Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1909-02-13

way far In advance OF It.
John, so the legend goes, was a
simplehearted body, " no loved to
roam through he forests of the north
west in advance o. his fellows. con-
sorting alternately with the red man
and the white. He was esteemed by
those who knew him a gagabond who
just loafed. He had his uae In the
world, however.
Jesuits May Have Spread Them.
When among white folks he saved
the seeds Of all the best apples he INST
with, and carefully preserved and car
ried them with him When far away
from his white friends lie would select
an open spot OF ground, prepare the
sol ana plant the seeds, upon the
principal, perhaps, Of the OLD Spanish
custom that he owed 80 much to
posterity.
1t is probable that the trees credit
cd to John Apple Seed were those
planted By the Jesuits.
Massachusetts end Connecticut
grew apples at an early period, and
New York received them from other
states. In turn, Michigan. Illinois,
Wisconsin and Iowa took them from
New York, and thus gradually they
Iaeandcrea 10 California, Washington,
and Oregon, where they have attained
their greatest commercial value, which
must be accepted as the best estimate
a their quality.
Many Apples of Many Kinds.
New York state is famous for apples
and so is Canada. OF course, there
are apples and apples-some good,
some just so so, some for eating, 9TH
ers for cooking, and so on.
There are about a dozen essentials
to a good apple-in addition to pro-
~ductiveness, such as richness (the rel
alive proportions of sugar and acid).
flavor, firmness, color, form, size, uni
formity, culinary qualities, good keep
Ing, ETC.. etc.
Although Great Britain has for ages
given great attention to apple cultiva-
ton and produces large quantities and
numerous varieties, yet the people
over there esteem the American New
ton pippin most of all, giving also
much praise to the Williams Favor
lite, Astrashan, Gravenstein, Baldwin.
and Spitzenberger.
According to official reports from
Washington, D. c., Great Britain in
1907 took from us 1.20S. 909 barrels of
apples, the value given being s2,751,-
375.
That they are a notable factor in
staple productions is demonstrated by
an annual crop in the United States
and Canada of about 100, 900, 300 bar
rels. This country is not only forging
ahead in volume but in quality. AS
related to the product of orchard
fruits the apple has attained So per
cent. of the total in trees ami SIS per
cent. of product.
Profits $500 an Acre.
AS to excellence in quality and no
doubt a great surprise to many. it
may ba stated that the product last
year of yellow Newton piypins grown
on lers than an acre in the Rogue
River Valley, Oregon. which is about
$50 miles south Of Portland. was SIS
boxes (about one barrel eaeh), and
the lot was sold in London at a net
price to the grower Of ~s1,711.50. The
particular t~hree-acre orchard from
which this fruit was taken produced
an average of $500 an acre a year for
the last eight years.
In 1905 a lot was sold in London
at S54S. One thousand boxes were
sold in Edinburgh, Scotland. at s4.S3
per box; at the same time apples
grown in Scotland were selling at 80
cents a bushel.
In 1907 an orchard Of eight acres in
the same region, near Ashland, Ore
gon, yielded 5000 boxes of Newton
pippins, which We're sold at the orch
ard for $4,000 an acre.
Record For Hood River.
The highest price ever paid for
apples from an orchard in the United
States was for Hood River Spitzen-
bergers and Newtons, the former rang
ing from $3.50 to $500 and the latter
from 1925 to $3.50 per bushel box.
Hood River is in Oregon, about sixty
five miles east of Portland.
Among the recent notable purchases
,, II 81 $50 -,-- % coz n nN