The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1906-02-15
Commercial Apples for Whatcom Co.
(By ]. H. Kirkpatrick

they get the right varieties. | don't
want anyone to get the notion that
am an expert on growing apples. a
fellow would have to be very dumb
if, after fifteen years experimenting
to find what varieties do best here, he
did not learn something.
| gave a paper some time ago on
summer and fall apples. l would like
to give something here on what |
have learned of winter apples. l find
the early winter varieties that ripen
in November and December to be:
D. Mignonne King, Mother and Wag-
gener, if it don't speck too badly.
These four varieties are all vigorous,
healthy, growing trees, very prolific
and bear young, and every year, If
thinned | consider the MignOnne at
Christmas almost equal to good
ripe Gravenstein. The King does not
need any good words; everybody
knows it's worth. The Mother is to
my notion, the richest apple l grow.
The Waggener is free from any fibers
and melts in the mouth almost like
ice cream. If it don't get to speaking
it will be good apple.
have kept these apples till March,
but after the holidays they rot so fast
the profit is soon gone. The Famous,
or Snow, is at its best in November
and December. Every orchard ought
70 have at least two trees. I doubt if
here is a better little apple to eat
fresh. If man was sure of his mar
ket he could make some money with
he little Snow.
Late winter apples are the Baldwin,
Rhode Island Greening, Jonathan,
Spitzenberg and Arkansas Black. The
Baldwin grows almost to perfection in
Whatcom county The apples are
large and green for the first three or
four years, but later they color well.
The Greening is one of the best late
winter apples grown. In the New
York market some weeks ago the
Greening and Newton Pippin brought
soc more per barrel than any apple
offered.
The Jonathans surely are fine. They
don't have good color when picked
but if put in a pit and left till Feb
ruary, they seem to develop color as
they ripen-mOre so than any apple
have had The more I see of the
Jonathan the better l like it.
lie anu al houoeto
Black are yet in the experimental
stage here. If the Spitzenberg is put
in rich, we'll cultivated soil and well
sprayed, I believe we can grow them
as we'll as any other. The tree is
tender. I am of the opinion the Ar
kansas Black will take the lead for
market apples. My trees are vigor-
Gus, clean trees and l expect fruit on
them this summer, then I can tell
pretty we'll what they will do. |
would not advise planting many OF
the last two varieties till they are bet
ter tested.
I am told the Crimes Golden does
we'll here. but | have never seen it.
The Northern Spy is very tender and
the tree does not bear till quite old.
The "apple specks" are the small
decayed spots that appear under the
skin. I don't think it right to call it
the Baldwin speck," for the Baldwin
specks less than some of the other
varieties. My observation is, the
speck does not come on the apple till
about the time it ripens. | believe the
way the apple is stored and kept has
more to do with the speck than any
thing else. I am inclined to think the
speck is a fungus disease that attacks
the apple after it is ripe and the ripper
the apple gets the more the disease
spreads. If apples are kept within
two degrees of freezing till they ripen
I doubt if the speck bothers them. If
some one would take two boxes from
the same tree and ripen one in cold
storage and the other in a common
cellar he could settle this question.
For four or five years I kept my ap-
pies in a warm, moist, underground
cellar where the mercury often stood
at 400 and 50o The apples ripened