The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1904-11-17
Some Freaks in the Annlo LIne.

A freak in the apple line which might
be termed half breed, was shown us
this morning by r. II. Weber. 1t Is q
small apple raised on the Hood River
orchard Of Mrs. +. W. McCune, Of this
city. A distinct line encircles the ap
| pie dividing 1t in half, and, strange tC
say, 1t is plain to any one versed in the
varieties OF that fruit that one half il
| Spitzenberg and the other Gano. Pre-
sumably cider made from such apples
might be said to be "half and half.."-
Chronicle.
On our desk is number OF apple
freaks brought in for our entertainment
by the growers. Among them one that
is known as the gold medal Ben Davis
from the orchard of John Kelley. 1t il
a light Colored Ben all right, but upon
one side, in the perfect shape Of an ap.
pie leaf, is portion OF the rind of the
the apple finished in the most approved
| style Of the Golden Russet. The spot
Is as perfect in size and outline as il
done by the pencil OF skillful artist.
Another freak OF this kind is a four
tier Ben from the Oakdale orchards at
Frankton. This is highly colored Ben
with stripe of Baldwin down one side
from stem to blossom.
Still another Ben Davis freak from this
orchard is four-tier Ben which, when
1t had filled its hide full as it would hold
and the. long season still sent up mater
ial, rather than strain its skin in an at
tempt to hold it, or spoil its size for
making a commercial pack" by enlarg-
ing its covering, built up another apple
about the size Of hazelnut on top be.
side the stem, the diminutive addition
having as perfect blossom as its larg-
er mate.
Two other double apples are from this
orchard. One Is double Lady appIe.
having two perfect blossoms, but with
only one stem and a peculiarity not oft
en- II ever noticed in double apples, but
one OF the apples is connected to the
stem, the entire stem centering in the
one apple, the other apple appearing as
q sort OF side show under the same
tent and OF almost an equal size with
the main attraction. The other double
consists OF Siamcse-twin combination
IN which one apple Ia as red as sunset
in italy while the other is as green as
the bills OF the Emerald Isle.
Now the question which these freaks
Of particolored apples bring to the fore
Is: What causes the coloration2 The
only answer that we can coniure up
is that IT is the effect of cross-fertliza.
ton. II this be a fact, which it would
seem folly to deny, then why does not
the Ben Davis or some other heavy pol
lenlzer leave Its markings on other APP
pies when planted among them for the
purpose Of pollenizati2n2 Really it
would seem to be more logical to CON
clnde that the planting of the Bens
among the Spitz for polenizing purposes
Is a waste of good ground. While it is
q fact which none will deny, that the
bees assist in the polarization, it is also
very evident that the bees will produce
but little results when flying from one
tree to. another, and that little will be
to produce an unmarketable fruit bv
the accidental cross-pollenization.
Alter the above was put in type J, w.
the nurseryman from the
called at the office and tax
ing notice Of the gold medal Ben Davis,
fully endorsed the opinion expressed
above and stated emphatically that the
theory OF planting the Ben Davis in al
lernate rows with other varieties for the
purpose of polarization is q humbug
md hasn't a leg to stand on"