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diff --git a/26132.txt b/26132.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f97a36f --- /dev/null +++ b/26132.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3836 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Apple-Tree, by L. H. Bailey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Apple-Tree + The Open Country Books--No. 1 + +Author: L. H. Bailey + +Release Date: July 26, 2008 [EBook #26132] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE APPLE-TREE *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Giacomelli, Diane Monico, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images produced by Core Historical +Literature in Agriculture (CHLA), Cornell University) + + + + + + + + + + +THE APPLE-TREE + + + + +THE OPEN COUNTRY BOOKS + +A continuing company of genial little books +about the out-of-doors + +Under the editorship of +L. H. BAILEY + +1. The Apple-Tree L. H. Bailey +2. A Home Vegetable Garden Ella M. Freeman +3. The Cow Jared Van Wagenen, Jr. + +Others about weather and the sky, scenery, +camps, recreation, quadrupeds, fishes, birds, +insects, reptiles, plants, and the places in the +open. + + + + +The Open Country Books--No. 1 + +THE APPLE-TREE + +BY +L. H. BAILEY + +NEW YORK +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +1922 +_All rights reserved_ + + + + +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +COPYRIGHT, 1922, +BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. + +Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1922. + +FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY +NEW YORK + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + +I. Where There is no Apple-Tree 7 + +II. The Apple-Tree in the Landscape 10 + +III. The Buds on the Twigs 15 + +IV. The Weeks Between the Flower and the Fruit 19 + +V. The Brush Pile 27 + +VI. The Pruning of the Apple-Tree 36 + +VII. Maintaining the Health and Energy of the Apple-Tree 41 + +VIII. How an Apple-Tree is Made 48 + +IX. The Dwarf Apple-Tree 54 + +X. Whence Comes the Apple-Tree? 60 + +XI. The Varieties of Apple 66 + +XII. The Pleasant Art of Grafting 79 + +XIII. The Mending of the Apple-Tree 85 + +XIV. Citizens of the Apple-Tree 89 + +XV. The Apple-Tree Regions 97 + +XVI. The Harvest of the Apple-Tree 102 + +XVII. The Appraisal of the Apple-Tree 107 + + +[Illustration: 1. The home apple-tree] + + + + +THE APPLE-TREE + + + + +I + +WHERE THERE IS NO APPLE-TREE + + +The wind is snapping in the bamboos, knocking together the resonant +canes and weaving the myriad flexile wreaths above them. The palm +heads rustle with a brisk crinkling music. Great ferns stand in the +edge of the forest, and giant arums cling their arms about the trunks +of trees and rear their dim jacks-in-the-pulpit far in the branches; +and in the greater distance I know that green parrots are flying in +twos from tree to tree. The plant forms are strange and various, +making mosaic of contrasting range of leaf-size and leaf-shape, palm +and grass and fern, epiphyte and liana and clumpy mistletoe, of grace +and clumsiness and even misproportion, a tall thick landscape all +mingled into a symmetry of disorder that charms the attention and +fascinates the eye. + +It is a soft and delicious air wherein I sit. A torrid drowse is in +the receding landscape. The people move leisurely, as befits the world +where there is no preparation for frost and no urgent need of +laborious apparel. There are tardy bullock-carts, unconscious donkeys, +and men pushing vehicles. There are odd products and unaccustomed +cakes and cookies on little stands by the roadside, where the turbaned +vendor sits on the ground unconcernedly. + +There are strange fruits in the carts, on the donkeys that move down +the hillsides from distant plantations in the heart of the jungle, on +the trees by winding road and thatched cottage, in the great crowded +markets in the city. I recognize coconuts and mangoes, star-apples and +custard-apples and cherimoyas, papayas, guavas, mamones, pomegranates, +figs, christophines, and the varied range of citrus fruits. There are +also great polished apples in the markets, coming from cooler regions, +tied by their stems, good to look at but impossible to relish; and I +understand how these people of the tropics think the apple an inferior +fruit, so successfully do the poor varieties stop the desire for more. +There are vegetables I have never seen before. + +I am conscious of a slowly moving landscape with people and birds and +beasts of burden and windy vegetation, of prospects in which there are +no broad smooth farm fields with fences dividing them, of scenery full +of herbage, in which every lineament and action incite me and +stimulate my desire for more, of days that end suddenly in the +blackness of night. + +Yet, somehow, I look forward to the time when I may go to a more +accustomed place. Either from long association with other scenes or +because of some inexpressible deficiency in this tropic splendor, I am +not satisfied even though I am exuberantly entertained. Something I +miss. For weeks I wondered what single element I missed most. Out of +the numberless associations of childhood and youth and eager manhood +it is difficult to choose one that is missed more than another. Yet +one day it came over me startlingly that I missed the apple-tree,--the +apple-tree, the sheep, and the milch cattle! + +The farm home with its commodious house, its greensward, its great +barn and soft fields and distant woods, and the apple-tree by the +wood-shed; the good home at the end of the village with its sward and +shrubbery, and apple roof-tree; the orchard, well kept, trim and +apple-green, yielding its wagon-loads of fruits; the old tree on the +hillside, in the pasture where generations of men have come and gone +and where houses have fallen to decay; the odor of the apples in the +cellar in the cold winter night; the feasts around the fireside,--I +think all these pictures conjure themselves in my mind to tantalize me +of home. + +And often in my wanderings I promise myself that when I reach home I +shall see the apple-tree as I had never seen it before. Even its bark +and its gnarly trunk will hold converse with me, and its first tiny +leaves of the budding spring will herald me a welcome. Once again I +shall be a youth with the apple-tree, but feeling more than the +turbulent affection of transient youth can understand. Life does not +seem regular and established when there is no apple-tree in the yard +and about the buildings, no orchards blooming in the May and laden in +the September, no baskets heaped with the crisp smooth fruits; without +all these I am still a foreigner, sojourning in a strange land. + + + + +II + +THE APPLE-TREE IN THE LANDSCAPE + + +The April sun is soft on the broad open fenced fields, waking them +gently from the long deep sleep of winter. Little rills are running +full. The grass is newly coolly green. Fresh sprouts are in the sod. +By copse and highway the shad-bushes salute with their handkerchiefs. +Apple-trees show tips of verdure. It is good to see the early greens +of changing spring. It is good to look abroad on an apple-tree +landscape. + +As to its vegetation, the landscape is low and flat, not tall. There +is a vast uniformity in plant forms, a subdued and constrained +humility. A month later the leafage will be in glory, but that also +will have an aspect of sameness and moderation. Perhaps the actual +variety of species will be greater than in many parts of the abounding +tropics, and to the careful observer the luxuriance will be as great, +although not so big; but as I look abroad I am impressed with the +economy of the prospect. It comes nearer to my powers of assimilation, +quiets me with a deep satisfaction; the contrasts are subdued, the +processes grade into each other imperceptibly in the land of the +lingering twilight. + +In this prospect are maples and elms and apple-trees. The maples and +elms are of the fields and roadsides. The apple-trees are of human +habitations and human labor; they cluster about the buildings, or +stand guard at a gate; they are in plantations made by hands. As I see +them again, I wonder whether any other plant is so characteristically +a home-tree. + +So is the apple-tree, even when full grown, within the reach of +children. It can be climbed. Little swings are hung from the branches. +Its shade is low and familiar. It bestows its fruit liberally to all +alike. + +The apple is a sturdy tree. Short of trunk and short of continuous +limb, it is yet a stout and rugged object, the indirectness of its +branching branches adding to its picturesque quality. It is a tree of +good structure. Although its limbs eventually arch to the ground, if +left to themselves, they yet have great strength. The angularity of +the branching, the frequent forking, the big healing or hollow knots +with rounding callus-lips, give the tree character. Anywhere it would +be a marked tree, unlike any other. + +The bark on the older surface sheds in short oblong irregular scales +or plates that detach perhaps at both ends and often at the sides, +clinging by the middle until the curl loosens them and they fall to +the ground. These plates or chips are more or less rowed up and down +the trunk and on the larger branches, yet the apple bark is not ridged +and furrowed as on the elm. The bark is not checked in squares as on +old pear-trees nor peeling as on cherries. In dry weather, the loose +old bark is dark brown-gray, often supporting gray lichens, but in +rain it is soft and nearly black, yielding pleasantly to the touch. In +the forks, the bark is not so readily cast and there the chips may lie +in heaps. On the young limbs and small trunks the bark is tight and +close, not splitting into seams or furrows with the expansion of the +cylinder but stretching and throwing off detached flakes and chips. +Under the chips various insects hide or make some of their +transformations. There the codlin-moth pupates. The old remains of +scale insects may be found on the exterior. In the furrows about the +dormant buds the eggs of plant-lice pass the winter. + +To destroy these breeding and hiding places, many careful +apple-growers scrape away the loose bark, being careful not to expose +the quick living tissue; and on the younger wood the eggs of aphis and +other pests, as well as cocoons and nymphs, are destroyed by vigorous +winter spraying. The regular spraying of apple-trees, in the different +seasons, more or less sterilizes the bark. Many forms of canker, due +to fungi and bacteria, invade the bark, making sunken areas and scars, +often so serious as to destroy the tree. All these features are +discoverable in the apple-tree. + +The trunk of the apple-tree is short and stout, usually not perfectly +cylindrical and not prominently buttressed at the base. In old trees +it is usually ribbed or ridged, sometimes tortuous with spiral-like +grooves, often showing the bulge where the graft was set. The wood is +fine-grained and of good color, and lends itself well to certain kinds +of cabinet work and to the turning-lathe for household objects; it +should be better known. + +[Illustration: 2. The apple-tree in the landscape] + +If left to itself, the tree branches near the ground, making many +strong secondary scaffold trunks; but the plant does not habitually +have more than one bole, even though it may branch from the very base; +it is a real tree, even though small, and not a huge shrub. In the +natural condition, the trunk often rises only a foot or two before +it is lost in the branches; at other times it may be four or six feet +high. Under cultivation, the lowest branches are usually removed when +the tree begins to grow, and an evident clean trunk is produced. In +Europe and the Eastern States, it has been the practice to trim the +trunk clean to the height of four or six feet; but in hotter and drier +regions the trunk is kept short to insure against sun-scald; and with +the better tillage implements of the present day it may not be +necessary to train the heads so high. + +In old hill pastures, in many parts of the North, one sees curious +umbrella forms and other shapes of apple-trees, due to browsing by +cattle. A little tree gets a start in the pasture. When cattle are +turned in, they browse the tender terminal growth. The plant spreads +at the base, in a horizontal direction. With the repeated browsing on +top, the tree becomes a dense conical mound. Eventually, the leader +may get a strong headway, and grows beyond the reach of the browsers. +As it rises out of grasp, it sends off its side shoots, forming a +head. The cattle browse the under side of this head, as far as they +are able to reach, causing the tree to assume a grotesque hour-glass +shape, flat on the under part of the head, with a cone of green +herbage at the ground. Sometimes pastures are full of little hummocks +of trees that have not yet been able to overtop the grazers. + +The winter apple-tree in the free is a reassuring object. It has none +of the sleekness of many horticultural forms, nor the fragility of +peaches, sour cherries and plums. It stands boldly against the sky, +with its elbows at all angles and its scaly bark holding the snow. +Against evergreens it shows its ruggedness specially well. It +presents forms to attract the artist. Even when gnarly and broken, it +does not convey an impression of decrepitude and decay but rather of a +hardy old character bearing his burdens. In every winter landscape I +look instinctively for the apple-tree. + +We are so accustomed to the apple-tree as a part of an orchard, where +it is trimmed into shape and its bolder irregularities controlled, +that we do not think it has beauty when left to itself to grow as it +will. An apple-tree that takes its own course, as does a pine-tree or +an oak, is looked on as unkempt and unprofitable and as a sorry object +in the landscape, advertizing the neglect of the owner. Yet if the +apple-tree had never borne good fruit, we should plant it for its +bloom and its picturesqueness as we plant a hawthorn or a locust-tree. + +In winter and in summer, and in the months between, my apple-tree is a +great fact. It is a character in the population of my scenery, +standing for certain human emotions. The tree is a living thing, not +merely a something that bears apples. + + + + +III + +THE BUDS ON THE TWIGS + + +Now the buds begin to break. The firm winter-buds swell. Their scales +part. Tips of green appear. Tiny leaves come forth, neatly rolled +inward, growing as they expand, the stalks lengthening. Resurrection +is astir in the tree. + +Several leaves issue from every bud. From some buds arise only leaves; +from others a flower-cluster emerges from the leaf-rosette, showing +faint color even before it expands. Very close together and tight +these unopened little flowers are packed as they emerge; if we had +looked at them with a lens as they lay in the bud in the long winter +we should understand why; now they escape their bonds and rapidly grow +as they are delivered, yet at first pressed together by head and stem +in their soft gray wool. + +Thus are there two kinds of buds on the twig of the bearing +apple-tree,--the leaf-buds (sending forth leaves only), and the +flower-buds (bearing both leaves and flowers). And if we wish to +analyze more closely, we discover two kinds of leaf-buds,--those that +send forth a rapidly growing shoot bearing the leaves, and those from +which the leaf-cluster remains practically sessile on the branch. +These latter, or the strongest and best of them, will probably give +rise to short fruiting spurs and the others to elongated leafy +branches. + +Before me as I write is an apple limb more than three feet long. It +has been a vigorous grower, for it is only three years old. The years +can be readily made out; there are two sets of "rings" separating +them. You may see these rings on all young apple limbs. They represent +the scars of the scales of the past terminal buds. + +Three years ago my shoot was sent off from its parent branch; that +year it grew but four inches, bearing leaves on its sides, in the +axils of which developed buds for the winter and at the end a larger +terminal bud. Let us call this shoot 1918. Two years ago (1919), +whilst I was in a distant land, the terminal bud gave rise to a shoot +nineteen inches long; two buds near the end of the 1918 shoot pushed +out clusters of leaves and made spurs about one-half inch long; all +the other buds, five in number, remained dormant, and now they are +dead and are rapidly becoming mere scars. Last year (1920) the +terminal bud of 1919 gave rise to a shoot fifteen inches long; three +buds at the base of this two-year (1919) shoot remained dormant; +fourteen buds produced spurs. It is now the spring of 1921; the 1920 +shoot has four dormant buds at its base, ten rosettes of leaves from +the other buds, and a pushing terminal shoot. + +On my branch this year, therefore, are 5 plus 3 plus 4, or 12 dormant +buds of all the years; 2 plus 14 plus 10, or 26 spurs; 1 terminal bud +continuing the onward growth. + +[Illustration: 3. The bloom of the apple-tree] + +It is evident that the last two years were good ones for my apple +limb, for the growths were long (19 and 15 inches) and most of the +buds produced spurs. The result is evidenced also in the fact that the +limb is this year laden with potential bloom. On 1918 the two spurs +bear flowers, one of them only a single bloom and the other five +blooms. On 1919 twelve of the fourteen spurs are bearing flowers in +the following numbers: 5 flowers, 5, 5, 7, 5, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 = 63 +flowers. On 1920 are no spurs bearing flowers, but the terminal bud +(as is frequent on vigorous young trees) bears five flowers. Here, +therefore, on this yard of three-year-old twig are seventy-four +blossoms. + +But there will not be seventy-four fruits; some of the flowers are +small and weak; others, as the petals fall, show unmistakable signs of +failing. A few of them show the plump form of an embryo apple: I think +there are a score of such promises. But I know that others will fail +later from physiological causes, and others probably from onslaught of +insects or disease or from accidents. If six fair fruits mature on a +branch like this, the crop will be good; and probably the branch would +not have vigor enough to set as many fruit-buds the following year or +to bear as many fruits. + +It is good to watch the opening of the apple bloom: pink buds swelling +and puffing out each day, the woolly stems elongating, the five +overlapping incurving petals spreading and growing big, the stamens, +about