“For the higher grades of apples the box is the 
coming package. I believe no one will make a mis¬ 
take by packing his best apples in this way. Our 
Spitzenburgs are selling as high as $3 to $3.50 per 
box. The relative value in barrels is about the same, 
but at these prices one would buy a box where he 
would not take a larger quantity, two-thirds of which 
might spoil before they could be used.” 
A TYPICAL BOX.—At Fig. 60 is shown a box 
which represents the thought and experience of apple 
shippers on the Pacific coast. Every part of it ap¬ 
pears to have been carefully studied, and it certainly 
answers the purpose well. The inside dimensions are 
20%xllx9% inches. This make a cubic content of 
a trifle over an even bushel, and about six quarts 
less than a heaping bushel. The ends are three- 
fourths-inch material, and all four sides are one- 
fourth-inch hard pine. There is no partition, as in 
the orange box. The apples may be put in tightly, 
and the thin springy sides hold them without bruis¬ 
ing. The box is put together with 32 rough wire 
nails 1%-inch long. The chief advantages of this 
package are: Convenient size; strength, given by the 
solid ends and secure nailing; and springy sides, per¬ 
mitting the apples to be crowded in slightly, and hold¬ 
ing them firmly without bruising. Eastern fruit-grow¬ 
ers’ associations are becoming numerous and strong. 
This undeveloped city trade may be theirs if they will 
establish uniform, convenient packages, put on labels 
that shall become guarantees of quality, and work 
systematically to get the goods introduced. This 
trade will never be worked up by those who take 
a back seat and merely think about it. Get the fruit 
to the consumer’s door, let him see what it is, and 
he will be glad to invite the boxed apple in and hand 
over his cash for it, for even at these extreme prices 
fancy boxed apples are no higher proportionately than 
many other food stuffs which he buys. w. w. h. 
SHALL WE PLANT EASTERN ORCHARDS ? 
Part Played by Cold Storage. 
We hear of the large orchards being set in western 
States. When these trees come into bearing, will 
there not be a surplus of fruit put on the markets, 
and the price received be so small as to leave no 
profit either for the eastern or western man, par¬ 
ticularly of the late Winter varieties? I have long 
been of the opinion that at least a third of every or¬ 
chard in the East should be Fall varieties. Most or¬ 
chards coming into bearing have discarded these, 
hence a lack. The. difficulty has been that when a 
quantity of this fruit came into the market in compe¬ 
tition with peaches, pears and plums, being perish¬ 
able, it had to be sold for a low price or be lost Now 
the cold storage house steps in, and holds this stock 
in perfect condition for a few weeks, when it is al¬ 
ways wanted if the quality is good. I believe that 
there is no fruit that will pay better in cold storage 
than good Fall apples. I have never seen a Fall that 
after the glut of fruit in September was passed, and 
before early Winter varieties came in market in No¬ 
vember and December, this kind of stock did not 
command a premium. 
For a period of 15 years I have received at least 
as much for my Red Astrachan, Maiden’s Blush, Wine, 
Fall Pippin, Williams Favorite, and Gravenstein as 
the best Winter sorts. To this list may be added 
Duchess of Oldenburg and Wealthy. I do not, how¬ 
ever, recommend Gravenstein and Williams Favor¬ 
ite as profitable commercial apples, because of their 
tendency to drop prematurely. There are other ad¬ 
vantages in Fall varieties. The season for spraying 
and gathering is lengthened. They are ready for the 
spray some days before the late kinds, an important 
point when the orchard is large or the weather un¬ 
favorable. If the help can have six weeks in which 
to handle the fruit, instead of two, the gain is ob¬ 
vious. This question was considered a serious one 
35 or 40 years ago by the growers in the Hudson and 
Schoharie valleys, when the western New York or¬ 
chards were first put out. Yet men in both eastern 
and western New York, who are growing apples ac¬ 
cording to the law of apples, are receiving a greater 
income from their orchards now than was ever 
dreamed of 40 years ago. New markets and increased 
demands in old ones have multiplied faster than has 
the fruit, great as this has been. Will this state of 
things continue with the British markets practically 
supplied by our present output? I do not believe 
these markets can be expected to take any more of 
our crop than at present. Doubtless Hamburg and 
other Continental ports will in the next decade take 
many more barrels of our surplus than at present, 
and a trade may possibly develop in the Far East. 
