The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1885-10-21
Improvement Of Crab-Apples.

VI Oiap-ttpphNos
o. S. r., Coos county, N. H., sends
us some specimen crab-apples, and says:
"How do they compare with other
sweet crab-apples? 1 sowed the seeds
of some small, sour, crabbish crab-apples
some twenty-five years ago. They were
the first crab-apples ever had. got
this kind and many others, some quite
large. This treeis an enormous bearer,
and this year perhaps the apples are
smaller than usual. The last hard
winter was very easy with us. Inever
saw fruit trees winter in better shape"
The apples sent by this correspond
ent are but little larger than the Cherry
crab, which was the form in which the
Siberian species reached this country,
and they have the long, slim stems of
that variety. But though the gain
from the first generation is but little in
size, the quality is entirely changed,
being a pleasant sweet, without any
crabbishness. AS crab-apple trees are
usually set near other apple-trees, the
crossing is so general that large pro-
portion of the seedlings from crab seed
show great improvement from the
original in size or quality. Sometimes
such seeds have produced full-sized
apples of fine quality in the first gen.
Grafton. This was notably the case
with the Cady's crab, or Mortified
Beauty, grown in Mortified, VT, from
a seed of the small yellow Siberian by
Mr.. Leonard Cady. Whitney's No. 20,
produced in similar way in Illinois,
is equal to the Mortified in quality
and nearly so in size. But the most
striking improvement of this kind in a
single generation which has been made
known is that seen in the now we'll
known Wealthy apple, of which the
originator, Peter M. Gideon of Excel
sior, Minnesota, says:
81 procured from Albert Emerson of
Bangor, Maine, apple and crab seeds;
the crab seeds being done up in small
package by themselves, about a tea
spoonful, labelled Cherry Crab Seeds.
They were the first l had ever seen
and took special notice of them,
being very peculiar, small seed. AT
the same time / got cherry crab cions,
and, when fruited, found the same pc
culiar seed, so that l am sure that on
that score there was no mistake. Those
crab seeds were planted in row by
themselves and in that row came up
the Wealthy, and there it stands yet
1t was never removed. From the APP.
pie seeds / got at the same time not one
proved hardy. And from the first
Cherry crab we fruited we saved and
planted the seeds with care to see the
results. We set the young trees in a
plot by themselves, and the result was
all sizes, from the parent crab up tC
medium apples, some crab in tree and
fruit, although only one Cherry crab
While some showed no crab in tree OF
fruit, the parent crab, having stood close
to a Duchess tree that fruited at the same
time and with similar results in its seed
lings, showed more crab than Duchess
There was not one Duchess in leaf
| lulu, VI VI SlOW ihooo "
mongrels, no two alike in leaf, tree O.
fruit. Yet at the time those seeds wer'
grown we had no other varieties il
fruit to mix in. We got first-clas
apples from the seed of each, but tn,
7 great mass were worthless from tn
, seed of both"
, 1t is a noticeable fact that among
) crab-apple seedlings very consider
= able proportion will be sweet apples
= a much greater proportion than woul
usually come from common apple seeds
} In our travels we have found swee
crabs everywhere that crab Seeding
s are grown at all. One of the best
l the Van Wyck Sweet, which originate
e on the Hudson river. 1t is not entirel
s iron-clad," yet will succeed nearl
t anywhere in Vermont. Another, abor
s as good and harder, is Beach's Swee
3 from Minnesota. Pringle's Sweet
It another variety, originating in Cha
l. lotte, Vt. These three are really sma
!, apples rather than crabs, as they az
|, eraSe ABOUT TWO lncnes IN diameter
d Trees grown from seed of these in
/, proved crabs are usually retrograd
y and this has been especially the cas-
g with the Wealthy, from which larg
number of seedlings have been grow
'e without continuing the expected in
ID provement. Mr.. Gideon says ON TIL
subject:
g "There is further proof that I'll
l. Wealthy is of crab relation, has crab
n it's composition, in the fact that
1, seedlings are much inclined to run
st crab in the tree and fruit, even back
e, the original Siberian, not larger than
"a red currant, greater stretch backwal
Is than that of any crab from which v
e. have grown seedlings. Yet from Il
10 same lot of seed l grew the finest app
re we ever raised"