twenty, straightening up and lengthening their filaments that +are attached on the flower-rim; the big light yellow anthers shedding +pollen; the five green styles in the center. In some flowers the +styles do not develop, and we have one reason why many flowers are +sterile. + +The flower-clusters differ much among themselves, in size of parts, +number of flowers, color; on some trees the flowers appear in advance +of most of the leafage, but usually they are coincident with the +leaves. Sometimes the flower-stems or peduncles are branched, bearing +two or three flowers, and in that case there may be a small green leaf +or bract where the fork arises. The placing of the petals in the bud +at the epoch of expansion may differ in two flowers on the same tree. +One petal may stand guard outside the others and free from them, both +edges uncovered, while the remaining petals are spiral with one edge +under and one edge over; or there may be two guard petals, one on +either side; or sometimes all the petals may be spiral, one margin +out, one margin in; in some cases all the petals stand free as the +flower is expanding, with no margin interlapping. Sometimes one petal +is missing, and again the petals may be six. + +This infinite variety within the bonds of so great regularity lends a +subtle charm to natural objects, that is wholly absent in man's +perfected machine-work. Man aims at uniformity, two and two alike; +nature aims at endless difference, every object or even every member +of an object having its own character. Much of man's energy is +expended in trying to overcome the diverseness of nature. + +Gradually and slowly the flower balloons enlarge and puff themselves +up, the petals standing together at their tips; all the variety is +united into a harmony of exuberance, color and form; then one day +there is a shower of genial rain, a warm sun, birds in the air, bees +released, grasses soft and lush, and behold! the apple-tree is in +bloom,--a great heavenly mound of white and pink exhaling a faint +delicious breath. Then the pulses stir, the dogs bark at the edges of +the wood, the fields call, the scented winds lead on forever. + + + + +IV + +THE WEEKS BETWEEN THE FLOWER AND THE FRUIT + + +The petals expand broadly, usually losing most of their pink. The +blade is oblong and rounded at the end, at first cupped and then +nearly flat, three-fourths of an inch long, narrowed at the base into +a short stem-like part and usually hairy there, the edges perhaps wavy +but entire. The expanse of the flower may be one and one-half to two +inches. The brush of stamens, erect in the center, sheds its pollen +and the anthers collapse. + +Then the petals fall, like flakes of snow, borne often by the wind. +There remain the stout woolly flower-stems an inch or more long and +bearing minute dry bracts, with the young fruit at the summit topped +by the five recurving woolly sepals and the pencil of stamens and +styles. The bloom being gone, the flowering system of the apple is +thenceforth little observed. Not until the fruit begins to color do we +come back to the apple-tree to look at it closely; yet in these +intervening weeks some of the most interesting transformations take +place, and on the exact observance of them depends to a large extent +one's success in the rearing and saving of a good crop of apples. + +Here is the flower of the apple-tree (Fig. 3). It is a comely +blossom, fragrant and pinky white, flatly spread to the sky, carrying +the spirit of the cool of the spring. What concerns us now, however, +is the cluster of stamens and pistils in the center, for these organs +are directly concerned in the production of the fruit. The petals soon +fall, but the remains of these interior organs persist, even unto the +ripening of the fruit. + +The anther is attached at the back of its base or middle to the top of +the filament in the suture separating the two large cells. These +anther-cells split along the outer margins, releasing the +pollen-grains. + +[Illustration: 4. Longitudinal section of the flower.] + +In the center of the ring of stamens are the five style-branches, +which are united at the base into a short hairy column; the column is +borne on the ovary, which is sunken deep into the receptacle or stem +(Fig. 4). It is down these style-branches that the pollen-tube passes +on its way to the ovules or embryo seeds. The top of the style is +expanded into a cupped stigma on which are many glutinous points. One +can observe the browning and ripening of the stigma after pollen has +been deposited by wind, bees or other agencies. When the ovules are +fertilized, the forming fruit enlarges regularly unless it meets with +misfortune or is crowded out for lack of room and nourishment. + +If one cuts across the ovary or embryo fruit below the recurving +sepals, one will see under a lens that it is neatly five-celled (Fig. +5). In each cell are two ovules; these, if all goes well, will ripen +into ten seeds. These five cells comprise most of the diameter in the +cross-section: but as the ovary enlarges and the young fruit grows, +one may see that the inner part comprising the cells begins to have a +character of its own and to be differentiated from the surrounding +flesh. + +[Illustration: 5. Cross-section of the ovary.] + +The "blossom" falls. In reality only the petals fall. What is left is +well shown in Fig. 6. Here remain the upstanding stamens with the +empty anthers, and in the center one could see the five styles if the +specimen were in hand. Here also are the calyx-lobes, widely spreading +and even recurved. The photograph for Fig. 6 was taken May 3. On May +17 another cluster was photographed from the same tree (Fig. 7). Three +of the flowers have produced sturdy young apples. The stems or +pedicels have become stouter, and they begin to spread. Note that the +calyx now is closed, the old stamens protruding, a circumstance that +will have special significance when we become acquainted with the +codlin-moth. Note also that one flower has failed, and remains as it +was two weeks earlier; it will soon fall. The young apples begin to +take shape. They show a glow of red on the cheek. They are fuzzy all +over. One of them is already injured on one side, having been stung by +a curculio or other insect: there are keen senses about the +apple-tree. + +[Illustration: 6. May 3--When the petals have fallen] + +[Illustration: 7. May 17--When the young fruits begin to show] + +Two weeks later (May 31) still another cluster was taken from the same +tree (Fig. 8). Here are three fruits erect on their stems; one of them +is more than an inch in diameter either way, sturdy and unblemished; +another shows deformity due to insect puncture; the third remains +small and presently will drop. A scar in the leaf-axil marks the +failure of another flower. Four blossoms were in this cluster, but +only one fruit now has a chance to come to uninjured maturity, and two +have already failed. The big apple has now lost most of its fuzziness +and begins to assume a delicate "bloom" on its surface; the smallest +one--the one that soon will perish--still holds some of its fuzz. A +section of this smallest fruit discloses empty cells; apparently it +was not fertilized. + +[Illustration: 8. May 31--The success and failure] + +[Illustration: 9. June 14--The one big apple] + +Another two weeks have passed. It is June 14th. From the same tree is +taken the photograph, Fig. 9. Here is a big apple, 1-1/2 inch in +diameter; and there is a dead shrivelled fruit that dropped when I +touched it. Of the several flowers in the cluster, all have failed but +one. This one fruit has now passed the danger of the blossom-end +infection by the codlin-moth and it has no blemishes. The many whitish +spots characteristic of the variety are now conspicuous all over the +surface. The ribs begin to show. There is a faint blush on the upper +side. The fuzz has disappeared and the bloom is becoming evident. The +calyx is tightly closed, although the tips of the sepals are spread +widely. The stem is stout. The weight of the apple inclines it nearly +to the horizontal. Yet this good apple is not symmetrical; one side is +larger than the other. I cut it crosswise and find two cells on the +larger side developing two strong seeds each, whilst those on the +smaller side have a single seed each and one of these seeds is small +and perhaps would not have matured. The fleshy part of the apple, +outside the core, now occupies about as much of the diameter as the +core itself and much more than one-half the bulk of the fruit. +Already my apple, now half grown, shows many of its distinctive +characteristics. + +Yet another fortnight has come and gone, and it is June 28th. It has +been good "growing weather." Summer is here, full-orbed, regal, +bringing the abundance of the earth. Here are two stout apples hanging +on their stems (Fig. 10), for they are now too heavy to be held erect. +The larger fruit is a trifle more than two inches in diameter. The +feature spots are now still more prominent on these apples, the ribs +more pronounced, the blush against the sun more warm. Both these +fruits, from one spur, will mature; but the smaller one will be +blemished, for the apple-scab fungus has established itself on the +crown and about the calyx. Already the growth is checked in that area, +and the apple looks flattened. There is no evidence in either apple of +codlin-moth invasion. The adjoining spur, not clearly shown in the +photograph, is barren; it gave no flowers this year, and it shows no +indication of a blossom-bud for next year. The leaves are thick and +vigorous, yet they bear marks of insect injury and one of them has +been extensively skeletonized. On the whole, however, the fruits have +the mastery, and they now make a brave show. + +[Illustration: 10. June 28, and the apples have taken their form] + +July has passed this way. Tomorrow it will be August. The odor of +apples is now in my tree. There are big striped apples on the ground, +plucked by the wind, the hold loosened by bugs for they too have felt +the fullness of July. Three apples, one of them three inches through +and two and one-half inches high, and the others nearly as big, hang +at the level of my eyes. You may see them in Fig. 11. Here rises again +my boyhood spent in an orchard now passed away, as father and mother +have passed, as playmates have fallen one by one, the old place +holding only memories. Here is my boyhood because the earth is always +young and repeats her miracles for the children by my side as it did +for me so many many years ago. Yet the miracles are greater now than +they were then. They have more meaning. Now are they part of some +great order. They are not separate. Without moving my feet, I lay my +hands on apples, Virginia creeper, asparagus, marigold, sweet sultan, +oxalis, plantain, crab-grass, white clover, all growing securely in +one place, and everyone like unto itself alone. Here is the +everlasting miracle before my eyes, and all miracles are mysteries. +Once I thought I should understand such things when I was "grown up," +but I find myself still a boy. + +[Illustration: 11. July 31, and the apples are getting ripe] + +These three apples on the last of the days of July look fair and +sound, partly hidden in the leaves, the deep red colors covering them +in broad splashed stripes and relieved by light dots. Yet when I raise +the leaves or when I lift the apples apart, I find the burrows of +insects. They know that these apples are good. It is astonishing how +nature covers up the wounds, how she conceals the sore places, and how +fair she makes everything look. Were it not that she covers the +depredations of man, the earth would not long remain habitable by him. + +Summer is ended. Today the sun is on the equator, and we are at the +equinox when nights are equal to the days, as the word testifies. The +harvest is over. The apples are no more. Yet the tree still is active +and preparing for another year (Fig. 12). The spurs are now thick and +stout, bearing sturdy hard leaves. The bud in the center is a big +one, already recognized as a fruit-bud: here is the promise of +speckled, furrowed, striped apples next August. Thereby I learn that +it is not enough to be good to the tree in the year in which I desire +its fruit: I must begin the year before, and the year before that, and +even back at the time when the tree is planted; and if the tree at +planting-time is not a good tree, it will be at a disadvantage perhaps +all its life long. + +[Illustration: 12. September 22, and the buds are formed for the next +year's crop] + +Finally the apple is ripe and ready. At the stem end is the "cavity," +a depression, deep or shallow, according to variety, in which the stem +is set. At the blossom end is the "basin," also with the +characteristics of the variety as to depth and width and contour, in +which the calyx-lobes persist, and inside the calyx are the remains of +the dead stamens and styles; the calyx may be "closed" or "open," the +character being a mark of the particular variety. + +Cut the apple through the center lengthwise (Fig. 13); note the curved +outline of the core (the pistil) extending half or more across the +fruit; if you do not see this outline, cut an apple until you do; +carefully open the five cells or compartments and within the parchment +walls find the two seeds attached by their points which are directed +toward the stem end; perhaps one of the seeds has failed, but probably +a cavity marks its place; perhaps both seeds have failed; perhaps the +cell has more than two seeds. + +[Illustration: 13. The apples in section] + +Cut an apple cross-wise: note the five radiating cells of the core, +the number and attachment of the seeds; note the ten points, imbedded +in the flesh, marking the outline of the core. Cut an apple cross-wise +above the core and beneath it; note where these points vanish and try +to harmonize them with the core-outline as seen in the lengthwise +section; probably you will discover why you may not see the +core-outline in all the lengthwise sections you make. Before you leave +the fruit, note whether single seeds in a cell are the same shape as +the two seeds in a cell. + +The flesh outside the core-outline is interpreted to be stem structure +rather than pistil structure. Sometimes an apple bears a scale-like +leaf on its exterior, suggesting that the outer part of the fruit is +stem. The older morphologists interpreted the apple flower to comprise +a hollowed calyx (calyx-tube) inside which is the pistil and on the +rim of which are the petals and stamens. The structure now is regarded +as a hollowed receptacle or stem (hypanthium), with the pistil inside, +the petals and stamens on its rim. We noted in the flower that the +ovary part of the pistil is solidly imbedded in this receptacle, but +that the five styles are free. The pear and quince are of similar +structure, but the peach, plum and cherry are simple ripened pistils. + +Here, in this chapter, we have discovered some of the epochs in the +life of the apple. Usually we let the imagination run only to the +mature fruit, thinking of the harvest, but in all the weeks before the +harvest the apple has been growing and taking form. As these weeks +have not been blank to the apple-tree, so shall they not be blank to +me. + + + + +V + +THE BRUSH PILE + + +Today I visited the brush pile back of the orchard. Here the trimmings +of the winter are placed, waiting to be burned when dry. How many are +the archives that will be destroyed! Here are histories in every bud +and twig and scar, of the seasons, of the accidents and deaths, the +records of the tree as there are records of families. + +These records are not written in numbers or in letters, nor yet in +hieroglyphs; yet are they understandable. Alphabet is not needed, and +the key is simple. + +From the brush pile of records I took one. I must describe it in part +by a picture (Fig. 14). On the living trees at this writing the petals +mostly have fallen and the leaves are nearly full grown. This branch +was cut in winter. It has lain in the snow and rain, putting forth no +flowers or leaves. Yet we can read it. + +It is May, 1921. The terminal shoot is obviously of 1920; we shall +name it No. 1. It is a foot long, smooth and glossy, terminating at +the base (_o_) in a "ring" and at a short stub or branchlet. If we +count the buds on all sides of the shoot and at the tip we find them +to be 13. The largest one is at the tip, and they are mostly +successively smaller toward the base. Apparently the growth-energy was +expended in the upper parts of the twig, making large full buds. In +fact, the three or four lowermost buds are scarcely developed and +would not grow unless the limb were broken off above them; they are +dormant buds. + +[Illustration: 14. A three-year record.