The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1910-12-30
The Jonathan Apple
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III prhe following article, written b,
81 - III Yost lof Meridian) one of tn,
II s"'.st,oosted shorticuituristS in Idaho
s,srroduced from the current issue
Il nft.e 4 Gem State Rural.l
Il The Jonathan apple, as grown in
Il goiss.Payette valley, can not be
sanslled anywhere in the world
II to.day. Expert apple judges, east
md Y west, concede this. Its color
consistency. quality, spiciness
suapiness, juciness are unexcelled
n Yat having examined carefully the
u Jonathan tree and questioned
nany growers from Weiser to
n Roiss this fall, / find considerable
doubt as to its future success. In
n nv Judgment there is no serious
oround for this. Some, as around
Psyette and Fruitland, seem to
think that the Jonathan is about
d Be overdons, others that blight
viii overtake it, etc. I think the
fault lays within ourselves, en-.
tirsIy, and that thorough study
Of world markets and correction
of cultural methods now in prac.
tice to conform to the nature and
i habits of the tree, will allay all
fear and donbt. Fruit growers,
like other people, are apt to quit
or change before they conquer. To
make any other apple our leader,
the same objections would arise,
ad infnitum. This is certainly a
good old world but it is not good
enough for me and 80 with the
Jonathan apple. Take and keep
that with you.
We have four points we wish to
make about the Jonathan: the
tree, the culture, the fruit, the
market.
The Tree: Take a yearling JON
athan and head it from 20 to 30
inches as you like, cut the roots
quite we'll back, three-fourths to
four -fifths, transplant firmly, care
for it four years without a single
pruning, and notice what a strik-
ing centrifugal nature it has.
Every lateral wants to get away
from the branch from which it
originated. The fourth year you
will have quite a sprinkling of
fruit, the fifth a crop. I do not
mean to say we should not prune
the Jonathan after the first head
ing-not at all; but we must quit
the heading-in and cutting back,
heading-in and cutting back of
the previous years growth, for
four or FIVE years continuously,
contrary to the very nature of the
tree, with no fruit for seven or
eight years. Prune certainly, but
assist or train it inathe centrifugal
nature, instead OF forcingit to grow
timber and a brush pile three or
four stories high. Many of our
young Jonathans, four and FIVE
year oIds, are of the latter, includ-
ing my own, before we were wise
tothe above facts. I pointed the
factssout to our deputy inspector
and many others, visiting many
orchards showing the centrigugal
Jonathan in every case loaded
with fruit while the three or four
story of the same age and in the
same orchards were barren.
Culture: The Jonathan will
not give US fine coIored, high
qualified, long keeping fruit under
continuous, Intensive, clean cul-
ture. There have been such strik-
ing examples and failures of the
continuous, intensive, clean cut-
ture about US that the opposite, or
sod-culture methods, became axio-
matte with us and we fell into that
extreme. One thing we feel quite
certain we can say; eight years
out of ten have the Jonathan or
ohard in clover sod and two years
disc-in and cultivate. Better have
weeds and grass and trash the lat
ter part of the season than the
disc, Acme or Planet Junior. We
have some very curious expert
ments going on along these lines.
This seasons observations about
the old ranches with trees about
the gardens and ditohes grown up
g weeds, would lead one to think
that the man who knows nothing
and cares nothing for a Jonathan
apple tree. has the better of US
expert" orchardists. This, of
course, is not true, but nature in
slsts that she can do the job very
well herself or better than a mis-.
understood job that is ''cruel only
to be kind"
n The Fruit: We still have com.
plants from the east, az we note
u the Chicago Packer and other
lournals,s that the Jonathan is not
aeeping very we'll this year, yet
Ve knowsif we pick our Jonathaps
sooner than We do, it helps the
6eeping qualities. We still wait
a 100 lOnrr for cnIa~ ond tho Iona.