Rocky Ford enterprise., 1903-12-11
HOpT1(JN1IP
iowA's Apples.

Development of tho apple growing In
dustry. An indication Of the rapid In
crease OF this branch of horticultural
activity Is seen In the two last census
reports by the national government.
In 1880 tho number Of apple trees re-
ported was 3.ltO.6ss. In ten years
the number OF trees doubled In mum.
Der. the 1900 census showing $780,
ass. II IL noted that the great bulk
OF these trees are In the southwest
portion Of the state. Moreover. the
orchard paintings follow tho courses
OF the rivers and most OF them arc
found along the banks Of the rivers.
Tho quality OF the apples produced Is
very good. In fact, far better than In
some states more advantageously situ.
atcd for the growing OF fruit Tho
cause Of the orchards being found
largely along tho streams is probably
that there In less distinctiveiy prai.
rio soil. On some farms In tho iocaii-
ties mentioned the apple crop Ia tho
great money maker.
Unfortunately for the easy handling
OF this crop. most OF tho varieties
grown are summer or fnii keepers.
Latc-kccping winter apples arc not cx.
tensivcly grown. ms the apples Of thnt
character that grow well In Iowa aro
rather Inferior In sIxc and quality.
while tho trees lack productivcncss.
The Ben Davis does not reach its best
development In most Of the localities
In the state where apples ars largely
grown. Some foreign varieties Of fair
quality have been introduced. aud tho
trees that produce them arc hardy.
but tho fruit seldom keeps longer than
tho middle Of December. under ordi.
nary farm conditions.
An . result Of these conditions tho
Iowa apple orchardistx arc earnestly
considering tho cold storage Of their
fruit. and some experiments have al.
ready been made along that line. Last
winter the Horticultural Department
ot the Iowa Experiment Station stored
several lots Of apples In Dcn Molnca
cold storage warehouse. A scif.rcsis.
tcrinE thermometer was kept In tho
asoravc room from November I'LL April
IL. The temperature varied from -
To u. Fifteen barrels Of apples were
placed In this cold storage plant Sop
icmbcf 20. and consisted of Wealthy.
famcusc tsnow). Wolf River and Nc.
siahon's White. On October 81 sos.
cnty.two barrels moro wcr. added.
these consis;in. Of JonaihAns. DO
mines. Scck.No furthcrs. Hon Davis.
Willow T~iss. Jancta. Rcd Romantics.
Roman Stems. Northern Spys and
White Pippins.
A. u was desired To learn tho keep.
ine quality. some from each variety
were taken out each month. beginning
January II. On that date tho percent.
ago Of dccaycd fruit In each variety
was: Wealthy u. Mcmahon White
Il. famcuso Z. Wolf River II. iona.
than o. Domino J. Scck.No. Further 10.
hen Davis less than 1. Janet J. Roman
Stem i:. Northern Spy II. White Pip.
pin Z. Note tho large loss with tho
McMahons. which were taken out Of
storage altogether.
On February II the percentages OF
d.caycd fruit were: Wealthy 4. Pa.
mcusc I. Wolf River &c. Scck.No.
Further IS. Jonathan 81. hen Davis 8.
Janet l.. Romantic 4. Willow Twig 6.
"httc IiUVlH s'. ItbUlaH st'W 10.
Domino Z. Note the large percentages
Of loss with Wolf River. Scck.No.
Further and white Pippin.
on March II examination showed
the following losses: Wealthy Is. ia.
mcusc L.. hon Davis II. Domino 1s.
Janet s, Romantic .. Roman Stem IL.
Pcwaukcc sc. Willow Twig 6. White
Pippin 5s.
On April IL tho percentages of de-
caycd fruit were: Domino IL. Ben
Davis is. Willow Twig 10. Jonathan
81. Seek. o.Fur;hcr 81. Romantic ~.
Domino. Ben Davis and Willow Twis
were thus shown to be the best keep
ers Of the saiablc varieties. Janet and
Romantic are even better keepers.
but they arc too small to store com.
mercially. Tho Pcwaukoes were put
In by mistake. but were found half de-
caycd at the March examination. The
White Pippins did not stand storing
well. and went down" quickly when
taken out. The results with the
Wealthy and Snow were most crafty.
ing. as they show that those apples
can be kept well Till mIdxintcr, when
they sell readily.
Crabappie Trees,