--In a leisure hour, trace the +history of these parts; it will open your eyes.] + +Looking along the shoot, I find that every six buds stand in the same +line: the sixth bud is over the first, seventh over the second, eighth +over the third. If I were to fasten a string to bud No. 1 and wind it +around the stem to my left, passing over every bud until I had reached +the sixth, I should find that it had made two circuits of the stem +(passed twice around it) and had passed over five spaces between buds. +This is the leaf-arrangement or phyllotaxy of the apple-tree, +expressed by the fraction 2/5. The space between two buds is +two-fifths of a diameter, and two circuits (ten-fifths) must be passed +before a bud comes over the one from which we started. The 2/5 +leaf-arrangement obtains on cherry, peach, apricot, pear, raspberry +and many others; but a very different order is that of the linden, +grape, currant, lilies, elm, maple. + +We cannot understand this simple unbranched terminal twig (No. 1) +until we know what took place last year. A year ago, in the spring of +1920, a terminal bud that had formed in 1919 expanded and gave rise to +this rapidly growing shoot. By the end of May or early June this shoot +had grown to twelve inches long, for the growth in length on the twigs +of trees is usually completed that early. This shoot bore leaves on +the 2/5 arrangement; in the axil of every leaf was a bud, the +strongest buds being with the strongest leaves at the middle and top +of the shoot; in the autumn of 1920 these leaves fell, but the buds +remained, persisted the winter, and were ready to "grow" in the early +spring of 1921. We see them on No. 1 (Fig. 14). + +[Illustration: 15. The growing shoot, with a bud in each axil, and a +spur on last year's growth.] + +In 1921 these buds on No. 1, then, would have grown. New leaves would +have come from the bud itself; in fact, the winter buds of the apple +are packed with miniature leaves and sometimes with flowers as well. +The shoot coming out of the bud may remain very short, constituting a +"spur," or grow with long internodes, making a slender twig. Fig. 15 +shows a branch with new elongated growth, _b_ to _a_, and a shoot or +spur (_c_) arising from a bud of the previous year. Note the "ring," +or division beyond _b_, marking the turn of the year. + +It will be noted in Fig. 14 that the buds are of two shapes and sizes, +such as _a, a, a_, representing one kind and _b, b_, the other kind. +The former, small and pointed, are leaf-buds; from them will arise a +shoot bearing only leaves. The latter, _b_, large and rounded and +usually more fuzzy, are flower-buds (fruit-buds): from them will arise +a short shoot bearing leaves and a cluster of flowers; and we hope +that at least one of the flowers will set fruit. + +We are now ready to resume our lesson with the branch before us. We +have identified the slender terminal part, No. 1, as the growth of +1920. We are now to account for all the remaining buds and branchlets. + +If No. 1 grew in 1920, then the main shoot of No. 2 grew in 1919, from +the point _o o_. It is also one foot long. Near its base are four +small buds that remained dormant in 1920. There are nine branches +(_d_) of various lengths besides the terminal shoot No. 1, all of +which grew in 1920, for they are naturally a year younger than the +main axis from which they arise; these branches are the same age as +No. 1, with buds that would have produced shoots in 1921. But the +terminal buds of eight of these lateral shoots (all but the lowermost) +bear blossom-buds at the end; note their size and shape. Had not the +branch been cut, these buds would have bloomed in 1921; the eight of +them would have produced probably forty to fifty flowers; perhaps two +or three good fruits would have resulted. Note that two of the lateral +branches or spurs are short and weak: these would soon perish. The No. +2 branch has a dead end (_e_); in some way the terminal bud was +destroyed, and No. 1 sprang from a lateral bud beneath it, changing +the direction of growth. + +If No. 2 grew in 1919, then No. 3 grew in 1918. It also grew about one +foot in length, showing that the conditions in the three years must +have been very uniform. There are remains of five dormant buds at its +base. There are seven side branches. As the main axis is three years +old, so these lateral shoots are two years old; they are the same age +as the axis No. 2. The lower one (_s_) grew less than an inch in 1919, +and made a fruit-bud; in 1920 it blossomed and one fruit set as is +shown by the square scar at the end; as the scar is small and the twig +weak, we are safe in assuming that the apple was very small or else +did not mature. A bud formed at the side of _s_ to continue the growth +of the spur next year (1921), but it is a leaf-bud; apparently there +was not sufficient energy to bear flowers and to make a fruit-bud; so +there would have been no more fruit on this spur earlier than 1922: +thus do we see that the alternate bearing of the apple-tree may have +some of its origin in the fruit-spur. + +The side spur _f_ produced a terminal blossom-bud in 1919. In 1920 six +flowers opened,--I could count the scars. One of the flowers produced +a fruit, as I tell by the square scar at the end; the thickened stem +also indicates fruit-bearing. The side bud in this case is a +fruit-bud, but it is small and weak and is probably incapable of +producing a fruit. There are no strong leaf-buds to take up the work, +and this spur (_f_) would probably soon have died, as also would spur +_s_. + +The side shoot _g_ grew to _h_ in 1919 and made a flower-bud. In 1920 +this bud gave blossoms and one fruit resulted; the scar is prominent +and there is an enlargement of the tissue indicating that the fruit +probably attained good size; in 1920 also, two side spurs were formed +each with weak blossom-buds, also a terminal shoot (beyond _h_) with +leaf-bud at the end. + +The other shoots have similar histories: the long shoot _i_ bore a +fruit-bud at _k_ in 1919 and a fruit in 1920; in 1920 it also made +three lateral shoots and a terminal shoot, with flower-buds +terminating two of them. Shoot _l_ bore flowers at its point in 1920 +but did not carry the fruit to maturity; it also made two side growths +and one terminal growth, all terminated by flower-buds, to be blown in +1921. The shoot _m_ is a short spur that made a flower-bud in 1919 and +in 1920 carried three little fruits for a time and made a flower-bud +in 1920. Shoot _n_ remained very short in 1919, making a terminal +leaf-bud; in 1920 it grew two inches and made a weak flower-bud. + +If shoot No. 3 grew in 1918, then No. 4 grew in 1917; but the branch +is severed and I cannot trace the record farther. We could trace the +family history many years if we had the unpruned tree before us. + +Here, then, in my yard-long manuscript are forty bud-records on the +main axis, counting the terminals on No. 2 and No. 3. I can find +record of 144 buds on the side shoots. This makes a grand total of 184 +buds. There is a total growth in length of 108 inches, or 9 feet. Each +of the buds that has already "grown" has produced an average of +probably ten leaves, or say 340 leaves in total. If there were an +average of five flowers to the cluster, then about 150 flowers would +have been carried on my branch, with the potentiality of 150 fruits; +but in fact not more than three or four maturing fruits would have +been produced in these years: and I should think this a good +proportion as blossoms and apples go. Certainly the branch has done +its part. There have been three eventful years. + +I would not have my reader to suppose that one may always distinguish +leaf-buds and fruit-buds at a glance. I may be mistaken in some of the +above determinations, but they are essentially correct for I have the +twig before me. In some varieties of apples the differences between +the two kinds of buds are less marked. The certain way is to dissect +the bud: one may then see what it contains. + +It now remains to determine how the branch was placed in the tree. It +must have been upright or very nearly so, for the main axis is +essentially straight and the branchlets are about equally developed on +all sides; moreover, there is no indication in the bark that one +exposure was the "weather side." The big twig _i_ apparently found a +light and unoccupied space into which to develop, but its extension is +not greatly out of proportion. I suppose, however, that my branch was +not topmost in the tree; there is no indication in very long growth or +strong upward tendency of the branchlets to mark the branch as a +"leader." + +Years ago I became fascinated with the study of knots and knot-holes +in the timber of wood-piles. They are excellent records of the events +in the life of trees. In print I have tried to show what they mean. I +also worked out the life-histories of twigs and published them in +nature-study leaflets and elsewhere. Hundreds of children were +interested in the twigs and buds, finding them unusual, every one of +them a different story, and yet not difficult to read. These lessons +gave meaning to trees and seasons. Such observations have always meant +much to me, even when made in the most casual way in the midst of +constraining activities. And now in this later day I come back to a +bare twig with all the joy of youth. The records of the years are in +these piles of brush. + + + + +VI + +THE PRUNING OF THE APPLE-TREE + + +We have found that not all the buds grow. We also know that some of +the spurs and shoots perish, not alone from accident but from defeat +in the struggle to live. The chances of success are relatively few. +The pruning process begins early in the life of the tree, and it +continues ceaselessly until the end. + +To the apple-tree in the wild, strict pruning is the assurance of +success. No tree can reach maturity unless more parts perish than are +able to live. The young forest tree has branchlets and leaves along +its side and at the top. All these perish as the trunk rises, often +leaving marks on the bark, curls in the wood, and knot-holes large and +small. Thousands of perished buds and branches are the price of a +straight bole and great clear sheets of boards. Yet these perished +parts bore their burden in their day and time, and contributed to the +ultimate success: there could have been no tree without them. + +Any tree-top discloses the pruning in action if one looks intently. +Part of it is recorded in the buds that never put forth a leaf; more +of it in little shoots left behind; and there are large and small +limbs, dead and dying, yellowing apparently before their time, hanging +on till the last hold is broken. Were it not for the benevolent +processes of decay, the ground would be strewn with the fallen parts +accumulating through the years. + +In nature, the great result is to yield abundant quantity of seeds, +that the species may propagate itself after its kind. Man may desire +fruits relatively few, but large of size and excellent of quality, +without spot or blemish; this means greater opportunity and care to +the single fruit. Pruning is essential, to converge the energy of the +plant into fewer branches, to give the fruits space and light, to +increase the efficiency of measures for the control of diseases and +insects. Part of the pruning consists in removing certain branches, +and part of it in eliminating the fruits themselves by the careful +process of thinning. + +The pruning of nature is fortuitous. The tree has the irregularity and +abandon of the picturesque. The pruning of man is for a different end, +and it produces the comely well-proportioned tree of the orchards. The +tree becomes a manipulated subject, comforting to the eye of the +thrifty pomologist. + +Branch-pruning is essentially the removal of superfluous +branches,--those that crowd, that cross each other, that are so placed +as to be profitless, that are in the way, that are injured or +diseased. For the most part, the branches should be removed when they +are small; but it is not possible to foresee all that may be needed in +the training of the tree and, therefore, the frequent advice to prune +only with a hand-knife cannot be followed. One needs a sharp +pruning-saw and sometimes a chisel on a long handle. Usually it is not +necessary to remove branches more than an inch or one and one-half +inch in diameter if pruning is carefully practiced every year; but +sometimes even well-pruned trees must be shaped, corrected and +improved by the cutting of larger branches. + +Pruning is usually best performed in early spring. The branch should +be cut close to the main limb or trunk and parallel with it, leaving +no stub; the healing process is then likely to proceed more rapidly. +The wound should be smooth and clean, without breaks, splinters or +splits; the knot-holes in logs and trunks are usually the consequence +of long "stubs" and torn injured parts. The tree is to be left +shapely, with a uniform distribution of branches, plenty of +fruit-bearing wood, easy to spray and from which to pick the fruit, of +the form characteristic of the variety. + +In all the usual customary pruning of the apple-tree, dressing of the +wounds is not necessary. It is much more important to give the added +attention to the proper making of the wounds and the thoughtful choice +of the parts to be removed. Wounds two inches and more in diameter may +be protected with good paint, so that they will not check and +therefore not hold water, until the callus covers them. Good judgment +in pruning is more profitable than recipes to repair damage. + +Fruit-pruning, or thinning, is the removing of so much fruit, when it +is small, as will allow the remainder to mature to its best and +constitute a maximum yield; it reduces the quantity of inferior fruit, +lessens the number of culls and the labor at packing time, conserves +the energy of the tree by preventing the maturity of great numbers of +seeds, diminishes diseases and pests. The overloading of the tree not +only imposes a heavy tax on its vitality but is likely to break the +limbs and to work much physical damage. + +Thinning may consist in removing part of the fruit in the cluster (in +the case of varieties that tend to mature more than one fruit from +each flower-cluster), in picking all the fruits from certain clusters +or pairs of clusters, or in cutting away some of the fruit-spurs +before blossoming time. + +The removal of the fruit itself is usually performed after the +"June-drop," when the extent of the crop is evident. The fruits are +pulled off by hand or cut with thinning-shears, the latter practice +being the better since it is not so likely to break the fruit-spurs. +The least promising fruits are taken away and the remaining apples are +left at least five or six inches apart in most varieties. The extent +of thinning must be governed by the variety, thrift of the tree, +result desired, and other conditions. To secure the best results, the +apples should be thinned when still small. + +Thinning by early-spring removal of fruit-spurs is a very special +practice. It is employed on dwarf trees and on those specially +trained. It should be undertaken only by a careful and experienced +man. It is not to be inferred that the fruit of the apple is all borne +on spurs, for some of it may be derived from terminal buds on the new +axial growths or even from lateral buds; but the spurs are conspicuous +and readily recognized. Of course the ordinary pruning of the tree +removes fruit-bearing wood and is therefore a thinning process. + +Within sensible limits, therefore, pruning is an invigorating process +in the sense that it deflects the energy to remaining parts of the +tree. What is called too heavy pruning, whereby the tree throws out +abundance of water-sprouts, is illustration of this fact: the tree is +thrown into heavy growth of adventitious shoots. The tree may not +produce more pounds of substance, or even more total feet in length, +but new energy is developed in certain parts. + +In the restoration, or so-called renovation, of old neglected trees, +the two primary considerations are to prune vigorously and to till and +fertilize the land. Sometimes old trees must be mended as explained in +Chapter XIII. Of course they must be sprayed for what ails them. If +the variety is poor, the tree may be top-grafted (Chapter XII). In +some cases, it is hardly possible to make neglected trees bear +satisfactorily, for they were never of value: there is nothing to +restore. It may be a question of soil and location, of lack of +pollination, of trees so weak or so misshapen that effort on them is +wasted. But tillage, pruning, spraying, should produce worth-while +results in most cases. + +In the care of the fruit-tree there is no practice which brings the +grower into such intimate knowledge of the plant as that of pruning +and thinning. The operator sees the tree as a whole, taking it all in; +then he sees it in small detail in all its parts, even to the spurs +and buds. With simple good tools, sharp and keen, and with a practiced +eye, he applies a deft and swift handicraft, cutting true, making a +fair clean wound, leaving the tree comely and ready for its highest +effort. The pride of good workmanship may find expression. The +operator feels also the sense of mastery that is in him, whereby he +corrects the tree, removes the wayward parts, keeps and encourages all +that is best. To engage in this kind of education requires that one +approaches the work with due preparation of mind and I think also with +consecration of heart. + + + + +VII + +MAINTAINING THE HEALTH AND ENERGY OF THE APPLE-TREE + + +The apple-tree starts life fresh and vigorous. It grows rapidly. The +shoots are long and straight. The wood is smooth and fair and supple. +The leaves are usually large. It is good to see the young trees +acquire size and take shape. + +Room in the ground and in the air is ample with the young apple-tree. +It is free to grow. Probably the ground was newly prepared and tilled +when the tree was planted; at least, a hole was dug and fine good +earth was placed about the roots. Probably insects had not found +permanent encampment on the tree. It had been well pruned, so that it +carried the minimum of superfluous and competing parts. + +But in time the difficulties come. The tree probably slows down. It +becomes too thick of branches. The land is not tilled. It is not +manured. Insects and fungi make headway. The tree overbears. As the +years go on, the tree is thrown into alternate bearing, one year a +crop too heavy, one year a crop too light. The tree becomes broken, +diseased, gnarly, unshapely. + +We have seen that the fruit-spur in bearing is likely to make a +leaf-bud for the next year's activities rather than a flower-bud. It +is assumed that the making of a flower-bud requires more energy than +the making of a plain leaf-bud; if this is true, there may not be +energy enough to carry a flower-cluster and to make a new flower-bud +at the same time. But if the tree is in proper vigor, is well fed, +protected from noxious organisms, not allowed to overbear, it should +have sufficient energy to make a crop every year, frosts and accidents +excepted. It is assumed, of course, that self-sterile varieties have +good pollinizing varieties near them; it is always well to plant two +or more kinds near together. Whether the continuity of bearing is +exhibited on the same fruit-spurs or whether there may be an +alternation in the spurs on the same tree, is of no moment in this +discussion. It is enough to say that there is no reason in the nature +of the case why an apple-tree should bear only every other year; it is +probably a question of nutrition. + +The first essential to continued health and vigor is to start with a +strong unblemished tree. It is to be planted before its vitality is +lessened by exposure and hard usage. The more direct the transfer from +nursery to orchard, the better. It is to be placed in good ground, +well drained and deeply spaded or plowed. The apple-tree thrives on +many kinds of land, but light sand, hard clay, and muck are equally to +be avoided. "Good corn land" is commonly considered to be good apple +land. Certain soils and regions are particularly adaptable to +commercial apple-growing, but the amateur may plant quite +independently of this fact. The observant man notes the many +conditions under which the apple-tree may be grown with satisfaction. + +If the land is not uniformly prepared, then the hole dug for the tree +should