As a description of this well-known and universally used fruit is
entirely superfluous, I will confine my remarks to the types of fruit
grown, and their method of growth. Owing to the fact that our fruits
ripen much earlier than similar varieties in more southern parts of
Australia, we have gone in largely for early varieties of apples, both
for cooking and table use, but have not confined our attention to them
entirely, as good-keeping sorts are found to do equally well, and have
been shown at the annual exhibition that is held in Brisbane during
August, in perfect condition, showing that the fruit has good keeping
qualities. The soil on which the apple is mostly grown is largely
composed of granitic matter, and is of a sharp, sandy, loamy nature,
often of a gritty character. It is usually rich in potash, the
predominating felspar being orthoclase, but somewhat deficient in
nitrogen and phosphoric acid. It is usually easy to work, of fair depth,
and retains moisture well when kept in a thorough state of tilth. The
trees are usually planted at from 20 to 25 feet apart each way, when
they are either one year or two years old from the graft or bud. They
are headed low, so as to shade the ground from the heat of the sun, and
also so as to facilitate the handling of the crop when grown, as well as
to prevent their swaying about with the wind. The trees make a rapid
growth, come into bearing very early, often bearing a fair crop three
years after planting, and fruiting even earlier. The fruit of the early
varieties has usually a handsome appearance, but lacks keeping
qualities, but the later fruits are both handsome, high-coloured fruit,
and good keepers. The trees are not very liable to disease, as, thanks
to all varieties being worked on blight-resistant stocks, there is very
little American blight (woolly aphis). Scale insects do a certain amount
of damage, but are easily kept in check by winter spraying, and codling
moth is not bad unless grossly neglected, many orchards being quite free
from this great pest of the apple-grower. So far, the growing of apples
has been confined entirely to the growing of fruit for the local
markets, no attempt having been made to export same. A very small
quantity is dried, and a little is used for jelly.
Many varieties of apples have been tested in this State, but growers
have found out that it pays them best to confine their attention to
comparatively few sorts that have proved to be the best suited to the
soil and climate, as a few good kinds are much more profitable to grow
than a mere collection of varieties. Many varieties are prone to
overbear, and trees of large size have produced enormous crops of fruit,
whereas young trees frequently break down under the weight of their
crop. The usual plan is to plant a few varieties that ripen in
succession, so as to extend the season over as long a period as
possible, and not to cause a glutted market at any one time. Early
fruits particularly are not noted for their keeping qualities, and a
market glutted with such would entail a heavy loss to growers, hence a
succession of varieties that suit the district as well as the market is
grown.
Nearly all kinds of apples do well, those that are resistant to the
attack of woolly aphis are, however, generally chosen in preference,
even though they may not be of the highest quality, as their
prolificness and freedom from this pest renders them more profitable
than varieties of superior quality that are liable to blight, and that
are at the same time often somewhat indifferent bearers. It is outside
the scope of this paper to go into the question of varieties, but I may
mention that such sorts as Irish Peach, Gravenstein, Summer Scarlet
Pearmain, Twenty-ounces, Jonathan, Lord Suffield, Rome Beauty, and
Prince Bismarck do remarkably well, and many other well-known kinds can
be grown to perfection.
[Illustration: Prince of Pippins Apple, Darling Downs District.]