THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
fruit and plant f'fotes. 
DELICIOUS APPLE. 
The following history of this interesting and valuable 
variety is presented by Pomologist Taylor of the United 
States Department of Agriculture in the Year Book for 1907. 
“This variety first came to notice in the orchard of the 
late Jesse Hiatt, of Peru, Madison County, Iowa, about 
1881. It was then a sprout, supposed to be about 6 years 
old, from the stock of a Yellow Bellflower tree, the top of 
which had been destroyed. The beauty and fine quality of 
the fruit attracted Mr. Hiatt’s attention and he at once be¬ 
gan its propagation in a small way for his own planting. 
The tree proved to be a hardy, vigorous, upright grower 
with very heavy, dark-green foliage, and a regular annual 
bearer. At 15 years of age the original sprout was reported 
to be 13 inches in diameter at the ground. The originator 
stated in 1896 that while three-fifths of his orchard had 
been destroyed by drought and cold during the preceding 
eight years, “Delicious” had not been injured in any respect. 
The name “Hawkeye” was at one time applied to the 
variety by the Hiatt family and locally used, but does not 
appear to have been published in connection with it and is 
therefore not entitled to recognition as a synonym. 
• The right to propagate and sell the variety for a term of 
five years having been sold to the Stark Brothers Nurseries 
and Orchards Company about 1894, with the right to re¬ 
name the variety, it was commercially introduced by that 
firm in 1895 under the name “Delicious,” which word was 
registered in the United States Patent Office as a trade¬ 
mark July 4, 1905. 
Description. 
Form roundish conic, sometimes indistinctly ribbed and 
knobbed at apex: size medium to large; surface smooth, 
.glossy,taking a high polish when rubbed slightly; color clear, 
translucent, pale yellow, washed over most of the surface 
with mixed red, striped and splashed with dark crimson, 
and in dry climates covered with a thin whitish bloom; dots 
numerous, small,yellow; cavity regular, of medium size, 
deep, russeted; stem medium to long, stout, curved, downy; 
basin regular, of medium size, depth, and slope, slightly 
furrowed and somewhat downy; calyx segments medium, 
converging, eye of medium size, closed; skin moderately 
thick, tenacious; core of medium size, oval, clasping, open, 
seeds numerous, plump, medium, brown; flesh yellowish, 
moderately fine grained, breaking, juicy; flavor mild sub¬ 
acid, quality very good. Season December to March, in 
Madison County, Iowa. 
Though lacking such marked and distinctive quality as 
characterizes our best apples, such as Esopus, Jonathan, 
Northern Spy, Grimes, and Yellow Newton, this variety is 
acceptable to most palates and is apparently entitled to high 
rank as a dessert fruit. The tree is a strong, upright 
grower, apparently sufficiently productive to satisfy com¬ 
mercial requirements. In the locality of its origin it is 
apparently rather susceptible to apple scab and will theie- 
fore need to be thoroughly sprayed for that disease in cool 
37 1 
and humid climates. It has been fruited on young trees 
during the past four or five years in most of the apple 
districts west of the Mississippi River and appears to be 
specially promising in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific 
coast states. 
exhibitions 
GREAT APPLE EXHIBITIONS. 
Council Bluffs and Spokane. 
Council Bluffs is to have an exhibition of fruits during 
the week of December 14-19. It is advertised that $25,000 
in premiums will be offered. This exhibition takes place 
under the auspices of a newly organized society called the 
National Horticultural Congress. This is probably for the 
specific purpose of exploiting the exhibition which will 
undoubtedly be a good thing for Council Bluffs. 
National Apple Show Association, Spokane, Wash. 
Spokane, Washington is preparing for a monster exhibit 
of fruit at its first annual festival, December 7-12, 1908. 
There are $35,000 offered in cash premiums and other 
prizes for various-displays. For instance $1500 in gold is 
offered for a car of the best standard winter apples. Other 
prizes are on an equally generous scale. 
The Spokane Apple Exhibition. 
By the Management. 
The apple industry is one of the big factors in the 
prosperity of the Pacific Northwest and to place this resource 
before the world there will be a festival under the direction 
of the National Apple Show, Inc., in Spokane, Dec. 7 to 12, 
at which the competitions for prizes aggregating, $35,000, 
including 12 two, five and 10-acre tracts of irrigated land 
with perpetual water rights, valued at $15,000, are open to 
the growers of the world. 
The state armory, 150x150 feet, recently erected at a 
cost of $100,000, having 13,500 feet of floor space, will be 
surrounded with temporary structures, giving 55,000 addi¬ 
tional square feet of space for the display of apples pledged 
by growers from every state and district on the continent 
and several in Europe, Australia, the Pacific Islands and the 
Orient. No exhibitor will be required to pay fees or en¬ 
trance money in any of the competitions. 
The chief prizes are $1,500 for the best carload exhibit 
and $1,000 for the best individual exhibit by any grower, 
district, county,'state or province. There are also several 
hundred prizes ranging from $500 to $1 and hundreds of 
trophies, medals, ribbons, diplomas and special awards. 
These will be awarded by the foremost experts of the United 
States, Canada and Europe acting as judges. Two hundred 
and fifty-one varieties of apples are listed as eligible to com¬ 
pete for prizes in plate exhibits, and there will be cash and 
other premiums and diplomas for exhibits of by-products, 
such as butter, jelly marmalade, cider, vinegar, preserves, 
pickles and evaporated and sun dried fruit. 