be larger than demanded by spread of roots, and the earth +fined in the bottom of it. Trees should be planted when perfectly +dormant, preferably in spring, at least in the northern parts. + +The roots should be cut back to sound unsplintered wood, and very long +roots may well be shortened. The reader is aware that roots have no +regular order or arrangement as do the buds from which branches arise. +It is not necessary to try to shape the root-system to any formal +regularity. + +As a good part of the root-system is destroyed when the tree is dug, +so is the top reduced to insure something like a balance. Half or more +of the top, on a three-year-old tree, is cut away, the long growths +being shortened to perhaps three or four good buds. If limbs are left +to form the framework of the future top, they should be alternate with +each other at some distance apart so that weak crotches do not form. + +The tree is planted snugly, the earth being filled among the roots so +that no air-holes remain. The tree is shaken up and down to settle the +earth densely. Once or twice in filling, the earth is packed with the +feet. The purpose is to keep the tree firm and stiff against winds, +and to give all its roots close contact with the earth. Properly +planted, so that it will not whip or dry out, the tree gets a hold +quickly and begins to grow strongly. The first start-off of the tree +is important. + +Apple-trees are held in vigor by plenty of room. For the standard +varieties in regular orchards, the recommended distance either way is +40 feet, or 35 x 40 feet. Some varieties may go as close as 30 feet; +and in regions (as parts of central and western North America) in +which the trees are not expected to attain such great size as in the +eastern country, the planting may be even less than this of the +upright-growing kinds. The spaces between the trees may be utilized +for a few years with other crops, even with other fruits, as peaches +or berries. Orchardists sometimes plant smaller-growing and +early-bearing varieties of apples between the regular trees as +"fillers," taking them out as the room is needed. Of course all kinds +of double cropping require that extra attention be given to the +tilling and fertilizing of the plantation. + +The general advice for the growing of strong apple-trees is to give +the land good tillage from the first and to withhold other cropping +after the trees come into profitable bearing. Clean tillage for the +first part of the season and the raising of a cover-crop in the latter +part, to be plowed under, is a standard and dependable procedure. +Trees live long in continuous sod and they may thrive, but they may be +expected to show gains under tillage. Vast areas of apple plantings +are in sod, but this of itself does not demonstrate the desirability +of the sod practice. Allowing trees to remain in sod usually leads to +neglect. + +There is a modification of sod-practice in some parts of the country +that gives excellent results, under certain conditions. The grass is +cut and allowed to lie, not being removed for hay. Manure and +fertilizer are added as top-dressing, as needed. This method is known +as the "sod mulch system." It is not a practice of partial neglect, +like the prevailing sod orchards, but a regular designed method of +producing results. Its application can hardly be as widespread as +clean tillage, on level lands. + +It is a common opinion that hillsides and more or less inaccessible +slopes should be planted to apples. This may be true in the sense +that apples will grow on such areas and that such plantations are +better than fallow land. In fact, many such lands are profitable in +orchards. When they do not allow of tillage, easy spraying, and +economy in harvesting, however, they cannot compete with level +orchards. + +To maintain the health and energy of the apple-tree, the land should +be enriched. This may be accomplished by the application of animal +manures, chemical fertilizers, or cover-crops, or preferably by a +combination of these means. Not many persons possess sufficient farm +manures to supply the general crops and the apple-orchard; but every +application the orchard receives is all to the good. Five to ten tons +of good stable manure to the acre annually is a good addition for an +orchard in bearing. This may be supplemented by cover-crops and bag +fertilizers in years in which the manure is not available. Experiments +are yet inconclusive on the fertilizing of apple-trees, but it is fair +to assume that on most lands, particularly on old lands, the addition +of chemical fertilizer is advantageous. A bearing apple-tree may +receive two to eight pounds of nitrate of soda (depending on its size +and on soil) applied to the full feeding area of the roots, five to +nine pounds of acid phosphate, two or three pounds of muriate of +potash; always ask advice. + +The pasturing of orchards is often defensible and sometimes even +desirable. If the trees are growing too rapidly, they may be "slowed +down" by seeding to grass for a time; and pasturing with hogs, and +possibly with sheep, may afford a way of keeping the area in condition +and of adding fertilizer. Sheep that do not have access to +drinking-water and salt gnaw the trees. Hogs root up the ground and +thereby provide a rude kind of tillage. If animals are fed other food +in the orchard, the fertilizer increment will be considerable. + +In house-lot conditions, the apple-tree usually receives sufficient +food if the land is well enriched for garden purposes; but trees in +sod should have liberal top-dressings of fertilizer every year and of +stable manure every other year. + +The apple-tree should have a good supply of moisture. Planted on banks +and in hard places about buildings, it may suffer in this respect. The +land should be so graded that the rainfall will not run off. In +orchard conditions, the moisture is conserved by the addition of humus +to the land, and by thorough judicious tillage; and in dry regions it +is supplied by irrigation. + +The energy of the apple-tree, and its ability to produce, is conserved +by holding all diseases and noxious insects in check. The means at the +command of the apple-grower are now many. No longer is the man +helpless, nor does he need to appeal to the moon or to "atmospheric +influences" for reasons. The natural histories of fungi and insects, +that do so much damage, are now a part of common understandable +knowledge. To acquire at least a working understanding of the +commonest of these subjects is in itself a great satisfaction and +gives one a sense of dominion. The good books and bulletins are +sufficient to keep one well informed. All these organisms are tenants +of the apple-tree, and from the naturist's point of view alone they +are not to be overlooked. + +It is not to be inferred that all apple-trees will yield equally well +with equally good treatment. There is difference in trees as there is +in cows. We may not know why. But even so, it is our part to do the +best we can: this is our privilege. + +The tillage and care of plants lessen the struggle for existence. So +is the apple-tree protected from the crowds, from contest for moisture +and food, from insects, and from the competition within itself. +Thereby is it able to express all its possibilities. Even the dormant +potentialities may be wakened, and the plant makes a wide departure +from its native state. This is not an original state of sin, but a +state of repression in which it is held in a world that is full of so +many things beside apple-trees. I may till my orchard ever so well, +manipulate the trees ever so promptly, yet if the plantation then is +allowed to run to neglect the processes of depreciation gain the +mastery; the struggle for existence is restored. + +To keep one's apple-tree in the pink of perfection is as joyful an +enterprise as to do anything else well. It is only the well-conditioned +tree that yields its glorious harvest year by year. + + + + +VIII + +HOW AN APPLE-TREE IS MADE + + +If the seeds of a Baldwin or Winesap apple are planted, we do not +expect to get a Baldwin or Winesap; we shall probably raise a very +inferior fruit. The apple has not been bred "true to seed" as has the +cabbage and sweet pea. To get the tree "true to name," of the desired +variety and with no chance of failure (barring accident), is one of +the niceties of horticulture. This is accomplished with great +precision and despatch. + +The apple-tree is started from the seed. It cannot be grown freely by +means of cuttings, as can the grape and currant. In commercial +practice the seeds are collected mostly from cider mills or from +pomace. The seeds may be washed from the pomace, allowed to dry, and +then mixed in sand, charcoal, sawdust or other material to prevent +dessication and kept until spring, when they are sown. Or, if the land +is not so wet in winter that the seed will drown or be washed out, the +seed in the pomace (not separated) may be sown in autumn. The seeds +are sown in drills, after the manner of onions or turnips, one to two +or even three inches deep. They germinate readily in the cool of +spring, and the plants should reach a height of twelve inches and more +the first year. + +If these plants were grown directly into bearing trees, it is +probable that no two trees would produce the same kind of fruit. Some +of the fruit might be summer apples, some of it winter apples, some +red, yellow or striped, some of it flat, oblong or spherical, most of +it sour but perhaps some of it sweet. Probably every kind would be +inferior to the parent stock or to standard varieties, although there +is a fair chance that a superior kind might originate from a field of +such plants. + +Therefore, it is not the variety (that is, the top) that is wanted in +the raising of these numerous plants, but merely the roots, on which +desired varieties may be grown by the clever art of graftage. Yet not +even all the roots may be wanted, for the growing plants may differ or +vary in their stature and vigor as well as in their fruit. The +discriminating grower, therefore, discards the weak and puny treelings +at the digging time; or if the weak plants seem still to have promise, +they may be allowed to grow another year before they are dug for the +grafting. + +This digging time is the autumn of the first year, when the plants +have grown one season. They are then to be used as "stocks" on which +to graft Baldwin, Winesap or other varieties. The growing of these +apple stocks is a business by itself. Formerly, most of the stocks +used in North America were imported from France, where special skill +has been developed in the growing of them and where the requisite +labor is available. But now the stocks are grown also in deep rich +bottom lands of the Middle West, as in Kansas, where, in the long +seasons, a large growth may be attained. + +The methods of graftage of the commercial apple-tree are two--by +cion-grafting whereby a bit of wood with two or three buds is inserted +on the stock, by bud-grafting (budding) whereby a single bud with a +bit of bark attached is inserted under the bark of the stock. + +Cion-grafting is practiced in winter under cover. The stock is cut off +at the crown and the cion spliced on it, or the root may be cut in two +or more pieces and each piece receive a cion. The union is made by the +whip-graft method (Fig. 16). The cion is tied securely, to keep it in +place. The piece-root method is allowable only when the root is long +and strong, so that a well-rooted plant results the first year. The +cion is a cutting of the last year's growth (as of No. 1, in Fig. 14). +However accomplished, the process is to supply the cion with roots; it +is planted in another plant instead of in the ground. + +[Illustration: 16. The whip-graft before tying.] + +The cion-grafts are now planted in the nursery row in spring. The cion +starts growth rapidly, only one shoot being allowed to remain; this +shoot forms the trunk or bole of the future tree. At the end of the +first season, the little tree is said to be one year old, although the +root is at least two years old; at the end of the second year it is +two years old; the tree is sometimes sold as a two-year-old, but +usually a year later as a three-year-old having a four-year-old root. +In fact, however, the root and top may be considered, in a way, to be +of the same age, particularly if only a piece of the root is employed, +for the cion grew on its parent tree the same year the root was +growing in the nursery. + +The tree grew from the seed but it is no longer a "seedling" or a +"natural;" it is now a grafted tree, destined to produce a named +recognized variety of apple, maybe York Imperial, maybe Jonathan. We +find seedling trees in old fields, in fence-rows, and in woods. These +have grown from scattered seeds and have come to fruit without the +arts of the propagator. They bear their own tops or heads, rather than +the heads that a thrifty horticulturist would have put on them. Now +and then such a tree produces superior fruit; then a discriminating +pomologist discovers it, names it a new variety, and propagates it as +other varieties are propagated. Thus have most of the prized varieties +originated, without knowledge on the part of man of the ultimate +processes. But now with the accumulating knowledge of the +plant-breeder we hope to be able to foresee and probably to produce +varieties of given qualities. + +[Illustration: 17. A "bud" before tying.] + +Bud-grafting is practiced in summer. The young trees, obtained from +the grower of apple stocks, are planted regularly in nursery rows in +spring, the top having been cut back to the crown so that a strong +vigorous shoot will arise. In July and August or September, when this +shoot is the size of a lead pencil and larger and the bark will peel +(or separate from the wood), a single bud is inserted near the ground +(Fig. 17). This bud is deftly cut from the current year's growth of +the desired variety; it grows in the axil of a leaf (Fig. 15). The +leaf is removed but a small part of the stalk or petiole is retained +with the bud to serve as a handle. A boat-shaped or shield-shaped +piece of bark is removed with the bud. This piece, known technically +as a "bud," is inserted in an incision on the stock, so that it slips +underneath the bark and next the wood, with only the bud itself +showing in the slit; it is then tied in place. + +The stock on which the bud is inserted has a two-year root, and the +root is entire. For this reason, budded trees are usually very large +and strong for their age when compared with piece-root trees grown +under similar conditions of climate, tillage and soil. + +The bud does not grow the year it is inserted in the stock; it is +dormant until the following spring, as it would have been had it +remained on its parent branch; but soon after it is inserted it +attaches itself fast to the stock: it is a bud implanted from one twig +to another. The following spring, if the operation is successful, the +bud "grows," sending up a strong shoot that makes the trunk of the +future tree. The top of the stock is cut away; in the merchantable +tree, the bend or place may be seen where the stock and cion meet. + +As in the case of cion-grafting, we now have a top of a known variety +growing on the root of an unknown kind. The tree is sold at two or +three years, counting the age of the top; and of course the tree is no +longer called a seedling, and it produces its implanted variety as +accurately as does the cion-grafted tree. Equally good trees are +produced by both cion-grafting and bud-grafting. + +The apple-tree is now "propagated," and is ready for the planting. +Great hopes will be built on it, and the tree will probably do its +part to justify them. Nobody knows how a bud from a Baldwin tree holds +the memory of a Baldwin or from a Winesap tree the memory of a +Winesap. Neither does anyone know why of two seeds that look alike one +will unerringly produce a cabbage and the other a cauliflower. So +accustomed are we to these results that we never challenge a twig of +apple or a seed of cabbage: we assume that the twig or the seed +"knows." Nor have we yet approached this question in our elaborate +studies of plant-breeding. Here is one of the mysteries that baffles +the skill of the physiologist and chemist, yet it is a mystery so very +common that we know it not, albeit the life on the planet would +otherwise be utter confusion. + + + + +IX + +THE DWARF APPLE-TREE + + +We have learned that many kinds of apples and apple-trees may come +from a batch of seeds. Differences are expressed in the tree as well +as in the fruit. In fact, stature is usually one of the +characteristics of the variety. Here I open Downing's great book, "The +Fruits and Fruit-Trees of America," and find the description of a +certain variety beginning: "Tree while young very slow in its growth, +but makes a compact well-formed head in the orchard," and another: +"Tree vigorous, upright spreading, and productive." We know the small +stature and early bearing of the Wagener (wherefore it is often +planted in the orchard as a filler), and the great wide-spreading head +of the Tompkins King with the apples scattered through the tree. + +Now it so happens that in the course of time certain great races of +the apple-tree have arisen, we do not know just why or how. There is +the race or family of the russets and of the Fameuse. So are there +several races very small in stature, remaining perhaps no larger than +bushes. If we were to propagate any of the ordinary apples on such +diminutive stocks, we should have a "dwarf apple-tree." + +The dwarf apple, then, is not a question of variety but of stock. Any +variety may be grown as a dwarf by grafting it on a plant that +naturally remains small, although some varieties are more adaptable +than others to the purpose. + +If seeds of the natural diminutive apple-tree are sown, a variety of +trees and apples may be expected. The fruits would probably be +inferior. Probably the stature would vary between different seedlings. +If we are to get the effect of dwarfness, we must be sure that the +stock is itself really dwarf. Therefore, to eliminate variation and +also because seeds of natural dwarf apples may not be had in +sufficient quantity, the stocks are propagated by layers rather than +by seeds. + +The diminutive tree, when well established, is cut off near the +ground. Sprouts arise. Some kinds sucker very freely. If earth is +mounded up around the sprouts, roots form on them and the sprouts may +be removed and treated as if they were seedling stocks. Usually the +mounding is not performed until the shoots have made