moist cellar if such a place is available. For best results in long
keeping, the temperature should be maintained below 40 degrees F. In a
cellar containing a furnace, the fruits shrivel from too much
evaporation, as also in an attic or other dry room. If the fruit must
be stored in such places, it is well to keep the box or barrel tightly
closed, and the individual apples may be wrapped in thin paper.
The apples must be sorted now and then, to remove the decaying ones;
if the fruit was carefully sprayed, handled and graded in the first
place and not too ripe, the necessity of frequent sorting will be
considerably reduced. But in any case, the keeping of apples, except
under good cold-storage, is at best a process of continually saving
the most durable fruits. An "outside cellar," if properly ventilated,
usually is a good place in which to keep apples. With the use of
furnaces for heating and the cramped quarters of city apartments, the
keeping of apples for home supply is constantly more difficult.
There is no apple like the one that comes up fresh from the cellar on
a winter night, cool, crisp, solid yet ready. It is the fruit of the
home fireside. I often wonder whether one in a hundred of the people
know what a really good and timely apple is.
The yield of an apple-tree depends on many factors,--age, size,
thriftiness, care it has received, whether it has escaped frost and
other injuries; and some varieties are much more prolific than others.
Some apples are "shy bearers," and for this reason soon are lost to
propagation unless they have some superlative merit; Yellow
Bellflower is an example of a shy, or at least an irregular, bearer.
The great commercial varieties are of course good bearers, as Baldwin,
Ben Davis, Stayman, York Imperial, Oldenburg, Rome, McIntosh, Wealthy,
Yellow Transparent, Jonathan.
An apple-tree at full bearing is a wonderful sight at the harvest,
particularly in such varieties as McIntosh and Baldwin, in which the
fruit is highly colored and hangs well toward the outside of the
tree-top. While the first bearing year may yield only a half dozen
fruits, the crop increases rapidly with the added years,--one peck,
one bushel, five bushels, ten bushels, thirty bushels, even to sixty
and seventy bushels on large sturdy old trees of some varieties. The
amateur, however, first prizes the quality and regularity of his
product for the sheer joy of it; then every added bushel is so much to
the good.
XVII
THE APPRAISAL OF THE APPLE-TREE
Now, therefore, in these sixteen little chapters have I tried to
explain what I feel about the apple-tree. It is a version to my
friend, the reader, not a treatise.
As the interpretation is in the realm of the sensibilities, so do I
aim not directly at concreteness. Yet as it is now the fashion to
"score" all our products by a scale of "points," I make a reasonable
concession to it. But I do not like the scoring of the fruit
independently of the tree on which it grew as if the fruit were only a
commodity. I know we cannot bring the tree to the exhibition-room, yet
the perfect measure, nevertheless, is the tree and the fruit together.
In these later times we have said much against the use of the museum
specimen to the exclusion of the living object in its natural place:
let us be cautious, then, that we do not forget apple-trees in our
studies of apples.
Here I shall not arrange numerical scales of points for the
apple-tree. Sufficient for this occasion is the naming of the points,
letting the reader place his own percentage-value on each of them; for
I am trying to teach, not to instruct.
Yet I must insert, for the reader's benefit, certain good rules and
scores that have been adopted for the "judging" of the fruit by those
experienced in these matters. This excellent exercise of judging
fruits at exhibitions has gained much headway. Students of schools and
colleges are trained for the "judging teams," and great technical
perfection has been attained.
To be exact is an exigency of science. I fear that we make exactness
an end, but that is neither here nor there on this occasion and I
shall not now pursue the subject further; I hope the judging trains
the judge to see what he looks at in other things as well as in
apples, that it leads him into the pleasant paths of causes and
effects, that it opens the eyes of the blind.
The customary judging of plants and animals and their products
consists in assessing the attributes against a scale of perfection.
Thus, if "form" or "conformation" is worth 10 points in the hundred
(by the estimation of good authorities), the judge must decide whether
the particular animal before him merits 6 or 7, more or less. So if
"flavor" in an apple is considered to be worth 20 points of the
hundred, the judge makes up his mind what rating, within that limit,
he shall accord to the fruit he is testing. The arrangement in tabular
form of the features for any product, with the number of points stated
for each, all summing 100, constitutes a "score-card." Thus there may
be a score-card for Merino sheep, another for Shropshires, one for
apples, and for any other objects whatsoever.
At competitive exhibitions, the element of comparison comes in.
Perhaps it is the only criterion to be considered in a particular
case,--whether this apple is better than that or than any number of
others, which of several "plates" or samples of apples merits first
mention, which of two or more collections of varieties is altogether
most worthy of a prize. In these cases, the different fruits or
collections may be scored by the card, and the total footings
determine where the award shall go. Or, the different entries may be
judged in general, "by the eye;" this is the usual method, and is
satisfactory in the hands of persons whose standing and experience
carry conviction.
