The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1917-02-15

review which is based partly upon OBJ.
s~ervation at twenty-one South Dakota
state fairs.
Some of the old varieties of crab
apples have dropped out of sight dur
ing this time and new ones have come
into their places. Still others have
held their own all these years. The
Florence is n of the varieties that
has held it's place and has steadily in
creased in popularity, being the right
size for preserving. and very produc-
tive. The fruit is characterized by
the bright red color, very distinctly
striped, the stripping being caused by
bands of whitish color which dulls
the brilliant red. ,
For a sweet crab the Briar Sweet
is an old favorite which retains its
popularity. The Whitney is an old
%favorite, perhaps the most popular of
all the large crab apples. 1t is ex-
cellent to eat out Of hand late in Aug
ust and early in September, but soon
gets mealy. Ny favorite of all the
crabs to eat out of hand is the Sweet
Russell. 1t is hardy and productive,
and holds it's own on the recommended
fruit lists. 1t is of large size and
really excellent for eating out of the
hand, but the dull yellow and russell
color does not help for market.
The Virginia is a widely planted
old variety but a very shy bearer;
however, it is useful as stock for top
grating because of extreme hardness
strong growth and its understanding
forks, which make it useful as a stock
upon which to top-graft less hardy
varieties. But even for this purpose
the Hibernal apple is to be prefer
red as it will give you a large hardy
apple in ease the top-grafting is not
done.
The Transcendent crab is probably
the market preserving crab most fav-
ored by the commission men of the
large cities, but it is getting scarcer,
the trees being much subject to the
blight. Although removed from the
Minnesota fruit list it found it's way
back, because it bears fruit, even the
tree blights badly. The fruit is Of
beautiful appearance, being a bright
red owe yellow ground.
| am hoping that my new Amur
crab will be a good substitute. The
sauce cooks up an attractive red, in
stead of yellow as is the case with
Transcendent. So far the tree is
free from blight. Ivan and Dolgo
are two other new varieties recently
introduced by the South Dakota State
College.
TIE Martha crab is fast disappear
ms. It is of a beautiful color but the
tree is generally a shy bearer. Fine
r. ates Of Excelsior are seen each year
At the fair from various parts of the
tate. 1t is a beautiful fruit, produce
sc and of d good quality. 1t is one
OF the hybrides which is too large for
a crab apple and a little too small for
an apple. 1t was productive for twen-
ty-seven years in the old State Col
lege orchard at Brookings.
The Hyslop is the pest of the very
late crabs. 1t is characterized by its
brilliant solid dark red fruit with its
dense blue bloom. Many plates of this
vaiety show up every year at the state
fair, as it is a standard variety in the
nurseries. Housewives like them for
canning as they can be canned during
the cool fall weather. However, the
tree is SO much subject to blight that
it is gradually losing out.
The Minnesota has been widely
planted and is one of the large fruited
hybrid crabs, hardy and productive;
the yellow color is against it, as the
market demands red crabs. The orange
crab is a medium sized fruit with
orange colored skin and flesh. This
color is against it for the market. The
Greenwood is smaller but very produc-
tive, the yellow color is against it. The
Yellow Siberian crab is one of the
very first crabs planted in the state,
but the size is really too small to suit
most people. The tree is worth grow
ing as an ornamental tree.
The Cherry crab is larger and equal
" ornamental but is now also super
seeded by the larger hybrids, such as
the Florence. The Red Siberian crab
is much like the Yellow Siberian crab
except in color. The Jenkins is one
of the promising newer crabs. The
Gen. Grant is a good old crab but the
tree blights badly and it is getting
rare. The Lyman has no % wide
favor so far owing to its shy bearing.
The Glib crab is a large yellow var
iety known in ONLY a few orchards.