The Republican journal., 1909-10-14
Origin of "Wild Apples. "
From Trees Imported in 18th Century. Re-
suits of Research by r. H. Rice of Spok-
ane

|
suits of Research by r. H. Rice of Spok
ane.
SPOKANE, WASH, Oct. /. Orchardists
all over the continent will be interested
in the research work just completed by
Rem H. Rice, secretary-manager of the
National Apple Show, Inc, showing that
the so-called wild apple or wild crab. "
from which many of the present stand
ard commercial varieties have sprung.
were wayward descendants of trees orig
inally imported from England and other
foreign countries in the 18th century.
Mr.. Rice has compiled data, tracing
the seeds from their habitat in foreign
soils to these shores, also the wandering
of the trees from the path of civiliza-
ton, reverting to savagery and then
brought to the present-day perfection. as
to color, size and flavor, after wears of
toll and study. Of the contributory fac
tors he says that the process of cultiva-
ton was not of sufficiently long dura-
ton nor was it complete, and, as a con-
sequence, after few years. neglect. it
was natural for the fruit to return to its
normal state.
The appended excerpts are from Mr..
Rlce's manuscript, to be presented to
Professor H. E. Van Deman of Wash
ington, D. c., who will head the board of
judges at the second national apple show
in Spokane, Nov. Is to 20.
During Revolutionary times and the
days of the Indian wars, when thousands
of men were called to bear arms, many
farms were permitted to run to waste
and weeds. In numerous instances the
isolated homesteads and even settlements
were attacked and destroyed, the occu-
pants slain, the buildings sacked and
burned and the stock scattered when not
stolen. Thus, a few years completed the
transition from pioneer husbandry to ut
ter ruin and chaos. Frequently these
settlements were the outposts of civiliza-
ton, situated as they were on the very
edge of the wilderness and, in the course
of a few years, rank weeds pushed their
heads through the rotted boards and
logs; pine, hemlock and maple growths
sprung up in the clearings and wild
things scampered unmolested over the
ruins, which were rapidly accommodating
moss and lichens. In word, the wild
erness had stretched forth its hands and
claimed its own. The young orchards,
which, with the poplars and other trees,
served as wind-breaks, were quickly
surrounded and outstripped in growth
by the native woods, the tangled under
brush choked the tender trees and the
fruit reverted to the wild and free man
ner of the pigeon berry and beechnut.
wild apples" so called, had pecu-
liar charm Of their own, largely because
of their spicy flavor. Though barred
from the tables of gentlefolk and the
marts of trade, they were sought by
fully as interesting if less exacting con-
sumers. The blanketed reds used them
as staples of diet and the pioneers of
the backwoods and the frontiersmen
often stepped off the trails to obtain
store. The settlers of more peaceful
days found them pleasant surprise in
zone not prolific of fruits, and bear, rae
coon and porcupine also knew them as an
excellent preparation for the long sleep
of winter.
| hen the yeomen returned from the
wars to resume the cultivation of the
soil, many farmers set themselves to re-
DEMONSTRATING the apple, and in this en-
tered the process of selection and re-
lection as practised by the foremost
pomologists and botanists of the present
doS 1lCSS WSIS CltdiSu VI tIle uIlutI-
brush and pruned; and scions were de-
much patient toll, as long in duration as
the period of retrogression had been, the
wild fruit once again became the apple
of civilization and with this came its de-
velopment as a commercial product,
which is destined so far as the north
western States and provinces are con-
cerned, to rank with the wheat industry
in very few years.
| Mr.. Rice shows in his compilation of
data bearing on the growing of CONNER
cial apples, that the industry has not
kept pace with the increase in popula-
ton in the United States and Canada,
from the fact that the entire crop this
| year, estimated at 28,000 900 barrels, is
many barrels less than the production in
! 1896, when growers in the United States
harvested $780, 900. Twenty seven
million barrels of apples were harvested
in the United States last year.
| The explanation of this condition lies
scattered over the broad acres in the
New England, Eastern and Middle West
ern States, where apple orchards, never
regarded as serious features of the
farms, have fallen easy prey to neglect
and resultant pests. In many instances
the trees nave Deen 1elleQ TO supply
manufacturers with materials, while in
other localities entire orchards have
been chopped out to afford room for more
profitable crops. AS there is no substi-
tute for the apple this would mean moth
ing less than famine were it not for the
orchards in the West, where an immense
territory has been dedicated to fruit pro-
duction, and with the millions of trees
planted annually will make this the Or
chard country Of the world.
'"The lands already planted in Wash
ington Idaho, Oregon, Montana and the
province of British Columbia should pro-
duce crop Of apples in 1915 equal to the
production of the United States in 1885,"
said Mr.. Rice in discussing the outlook,
''and at that there will never be an over
production. From that time on, with
orchards in other Western and South
western States, including California,
Colorado, Texas, Nevada, Utah, Arizona,
New Mexico, Wyoming and the Dakotas,
there should be a definite increase every
season, until the apple becomes the every
day fruit and food of the people. instead
of a luxury, as it appears to be today in
view of the interpretation and high