The Washington herald., 1907-07-05
The Apple, King of Fruits
By FREDERIC j. HASKIN
Ely FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

Among all the peoples of the temperate
zones. in whatever nation, the apple is
the undisputed king of fruits. In the
United States there are three apple trees
for every man. woman. and child. and
the annual crop viii average nearly two
bushels for each American citizen. The
apple is the only fruit that forms a staple
article of food. fresh, cooked. or dried.
for the American table every day in the
year. All other fruits. except in the
tropics are luxuries. Some millions of
bushels are sent 10 foreign lands each
year. but New York City recently wei
coined an importation of 2i000 boxes from
far-away Australia. Hundreds Of thou
sands OF bushels Of apples were wasted
in the orchards Of the Middle Western
States last fall because of the car short
age and the lack of facilities for taking
care of the crop.
When a good American wishes to de
scribe the perfection Of neatness he says.
1T is i'm apple-pie order When an
American boy grows enthusiastic over his
sweetheart his baseball bat. or his dog.
he declares the object Of his devotion to
be a "pippin." The standard type of the
great American dessert whether eaten in
those places where il is used three times
a day OF only once, is apple pie. In its va
rieties of "kiyered. unkivered. or cross
kivered.' it is always welcome, and the
apple part of it. at least, is wholesome.
The Washington correspondent Of the
London Times is a man whom no one
would expect TO grow enthusiastic over
anything distincdyely American, but it
is a fact that when a bubblhg young girl
asked him the question Dickens so hated.
How do you like American" he replied:
"I like American apple pie SO much that
want TO stay here" This conversion is
proof Of the patriotism Of the elder
statesmen of the United States Senate
in providing for the Senate restaurant a
cook who brings apple pie and apple
dumplngs and bake apples 90 the very
pinnacle of culinary perfection-dishes
that the gods envy.
Delightful as the apple is when con-
yeTted into a pie. or glOrihcd into apple
sass" or expressed into cider, IL is best
as it comes from the tree-jUicy and good
from its tough. thin peel into its brown.
ripe seeds The seeds. JOO-if il were not
for them how would a maiden tell her
fortune on All Halloween zone I love,
two I love. three l love. / say'-and the
American girl well knows how much bet
ter are apple seeds than daisy petals, for
are there not more often eight seeds, or
Jwelve2-"eight we both love, nine be
comes, ten he tarrias, eleven he courts,
ana twelve ne marries.'
Within the memory of most of the pe0-
pie who read this the orchard was simply
a small lot of apple trees, fifty or a hun
dred. planted somewhere near the farm
house, on which apples were grown for
Use by the family and maybe a few bar
rels We're sold each year To- the neighhor-
ing towns and cities Often the pruning
knife was not used and the orchard Va.
made up of ulsiEntly. m.Sshapgu trees
that would disgrace d modern fruit grow
er. Under the trees was a thick mat Of
grass and the ground was innocent of
cultivation. II insects attacked the trees
or disease ruined the fruit il was aC-
counted a misfortune. Steps for pTeyen-
tiOn and cure were rarely taken.
Now it has an changed. and the COM
merCial orchard. SO rare forty years ago,
is a common sight in many of the States
q large tract of well-grOomed trees of uni
form size. cultivated as carefully as corn
or potatoes. and protected from insects
and disease as religiously as the children
of a good mother
Transportation widenod the market. and
when the market demanded them the ap-
pies were raised. With experience came
knowledge. and the knowledge gained by
one fruit grower became the property Of
another. Many State universities now
maintain schools of frUit-growing, where
the sons Of the orchard owners spend the
winter learning how 90 grow and protect,
gather. pack. and ship the apples from
the paternal acres. The Federal Depart7
ment of Agriculture and the agricultural
bureaus Of the several States assist the
thousands of horticultural societies i'm
gathering and disseminating knowledge.
and experts are at the beck and call Of
every man who desires to plant an apple
tree
The apple is the descendant Of the wild
crabs of Europe, and was brought TO
America with the Caucasian race of man.
and like that race has found q cOngenial
home in most of the United States and in
large areas Of adjacent British America. I
There are hundreds of varieties, some Of
them ripening almost as soon as others
finish gloOmiug and we have June apples,
summer apples, early fall apples, late fall
apples and winter apples. In the last
named class the apples do not complete
the ripeEing process until months after
they have been taken from the tree, and
by placing them in cold storage this pro-
cess may be delayed so that the finest
apples are just ripe late the next spring.
The popularity Of varieties varies with
taste and with the section of the coun-
try There are Virginiaus who will fight
for the fame of the Albemarle pippin,
New Workers who will stand to the death
for the Northern Spy. and OregOnians
and WashiTgtonians who will maintain
against the earth that their own Spitzen-
bergs are best of ALL In the Ozark coun-
Try of Missouri and Arkansas, known as
the "land Of the big red apple" and one
of the greatest fruit-growing sections of |
America, they grow Ben Davis apples |
for market, but they pin their faith to
the Win7sap and the Jeneton for home |
eating. Dave Craig, Of Dallas County, |
No, is the prophet and the apostle OF |
the Winesap. He got religion once upon |
time and would never eat another |
Winesap. He said. Il know the Winesap
was a forbidden fruit in the Garden of /
Eden. for there amt no other fruit Ike /
it for tastness and juice"
Missouri has more apple trees than any |
other State-nearly thirty millions-while |
fifteen years ago it had less than ten /
millions. Many Of these trees are quite /
young. however. and consequently Mis- |
souri's apple crop is smaller than that Of |
New York. where the orchards are older. |
New York. Missouri Illinois. and Ohio |
are the greatest apple States The Pied |
mont region Of Virginia. the billy por- /
tions cf Tennessee and Kentucky. the /
nnrf hArr rarf of Arknnsnc oil nf AZ nr.l |