Yet from none of these do I look for the greatest out¬ 
let, but to the markets of our own country. People 
are learning the value of this fruit, and in our towns 
and cities hundreds of barrels are consumed every 
year, where not 10 were eaten 15 or less years ago. 
They have become a necessity, instead of a luxury. 
One needs no better evidence of this than to go into 
any large city, as I have this Winter, and see people 
of very moderate means, paying from 60 to 80 cents 
a peck for them, and often fruit of poor quality. This 
demand will increase, because the American, particu¬ 
larly of the wage-earning class, is going to live better 
and better, and on a greater variety of food. 
One of the most valuable factors in this problem is 
the cold storage system, already referred to. This 
affords an opportunity to relieve congested markets, 
and to distribute the fruit over a much longer period 
and wider territory. Surplus apples put in cold stor¬ 
age in the Fall of 1900 by the New York State Com¬ 
mission for the Pan-American Exposition were sold 
last October (1901) in first-class condition, and for at 
least a third more than they would have brought the 
year before. Last June, apples that had come out of 
cold storage were shipped in refrigerator cars to 
southern Texas, and arrived in perfect condition. It 
can be readily seen what this means. I would not for 
a moment seem to imply that the grower should ex¬ 
pect to receive the present year’s high prices, or any¬ 
thing like them steadily. We have to, and can, grow 
apples at a profit that sell for $1 a barrel. There 
will be many years when conditions are generally 
favorable, that this price will prevail; and possibly 
occasional years, like 1896, when the crop will be ton 
large for profit. Yet, in view of the conditions cited, 
I believe they will be so rare as to cut but little figure. 
In spite of all these favorable signs of increased 
distribution and consumption, I still think there 
would be danger of overproduction, if it were not 
for the difficulties in growing the crop. Not only in 
the West is there a large acreage, but in the Middle 
South and Southwest there is a large territory where 
good apples can be and are grown. I have last Sum¬ 
mer seen apples of the finest quality as well as ap¬ 
pearance, grown in New Mexico. There seems to be 
little doubt that while the western orchards mature 
rapidly, they bid fair to be short-lived; subjected as 
they are to strong winds and great extremes of cli¬ 
mate. For the most part, our Winter varieties be¬ 
come Fall apples when grown in the South. Every¬ 
where, East, West and South alike, we have the insect 
enemies and fungus diseases, like the poor, always 
with us, and decidedly on the increase. We are de¬ 
stroying the balance of nature, cutting down the 
forests on the one hand, and thus destroying the 
natural food of many insects, as well as perfecting 
conditions for fungus troubles; planting orchards, 
on the other hand, where the insects can feed and 
multiply much more rapidly, often without the para¬ 
site that held them in check in their native state, in 
addition to which, as our commerce increases with 
all the earth, we shall be importing new pests. The 
San Jos6 scale is a striking example of this, the most 
serious menace to the fruit grower that to-day exists 
These, taken together with an impoverished soil, 
mean difficulties enough to discourage any but the 
most stout-hearted. Thousands of trees set in the 
past five years never will bear an apple. It is m 
these things, nevertheless, that I find the most en¬ 
couragement. The ordinary grower will (if his trees 
live to bear) simply have a crop when all natural 
conditions are favorable (and, as implied above, this 
will occur but rarely), and receive a correspondingly 
low price. This the careful man will have against 
him. The remainder of the time, by the use of in¬ 
telligent methods to build up his soil, combat these 
pests and improve the quality of his product, he win 
so control conditions that he will have paying crop- 
in spite of the difficulties. These are the men, ana 
the only ones who can afford to set apple trees to-day. 
EDWARD VAN ALSTYNE. 
