Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1910-11-03
shepherdstw Jefferson County, Virginia. Thursday

Virginia and West Virginia, where they
have attained their greatest commercial
value, which must be accepted as the best
estimate of their quality.
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, others for cooking,
and so on.
There are about dozen essentials to a
goodapple in additionto productiveness,
such as richness the relative proportions
of sugar and acid flavor, firmness, color,
form, size, uniformity, culinary qualities,
good keeping, etc, etc.
Although Great Britain has for ages
given great attention to apple cultivation
and produces large quantities and NUM-
erous varieties, yet the people over there
esteem the American Newton pippin
most OF all, giving also much praise to the
Williams Favorite, Astrakhan, Craven
stein, Baldwin, and Spitzenberger.
That apples are notable factor in sta
pie productions is demonstrated by an
annual crop in the United States and
Canada OF about 100, 600, 100 barrels. This
country is not only forging ahead in vol
ume but in quality AS related to the
product OF orchard fruits, the apple has
attained 55 per cent Of the total in trees
and 82.8 per cent of product
As to excellence in quality and no
doubt great surprise to many, it may
be stated that the product last year OF
yellow Newton pippins grown on less
than acre in the Rogue River Valley,
Oregon, which is about $50 miles south
of Portland, was 8l5 boxes about one
barrel each and the lotwas sold in Lon
don at net price TO the grower OF 81 I'LL
80. The particular three-acre orchard
from which this fruit was taken produced
an average OF $500 an acre year for the
last eight years.
The highest price ever paid for apples
from an orchard in the United States was
for Hood River SpitzenbergerS and New
tons, the former ranging from $3.50 to
$500 and the latter from 1925 to $25C
per bushel box. Hood River is in Ore
gon, about Sixty-five miles east OF Port
land.
In California, 100 miles south OF San
Francisco, there are great orchards from
which are shipped annually 1000 cars OF
apples to England Germany and other
European countries. II is famous for
bellefleurs and pippins. Thegrowers just
attend to the growing. The dealers 90
there and do the buying while the crop is
unripe on the trees and plank down the
cash in the commercial center of the dis
trict.
In rapidly running over this subject we
tind there are many varieties Of good ap-
pies, and of the good ones the pippins
seem in all ages and at presentto be pre-
| ferred.
1t gives an idea, too, of the develop
ment Of language, from the crude slang
of the barn and the field TO the arstocracY
of the dictionary. When we hear the term
pippin applied TO person or thing ii
means the highest sort OF compliment-it
is the superIative of estimate.
All down among the ages the apple
has been notable among the families OF
fruit. Beneath the branches Of the first
OF its kind Adam whispered the Sweet
est story ever told" and this same old
story, ever new to willing ears, may be
heard today under "the shade of the old
apple tree"