one season's +growth. Gooseberries and some other plants are often propagated by +mound-layers. In the case of the gooseberry, however, it is desired +that the layer reproduce the parent--it may be Downing or +Whitesmith--and therefore it is planted without further manipulation. +But in the case of the apple, we do not want the layer to reproduce +the parent, for the parent would probably bear an inferior fruit since +it does not represent an "improved" or recognized variety; therefore +the layer is grafted or budded with the particular variety we desire +to grow as a dwarf tree. + +Dwarf trees are grown in America, if at all, only in gardens, where +extra attention may be given them. Only high-class kinds should be +attempted on dwarfs, for the quantity-production of commercial apples +must be obtained by less intensive methods on cheaper lands. + +Better fruits often are grown on dwarf than on standards, for two +reasons: It is usual to propagate only the best varieties on dwarf +stock; the little tree must receive extra care in pruning and in every +other way. Its bushel of apples must be choice, every one, to make the +effort of growing the tree worth the while. Under European conditions +where land is high-priced and labor has been relatively cheap, it is +possible (and common) to raise apples on dwarfs for market, as it is +profitable to terrace the hillsides with human labor; but in North +America the conditions are practically the reverse and the dwarf tree +cannot compete with the standard orchard tree. + +The growing of a dwarf tree is essentially a gardening practice. It +requires great skill. The spurs are produced and protected to a +nicety. Every fruit may be the separate product of handwork. The +fertilizing, mulching, watering, are carefully regulated for every +tree. Often the trees are trained on cordons, espaliers, trellises or +walls. The individual fruits may be tied up or bagged. All this is +very different from the raising of apples by means of tractors and +other machinery, gangs of pruners and pickers, broadside extensive +methods, with highly organized systems of handling and marketing, in +all of which the money-measure is the chief consideration. It is for +all these reasons that the growing of a few dwarf apple-trees may +afford such intimate satisfaction to a careful man who prizes the +result of his skill. + +The dwarfs are grown as little trees branching near the ground, headed +in at top and side and kept within shape and bounds. If they are of +the dwarfest dwarfs and not trained on trellis or wall (as they +usually are not in America), the fruit may be gathered by a man +standing on the ground, even from old trees. The dwarfs are planted +eight to ten feet apart when grown in regular plantation. + +Be it said that certain kinds of stocks produce trees only semi-dwarf; +and in all cases if the tree is planted so deep that roots strike from +the cion, the top will probably outgrow the stock, being supplied in +part or even entirely by its own roots. + +This brings us to a consideration of some of the kinds of dwarf +stocks, or dwarf races of the apple-tree. Be it said, in understanding +of the subject, that there are naturally dwarf forms of many plants, +and probably all ordinary plants are capable of producing them. Thus +there are very compact condensed forms of arbor-vitae, Norway spruce, +peach-tree. These have originated as seed sports and are multiplied by +cuttings. So are there dwarf tomatoes, dwarf China asters, dwarf sweet +peas, all coming more or less true from seeds, for these species (of +short generations) have been bred to reproduce their variations. The +inquirer must not suppose, therefore, that the races of dwarf +apple-trees are an anomally in the vegetable kingdom. + +It is customary to speak of two classes or races of dwarf apple-trees, +the Paradise and the Doucin. The former kinds are the smaller, the +trees on their own roots sometimes reaching not more than four feet in +height at full bearing maturity. On the Paradise stocks, the grafted +apple-tree is very small; it is a true dwarf. The Doucin trees are by +nature larger, and apples grafted on them make semi-dwarf trees, +midway in stature between the real dwarfs and the common standard or +"free" apple-trees. + +The case is not so simple, however, as this brief statement would make +it appear. There are many kinds of Paradise stock, as also of Doucin. +If one were to bring together living plants of all the kinds of +natural dwarfs and semi-dwarfs that could be found in nurseries and +growing collections, one would undoubtedly find a nearly complete +series, so far as stature of tree is concerned, from the very dwarf to +the full-sized standard tree. To say that a person is growing grafted +dwarf apple-trees does not signify how large the trees may be expected +to grow, for one may not know the particular kind of stocks on which +the variety is grafted. In fact, it is considered even in Europe, +where dwarf apples are chiefly grown, that the proper identification +of dwarf stocks is still a subject for careful investigation. + +When the Paradise dwarfs first came into existence is undetermined. +They appear to have been known in the Middle Ages. The many races, as +the Dutch, French, Metz, Nonsuch, Broad-leaved, indicate an ancient +origin. We cannot be too certain what apple-trees were meant in the +early references to the Paradise apple. The fruits of the present +natural Paradise apple-trees are not sufficiently attractive to +justify us in considering them the "Tree of Paradise" or apple of the +Garden of Eden, which circumstance is supposed by some to account for +the name. "Paradise" was originally a park or pleasure ground, applied +also to the Garden of Eden, and later to horticultural gardens. John +Parkinson wrote his great treatise on horticulture, 1629, under the +title, "Paradisi in Sole Paradisus terrestris; or, a Choice Garden of +all Sorts of Rarest Flowers, etc." Now we use the word for gardens of +bliss. + +The word Doucin, from the Italian, is supposed originally to have +designated apples of sweet flavor, but it now applies technically to a +class or race of semi-dwarf apple-trees. + +For the purpose of this little book, however, the interest in the +dwarf apple centers not so much in the origin of the stock as in the +natural-history of the tree itself and the good skill of hand and +heart that one may expend in the growing of it. If one would come +close to a plant, knowing it intimately in every season, causing it to +respond to sympathetic treatment through a series of years, then a +garden collection of dwarf apples may satisfy the desire. It is too +bad that we do not have time to cultivate the dwarfs often in the +yards and gardens of North America. We are more familiar with the +raising of dwarf pears (which are grafted on quince stocks since there +is no similar race of natural dwarf pear-tree), but we do not give +them the thumb-and-finger care that is demanded for the choicest +results. The abundance of apples in the market should only stimulate +the desire of the connoisseur to have trees and fruits that are wholly +personal. The market produce can never gratify the affections. + + + + +X + +WHENCE COMES THE APPLE-TREE? + + +If the dwarf apple-tree goes back to the Middle Ages and perhaps +farther, then whence comes the apple originally? No one can surely +answer. Carbonized apples are found in the remains of the prehistoric +lake dwellings of Switzerland. When recorded history begins, apples +were well known and widely distributed. The apple-tree is wild in many +parts of Europe, but it is difficult to determine whether, in a given +region, it is indigenous or has run wild from cultivation. Wild +apple-trees are common in North America, but no one supposes that the +orchard apple is native here. + +Expert opinion generally considers that the apple is native in the +region of the Caspian Sea and probably in southeastern Europe. Perhaps +it had spread westward before the Aryan migrations. It had also +probably spread eastward, but it is not a cultivated fruit in China +and Japan except apparently as introduced in recent time. The apple is +essentially a fruit of central and northern Europe, and of European +migration and settlement. + +It is a fertile retrospect to conceive of the apple as an attendant of +the course of Western civilization. Without voice and leaving no +record, it has nevertheless followed man in his wanderings, encouraged +his attainment of permanent habitations, succored him in his +emergencies. What the apple has contributed to sustenance can never be +known, but we are aware that it yields its fruit abundantly, that it +thrives in widely unlike regions and conditions, that the tree has the +ruggedness to endure severe climates and to provide food that can be +stored and transported. In the ages it must have stood guard at many a +rude camp and fireside. It would be fascinating to know what the +apple-tree has witnessed. + +These early apples must have been very crude fruits measured by the +produce of the present day. But other food was crude and man was +crude. The North American Indians found the apple to be worth their +effort; remains of some of the so-called Indian orchards of the Five +Nations in New York persisted until the present generation. These were +seedling apple-trees, grown from the stocks introduced by the white +man. The French missionaries are said to have carried the apple far +into the interior, and early settlers took seeds with them. The +legends and records of Johnny Appleseed, sowing the seeds as he went, +are still familiar. My father, like other pioneers, took seeds from +the old New England trees into the wilderness of the West; the +resulting trees were top-grafted, some of them as late as my time; I +can remember the apples some of these seedling trees bore, the like of +which I have never seen again, probably poor apples if we had them in +this day but to a boy at the edge of the forest the very essence of +goodness. As early as 1639, apples had been picked from trees planted +on Governor's Island in Boston harbor. Governor John Endicott of +Massachusetts Colony had an apple-tree nursery in the early day; in +1644 he says that five hundred of his trees were destroyed by fire. +So the apple came early to be a standby on the new continent. + +The apples of the colonists were not all for eating, but for drinking. +The butts and barrels of cider put in cellars in the early times seem +to us most surprising. Herein are suggestions of old social customs +that might lead us into interesting historical excursions. The oldest +book I possess on the apple is "Vinetum Britannicum: or, a Treatise of +Cider," published in London in 1676; it treats also of other beverages +made from fruits and of "the newly-invented ingenio or mill, for the +more expeditious and better making of cider." The gradual change in +customs, whereby the eating of the apple (rather than the drinking of +it) has come to be paramount, is a significant development; the use of +apple-juice may now proceed on another basis, on the principle of +preservation and pasteurization rather than of fermentation. + +It is the custom to call the apple _Pyrus Malus_. This is the name +given by the great Linnaeus, with whom the modern accurate naming of +plants and animals begins. The nomenclature of plants starts with his +"Species Plantarum," 1753. Pyrus is the genus or group comprising the +pears and apples, and Linnaeus included the quince; Malus is Latin for +the apple-tree. Together the names represent genus and species,--the +malus Pyrus. + +These statements are easy enough to make, but it is impossible to +demonstrate whether the common pomological apples are derived from one +original species or from two or more. Many technical botanical names +have been given in the group, but we need not pause with them here. It +is enough for our purpose to know that the natural-history of the +apple, as of anything else that runs to time immemorial, passes at +the end into obscurity. We seem never to reach the ultimate origins or +to find an end to our quests. + +There are other apples than the common pomological orchard types. +There are the crabs. In general usage, the word "crab" designates an +apple that is small, sour and crabbed. Such apples are wildings or +seedlings. They are merely depreciated forms of _Pyrus Malus_, and +probably much like the first apples known to man. What are known to +horticulturists as crab-apples, however, are other species of Pyrus, +of different character and origin. We need not pause with the +discussion of them, except to say that the commonest kinds are the +little long-stemmed fruits of _Pyrus baccata_ (berry Pyrus), native in +eastern Europe and Siberia. These are the "Siberian crabs." The leaves +and twigs are smooth, and the calyx falls away from the fruit, leaving +a bare blossom end. These little hard handsome fruits are used in the +making of conserves. Certain larger crab-apples, in which the blossom +end is not clean or bare, as the Transcendent and Hyslop, are probably +hybrids between the true crabs and the common apple; this class +provides the main crab-apples of the markets. + +When the settlers came to the country west and south of New England, +they found another kind of crab-apples in the woods, truly native. The +fruits were hard and sour, but they could be buried to ripen. The +trees are much like a thorn-apple,--low, spreading, twiggy, thorny; +but the pink-white large fragrant flowers are very different. The wild +crab-apple was called _Pyrus coronaria_ by Linnaeus, the "garland +Pyrus." On the prairies is another species, _Pyrus ioensis_; it yields +a charming double-flowered form, "Bechtel's crab." In the South are +other species. In fact, _P. coronaria_ itself may not be a single +species. These wild crabs run into many forms. In the northern +Mississippi and prairie country are native apples good enough to be +introduced into cultivation under varietal names. These are _Pyrus +Soulardii_, a species bearing the name of J. G. Soulard, Illinois +horticulturist. These crab-apples are probably natural hybrids between +_Pyrus Malus_ and the prairie crab, _P. ioensis_. Had there been no +European apple to be introduced by colonists, it is probable that +improved forms would have been evolved from the native species. In +that event, North American pomology would have had a very different +character. + +There remains a very different class of apple-trees, grown only for +ornament and usually known as "flowering apples." They are mostly +native in China and Japan. They are small trees, or even almost +bushes, with profuse handsome flowers and some of them with very +ornamental little fruits. They have come to this country largely from +Japan where they are grown for decoration, as the cherries of Japan +are grown not for fruit but for their flowers, being of very different +species from the cherries of Europe and America. The common apple +itself yields varieties grown only for ornament, as one with +variegated leaves, one with double flowers, and one with drooping +branches. These are known mostly in Europe; but these forms do not +compare in interest with the handsome species of the Far East. + +All these differing species of the apple-tree multiply the interest +and hold the attention in many countries. They make the apple-tree +group one of the most widespread and adaptable of temperate-region +trees. It will be seen that there are three families of them,--the +Eurasian family, from which come the pomological apples; the North +American family, which has yielded little cultivated material; the +East-Asian family, abundant in highly ornamental kinds. There are no +apple-trees native in the southern hemisphere. + +The apple-tree, taken in its general sense, has a broad meaning. What +may be accomplished by breeding and hybridizing is beyond +imagination. + + + + +XI + +THE VARIETIES OF APPLE + + +Every seedling of the pomological apples is a new variety. Some of +these seedlings are so good that they are named and introduced into +cultivation. They are grafted on other stocks, and become part of the +great inheritance of desirable apples. + +It is to be expected that in the long processes of time in many +countries the number of varieties will accumulate to high numbers. No +one knows all the kinds that have been named and propagated, but they +run into many thousands. No one book contains them all, although some +of the manuals are voluminous. Varieties drop out of existence, being +no longer propagated; new varieties come in. + +So the lists of varieties gradually change. A list of one hundred +years ago would contain many names strange to us. Thus, of the sixty +apples in "A Select List of Fruit-Trees" by Bernard M'Mahon, published +in "The American Gardener's Calendar," in 1806, not more than six or +eight would be understandable to a planter of the present day. + +With the standardizing of practices in the commercial growing of +fruits, the tendency is to reduce the number of varieties to small +proportions; it is these varieties that the nurserymen propagate. +Here and there over the country are still trees of the extra-quality +but uncommercial varieties known to a former generation. If the +amateur now wants to grow these varieties, he must find cions as best +he can by patient correspondence, and graft them on his own trees. +When I planted an orchard twenty-five years ago, I found cions of +Jefferis here, of Dyer there, of Mother, Swaar and Chenango in other +places. + +In the enlarged edition of Downing's "Fruits and Fruit-Trees of +America," 1872, are descriptions of 1856 varieties, of which 1099 are +American in origin, 585 foreign, 172 of origin unknown. The lists are +not only much smaller in these days, but the foreign element tends to +pass out. With the introduction of the Russian apples for the cold +North in the latter part of the past century, the importation of +foreign varieties practically ceased, as it ceased also for the pears +at an earlier date with the introductions of Manning, Wilder and +others. The epoch of the "testing" of varieties passed away, and with +it has gone an appreciative attitude toward fruits and even toward +life that constitutes a sad lack in our day. + +About thirty years ago (1892) I compiled an inventory of all the +varieties of apple-trees sold in North America, as listed in the +ninety-five nurserymen's catalogues that came to my hand. The inventory +contains 878 varieties. In the present year, however, perhaps not more +than 100 varieties are handled by nurserymen in Eastern United States. +Probably the dealer and grower would consider even this small number +much too great. The highly developed standardized business of the +present day, aiming at quantity-production, naturally reduces the +variety of products, whether in manufacturing or horticulture, and +aims at uniformity. Under the influence of this leadership, we are +losing many of the old products, varieties of apples among the rest. + +Why do we need so many kinds of apples? Because there are so many +folks. A person has a right to gratify his legitimate tastes. If he +wants twenty or forty kinds of apples for his personal use, running +from Early Harvest to Roxbury Russet, he should be accorded the +privilege. Some place should be provided where he may obtain trees or +cions. There is merit in variety itself. It provides more points of +contact with life, and leads away from uniformity and monotony. + +The leading varieties of apples, that have become dominant over wide +regions, have been great benefactors to man. The original tree should +be carefully preserved till the last, by historical or other +societies; and then a monument should be placed at the spot. Monuments +have been erected to the Baldwin, Northern Spy, McIntosh and other +apples. We should never lose our touch with the origins of men, +events, notable achievements, outstanding products of nature. + +I fear it is now a habit with many fruit-growers to minimize the +interest in varieties, placing the emphasis on tillage, spraying and +management of plantations. Yet, the only reason why we expend all the +labor is that we may grow a given kind of apple; the variety is the +final purpose. + +In this little book we cannot discuss varieties at length. There are +special books on this fascinating subject. But we may have before us a +compiled list by way of interesting suggestion. The list is sorted +from the Catalogue of Fruits of the American Pomological Society, +1901, the last year in which the catalogue was published with quality +rated on a scale of 10. On such a scale, Ben Davis ranks 4-5; Baldwin, +5-6; Wealthy and York Imperial, 6-7; Rhode Island Greening, 7-8; +Northern Spy, 8-9; Yellow Newtown (Albermarle Pippin) 9-10. There is +no apple in the entire catalogue of 324 kinds (not including +crab-apples) rated wholly lower than 4 in quality except one alone and +this is grown for cider only, although several varieties of minor +importance bear the marks 3-4. Only two varieties are rated +exclusively 10, the Garden Royal, a Massachusetts summer-fall apple, +little known to planters, and the familiar Esopus Spitzenberg. Of +course judgments differ widely in these matters, as there are no +inflexible criteria for the scoring of quality; yet this extensive +list is probably our soundest approach to the subject. + +The varieties in the catalogue of the American Pomological Society are +starred if "known to succeed in a given district" and double-starred +"if highly successful." North America is thrown into nineteen +districts for the purposes of this catalogue (which comprises other +fruits besides apples). For our purposes we may combine them into six +more or less indefinite great regions: n. e., the northeastern part of +the country, Delaware and Pennsylvania to eastern Canada; s. e., the +parts south of this area and mostly east of the Mississippi; n. c., +north central, from Kansas and Missouri north; s. w., Texas to +Arizona; mt., the mountain states of the Rockies west to the Sierras, +including of course much high plains country; pac., the Pacific slope, +Washington to southern California. + +Of the varieties starred and double-starred in these various +geographical regions there are 107; these are listed herewith. Of +course the intervening twenty years might change the rating of some of +these apples, other varieties have come to the front, and certain ones +of these older worthies are receding still further into the +background; but the exhibit is suggestive none the less. + +Arkansas--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt. +Bailey (Sweet)--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Baker--n.e. +Baldwin--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt., s.w., pac. +Beach--s.e. +Belle Bonne--n.e. +Ben Davis--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt., pac. +Bietigheimer--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Bledsoe--s.e. +Blenheim--n.e., n.c. +Blue Pearmain--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Bough, Sweet--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Bryan--s.e., mt. +Buckingham--n.e., s.e., n.c. +Canada Reinette--n.e., n.c., mt. +Clayton--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Clyde--n.e., n.c. +Cogswell--n.e. +Cooper--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Cracking--s.e., n.c. +Doyle--s.e. +Early Pennock--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Esopus (Spitzenburg)--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt., pac. +Ewalt--n.e., s.e., mt. +Fallawater--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Fall Harvey--n.e., mt. +Fall Jenneting--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Fall Orange--n.e., s.e., n.c. +Fall Pippin--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt. +Fanny--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w. +Farrar--s.e. +Foundling--n.e. +Gano--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt. +Gilbert--s.e. +Golding--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Gravenstein--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt., s.w., pac. +Hagloe--n.e., s.e. +Hoover--s.e., n.c., mt., pac. +Hopewell--n.c. +Horse--n.e., s.e., n.c. +Hubbardston--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w. +Hunge--s.e. +Huntsman--s.e., n.c., s.w., mt. +Isham (Sweet)--n.c. +Jacobs Sweet--n.e. +Kent--n.e., s.e., n.c. +Kernodle--s.e. +Lady Sweet--n.e., mt. +Lankford--n.e., s.e. +Lawver--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Lilly (of Kent)--n.e. +Lowe--s.e. +Lowell--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +McAfee--n.e., s.e, mt. +McCuller--s.e. +McMahon--n.e., n.c., mt. +Magog--n.e. +Maverack--s.e. +Milwaukee--n.c. +Minister--n.e., s.e., n.c. +Monmouth--s.e., n.c., mt. +Newell--n.c. +Nickajack--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Northern Spy--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt., pac. +Northwestern (Greening)--n.e., n.c., mt. +Oconee--n.e., s.e. +Ohio Nonpareil--n.e., s.e. +Ohio Pippin--n.e., s.e., n.c. +Ortley--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Paragon--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Patten (Greening)--n.c. +Pease--n.e. +Peck (Pleasant)--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Peter--n.c. +Pewaukee--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Porter--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Pumpkin Sweet--n.e., s.e., n.c. +Quince--n.e., n.c. +Ramsdell (Sweet)--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Red Astrachan--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt., pac. +Rhode Island (Greening)--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt., pac. +Ridge (Pippin)--n.e. +Rolfe--n.e. +Rome--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt. +Stark--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt. +Starkey--n.e., s.e. +Stayman Winesap--n.e., s.e., n.c. +Sterling--n.e., n.c. +Summer King--n.e., s.e. +Swaar--n.e., n.c., mt., pac. +Taunton--s.e. +Titovka--n.e., mt. +Tompkins King--n.e., s.e., mt., pac. +Twenty Ounce--n.e., s.e., s.w., mt. +Utter--n.c. +Vanhoy--n.e., s.e. +Virginia Greening--s.e., mt. +Washington (Strawberry)--n.e., s.e., mt. +Watson--s.e. +White Pippin--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt., pac. +Wine--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Wistal--s.e., s.w. +Wolf River--n.e., s.e., n.c., mt. +Yellow Bellflower--n.e., s.e., s.w., mt., pac. +Yellow Newtown--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt., pac. +Yopp--s.e. +York Imperial--n.e., s.e., n.c., s.w., mt. + +There are many odd varieties of apple not found in any list but about +which questions are likely to arise. One of these is the +Sweet-and-Sour. There is an old ribbed variety of this name, the ribs +having an acid flesh and the furrows sweetish; it is little known and +of no special value. Apples are sometimes found that are sweetish on +one side and sourish on the other. The reasons for this kind of +variation are no more understood than are those responsible for +variance in color or shape or durability. One yet sometimes hears the +pleasant fable that sweet-and-sour apples are produced by splitting +the bud when the tree was propagated. + +The Surprise is a small whitish apple with light red flesh. It is +indeed a surprise to bite into such an apple, but it has little merit. +It is an early winter variety. + +One is frequently asked about the Sheepnose apple, particularly by +older people who remember it from early days and who deplore its +infrequency in these latter times. The sheepnose shape--long-conical--is +an infrequent variation, as apples go, and apparently none of these +forms chances to have sufficient merit to keep it in the lists. The +name is often applied to the Black Gilliflower, an old apple more than +three inches long, dark red, of light weight perhaps because of the +large core, ripening late in autumn to midwinter. It seems to be +specially prized by children, perhaps in part because of its unusual +shape and in part by its aromatic fragrance; but it is not a high-class +apple, and is now little seen. With the Rambo, Vandevere, some of the +russets, Early Harvest, Jersey Sweet and other old worthies, it +probably will pass away unless rescued here and there by the amateur. +To the lover of choice fruit nothing is old; every succeeding crop is +as choice and new as is the new year itself, and one waits for it +again and again. + +One hears of seedless and no-core apples, as also of pears. The core +is present but greatly reduced in size, and the seeds may be few and +small. I have also raised practically seedless tomatoes. All these are +infrequent variations that may be propagated by asexual parts +(cuttings, cions), but as yet none of them has any outstanding value. + +The reader will now ask me about the water-core apples, so much sought +and prized by youngsters. The water-core is not characteristic of a +variety, although occurring in some varieties more frequently than in +others. It is a physiological condition, supposed to be associated +with a relatively low transpiration (evaporation) so that excess water +is held in the fruit. In certain seasons this condition is marked, and +also in cloudy regions and often on young trees that have an +over-supply of moisture. Yet such cores occur in old trees and +sometimes with more or less regularity. What the physiological +inability may be in such cases to dispose of excess moisture appears +to be undetermined. + +Now and then one finds a double apple, with two fruits grown solidly +together, two blossom ends and a single stem. A seedling tree I knew +as a boy bore such apples frequently, sometimes a score of them among +the crop of the year. This, of course, is a malformation or +teratological state. Apparently two flowers coalesce to form these +fruits. On the tree of which I speak, the two fruits were about equal +in size, making a large, widened, edible apple, but I have known of +other cases in which a diminutive undeveloped fruit is attached to the +side of a normal one. + +Perhaps the oddest of them all is the "Bloomless apple." It is said to +have no flowers. In fact, however, the flowers are present but they +lack showy petals and are therefore not conspicuous. The bloomless +apple is a monstrous state, the cause of which is unknown. Now and +then a tree is reported. It was described at least as long ago as +1768, and in 1770 Muenchhausen called it _Pyrus apetala_ (the +petalless pyrus). The flowers have no stamens, and apparently they are +pollinated from any other apples in the vicinity. In 1785, Moench +described it as _Pyrus dioica_ (the dioecious pyrus, sexes separated +on different plants). The ovary is also malformed, having six or seven +and sometimes probably more cells, and bearing ten to fifteen styles. +The resulting fruit has a core character unknown in other apples but +approached in certain apple-like fruits, as the medlar. The fruit has +a hole or opening from the calyx (which is open) into the core; and +the core is roughly double, one series above the other. The fruit, in +such specimens as I have seen or read about, has no horticultural +merit; but it is a curiosity of great botanical interest. It appears +now and then in widely separated places, the trees probably having +originated as chance seedlings. The fruits from the different +originations are not always the same in size and form, but the flowers +apparently all have the same malformed character. + +The apple is preeminently the home fruit. It is not transitory. It +spans every season. In an indifferent cellar I keep apples till apples +come again. The apple stands up, keeps well on the table. Children may +handle it. In color and form it satisfies any taste. Its rondure is +perfect. The cavity is deep, graceful and well moulded, holding the +good stem securely. The basin is a natural summit and termination of +the curvatures, bringing all the lines together, finishing them in +the ornaments of the remaining calyx. The fruit adapts itself to the +hand. The fingers close pleasantly over it, fitting its figure. It has +a solid feel. The flesh of a good apple is crisp, breaking, melting, +coolly acid or mildly sweet. It has a fracture, as one bites it, +possessed by no other fruit. One likes to feel the snap and break of +it. There is a stability about it that satisfies; it holds its shape +till the last bite. One likes to linger on an apple, to sit by a +fireside to eat it, to munch it waiting on a log when there is no +hurry, to have another apple with which to invite a friend. + +Now I am not thinking of the Ben Davis apple or any of its kind. I do +not want to be doomed to one variety of apple, or even to half a dozen +kinds, and particularly I do not want a poor one. There are enough +good apples, if we can get them. The days of the amateur fruit-growers +seem to be passing. At least we do not hear much of them in society or +in many of the meetings of horticulturists. There may be many reasons, +but two are evident: we give the public indifferent fruits, and +thereby neither educate the taste or stimulate the desire for more; we +do not provide them places from which they can get plants of many of +the choicest things. Yet on a good amateur interest in fruits depends, +in the end, the real success of commercial fruit-growing. Just now we +are trying to increase the consumption of apples, to lead the people +to eat an apple a day: it cannot be accomplished by customary +commercial methods. To eat an apple a day is a question of affections +and emotions. + +We have had great riches in our varieties of apples. It has been a +vast resource to have a small home plantation of many good varieties, +each perfect in its season. The great commercial apple-growing has +been carried to high perfection of organization and care. More perfect +apples are put on the market, in proportion to numbers, than ever +before,--carefully grown and graded and handled. I have watched this +American development with growing pride. The quantity-production makes +for greater perfection of product, but it does not make for variety +and human interest, nor for high-quality varieties. We shall still +improve it. Masterful men will perfect organizations. The high +character and attainment of the commanding fruit-growers, nurserymen +and dealers are good augury for the future. But all this is not +sufficient. Quantity-production will be an increasing source of +wealth, but it cannot satisfy the soul. + +The objects and productions of high intrinsic merit are preserved by +the amateur. It is so in art and letters. It is necessarily so. A body +of amateurs is an essential background to the development of science. +The late Professor Pickering, renowned astronomer, encouraged the +amateur societies of star-observers, and others. The amateurs in the +background, disinterested and unselfish, support appropriations by +legislatures for even abstruse public work. The amateur is the +embodiment of the best in the common life, the conservator of +aspirations, the fulfillment of democratic freedom. I hope pomology +will not lag in this respect. In all lines I hope that professionalism +will not subjugate the man who follows a subject for the love of it +rather than for the gain of it or for the pride of it. In +horticulture, when we lose the amateur, who, as the word means, is the +lover, we lose the ideals. + +Naturally, the nurseryman cannot grow trees of all the good apples +that may be wanted. The experiment stations cannot maintain living +museums of them, for their function is to investigate rather than to +preserve. Arboretums are concerned with other activities. Is there not +some person of means, desiring to do good to his successors, ready now +to establish a fructicetum _in perpetuum_ for the purpose of +preserving a single tree of at least one hundred of the choicest +apples, to the end that a record may be kept and that amateurs may be +supplied with cions thereof? + + + + +XII + +THE PLEASANT ART OF GRAFTING + + +If I procure cuttings of a good apple, what shall I do with them that +they may give me of their fruitage? + +The cuttings will probably be dormant twigs of the last season's +growth. They may not be expected to grow when placed in the ground. +They are therefore planted in another tree, becoming cions. The case +is in no way different in principle from the propagating of the young +tree in the nursery, of which we already have learned. The nurseryman +works with a small stock, a mere slip of a seedling one or two years +old. The grower would better not attempt the making of nursery trees. +It is better for him to purchase regular nursery trees and to graft +the cions on them; or he may put the cions in any older tree that is +available. + +I have spoken of my own collecting of certain dessert apples. I +"worked" them on young Northern Spy trees, purchased when two or three +years old; they were grafted after they had stood a year in the +orchard. These Northern Spy trees, used in this case as stocks, were +regularly grown by nurserymen. The Northern Spy was chosen because of +its hardiness and straight, clean, erect growth, making it a vigorous +and comely stock. Weak-growing varieties are usually rejected for this +purpose. Some growers use Oldenburg as stock, and there are other +good