If one is to evaluate an apple-tree against a scale or code, these are
some of the features, in relative order of importance, to be
considered:
1. Whether the tree is typical of the variety, in shape,
manner of growth, character of foliage and bloom.
2. Whether it is sound of all injury and disease, and free
of blemish.
3. Whether it is duly vigorous and productive.
4. Whether its fruit is characteristic of the variety or
kind.
5. Whether the pruning has been good; the thinning; the
spraying.
6. Whether the performance of the tree has fulfilled
reasonable expectations.
The judging of fruits is facilitated by such score-cards and
explanations as the following:
1. For comparison of different dessert varieties.
Conformation 10
Size 5
Color 20
Core 5
Uniformity 5
Durability (keeping) 10
Condition 5
Freedom from blemish 10
Quality 30
----
100
2. For comparison of plates or samples of the same variety.
Form 15
Size 15
Color 25
Uniformity 25
Freedom from blemish 20
----
100
DIRECTIONS FOR JUDGING PLATES OF APPLES IN AN EXHIBITION
Following are directions and explanations issued to judging teams in
exhibition contests, by an agricultural college:
(1) _Form_: The shape and conformation of the apples on any
one plate should be typical for the variety, the region of
growth being somewhat considered. All specimens on a plate
should be uniform in shape. When competition is close, a
careful comparison of the more minute characteristics of the
basin, cavity and stem are made.
(2) _Size_: The specimens on any one plate should be uniform
in size and of the size most acceptable on the market for
the variety. A plate may be marked down for being either
under or over the accepted commercial size. In many
exhibits, the ideal size is given in the premium
announcements.
(3) _Colors_: All specimens in an entry should be uniformly
colored in the way that is considered perfect for the
variety in the district where grown. In judging color, one
should consider (_a_) the depth and attractiveness of the
ground color, (_b_) the brightness and attractiveness of the
over-color, (_c_) the amount of the over-color. In a yellow
or green apple, the yellow or green should be clear and even
all over, considering the maturity of the specimen. In
varieties that are typically blushed, (e. g., Maiden Blush)
the specimens should show a distinct tinge of red on the
cheek exposed to the sun. With such apples as Rhode Island
Greening, that are only sometimes blushed, the presence or
absence of the blush should not detract except that the
apples on any one plate should be uniform. With apples
typically over-colored, an intense color for the variety is
desirable.
The _bloom_ may be wiped from apples, but in no case should
polished specimens be given the preference. Some exhibits
have special rules regarding polishing of apples.
(4) _Conditions_: Refers to the degree of ripeness. An apple
to be in perfect condition should be firm for the variety
and free from the withering that comes when apples are
picked too green or when the fruit is over-ripe or has not
been stored properly.
(5) _Freedom from blemish_: All specimens should be free
from blemishes of all kinds. One should look particularly
for (_a_) marks of fungous or other disease, including
stippin, (_b_) injury from insects of all kinds, (_c_)
mechanical injury, including loss of stem. Unmistakable
evidence of codlin-moth injury or San Jose scale should
disqualify a plate. Other blemishes are considered important
in about the order named: Side worms, scab, stippin,
curculio or red-bug, skin punctures, bruises, stem pulled,
russet (not typical for variety) and limb rub. The extent of
scab spots should be considered. Minute spots are not as
serious as some other blemishes, while spots which deform
the apple should disqualify the plate.
_Other information_: Five specimens constitute a plate,
except when the rules of the contest or exhibit state
otherwise. Any variation from this rule disqualifies the
plate.
When a plate is not labelled with the correct variety name,
it should not be judged, but is disqualified and if possible
the correct name is applied. If one specimen on a plate is
not as labelled, the whole plate is disqualified.
In some judging contests, the plates are not labelled with
the variety name, and the contestant is supposed to make the
identification.
_Precaution_: Avoid pressing the specimens with the thumb
and finger so as to bruise the fruit. The degree of firmness
can be determined by gentle pressure with the inside of the
whole hand.
Defects, apparent or otherwise, should not be probed with
the finger nail, pin, or other hard object.
Special care should be exercised to replace all specimens on
the right plate.
Having in mind these definite criteria, the reader will know what is
meant by a "good apple" and also a good apple-tree. Measurements of
perfection aid us to estimate the deficiencies.
* * * * *
He who knows the apple-tree knows also its region. The landscape is
his in every blessed year; he sees the chariots of the months come
down from the distances and pass by him into the twilights. Clouds are
his and the repeating shadows on the hills. The morning when the
blossoms are laden with the fragrance of the night, high noon when the
bees are busy, the gloaming when the birds drop into the boughs, these
are his by divine right. The smell of new-plowed fields is his, with
the urgent promise in them. Seed time and harvest, as old as the
procreant earth and as new as the latest sunrise, are his to conjure.
