Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-04-02
OUR APPLE INDUSTRY.


| An important article of the report is
on the apple industry of Maine. 1t
deals with all its branches at home and
the immense and rapidly growing cX-
port trade.
THE states having more apple trees
than Maine arc Arkansas. Illinois. In
diana Iowa. Kansas Kentucky, Michi
gan. Missouri, New York, Ohio. Penn
$ylvana. North Carolina. Tennessee,
Virginia ana West Virginia. Most Of
these states have double the number of
apple trees found in Maine, and several
of them have three or four times as
many. But in favor ana in keeping
qualities apples raised in Maine are not
cuUallcd by thOS" raised in any other
section of tn. United States; and
Maine apples. like Aroostook potatoes
and Maine sweet corn. can always find
Il ready market Maine apples. at the
Worlds Fair in Chicago, after the de-
strurtion by fire Of the cold storage
building, kept sound and preserved
their color and flavor. while those from
other states rotted rapidly. This fact
is one of the best advertisements that
Maine apples ever had"
The first export was made. Dec. Il,
1898, when the steamer Sarah Sands
arrived at Portland from Liverpool, be-
ing the pioneer European trader and
took back with her 1000 barrels of
Maine apples. In the season of 1902 s.
The shipments from Portland were
about 100000 barrels from Maine and
hi
over i000OO barrels of Maine apples in
the same year. The total estimated
shipments of Maine apples to Europe in
1923 is therefore over half a million
barrels.
Letters to the bureau from apple
growers in the various counties show
that all are enthusiastic over the sue
cess and possibilities of this industry
a letter from Monmouth, kenncbec
county. says:
Monmouth is 4 good apple town:
Winthrop ana Litchfeld adjoining are
good apple towns. The Baldwin is the
principal apple raised, with the Ben
Davis a close second. As an all sea-
son apple the Baldwin is the best seller.
and the Ben Davis is the next best in
y
where apples are sold Many car lots
are sent from this town across the wa
ter. Some are scld in Boston. Several
shipments were made to Baltimore last
season. Some are sold to agents who
come here from Europe every year
one man in this town raised ] 100 bar
rplS last year mostly BaldwinS. Not
much account is made mere of early APP
pies. All kinds are raised in small lots
ana find u ready market in Boston.
quite 4 lot of ruSsct apples are
raised iii the northeastern part Of Mon
mouth, commonly called Monmouth
Neck. r.. soil in this part of the
town. CA ding also into Winthrop
seems to lie natural russct soil. being
i"1NrcGnatcd with coppcvas. In regard
=" the price of apples. think that large
lot~ averaged about $500 net per barrel
~! winter fruit last season. Some of
our largest apple growers shipped their
apples to Europe on their own account
Spraying is practicc1 here to some ex-
tent with good results.
Il think greater care should be taken
in sorting and packing apples. especial
~ If they are to be shipped to Europe
Such apples should be pressed very
hard; if for Boston or other near mar
kets. not SO hard. Only the best fruit
should be SCnt across the water. For a
small dealer | think the best time to sell
is To the first buyer who makes a fair
offer. ] have only Il small orchard Of
about 200 trees, mostly Fen Davis I
gave it Il thorough cultivation until it
Ia hearing 10 I Oh,
raise such crops as clover or buck
wheat. and turn these under in the late
summer or early fall. There are not
many large orchards in town. hut :
goodly number Of small ones, ranging
from 200 to 500 trees EACH
Aroostook is making great strides in
apple raising. She had 6i.9S9 trees in
1890. and 169,o5S in 1900. a handsom.
increase. The Duchess Of Oldcnburrh
introduced from New brunswick. is
proving the most successful. being fol-
lowed by the Alexander. Fameuse.
Wealthy and other well-known yarie-
ties.
The report of u. H. Knowlton of the
Maine Pathological Society on .Apple
Culture in Maine.' made to the Ameri
can Pomological Society at Boston.
last September. is given in full and is
complete history of our apple raising.
In summarizing, Commissioner Mat
thews says:
The following table will show the
number of apple trees in 1900 and the
number of bushels of apples raised in
1899 in the State Of Maine, by counties: