Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-10-17
rur ALuEMARLE prPPIN.

r,s, vear here was failure III ,ne
Albemarla pippin crop but TINS ia'' '"'
orchards have yielded well. Inc cohSe-
one,ce ,s that we hear Of some FARMERS
csce,v,ny almost fabulous sums from
their apple harvests.
when the season Is propiuous 'he PIP
pin orchard pays its owner very manu-
some revenue: but. alasl OF sucn se"so"s
there are not over many. Ard then. 100
It is not all lands. not all AIDei"a''s
lands. even, that will grow the perfect
pi2?ir.
II "a only in a limited area In Aloematie
and adjacent Blue Ridge counties tut'
thss luscious fruit can be best produeed'
RE restriction that nature puts upon '''
growth. Of course. adds 10 us sie"'
value. II I, could be raised any anu
,verywhere the market for 1t wonld De
ovorsnpp!ied; but. as Ii rs, pfouuo''o" -
never beyond the demand.
London and New York epicures are the
chief purchasers, and IT is SAID that
Queen Victoria IS never without supply
OF these apples. But whether tiils We
,r.o or not we do not know we maze
an effort years ago TO ascertain IL thaI
was a fact. and learned that II the queen
orders a regular annual supply. 1t is
through an English dealer, not from any
Virginia grower. Certain it IS. however
that ia the long ago, when MI. steven
son, ~ Virginia, was the United states
Minister TO London. he sent the queen
a supply of these pippins. and received
her thanks for the kindness and praise
for the pippins.
In the course of our enquiries we also
learned. much TO our regret mat 'ne
Albemarle pippip WAS not marketed IN
England under that name, bui unoer
unite another. or late, however an eI-
fort has been made TO correct this n
i.stice. aud last year We observed that IN
several Liverpool price-current puDiica-
tons under the general heading OF
"plppins." "Virginias" were conspicu-
ously quoted.
Though our name is little sorra|"
abroad. we doubt If we suffer a. much
therefrom as we do from the practice
OF dishonest dealers in this country SEX
iHg all sorts OF pippins as "AIbemafle
pippins" The consequence Of TINS rep
rehensble work is that an inferior fran
is often palmed off upon the public for
The genuine. much to the discredit OF
the latter.
As rule. an Albemarie pippin Is worth
as much as an orange. and the price at
which some so-called Albemarle pippihs
are offered by retail dealers is in itself
n condemnation of their genpineness.
Tut II has often been said that Imitation
IS the sincerest hattery, and so we may
ngratulate ourselves that the name or
the famous Virginia apple would not De
used II II were not known to have
high standing. However, 1t would not
he fair for us to omit to say here that
some other States have apples grown in
small quantities, as the Albemarle pippih
is. that command what are called 'tancy
prices. And in the case of some of these
the claim is also set up that they are
"the favorlte apples of the Queen n"
Europe got the apple from ASA, and we
got Il from England, and have developed
1t TO an extent that gives us a new claim
upon the gratitude Of the mother country.
She raises fine apples upon her own SON.
Canada and Australia send her apples
in great quantities; and so do these
United States; but we flatter ourselves
that the very best that she gets are those
that come from Albemarle and from
str,ns OF land in adjacent counties.