THE GRAVENSTEIN APPLE.
Those readers of the Canadian Horticulturist who are best acquainted with this apple, will fully corroborate anything that can be said in its praise. It derives its name from the place of its birth, Gravenstein, in Holstein, Germany, and has the reputation of being one of the best apples of Northern Europe. The reputation it enjoys there has been fully maintained by it in America, and here it ranks as one of our very best and most valuable October apples. It has been widely disseminated throughout the Dominion, and is highly esteemed. The trees thrive well in Nova Scotia, and certainly in a large part of Ontario, having been reported as bearing fruit in the county of Renfrew. They are of an upright habit, stout bodied, and form large, spreading heads; come into bearing early, and are very productive.
The fruit is of large size, and when ripe is of a bright-yellow color, most beautifully striped and splashed with various shades of red and orange. The flesh is tender, crisp, and juicy, with a high aromatic flavor; in quality ranking “best.” It is excellent as a cooking apple, and as valuable for the dessert, pleasing to the eye by reason of its beauty, and delighting the palate with its exquisite flavor. In the markets it always commands the highest price of any of its season, and on that account may be profitably grown in limited quantity for a convenient market.
It is not desirable to multiply fall-ripening varieties of apples, indeed we already have too many of them for profit. The wise plan will be to select two or three of the very best, and plant enough of these to meet the demand. A very few kinds will meet the wants of the family, and fewer yet will be enough for market. It is a great mistake, but one that is very often made, that of planting out a great many varieties of apples. The experience of all who have grown fruit for profit coincides in this, at least, that a large quantity of only one variety of saleable apples is much more remunerative than the same quantity made up of a great number of kinds.
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