The Ellensburg dawn. [volume] (Ellensburg, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1902-03-01
Notes From the Orchard.
+. WALDEN. IlLLAu. WASH


Persons are calling ON me quite fire.
qucntly for information Is to what
varieties of apples to plant. Letters
are received with like import. 1t is
somewhat burdcnsome to answer
all these letters as fully rs | should
| like to, SO | will answer these inquiries
through the columns of the Northwest
lIorticulturist. And first let me say it
mai es quite Il difference what object
is in view in planting If the aim is
to raise apples for home consumption
then would plant Il few early apples.
like the yellow Transparent, Duchess
of Oldenbur" and Red June: some
later ones such as the American Sum
mer pcalmain. McMIahon. Blcnhcim
Orange: some still later like the GRAY
cn,tein. the ltambo and Wealthy. and
follow these with the Snow. the Me
lnto>h Red and Wolf River. Only II
few tree, Of each if intended for home
use. Then for winter | would plant
Missouri Pippcn, the Wincsap and Ben
Davis. There are many excellent
varieties not mentioned above and
some Of these could well be substituted
for the ones named. provided the
planter knows them. II he 4 poorly
informed he will do well not to depart
from This list lest he make, some
seriou, mistakes. The ones ! have
named make Il safe list.
If the object aimed at is to make
money. then the important question
is: What can plant that will give
the largest returns? For the early
market know of nothing that will
pay better than the yellow Trans
parent, the Duchess and the Red
June. All these sell well. The Red
June will overbear and must be thnned
and so must the Yellow Transparent
some years.
For fall apples not many should be
raised. Good GravensteinS always sell
well and the Wealthy is in favor on
account of its beautiful color. | would
follow these with the SNOW and Me
lnto,h. They sell well and they bear
we'll.
five winter apples for Il commercial
orchard. it is no easy matter. a
winter apple to be put in the highest
class for commercial purpopes must
be good in at least five points. viz:
Color, size, quality. good keeper and
Il prolific bearer. Red is the pre-
ferred color and large apple is pre-
ferrcd to Il small one F'our-tier apples
will sell much better, all things CON
sidered, than II tive-tier Three-tier
apples are to large and not many
can be sold at fancy prices. No winter
apple has all these points in the high
est degree. Judging 10y these points.
would recommend the following
apples: jonathan, Missouri Pippin.
Rome Beauty. Wincsap and Ben Davis.
Not one Of these but is weak in some
of these points. The Jonathan is not
IL long keeper and is often deficient in
size unless rigidly thinned. The Mis-
souri, Pippin is Il small apple unless
carefully thinncd. 1t is inferior to the
Jonathan in quality, but is II better
keeper The Rome Beauty is almost
ideal in color, size, quality and as II
prolific bearer. is not Il rood keeper.
The Winesap is trst-class in color,
and nearly so as Il keeper and is pro-
life. but is deficient in size and not
Il Jonathan in quality. The Ben
Davis is ideal in four points out of
five, viz: Color size, keeping and
quantity. This apple IS not irst-class
in quality. by many it is classed
us very inferior. as worthless. This
is hasty Judgment. If well thinned
so that ii is large and if ripcned
in the sun it is anything but worth
less. in fact is Il pretty good apple
late in the winter. Charles Foster.
president of the National Apple Ship
pers' association. and one of the larg-
est apple exporters of New York.
said in recent issue of The Packer:
THE Ben Davis is good market
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