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f  N  e  w  Apples 
AULTS  IN  OLD  VARIETIES.— Nothing  is 
more  certain  than  that  Northeastern  Amer¬ 
ica  needs  new  commercial  apples.  All  of  the 
varieties  now  largely  grown  fall  short  in 
one  respect  or  another,  and  all  can  be  bet¬ 
ter  characterized  by  their  faults  than  by 
their  good  characters.  Changes  in  methods  of  hand¬ 
ling  apples  for  the  markets  also  make  necessary 
new  varieties.  Thus,  before  we  had  cold  storage. 
Roxbury  Russet,  Ben  Davis.  Cano,  Mann,  Stark, 
and  even  the  Baldwin  had  their  greatest  value  be¬ 
cause  of  keeping  well  in  common  storage.  Now 
sorts  of  better  quality  can  be  kept  in  cold  storage, 
and  the  need, for  these  long-keeping  sorts  of  poor  or 
mediocre  quality  is  not  at  all  pressing. 
LOBULAR  DEMANDS.— It  is  a  little  unfortunate 
that  consumers  have  learned  to  prefer  red  apples  to 
green  and  russet  sorts.  The  best  green  apples,  as 
(Ireen  Newtown.  Crimes 
Northeastern  America  to  test  out  all  the  promising 
new  sorts  and  to  try  to  breed  apples  that  do  not 
have  the  shortcomings  of  the  varieties  we  are  now 
growing. 
WORKING  FOR  IMPROVEMENT.— For  30  years 
the  Geneva  Station  has  been  growing  crosses  with 
the  hope  of  bringing  into  existence  varieties  that 
would  fulfill  better  the  needs  of  the  fruit  growers 
in  New  York.  Fifteen  new  sorts  have  been  sent  out 
as  worthy  of  trying  in  different  parts  of  the  State. 
Two  of  these,  Cortland  and  Tioga,  promise  very 
well,  indeed.  Several  others  seem  to  meet  local  de¬ 
mands  or  some  specific  purpose  very  well,  but  are 
not  quite  good  enough  for  general  culture.  Perhaps 
the  most  important  outcome  of  this  effort  in  breed¬ 
ing  apples  is  the  knowledge  gained  as  to  sorts  that 
make  best  parents.  We  have  learned  very  def¬ 
initely  that  some  of  the  best  kinds  of  commercial 
iiPIIS 
mmmmm 
...  .  - 
•  • 
Golden.  Fall  Pippin. 
Rhode  Island  Greening, 
and  all  of  the  russet  ap¬ 
ples  have  flavors  and 
aromas  and  tender,  re¬ 
freshing  flesh,  quite  dif¬ 
ferent  from  these  qual¬ 
ities  in  red  apples.  Be¬ 
sides.  we  need  green 
russet  sorts  to  give  va¬ 
riety  in  the  list  of.ap- 
pies.  Unfortuna  tely. 
too,  there  seems  to  be 
now  small  place  for 
sweet  apples,  some  of 
which  are  unsurpassed 
for  bjiking  and  cooking, 
and  which  supply  des¬ 
sert  apples  to  man.' 
who  for  one  reason  or 
another  cannot  eat  out 
of  hand  acid  or  even 
sub-acid  apples.  Thai 
fruit  growers  recognize 
the  necessity  of  new  va¬ 
rieties  is  evident  by  tin- 
great  demand  for  new 
kinds  which  seem  in 
one  way  or  another  to 
meet  new  conditions 
that  have  arisen  in  the 
apple  market.  Thus, 
the  interest  in  Delic¬ 
ious.  Golden  Delicious 
and  in  Cortland  is  prob¬ 
ably  unprecedented  in 
the  culture  of  any  fruit 
in  this  country.  Ex¬ 
periment  station  and 
agricultu ral  col  lege 
workers  come  to  know 
better  than  those  in  the 
industries  of  growing 
and  handling  fruit  that 
there  is  great  dissatis¬ 
faction  with  present  va¬ 
rieties.  There  never 
has  been  a  time  when 
college  and  station  hor¬ 
ticulturists  have  been 
so  pressed  for  information  about  new  varieties  of 
apples  as  now.  Those  who  have  orchards  are  dis¬ 
satisfied  with  the  sorts  they  have,  and  those  who 
are  about  to  plant  are  uncertain  as  to  what  to  plant. 