kinds. + +From the young stock, the old head is to be removed and a new head +(the new variety) grown in its stead. The tree, therefore, will be +combined of three kinds of apple,--the root of unknown quality; the +trunk or body under a varietal name; the top, of the variety desired. +Any number of different kinds of apple wood may be worked into the +tree if the tree is large enough. If the operations are well performed +so that there are no imperfect unions, and if the pruning is +judicious, the tree may be grafted many times, in whole or in part. + +I have said that my father brought apple seeds from New England and +that the resulting seedlings were top-grafted. One of these trees was +early top-worked to "Holland Pippin," which seldom bore. It stood in +the yard near the smoke-house, where it found abundant nourishment. It +grew to great size. In time I became a grafter of trees for the +neighborhood, and often as I returned at night would have cions of +different kinds in my pockets. It became a pastime to graft these +cions in the old tree. More than thirty varieties were placed there. +It was with keen anticipation, as the years came, that I looked for +the annual crop, to see what strange inhabitants would appear in the +great tree-top. I do not remember how many of these varieties came +into bearing before the tree was finally gathered to the wood-box, but +they were a goodly number, probably more than a score. I used often to +wonder how it was that the nutrients taken in by the roots of the +Vermont seedling and transported in the tissues of the Holland Pippin, +combined with the same air, could produce so many diverse apples and +even pears (for I had pears in that tree) each with the marks and +flavor proper to its kind. The little cions I grafted into the tree +were soon lost in the overgrowth, and yet all the branches that came +from them carried the genius of one single variety and of none other. +And I often speculated whether there were any reflex action of these +many varieties on the root, demanding a certain kind of service from +it. + +The cions (sometimes still called "grafts") are cut in winter or early +spring, when well matured and perfectly dormant. Placed in sand in a +cool cellar so they will not shrivel, they are kept until grafting +time, which is early spring, usually before the leaves start on the +stock. The cions may be placed on the tree by several methods, but +only two are commonly employed,--the whip-graft and the cleft-graft. +The former is adapted to small stocks, the size of one's finger or +smaller; it is the method employed in root-grafting in the nursery, +and Fig. 16 explains it. + +The requirement is to cause the cion and stock to grow together +solidly, making one piece of wood. The growing plastic region is +associated with the cambium tissues underneath the bark. It is +necessary, therefore, to bring the "line betwixt the wood and the +bark" together in the two parts, and to hold the junction firm and +also well protected from evaporation until union takes place. The +method of putting the parts together, the form of whittling, is a +matter of convenience and practice. + +The case was put in this way by old Robert Sharrock, "Fellow of +New-College," in his "History of the Propagation and Improvement of +Vegetables by the concurrence of Art and Nature" (I quote from the +second edition, Oxford, 1672): "Grafting is an Art of so placing the +Cyon upon a stock, that the Sap may pass from the stock to the Cyon +without Impediment." Batty Langley, in 1729, gave this direction in +the "Pomona": "The Stocks being cleft, you must therefore cut the Cion +in the Form of a Wedge, which must always be cut from a Bud, for the +Reasons aforesaid; and then with a Grafting-Chizel open the Slit, and +place the Cion therein, so that their Barks may be exactly even and +smooth." + +Still earlier (1626) did William Lawson, in "A New Orchard and +Garden," set forth the rationale of the practice in his Chapter X, "On +Grafting," in this wise: "Now are we come to the most curious point of +our faculty: curious in conceit, but indeed as plaine and easie as the +rest, when it is plainly shewne, which we commonly call Graffing, or +(after some) Grafting. I cannot Etymoligize, nor shew the original of +the word, except it come of graving and carving. But the thing or +matter is: The reforming of the Fruit of one Tree with the fruit of +another, by an artificial transplacing or transposing of a twig, bud +or leafe, (commonly called a Graft) taken from one tree of the same, +or some other kind, and placed or put to, or into another tree in due +time and manner." + +If the whip-graft is to be below the ground, it is sufficient to tie +the parts tightly with string and cover with earth; if above ground, +wax is applied over the string to prevent drying out. On the small +shoots of young trees, the whip-graft is often employed, but it is not +used in large trees. + +The cleft-graft is shown in Fig. 18. The trunk or branch is cut off; +two cions are inserted in a cleft made with a knife. The "stub" is +covered with grafting-wax (Fig. 19). Cleft-grafting is the usual +method for the orchardist. + +[Illustration: 18. The cleft-graft.] + +[Illustration: 19. The cleft-graft after waxing.] + +In either kind of grafting, the cion carries about three leaf-buds. If +"wood" (cion-shoots) is scarce, only one bud may be taken, but this +reduces the chances of success. One bud may not grow, or the young +shoot may be injured. The lowest bud is usually most likely to grow; +it pushes through the wax. + +In young trees set for the purpose of top-working, the trunk may be +cut off at the desired height and two cions inserted. The entire top +is then removed at once; this is allowable only on young trees. +Probably the better practice is to graft the main small side limbs and +the main trunk or leader higher up. Usually it is better to leave some +of the branches on the tree, not removing them all till the second or +third year. + +In old apple-trees, the main branches are grafted, where they are an +inch or two in diameter. Care is taken so to choose the branches that +a well-shaped free-headed tree will result. Only a small part of the +top is removed the first year, and three or four years may be required +to change the top all over, the old branches being removed as the new +ones grow. In about three years, or four, the grafts should begin to +bear,--about as soon as strong three-year-old trees planted in the +orchard. + +Any variety of the pomological apples will grow on any other variety, +but apples do not take well on other species, as does the pear. The +pear may be made to grow on the apple, but the graft is short-lived +and the practice is not recommended. Boys may graft indiscriminately +for practice, but grown-ups, having arrived at the unfortunate age of +discretion, must operate only on those kinds known to succeed when +joined. I have never known a boy who did not want to graft anything, +as soon as his attention was called to the operation. The boy does not +take it for granted: he wants to try. + + + + +XIII + +THE MENDING OF THE APPLE-TREE + + +Many accidents overtake the apple-tree. The hired man skins the tree +with the harrow; fire runs through the dry grass; hard winters shatter +the vitality, and parts of the tree die; borers enter; rabbits and +mice gnaw the bark in winter; loads of fruit and burdens of ice crush +the tree; wind storms play mischief; bad pruning leaves long stubs, +and rot develops; cankers produce dead ragged wounds; fire-blight +destroys the tissue; a poorly formed tree with bad crotches splits +easily; grafts fail to take, and long dead ends are left; the tree is +injured by pickers; vandals wreak their havoc. All these accidents +must be met and the damages repaired. The surgeon must be summoned. + +We must first understand how a wound heals on a tree. Note any +wound,--knot-hole on the trunk, place where wood has been removed. The +exposed wound itself does not heal; it is covered and inclosed by +tissue built out from the edges or periphery of the wound. This tissue +is like a roll. It is the callus. Eventually the tissue meets in the +center, and the lid is thereby put on the place, and it is sealed. The +exposed wood has died, if it is the cross-section of a branch or a +deep wound, and it remains under the callus a dead body. If the wood +has not started to decay in the meantime, the place is safe, but too +often invasion has begun before the process is complete, the rot +disease finally extends to the heart of the tree, causing it to become +hollow. If the center of the wound falls in, the callus cannot cover +it, and an open sore remains. In these cavities birds may sometimes +build. + +Therefore there are two points for the surgeon to consider in respect +to the wound itself--whether it is so placed on the tree that the +callus forms readily; whether the wound is kept healthy during +exposure. + +All ragged tissue being removed, deep-wound surfaces should be kept +aseptic. For ordinary cases, white-lead paint with plenty of linseed +oil is a good protective from the germs of decay. On old wood, no +longer active, creosote is good, perhaps followed by coal-tar. +Usually, however, paint is quite sufficient. Small exposures usually +receive no dressing. When the fresh surface wood is exposed by removal +of bark, it is necessary to keep the tissue from drying out, and +antiseptics are usually not applied. Bandaging with cloth is the usual +practice, after the wound is cleaned and trimmed. + +The repairs fall into two classes,--those that require merely removal +of injured parts and treatment of the wounds, and those that demand +the ingrafting of new wood. + +We have learned, in the discussion of pruning, that long projecting +ends of severed branches do not heal. The branches to be removed +should be cut back close to the larger branch or to the juncture with +another. In repairing injured trees, all projecting parts that do not +have life in themselves must be removed. All wounds should be left +smooth, without splinters or hanging bark. Decaying wood is to be +removed, and the area cleaned out and disinfected. + +The nature-lover may find much to interest him in the observation of +knot-holes as he comes and goes. Every knot-hole has a history; this +history usually can be traced by one whose eye is keen and who becomes +practiced in connecting cause with final result. One prides oneself on +the ability to work out the obscure cases. An old neglected apple +orchard thereby affords much entertainment. + +If a very large branch breaks off, the remaining part is cut back to +fresh hard wood; antiseptic is applied; the other part of the tree may +be shortened-in to aid in restoring the proportion or balance. + +Deep cavities caused by rot are cleaned out, disinfected with bordeaux +mixture, gas-tar, or other material, and the place filled completely +with cement. + +In some cases, new wood is added in the form of cions of last year's +twigs. Such cions may be set around the edge of a stub, thrust between +the bark and the wood, to start new branches where an important one +was broken off. The cions are cut wedge-shape (much as those in Fig. +18) and a bandage is tied around the stub to hold them in place; the +exposed parts are covered with grafting-wax. The operation is +performed in spring. + +Sometimes cions are used to bridge a girdle. Usually a girdle heals +itself if the injury does not extend into the wood, and if it is bound +up to prevent drying out; but when the injury is deep and the exposed +wood has become dry and hard, the cions may be used. The cions are +somewhat longer than the width of the girdle. The edges of the girdle +are trimmed to fresh tight bark; cions are cut wedge-shape at either +end; the ends are inserted underneath the bark at bottom and top of +the wound; edges of the wound are securely bandaged; entire work is +covered with wax. The cions are many, so close that they nearly touch. +The buds on the cions are not allowed to produce branches. This +process is known as bridge-grafting. + +With some experience, the cultivator soon learns to make many deft +applications of ingrafting. Sometimes a piece of bark may be used as a +patch. In the bracing of crotches in young trees, the two trunks may +be joined by uniting a small branch from either one, twisting them +together to form a bridge like a bolt; they can be made to grow +together, forming a solid union. Bolting the parts with iron rods, or +holding them together by means of chains, is the usual and commonly +the better method. The iron is not to go around a limb, however, for +girdling results; the rods or chains should be secured by bolts bored +through the wood and pulling against large heads or washers. + +The usual repairs are easily made. When trees are badly injured, and +particularly when the tree is low in vitality, it may not be worth +while to engage in surgery. It may be better to plant a new tree. +Saving very old trees by the mending processes is not likely to be +satisfactory. The grower should transfer his affection to a young +tree. If the tree has had good care throughout its life, it probably +will not need much surgery in old age. The grower will be willing, +when the time comes, to take a photograph for memory's sake and to let +the tree come to a timely and artistic end. + + + + +XIV + +CITIZENS OF THE APPLE-TREE + + +Many years ago, my old friend, the late Dr. J. A. Lintner, State +Entomologist of New York, compiled a list of 356 insects that feed on +the apple-tree. Later authorities place the number at nearly five +hundred species. It must be a good plant that has such a host of +denizens. The number of fungi is also large; and the tree often +supports lichens, algae, and other forms of life. + +The apple-tree is not single in its denizens. No plant lives alone. It +has association with its fellows, perhaps contest for space and +nourishment. It provides habitat for many organisms, many of which +live on its bounty. I have never seen a bearing apple-tree that was +not a colonizing place for other living things. We accept these things +as matters of course, as being in place, living their part in nature. +Therefore, one cannot understand the apple-tree unless one knows +something of its citizenry. + +Probably the most prominent citizen of the apple-tree is the +codlin-moth. Its larva is the apple-worm, the one that makes "wormy +apples," the burrows going to the core and out again. The insect is +native in Europe, but has been known in North America nearly two +hundred years, and is widespread in the apple countries of the world. + +If one has screens in the apple cellar, one is likely to find small +moths on them in the spring, larger than a clothes moth, about +three-fourths inch in spread of the soft gray watered-silk wings. This +is the imago or mature form of the insect known as the codlin-moth (it +lives on codlins or apples). The larvae or "worms" were brought into +the cellar in the apples; some of them crawled out, spun themselves in +a cocoon and pupated; in due season the moth emerged, ready to lay the +eggs for other larvae. Ordinarily the fruit-grower does not see the +moth, for it is a small object amidst the foliage of apple-trees; the +larva or apple-worm he knows well. + +There may be two or more broods of apple-worms, depending on the +length of the season. In the northern apple regions of North America +there is usually only one brood, with a partial second brood. The +first brood is hatched from eggs laid by moths that emerge in spring. +The moths come from larvae that have lain in cocoons all winter, hidden +under bark on the trunks and main branches of the apple-tree, in +crevices in nearby posts and fences, and sometimes in the ground. The +pupae are the transformed larvae or worms that left the apple of the +previous year, usually before it fell, and crawled down the tree to +find a place to spin the silken brown cocoons in which they wrapped +themselves to undergo the wonderful transformation. + +So is the cycle complete: egg laid in early spring, mostly on the +leaves; larva hatched in about one week, crawling to the young apple +to feed, where it lives for perhaps a month; larva departed from the +fruit to form a cocoon and to remain quiescent till it pupates the +following spring (if there is no second brood) when it transforms into +a moth; the moth alive for one week or ten days, laying perhaps as +many as one hundred eggs or even more. If there is a second or third +brood, the pupa resurrects in ten days or so into the moth; eggs are +laid; larvae are hatched; pupae again are formed; and thus is the +process continued. But the winter stage is the larva, although perhaps +in store-houses the moths may emerge earlier and survive till spring. + +The eggs of the first brood are commonly laid on the leaves and fruit. +The young larva or worm eats very little on the foliage. It usually +crawls into the blossom end of the apple. The young apple stands +erect, with the calyx open (Fig. 6); later the calyx closes and +protects the larva that hatched there, forming a good cover for its +operations (Fig. 7). The worm drives for the core, where it eats the +young seeds and burrows extensively; then, when nearly grown, it sets +out for the surface, eating a straight burrow; an opening is made +through the skin of the apple, but this exit is plugged until the +animal is ready to leave the place and to crawl down the tree to +pupate. The larvae of later broods may enter at the side of the apple, +where a leaf affords protection or where two fruits come together; but +the life-history is the same, varying in its rapidity. + +This account discloses the vulnerable point in the life-history, if +one is to destroy the insects and to grow fair fruit; if poison is +lodged on the erect open-topped little apple, the young larva will get +it before he injures the fruit. If the application of the poison is +delayed until the calyx closes (Fig. 7), there will be small chance +of reaching the worm. The best way to reach the second brood is to +destroy all the first brood. The standard practice, therefore, is to +spray the trees soon after the petals fall, with the idea of +depositing arsenic in the blossom end. + +But the season of egg-laying is long, often extending over a period of +three or four weeks, for the moths do not all emerge from the cocoons +simultaneously. It is customary, therefore, to spray again about two +weeks after the first application, with the hope of catching the young +worms on their way to the fruit. + +There is no question about the efficacy of spraying. Its value has +been demonstrated time and again. The methods and the