The verities are his for the asking, the strong things of cultivated
fields and of wild places. And mastery is his, that comes of the
amelioration of the land and the education of the tree. All these are
everyman's, and yet they are his alone.
INDEX
PAGE
Acid phosphate 45
Age of apple-trees 98
Alternate bearing 42
American Pomological Society 66
Apple-scab 95
Appleseed, Johnny 61
Arsenate of lead 95
Australia, Apples in 97
Bacteria 12
Bark of apple-tree 11
of cherry 11
of elm 11
of pear-tree 11
Bearing year 42
Black Gilliflower 73
Bloomless apple 75
Bolting trees 88
Bridge-grafting 88
Brush pile 27
Budding 50, 51
Buds 15, 19, 27
Calyx-tube 26
Canada, apples in 98
Canker 12
Cherimoya 8
Cherry, bark of 11
Christophine 8
Cider, treatise on 62
Cion-grafting 50, 79
Citrus fruits 8
Cleft-grafting 82
Coconut 8
Codlin-moth 12, 89
Custard apple 8
Diseases 46
Distance apart 43
Double apples 74
Doucin stocks 57
Downing, quoted 54, 67
Dwarf apple-trees 54
Elm, bark of 11
Endicott, Gov. 61
Enriching the land 45
Exhibitions 108
Fertilizing 40, 44, 45
Fig 8
Flower, structure of 20
Folger and Thomson, quoted 98
Fructicetum 78
Fruit-spurs and bearing 42
Fungi 12
Girdles 87
Graftage 49, 79
Grafts 81
Guava 8
Harvesting 102
Hillsides for orchards 44
Hogs in orchards 45
Hypanthium 26
Insects 46, 89
Judging apples 108
Knots 11, 85, 87
Land for apples 42
Langley, Batty 82
Lawson, William 82
Leaf-arrangement 29
Lichens 11
Lime-sulphur 95
Linnaeus 62
Lintner, J. A. 89
Malus 62
Mamone 8
Mango 8
Manning, mentioned 67
M'Mahon, quoted 66
Medlar 75
Mending trees 85
Moench, cited 75
Mound-layering 55
Muenchhausen, cited 75
Natural trees 51
New Zealand, apples in 97
Nitrate of soda 45
Origin of apple-tree 60
Ornamental apples 64
Ovary 20
Paint for wounds 86
Papaya 8
Paradise stocks 57
Parkinson, John 58
Pasturing 45
Pear, bark of 11
Phosphate, acid 45
Phyllotaxy 29
Picking apples 102
Piece-roots 50
Pistil 20, 26
Plant-breeder 51
Planting 42, 43
Plant-lice 12
Pollen-tube 20
Pollination 40
Pomegranate 8
Propagation of apple-tree 48, 54
Pruning 36, 40, 86, 104
Pyrus baccata 63
coronaria 63
diocia 75
Ioensis 63
Malus 62, 63
Soulardii 64
Receptacle of flower 26
Regions for apples 97, 99
Repairing trees 85
Root-grafting 50
Roots 43
Scale insects 12
Scale of points 108
Score-card 108
Seedless apple 74
Seedling trees 48, 51
Seeds, planting 48
Sharrock, Robert 81
Sheep in orchards 45
Sheepnose 73
Sod in orchards 44
Soil for apples 42
Spraying 40, 91, 95, 104
Star-apple 8
Stigma 20
Stocks 49
Storing 105
Struggle for existence 47
Style 20
Surgery 86
Surprise 73
Sweet-and-Sour 73
Thinning 38, 39
Thomson and Folger 98
Tilling 40, 44, 47, 104
Tree surgery 86
Varieties 66
list of 70
Water-core 74
Whip-graft 50
Wilder, mentioned 67
Wormy apples 89, 102
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Some illustrations have been moved from their original positions to
avoid breaking up the text, and to put them in numerical order.
Variations in spelling and punctuation have been retained from the
original book except for the following changes:
Page 51: Both instances of "varities" changed to "varieties".
Page 74: "occuring" changed to "occurring".
Page 75: "dioecious pyrus" was originally typeset with an oe ligature.
Page 91: "foilage" changed to "foliage".
Page 93: "analagous" changed to "analogous".
Page 94: "or" changed to "nor". "investigatior" changed to
"investigator".
Page 100: "gravly" changed to "gravelly".
Page 113 (Index): "Appleseed, Johny" changed to "Appleseed, Johnny".
"Bark of Cheery" changed to "Bark of Cherry".
Page 115 (Index): "Linnaeus" changed to "Linnaeus" to match text.