PACKING APPLES FOR EXPORT, IN ORCHARD OF MR. PAY, ST. CATHARINES, ONT.
Most of the trees in those old orchards were inferior seedlings, and it is no wonder that the people of those days did not use apples as we do. A few of them were very good, and it is from such chance favorites that we have preserved to us, by grafting, the Baldwin Winesap and hundreds more that fill our orchards to-day. We have developed a new race of American seedlings. Most of the old varieties that were so highly esteemed across the ocean are now rarely mentioned. Our newer and better kinds have largely supplanted them. As time advanced more choice varieties were added, until we may now confidently boast of having the best apples in existence. Whoever has eaten our delicious Grimes Golden, Jonathan, and Northern Spy, need not look for better kinds, because they cannot now be found. Indeed, the name “Seek-no-farther” has been triumphantly applied to one variety. However, we are still seeking and expecting to produce by skillful breeding, if not to find, others which may be even better than those we now possess.
A history of the recognized and named varieties of apples of American origin would be a book in itself. It should begin almost with the first settlement of the country. At the beginning of this century the Early Harvest, Baldwin, Swaar, Esopus Spitzenberg, Rhode Island Greening, Yellow Bellflower, and a few others which are yet popular, were already grafted into hundreds of orchards, some of them being as far west as the Mississippi River. William Coxe, in his excellent book on fruits, published in 1817, mentions 100 kinds. William Prince, of Long Island, who kept the first nursery of note, had 116 varieties of apples in his published list in 1825, of which about half were of American origin. Now there are nearly 1000 kinds offered by the nurserymen of the country, and the books on pomology contain nearly 5000 varieties, a large part of them being American. Truly this is progress.
We have the best and by far the most extensive apple country in the world. The largest apple orchards in the world are in America. The biggest of all belongs to F. Wellhouse & Son, of Kansas, in which there are 1600 acres. There are others in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado, and New Mexico that are nearly as large.
The variety principally grown in these orchards is the Ben Davis. It is a thrifty, rugged grower, a most productive bearer, and a handsome apple to sell. Its brilliant red stripes, large size, and ability to keep, make up for its deficiency in flavor. It is, to-day, the business apple of America. Baldwin is the business apple of the Eastern States. Both these varieties are well known in every market of this country, and wherever our apples are exported.
The first government record of exported apples was in 1821, when “68,643 bushels,” or about 22,781 barrels of apples, were sent abroad. In 1897 there were 2,371,143 barrels exported, which is the largest quantity ever shipped to foreign countries in one year. During the same year there were also exported nearly 31,000,000 pounds of dried apples, 94,000 gallons of vinegar, and 750,000 gallons of cider. Certainly this is a good showing for the surplus products of American apple orchards. The year 1898 gave a lighter yield, but 1899 will, perhaps, about equal it.
The Pear.—Whoever has eaten a delicious little Seckel pear must know that its equal in richness and spicy flavor is not to be found. This little gem is one of the triumphs of American fruit culture. How far beyond and above the old “choke” pear of our grandfathers’ days is this one, and many more of the delicious pears that grow in our orchards and gardens to-day!
Pear growing was only a side issue until lately. A few trees were planted about our forefathers’ houses or in the edge of the apple orchards; but these were often sprouts from some neighbor’s seedling trees. As the appetite for good fruit increased, the false idea that pears should be ground and pressed into cider, called perry, decreased, until now no one thinks of wasting this delicious fruit by making it into an intoxicating drink.
The Bartlett is our most popular pear of good quality. It originated in Berkshire, England, about 1770, where it was called Williams. When brought to America early in this century and planted at Dorchester, Mass., the original name was lost, and it was renamed in honor of Enoch Bartlett, who first propagated and distributed the trees and grafts. The old tree, from which came the millions that have been and are now a source of delight and profit to our people, is still in bearing condition at Dorchester, and I have lately eaten as good Bartlett pears from it as ever were grown. The variety flourishes better in America than in its old home, and every year large shipments of the fruit are sent to England and sold at a very high price.