materials may be +learned from the experiment station publications in any State, wherein +the advice is kept up-to-date. + +In the days before the perfecting of the spraying processes, the +codlin-moth was controlled by catching the pupating larvae. Taking +advantage of the habit of the worm to find lodgment under the bark on +the trunk, it was the practice to scrape the loose bark from bole and +large branches to destroy the hiding-places and then to tie a band of +cloth around the trunk. Under this band the worms were taken, as they +spun themselves up in the cocoons. This is a lesson taken from the +industrious woodpeckers, who, in the winter, search the trees for the +pupae and make holes through the flakes of bark to get them. The +scraping of apple-trees is not much recommended now for the reason +that this special necessity is passed, and because the better tillage +and care together with the soaking of the branches and trunk in the +spraying operation, tend to keep the tree vigorous and the bark +properly exfoliated. + +So the worm in the apple has a delicate and interesting history. From +egg to imago the transformations proceed with regularity, and they are +marvelous. Had we not traced the sequence, no man could tell by +appearances that the larva, the pupa and the moth are one and the same +animal. They seem to have nothing in common. So is the egg stage as +different as the other three, but we are measurably prepared for this +epoch, since we know seeds so well; the egg and the seed are +analogous. That a moth in the air should come from a crawling worm in +an apple is indeed one of the miracles of nature. The worm leaves the +apple ere it falls; how the worm knows the time is again a mystery. By +some instinct, it is able to cognize a dying apple. The later worms, +either the lastlings from the early brood or the product of subsequent +broods, may remain in the apple when it is harvested, particularly in +an apple picked before it is quite mature and from which the worm has +not escaped. + +The apple-worm ruins the crop by killing many of the fruits and by +blemishing the remainder. Seldom are there two worms in an apple. They +seem to respect each other's hunting-ground. From the worm's point of +view and from man's, one is enough. + +If man has dominion and if he needs apples, then is he within his +rights if he joins issue with the insects. Yet is the insect as +interesting for all that. I think we should miss many of the +satisfactions of life, and certainly some of the disciplines, if there +were no insects. My apple-tree is a great place for a naturalist. Van +Bruyssel wrote a book on "The Population of an Old Pear-Tree." "When +certain blue spirits begin to flit about me," he writes, "I depart +from my study to go and read, in what I am allowed, even by my +clerical uncle, to call my book of devotions. The devotions I mean are +not in my book-case. No publisher, if he ever thought of such a thing, +could bring them out. They are a page of the book of Nature, opened in +the country, under blue sky, displayed at all season." What a +marvelous company Van Bruyssel found on his old pear tree; and what +inexhaustible worlds did Fabre discover in the lives of the spider, +the fly, the caterpillar, the wasps, the mason-bees and others! + +Therefore we need not pause with the other four hundred and more +insect citizens of the apple-tree. Some of them, as the San Jose +scale, are not peculiarly apple-tree insects. My tree has another crew +of inhabitants, and to this company we may now have introduction. + +The spots on the leaves and fruits are not deposits of dirt nor are +they caused by mysterious conditions in the atmosphere, as once +supposed, nor is it in the nature of leaves to be spotted and of +fruits to be scabby; nor are the one-sided dwarfed fruits merely +accidents. The organism responsible for these blemishes is less +evident than the codlin-moth; yet what fruit-grower knows the eggs of +the codlin-moth? But the organisms are as definite as are the insects; +no longer are the fungi things without form and without positive +cycles. + +On the ground are apple leaves, shed in the autumn. On the leaves are +spots or lesions,--injured or "diseased"--infected with the apple-scab +fungus. Under a good microscope the investigator finds immature +fruiting bodies in these areas. In the early days of Spring, these +bodies or winter-spores mature. A rain discharges them in astonishing +numbers. Rising in the air (for they are incredibly light), these +spores lodge on the unfolding leaves and flowers of the apple, and +there begin to germinate, invading the tissue. The tissue is +penetrated and killed so rapidly that the practiced eye soon discovers +a "spot." The leaf, if badly infected, may not reach full size; it may +curl; it may die and fall; the tree thereby is injured. + +From the fungus in the active diseased areas, another kind of spore +develops rapidly. It is the summer-spore, which may be produced in +prodigious numbers, and being discharged carries the disease +elsewhere. + +All summer the process of spore-formation and distribution keeps up. +If conditions are favorable, the tree is invaded in foliage and fruit. +The flower-stems in the unfolding buds are attacked by the +winter-spores and the flower falls. The apples become spotted from the +invasion of the summer-spores, perhaps misshapen. Late infections may +not show at picking time, but develop on the fruit in storage. The +affected leaves are cast in the autumn, the winter-spores begin to +form, the snows come and hide the processes, in spring the spores +mature; and so does the round of life go on and on. + +There are beautiful forms in these fragile fungus threads that eat +their way into the tissues of the host. There are fascinating +phenomena in the growth and reproduction. Even so and for all that, +man protects his tree by spraying it with poison, and thereby again +does he have dominion. + +The spraying for apple-scab is with lime-sulfur to which may be added +arsenate of lead. This treatment, properly timed, may suffice also +for the codlin-moth. As the fungus may attack the flower-stems and +kill them, so is the first application made when the flower-buds open +and the stems begin to separate, but before the flowers expand; the +operator has a period of one to three days in which to spray. A second +spraying is given just after the blossoms fall, as for codlin-moth; if +the season is wet, a third application may be made ten to fourteen +days later; if the fungus seems to spread, a fourth spraying may be +applied in midsummer. These sprayings, variously modified, control not +only the codlin-moth and the scab fungus but also scale, blister-mite, +plant-lice, leaf-roller, case-bearer, bud-moth, red-bug and others. + +In the tropics one sees trees bearing great burdens of orchids and +bromeliads and ferns and mosses, and one wonders at the strange and +exuberant population. Yet here is my apple-tree supporting epiphytes +and parasites and insects, protector and nurse of a goodly company; +and birds nest on the branches thereof. + + + + +XV + +THE APPLE-TREE REGIONS + + +The northern hemisphere is the home of the apple, particularly Central +Europe, Canada, the United States. In certain regions in the southern +hemisphere the temperature and humidity are right for the good growing +of apples, mostly in elevated areas. In New Zealand and parts of +Australia, apple-growing is assuming large proportions. Their export +trade to Europe and parts of South America has come to be important +and undoubtedly is destined greatly to increase. + +In Europe, where land is often limited and high in price, apple-trees +may be planted closer than in America, even in field conditions, and +more attention is given to pruning, heading-in, and the development of +fruit-spurs in the interior of the tree-top. I noticed this practice +in New Zealand, also. In these directions, the Europeans have much to +teach us in the careful growing of good apples. In Europe, the +definite training of the apple-tree begins in the nursery; +quantity-production, with standardization, is not there the aim. + +In North America the general practice is to let the tree take its +course, reaching its full natural stature. The pruning is mostly +corrective, to keep the tree in shape and to prevent the top from +becoming too thick, rather than in the development of fruiting wood. +The consequence is that our trees become very large, specially in New +York and New England where they are long-lived. In the western +country, as we have learned, the apple-tree tends to be shorter-lived +and does not usually attain such great size. In the New York apple +country, orchards may be in good bearing at forty to sixty years from +planting, and individual trees may be productive much longer than +this. The trees come into good bearing in ten to fifteen years. In the +irrigated regions of the West, the trees may be expected to bear a +good crop two to five years earlier; to what age they may attain, in +large plantations, it is yet too early to state. + +The commercial apple regions of North America are in Canada and the +northern United States, comprising about two or three tiers of States, +with important extensions southward into the mountains and in special +parts. The Southern States are not known as apple-growing country, +except in special restricted elevated areas, although there are +considerable plantations near the Gulf of Mexico. + +The geography of apple-growing on the North American continent cannot +be better displayed than by copying the table of contents of the +larger part of Chapters III and II in Folger and Thomson's excellent +recent book, "The Commercial Apple Industry of North America:" + + +_Commercial Apple Production in Canada_ + + Nova Scotia + Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick + Quebec + Ontario + British Columbia. + +_Leading Apple Regions of the United States_ + + Western New York + Hudson Valley + New England Baldwin belt + The Champlain district + New Jersey + Delaware + Shenandoah-Cumberland district + Piedmont district of Virginia + Minor regions in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia + Mountain region of North Carolina + Mountain region of Georgia + Ohio + Southern Ohio, Rome Beauty district + Minor regions in Ohio + Kentucky + Michigan + Illinois + Southern Illinois early apple region + Mississippi Valley region of Illinois + Ozark region + Missouri River region + Arkansas Valley of Kansas + Southeastern Illinois + Colorado + New Mexico + Utah + Montana + Washington + Yakima Valley + Wenatchee North Central Washington district + Spokane district + Walla Walla district + Oregon + Hood River Valley + Rogue River Valley + Other apple districts in Oregon + Idaho + Payette district + Boise Valley + Twin Falls + Lewiston section + California + Watsonville district + Sebastopol apple district + Yucaipa section + Wisconsin + Minnesota + +The varieties of the South and the North, and largely also of the West +and the East, are prevailingly different. Canada has a set of apples +quite its own. These differences are marked when one visits +exhibitions in the various regions. Let the visitor who is a good +judge of apples in Michigan and Ohio attempt to judge them in an +exhibition in the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, in the Province of +Quebec, in North Carolina, in Minnesota, in Oregon. He will be +impressed with the wonderful diversity, as well as the undeveloped +resources, of the continent. + +Southward, apples do not keep well. There are no true winter apples in +the Southern States, outside mountain regions. A winter apple of the +North becomes a fall apple in the South. In fact, there are marked +differences in keeping quality within a single State. On gravelly +lands or warm slopes in the southern part of New York, the Northern +Spy may become practically a late autumn apple; in the northern parts +of the State it is a firm crisp all-winter keeper. In the winter +apple, the ripening process proceeds in storage. When the season is so +long that maturity is reached on the tree, the subsequent duration is +relatively short. + +It is not to be inferred, however, that apples are to be grown only in +regions and soils naturally well adapted. Such adaptations should be +controlling in commercial plantations; but if man has dominion he +should be able to accomplish much in untoward or even in hostile +conditions. Even the city lot may be able to yield a harvest, if the +occupant of it is minded in fruits rather than in other things. Every +observant traveler has noted cases in which good results in the +rearing of plants and animals have been attained in places that no one +would choose for the purpose: the man has overcome his obstacles. I +was impressed with this fact in visiting a greenhouse in the Shetland +Islands. Cultivation has been carried far beyond the optimum regions. +The merit of the man's performance is measured in the excellence of +his result rather than in the quantity of it. The application of skill +is the highest test of ability in plant-growing, and this is often +expressed in the most difficult places. + +Whatever may be the adaptability of any general territory to the +growing of apples in a large way, the probability is that a man of +resources and skill will be able to raise good apples for himself, +unless, of course, the region is prohibitive. The amateur may be a law +unto himself in many of these matters, delighting in the ingenuity +that enables him to overcome. + + + + +XVI + +THE HARVEST OF THE APPLE-TREE + + +Finally the apple is ripe, a fair goodly object joyous in the sun, +inviting to every sense. Hanging amidst its foliage, bending the twig +with its weight, it is at once a pattern in good shape, perfect in +configuration, in sheen beyond imitation, in fragrance the very +affluence of all choice clean growth, its surface spread with a bloom +often so delicate that the unsympathetic see it not; and yet the rains +do not spoil it. + +The apple must be picked. Do not let it fall. Probably it is over-ripe +when it falls; the hold is loosened; its time is up. Wormy apples may +fall before they are ripe; the worm injury, if it begins early, causes +them to ripen prematurely. A premature apple is not a good apple, +albeit the small boy relishes it but only because he may get his apple +earlier; in the apple season, when ripe fruits are abundant, the boy +does not choose the wormy one. + +Pick the apple from the tree. It will do you good. It is ever so much +better than to pick it from a box on the market or out of a quart-can +in the ice-chest. You will feel some sense of responsibility when you +pick it, some reaction of relationship to its origin. We know that we +understand folks better when we see them at home. + +In varieties that mature before winter, the apple is of best quality +when it ripens on the tree and is picked when fit to eat. In this +respect it differs from the pear. One reason why store apples are +usually poor is because they must be picked long before ripe to stand +shipment. In my experience it is most difficult to find a man who will +pick apples when ripe; he is usually possessed to pull them green, +thinking that if the fruit is full grown and has a red cheek it is +therefore ready to be plucked. + +One would expect the best summer and fall apples to come from nearby +local orchards, but practically this is not the case because the +grower will not allow them to remain on the tree until they are fit. +Of course the really ripe apple will not keep long and it does not +stand rough handling, but this does not affect the fact that, for +eating, an apple should be naturally ripe. In every city, small or +large, a good trade can be built up for local ripe hand-picked fruit +of the first quality, in competition with the best commercial supply. + +Winter apples are picked in the Northern States in October, sometimes +late in September. They are then full grown, but are hard and +inedible. The red varieties are full colored; the green ones show more +or less yellow. Light early frost does not injure them on the tree. +Usually they are placed at first in piles or windrows; and from these +piles they are barreled or boxed for market. If the choicest grades +are to be made, they should be taken to a packing-house. + +The apple is an easy fruit to pick. The stem parts readily from the +spur or twig. Yet if the harvester is choice of his trees he will work +deftly rather than roughly, not to injure the bearing wood. The fruits +are placed in baskets as they are plucked, sometimes in a bag slung +over the shoulders but this is not the best way when the apples are +ripe. In the packing-house, the fruits are sorted into uniform grades +if they are for market. + +The better the trees are tilled, pruned and sprayed, the more uniform +will be the crop, and particularly if the fruit is thinned on the +tree; yet the second-class and even cull apples will be many under +ordinary conditions. The purchaser, noting the price of extra-grade +apples, may not realize that he buys only the remainder in a long +process of grading, extending really over the season or even +throughout the life of the orchard. In all this time, the grower has +borne the risks of frosts and hail, insect and fungus invasions, lack +of help, and disastrously low prices. A finished product of high +quality is always expensive. + +The usual apples on the open market are not the kind I have here tried +to describe. They are the product of indifferent orchards or of +careless handling. They are purchased for cooking; and the eating of +apples out of hand because they are attractive and really good is an +unknown experience with great numbers of our people. The polished +shiny apples of the fruit-stands are a delusion. The practice of +burnishing the fruits produces a most inartistic result, destroying +the natural bloom and violating the appearance of a natural apple. It +is one thing to clean a fruit if it is soiled (which is seldom the +case with boxed or barreled apples); it is quite another thing to rub +and furbish an apple as if it were a billiard ball or glass marble and +not a living object that grew on a tree,--it sets false standards +before the children. Yet all this is in line with much of our practice +whereby, in cookery and manipulation, we disguise our foods and show +our lack of appreciation of the products themselves. + +For home use, winter apples may well be stored in boxes in a cool +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. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Apple-Tree, by L. H. 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