This  dissatisfaction  and  uncertainty  is  a  good  sign 
for  apple  growing,  but  has  its  bad  side  as  well. 
Thus,  without  question,  apple  growers  are  setting 
out  sorts  which  have  small  prospects  of  ever  becom¬ 
ing  valuable  commercial  kinds. 
DEFECTIVE  CHARACTERS.— Varieties  now 
being  grown  not  only  fail  in  fruit  characters,  but 
possibly  even  more  so  in  tree  characters.  The  ex¬ 
tremely  cold  Winters  of  a  few  years  ago  demonstrat¬ 
ed  that  many  of  the  standard  sorts  are  too  tender 
to  cold  to  be  profitably  grown  in  Northeastern  Amer¬ 
ica.  Baldwin,  Northern  Spy,  Rhode  Island  Green¬ 
ing.  Rome  Beauty  and  Ben  Davis  all  suffered  ter¬ 
ribly  in  these  cold  Winters.  Some  of  these  sorts,  as 
Baldwin,  are  biennial  in  bearing.  Northern  Spy 
comes  in  bearing  so  late  that  it  is  unprofitable. 
Rome  Beauty  is  short  lived,  and  the  trees  grow 
poorly  in  the  nursery  and  in  the  orchard  for  the 
first  few  years  of  their  existence.  It  is  an  impera¬ 
tive  duty  of  workers  in  experiment  stations  in 
* 
An  Karin  Start  for  the  A  mile  CortstonerH'  League.  Fig.  100 
apples,  as  Baldwin,  Northern  Spy  and  Rhode  Island 
Greening,  give  almost  no  offspring  that  are  worth 
while.  Other  kinds,  as  McIntosh,  Delicious  and 
Deacon  Jones,  almost  invariably  give  interesting 
progeny  from  which  prospects  are  good  for  selecting 
improved  varieties.  Just  now  the  station  is  particu¬ 
larly  interested  in  crosses  of  McIntosh.  The  offspring 
of  McIntosh  almost  invariably  show  the  good  char¬ 
acters  in  fruit  and  tree  of  the  parent.  Most  of  these, 
of  course,  are  not  so  good  as  McIntosh,  but  now  and 
then  the  progeny  contain  some  characters  that  are 
better  than  the  same  characters  in  McIntosh.  It  is 
fortunate  that  this  variety  does  breed  true,  for  the 
McIntosh  type  of  apples  promise  most  for  the  apple 
industry  in  this  part  of  the  United  States.  Let  us 
consider  the  good  qualities  of  this  type  of  apple. 
VIRTUES  OF  McTNTOSII. — The  tree  is  perfectly 
hardy  in  any  of  the  apple  regions  of  New  York  and 
New  England.  The  young  plants  grow  well  in  the 
nursery  and  make  splendid  trees  in  every  respect 
in  the  orchard.  Thus,  the  trees  are  large,  vigorous, 
healthy,  except  in  susceptibility  to  scab,  bear  the 
crop  well  distributed,  and  the  wood  is  so  hard  that 
the  branches  seldom  break  under  a  heavy  load,  or 
under  the  weight  of  sleet  or  snow.  All  will  agree 
that  the  fruits  are  unsurpassed.  The  quality  is  de¬ 
licious:  the  flesh  is  tender,  juicy,  beautiful  in  color 
and  has  a  most  pleasant  aroma.  Few  who  know 
good  apples  tire  of  McIntosh  as  most  do  with  other 
varieties.  Apple  eaters  eat  McIntosh  and  their  kind 
throughout  the  whole  season:  moreover,  and  very 
important,  one  may  eat  several  McIntosh  at  a  sit¬ 
ting  without  feeling  that  he  has  eaten  too  much, 
whereas  one  or  two  apples  are  quite  sufficient  of 
the  Spitzenburg,  Delicious,  Spy  or  Baldwin,  as  the 
appetite  cloys  long  before  it  would  in  eating  the 
lighter  textured  and  more  refreshing  McIntosh.  In 
New  York  and  New  England  apples  of  the  McIntosh 
type  can  be  grown  better  than  in  any  other  part  of 
the  United  States.  Competition  in  growing  these 
apples  caii  come  only  from  Canada. 
