Morning journal and courier., 1880-09-15
Price Four Cents.

should not be very greatly increased, espe-
 cially in years of plenty. But some care in
 the proper selection and packing of fruit is
 required on the part of shippers, or the en-
 terprise must of necessity fail.
 The business of evaporating or drying ap-
 ples has of late grown largely, and dried ap-
 pies have also been exported to considera-
 ble extent, and at paying prices Thousands
 of barrels will be thus treated this year where hundreds were required before. But the nec- essary facilities for evaporating large uuanti- ties do not exist in many localities at all and
 the best machinery and appliances for this purpose are as yet too expensive for general
 use. But the careful and economical house wife will utilize full supply in this way by the slow, old-fashioned process.
 very large bulk of the apple crop will. as
 usual be converted into cider, and other pro- ducts of distillation. Indeed very large quantity of cider has already been made in many localities, and the market will soon be overstocked with it. The mills are now buy ing all the apples they need for this purpose at the rate of cents bushel delivered In view of this state of affairs the price of vine gar has already dropped to $2 per barrel in thesshands of producers hence this method of disposlng of the great apple surplus is not encouraging. Many farmers are feeding ap- ples to their stock. But at best they are not considered of much value for this purpose, and must be used with care and moderation There are at present about 3, 500 named ya- rieties of the apple. Of these, however, only about 300 are in general cultivation and of this number not more than fifty possess any special value The great bulk of the present crop will be found to comprise only about half of this number. which includes most of the standard varieties.
 Perhaps the largest orchard in the world is on the east bank of the Hudson river near tho city of Hudson It is owned and opera ted by Robert McKinstry, and contains 300 acres. In this orchard there are about 25. 900 bearing apple trees in good thrifty condi- tion. The crop this year cannot well be esti-
 mated yet, but will be immense It is nowa sight worth journeying hundreds of miles to see, and visitors are not wanting Some of the oldest trees are twenty years of age; the most are much younger. In 1878 the total apple product was 30, GOO barrels, a large share of which was exported to Liverpool and Glasgow. The yield will be much greater this season. Another very extensive apple orchard is that of Oliver c. Chapin at East Bloomfield, Ontario county, N Y It covers 120 acres of ground. From this orchard 1O,- GOO barrels were sent to market last year. bringing total of $16,6S7 Still another very large apple orchard is located within a few miles of this city on the west bank of the Hudson, near Esopus village. It was planted I many years ago by the father of the late Ro- | bert l.. Pell. The latter was the first man to l export American apples, and was, perhaps, ! the most successful apple grower in the coun- | acres and contained 21 ,000 trees which were all of the famous Newtown Pippin variety Everything conducted by most perfect system, and his great orchard was visited by the most eminent pomologists of the world l But since his death it has been suffered to de- cline in vigor and productiveness.
 There is much anxiety just now among fruit men in regard to the keeping quali- ties of the winter varieties, which form so large share of the crop everywhere The ! prolonged drouth, so prevalent throughout the fruit region this season, has induced all varieties to ripen from two to three weeks in advance of the regular season. A large pro- l portion of the fall crop has already glutted the market, bringing the price in many cases ! to 50 and even 25 cents per barrel for good fruit. Winter sorts are already dropping badly, and are so nearly mature that it will
 be necessary to pick many of them nearly 0 month earlier than has been the custom ! Then, unless cold weather also comes prema- turely, very much of ths winters supply must necessarily decay before the season ar rives at all Thus it will be seen that in spite of the abundant crop, good sound win ! in the season. Great care in gathering hand ling and cool housing, will therefore be of ' the utmost importance.
 l Many growers take gloomy view of the l business. They say in the bearing years the l crop is so abundant everywhere the prices ob- l tained will scarcely pay for gathering at all, and in the ''off years" they have little or none | to sell at any price; hence there is no money
 in it. The great problem presenting itself | to scientific pomologists, therefore, would seem to be the breaking up of this alternate year bearing custom, and the securing of a [ more even distribution of the apple crops This has already been accomplished to & | small extent in few localities, but to Ebe of ! much value the plan should be susceptible of l general application.