Vol. LV. No. 2397. 
NEW YORK, JANUARY 4, 1896. 
$1.00 PER YEAR. 
APPLES ON THE DELAWARE PENINSULA. 
WILL THEY I’AY AS WELL AS PEACHES, PEARS OR BERRIES? 
If Not—Why Not? 
Winter apples can be grown with profit upon this 
Peninsula when certain necessary conditions are rec¬ 
ognized, and such varieties selected as are particularly 
adapted to our moist, mild climate. Apples ripening 
here during September or early October, are of little 
value; but varieties that mature their fruit during 
the early part of October, can be grown with profit. 
Note that I make a difference between ripeness and 
maturity, as everything depends upon this point, 
when varieties are to be selected for their commercial 
value. The Stark, Nero, Langford, Stayman, York 
Imperial, and Paragon, are all apples of the 
latter class—prolific bearers, of high quality, 
and as they are all red apples, they are the 
proper color. These varieties when grown and 
marketed under proper management, are of as 
high quality and appearance, and are as profit¬ 
able as the favorite sorts, grown in the famed 
apple sections of the United States. Greenings, 
Newtown Pippins, Ben Davis, Baldwins, Kings 
and like sorts, grow to great perfection here, 
and can be held until January 1 with proper 
care. They should be hand-picked from the tree 
the last week in September, carefully packed in 
barrels, double-headed and stored in a cool place 
under cover, to remain until there is danger 
from frost, when they must either be buried or 
put in a cellar. 
Choice apples 
netted here this 
season, 50 to 70 
centsperbushel 
of 50 pounds. 
Referring to 
sales of strictly 
winter sorts for 
the past five 
years, I find 
that the lowest 
price realized 
was 40 cents per 
bushel in 1891, 
and the highest 
$1 per bushel 
in 1894, an aver¬ 
age of 70 cents, 
which, with an 
orchard 10 
years old,yield¬ 
ing at that age 
10 to 15 bushels 
per tree, will 
return over §200 
per acre. This 
certainly is 
more profitable 
than many of 
our products at the present time. Too little attention 
has been paid to methods of culture, and the manage¬ 
ment of orchards, in the past, to demonstrate the 
possibilities in this direction, and to give such promi¬ 
nence to this king of winter fruits as it deserves. 
The results attained by some of the pioneers in the 
business have awakened an interest in the subject of 
late years, and extensive plantings of choice winter 
varieties are being made. 
All apple trees must have thorough culture. A 
favorite method with me, and one that is proving very 
satisfactory, is to have the orchard seeded to Crimson 
clover to plow under every spring about May 1 to 
obtain the necessary nitrogen and organic matter ; a 
liberal application of South Carolina rock and muriate 
of potash is then made, and the orchard given in¬ 
quality and color. If any fault could be found with 
them, it was a little tendency toward a coarse grain 
in some of the varieties. 
Some Reasons for Success. 
I am most positively of the opinion that winter ap¬ 
ples will pay a handsome profit, and that the proper 
varieties could be made more profitable than peachesi 
Keiffer pears or berries. We have now learned that 
the varieties of apples that succeed in the North and 
West, are of little value here. We have also learned 
that we have some varieties that do succeed admirably 
here. The trees grow, remain healthy, are productive, 
and bear fruit that will keep until the market is ready 
for it at a good price. The soil is, in many parts, 
deep, well-drained, sufficiently heavy to insure 
strong, long-lived trees, and open enough to 
allow the tree roots to penetrate to a great 
depth in search of food and moisture. 
The varieties that ai*e known to be profitable 
are Grimes's Golden, Stayman, Paragon. York 
Imperial. Winesap, Langford and Rome Beauty. 
There are others, but these are ample. Prob¬ 
ably better ones than some of these, or, at least, 
others as good, will be discovered as further 
tests are made. Probably Jonathan will succeed 
here as a fall apple, and if so, it will pay largely. 
Grimes’s Golden is rather early for us, and is 
inclined to fall from the tree too soon; but 
thorough and repeated sprayings with the Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture, will, in a measure, prevent this 
trouble. Spray¬ 
ing is an abso¬ 
lute necessity 
here ; it pre¬ 
vents the at¬ 
tacks of the 
scab fungus, 
saves the foli¬ 
age until late 
autumn, and 
makes the 
fruit one-third 
larger. The 
Stayman has 
been well test¬ 
ed ; it is a beau¬ 
tiful apple; the 
tree is strong, 
spreading; not 
drooping like 
its parent, the 
Winesap. The 
quality of the 
fruit will come 
very near to 
being cranked 
as best, and is 
in eating condi¬ 
tion almost 
from December 
1 until April. The York Imperial grows as fine and 
handsome in appearance in Delaware as in any place 
where I have seen it. No other samples at the 
Columbian Exposition in 1893, surpassed some I have 
seen in Delaware this year, or that have, in years 
past, been exhibited at the Cecil County (Md.) Fair. 
With the varieties named; with soil rich in plant 
food to a great depth, and easily tilled ; nearness to 
great home markets, and to the ports from which 
fruit is shipped abroad; we can compete with the 
world in the production of fine, long-keeping winter 
apples. There is soil in Delaware and the “Eastern 
Shore,” that is not adapted to apple culture ; but we 
have an abundance that is. Apple growing will pay 
because a well-grown, well-tilled, well-manured, well- 
sprayed apple orchard, will produce annually large 
tense culture until August, when it is again seeded to 
Crimson clover. This season I have seeded to Crimson 
clover and winter oats, and believe that I shall like 
the combination, as I have now a heavy growth of 
both that is delightful to behold. This treatment, 
with judicious pruning, thinning the fruit when the 
quantity set is excessive, with persistent spraying, 
will result in bountiful crops of perfect apples of 
high quality. 
I am satisfied that growing winter apples here is 
more profitable than growing peaches ; at least, so 
long as the fearful ravages of the yellows remain un¬ 
checked. Keiffer pears and strawberries, I think, 
have been the most profitable crops grown on the 
Peninsula for some years. The growing of winter 
LANGFORD 
A FINE TRIO OF 
mm 
* 
NERO. STARK. 
APPLES FOR TIIE DELAWARE PENINSULA. 
apples for commercial purposes, would not interfere 
in any way with these crops, but would add another 
important industry to the varied products for which 
this genial soil and equitable climate are so well 
adapted. 
I send specimens of apples grown here, among 
which are those mentioned as the most profitable 
winter varieties. The Maiden’s Favorite and Lily of 
Kent should really have a place upon this list, but 
were left off because they are white apples. I think 
that Stark, Stayman, Nero and Langford, would prove 
valuable for export trade ; as yet they have not been 
grown in sufficient quantities to attract exporters. 
Kent County, Del. A. n. brown. 
R. N.-Y.—The specimens reached us in good con¬ 
dition, and were all that need be asked in flavor, 