STRETCHING  THE  SEASON.— It  develops  that 
McIntosh  can  be  kept 
long  and  well  in  cold 
storage,  but  even  so,  we 
need  sorts  of  this  type 
of  later  season.  Cort¬ 
land.  an  offspring  of 
•  McIntosh,  stretches  the 
season  of  the  parent 
for  a  few  weeks  or  a 
month.  Another  seed¬ 
ling  which  the  Geneva 
Station  will  probably 
send  out  next  year 
stretches  the  season  of 
the  Cortland  a  few 
weeks  or  a  month.  To 
supply  an  early  McIn¬ 
tosh  the  station  has  a 
seedling  to  be  distri¬ 
buted  next  year,  the 
fruits  of  which  are  very 
like  those  of  the  parent, 
which  ripens  in  August, 
giving  a  beautiful,  red, 
late  Summer  or  early 
Fall  app  e.  It  is  the 
hope  that  from  a  con¬ 
siderable  number  of 
seedlings  which  have 
not  yet  fruited,  other 
new  varieties  of  the 
McIntosh  type  will  de¬ 
velop  which  will  fulfill 
the  demand  for  apples 
of  this  type  fi-om  the 
beginning  to  the  end  of 
the  apple  season.  . 
GREEN  SORTS.  — 
While  undoubtedly  the 
demand  for  red  apples 
will  continue,  to  toe 
much  greater  than  for 
green  apples,  yet  these 
green  sorts  ought  not  to 
disappear  from  our  ap¬ 
ple  list.  Tioga  is  being 
sent  out  from  the  sta¬ 
tion  as  a  very  late 
green  apple,  but  it  falls 
short  in  that  the  trees 
come  in  bearing  late 
and  the  flavor  is  possibly  a  little  too  tart  for  most 
palates.  It  is,  however,  worthy  of  trying  in  the 
apple  districts  of  Eastern  America.  Golden  Delicious 
is  eminently  worth  trying  in  all  the  apple  regions 
of  Eastern  America.  On  our  grounds  the  apples 
run  a  little  small  and  shrivel  somewhat  in  common 
storage,  but  these  faults  may  not  follow  in  other 
parts  of  the  State,  and  at  least  the  variety  is  worth 
planting  for  trial  in  commercial  orchards.  Ir  is  a 
very  late  keeper,  and  the  quality  is  most  delicious, 
so  that  all  who  plant  for  home  use  ought  to  set  a 
few  trees  of  this  variety. 
DELICIOUS. — The  Rod  Delicious  is  doing  very 
well  in  many  parts  of  New  York,  and  new  planta¬ 
tions  which  are  just  coming  in  bearing  promise 
well.  The  fruits  of  Delicious  sell  at  a  premium  in 
almost  any  market.  Unfortunately  in  most  parts 
of  New  York  the  yield  is  not  great  and  there  are 
many  culls.  rI  hese  culls  have  small  value,  since 
Delicious  is  not  a  good  culinary  sort.  To  be  profit¬ 
able  in  any  orchard,  therefore,  Delicious  must 
always  bring  a*  high  price.  Otherwise  sorts  which 
bear  better  and  have  fewer  culls  will  prove  more 
profitable.  The  Geneva  Station  has  a  good  many 
