Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1911-06-09
Varieties of Fruit Grown in Washing
ton.
(By o. NJ Morris, Assistant Professor
OF horticulture, W. S. CO.

of fruit tor the state oil " ashington
is changed almost every year Some
varieties are dropped and others ad-
ded to the list. There is a constant
demand tor information on this sub
Ject: also for information about var
| ieties that are better suited to the
various localities than any of those
commonly recommended. This UNI
rest anu constant seeking after some
thing different and new is natural
result OF the unsatisfactory varieties
that now compose the recommended
list.
The list of recommended varieties
as published in the last annual re-
port Of the Washington State Horti-
cultural Society, pages 142 to 144,
contain over one hundred names. In
the entire list there are less than
ten varieties that originated in the
Northwest. Several of them were
imported from Europe, but most of
them come from the eastern part Of
the United States. Nearly all came
from sections very much unlike
were originally selected and cult
waited for the purpose of supplying a
character of market very different
from that supplied by the fruit now
grown in the Northwest. The ap-
pies and pears of this list when
grown in the eastern part of the Uni
ted States reached the market
through a different kind and extent
of transportation from what they
pass through when grown in the
state of Washington. This condition
is an explanation of great deal of
the lack of adaptation of the present
varieties to our needs.
Another unsatisfactory condition
is the large proportion of varieties
that are self sterile. Nearly all of
the apples and pears named in the
list were introduced to the trade and
became well established long before
the Importance of self sterility and
cross pollination had been studied in
its relation to commercial fruit grow
ing. All of our leading varieties of
apples and pears made their reputa-
tons and gained popular favor while
n hn ho Ig
These home orchards contained sew
eral varieties we'll mixed together, so
1t was hardly possible for the differ
ent ones to show their faulty char
acter of partial or entire self steril-
ity.
In recent years more attention
has been paid to the question of ster-
ility and we find that the apples,
pears, plums and Strawberries are
especially capricous in this matter.
In the Strawberries many of the best
varieties bear only pistilate blossoms
as does the Crescent. In compiling
the reports of self fertility tests of
apples and pears in the recommend
ed list above referred to, the fresh
man class in fruit growing found
only eight varieties uniformly re-
ported as self fertile. These varie-
Des are duchess, White Winter Pear
main, Grimes Golden, Yellow New
town apples and Flemish Beauty,
Sickle, White Doyenne, and Tyson
pears, Glowing Coal and McIntost
Red could not be found in any of the
lists tested for self fertility. Those
reported as partially or entirely self
sterile We're the following: Blue
Pearmain, Delicious, Gano, Bell
flower, Gravenstein, Jonathan, King.
Northern Spy, Olympia, Rhode Is
land Greening, Rome Beauty, Wine
sap, Wagner, Wealthy, York In
perial, Yellow Transpare Ortley. and
Williams Favorite apples, and An
Jou, Bartlett, Clapp, Clairgeau, Com
ice, kieffer, and Winter Nellis pears
This means that each variety in the
list just given could not be depend
ed upon to set fruit if planted alone.
Some of the varieties listed here as
PARTIALLY or entirely self sterile were
reported from some tests to be self
sterile, from others to be partially
self sterile, and from others to be
self sterile. 1t may reasonably be
expected that more complete testing
of the varieties here listed as self
fertile would find some localities in
which they would be only PARTIAL,
self fertile or even self sterile.
The varieties that are most popu-
lar have some very grevious faults
and they will probably be supplant-
ed by others of local origin. Let us
note briefly some of the faults of a
few taken at random from the list
The Delicious is an early winter ap-
pie that deteriorates very rapidly af.
ter ii passes the lust ripe" stage