Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1920-08-24
AMONG THE FARMERS.
"sPEED THE PLow."
II. o. Bishop on Apples.

n. o. Bishop on Apples.
Ever since that balmy and eventfu
spring day, many thousands of year,
ago, when fair young maiden-youl
very great grandma-snd a fine husky
young bachelor-your very great grand
pa-met and introduced themselves tC
each other in fascinating locality
which has since become the worlds besl
advertised orchard, apples have beer
the-most popular fruit known to man.
kind the world over.
Apples are something that everybody
eats. One of the earliest desires of q
child is to climb tree and eat q green
apple. Apple eating has grown to be an
almost daily habit with all Americans.
IAN apple day keeps the doctor
away" is an age-old proverb that now
seems to be taken seriously by practi-
cally the entire populace. Old folks
whose teeth have become so few and far
between as to make the biting and chew
ing Of an apple impossible, no longer
bemoan that unhappy condition of
affairs; they merely smile slyly, convert
their beloved fruit into apple sauce, and
satisfy their apple-yearning sppetites as
of yore.
Apple pies and apple dumplings-
once known to fame only as New Eng
land breakfast food-can now be found
daily on dining tables from the McAdoo
Long Island homo to Hiram's Frisco
bungalow.
As remarked above, everybody eats
apples but, strange to say, comparatively
few people know anything about the
immensity of the annual crop in the
United States, or In what states the bulk
of them are produced.
Leon M. Estabfook, chief OF the
Bureau of Crop Estimates of the United
States Department of Agriculture, has
given me some information on the SUBJ
ject of apples that is 80 amazing as to
sound more like romance than plain
facts.
According to carefully gathered figures
sent to Washington by bis crops of ex-
pert fruit specialists, scattered through.
out the country, Mr.. Estabrook esti-
mates that the apple crop of 1920 will be
19S, ,965, 900 bushels, as compared with
only 147, ,457, 900 bushels last year-an
increase of 81, sos, 900 bushels.
About one-half of the apple produc.
ton is known as the commercial crop,
being that portion retailed to the public.
The other half of the total production is
consumed in the vicinities where raised.
1t is estimated that the value of the
apple crop to the farmers of the country
in 1919 was s275, ,463, 900. OF course the
amount paid by the apple eaters of the
country exceeded that amount by many
millions of dollars, because apples, like
all other farm commodities, have habit
of greatly advancing Ia price between
the time they leave the farmer and the
time they are offered for sale at grocery
stores and fruit stands in the towns and
cities.
Can you imagine what a tremendous
quantity of apples 1913, 1856, 900 bushels
are? Taking it on an average, there are
175 apples to the bushel. That means q
total of almost 80 billion individual ap-
Piles. If they were to be equally divided
among the hundred million people Of
this country 1t would give a fraction
more than 34S to each of them-includ-
ing the wee babies whose only use for
them would be to admire their color or
roll them across the floor.
If all these apples were placed side by
side, they would cover a distance of
million and half miles.
To the average American citizen
Washington simply means lumber, fish
and Senator Miles Poindexter. Yet that
state leads all others In raising apples.
Most people think there's nothing to
New York except Tammany Hall, Sing
Sing, Cornell University, Al Smith and
perpetual longshoremen' strikes. 1t is
a fact, however, that the Empire State
is second in apples.
California with a national reputation
for native sons, oranges, earthquakes,
movie actresses and voters, Is third In
the running.
Virginia, the beautiful and ancient
state, where the citizenry is said to live
mostly on persimmons and past recollec-
tions, ranks fourth.
Idaho, known mostly as the home Of
Bill Borsh and Arctic breezes, takes
sixth honors.
Folks in Maine, Florida and New Jer-
sey think there's nothing to Missouri
except Jim Reed, Champ Clark, the
union depot at st. Louis, and monster
But just the same 1t is the
seventh greatest apple growing state.
In addition to manufacturing the
worlds supply of automobiles, Michigan
pulls down the eighth best apple record.
Pennsylvania, supposed by many to
have nothing within its confines but
coal, steel, Penrose, the Pinchot broth
ers, Mitch Palmer and the Cyrus Curtis
is the eleventh apple state.
Ohio has been pretty busy raising
presidential candidates, but she has won
ventsenth honors.
Below is the list of commercial apple
growing states with the number OF bar
rels (three bushels to the barely grown
in 1919:
Washington, 6,44O,OOO; New York,
2,975, 900; California, 1,51i 900; Virginia,
1,5OS, 900; Oregon, 1857, 900; Idaho,
1900, 900; Missouri, 1877. 900; Michigan,
/ ,1O9, 900; Arkansas, 1, ,010, 900; Colorado,
S2S, 900; Pennsylvania, $4,000; Illinois,
$50, 900; West Virginia, 64S, 900; Maine,
COL 900; New Jersey, $4,000; Kansas,
100000; Ohio, 1874, 900; Massachusetts,,
335, 900; Maryland, 10000; New Mexico,
1924 900; Nebraska, 215.0O0; Vermont,
2O3, 900; Indiana, $4,000; Delaware,
192, 900; New Hampshire, $1,000; Wis
consin, 126, 900; Montana, 124, 900; Utah,
121 900; Connecticut, 10000; North
Carolina, 81, 900; Georgia, $1,000.
How Seeds Travel.
Did you ever stop to think how many
different ways there are for seeds to
travel? If they simply fell to the ground