APPLE GROWING, UNITED STATES Although more than 7,500 varieties of American apples are re corded, those most desirable for planting are limited to a much smaller number. Nurserymen offer for sale to planters several hundred varieties every year, each one of which may have some characteristic to recommend it, but there are perhaps not more than 5o varieties of prime commercial importance in the United States, and the prospective planter would do well to choose from this comparatively small group.
There is a tendency to reduce the number of varieties of all fruit grown for commerce, and there are good economic reasons for this in the case of apples. The wrongly planted orchard is doomed to failure no matter how favourable the other conditions. The fundamental question is the adaptability to the conditions under which the apples are to be grown. It is interesting in this connection to point out the apparent influence of the length of the growing season on variety distribution. The different sec tions of the United States which have growing seasons of approxi mately the same length successfully grow the same varieties. Varieties well adapted to Virginia, southern Ohio and Missouri and the country to the southward are equally well adapted to the Pacific north-west, although soil, moisture, humidity and tempera ture conditions are different. On the other hand, an entirely dif ferent group is well adapted to conditions where the total grow ing season is shorter.. Thus varieties which flourish in the north east are not suited to Virginia and the Pacific north-west. Varie ties such as York Imperial, Winesap, Arkansas (Mammoth Black Twig), Yellow Newtown, Stayman Winesap and Rome Beauty require a fairly long growing season to reach good condition and high quality. Others, such as Grimes Golden, seem to develop the best quality and appearance if the end of the normal growing period comes while the weather is still fairly warm.
Having selected a group suitable to his location, the planter then needs to consider certain other requirements, such as flavour, shipping, storage qualities and ability to meet market demand and compete successfully with fruit offered by other sec tions of the country at the same time. Apples intended for long distance shipment would be of little value, however fine their flavour, if they lacked good shipping quality. A variety maturing in July, however desirable for that season, would be utterly value less if long-keeping quality was wanted. Some varieties act dif ferently in different regions. For instance, the Baldwin, Delicious and Jonathan apples which ripen in September, and are really autumn or early winter varieties in districts with a long growing season, do not ripen until well into October in sections having shorter growing seasons, and consequently become good mid winter or later winter storage varieties there.
Not all desirable qualities are to be found in any one variety or even in several varieties. It is well to remember, however, that apple production is no longer seasonal. Apples are now an all year crop, and different varieties are required in the same orchard to meet the demand for early summer, midsummer, autumn or late winter apples, as well as for red or yellow apples and apples that are good for eating, cooking or cider-making. Horticultur ists are constantly attempting to develop new varieties to meet certain needs. Recently there have been developed for the first time several red summer apples that are even earlier than the earliest yellow apple—the Yellow Transparent. Thus the public preference for a red apple will soon be satisfied throughout the entire season.
For home use the apple is grown in every section of the coun try that has a temperate climate, but it cannot stand extreme heat or cold. A few apples are grown on higher elevations of the Gulf States, except in Florida. Practically no apples are grown in large areas of the Great Plains, in the high and cold mountain sections of the West, or in the low, hot portions of Arizona and California. The following are some of the more important vari eties generally recommended for specific regions: For Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massa chusetts and New York: McIntosh, Baldwin, Wealthy and De licious for all States; Northern Spy for all but Connecticut and Massachusetts; and Wagener for all but Maine and Vermont.
For Pennsylvania, western Maryland, West Virginia and Ohio : Stayman Winesap, Delicious, Grimes Golden and Jonathan for all States; Oldenburg and Yellow Transparent for all but Penn sylvania; and Rome Beauty, Baldwin and Northern Spy for all but western Maryland.
For Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia and eastern Maryland: Yellow Transparent, Oldenburg, Grimes Golden, Jonathan, De licious and Stayman Winesap for all States; Rome Beauty and Paragon for all except eastern Maryland.
For North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Ken tucky : Delicious, Stayman Winesap and Winesap for all States; Rome Beauty for all but South Carolina and Tennessee; and Paragon and Arkansas (Mammoth Black 'Twig) for all but Ten nessee and Kentucky.
For Indiana, Illinois and Lower Peninsula of Michigan: Jona than and Grimes Golden for all States; Wealthy for Illinois and Michigan; Rome Beauty, Stayman Winesap, Oldenburg, Yellow Transparent, Delicious and Winesap for Illinois and Indiana; Wagener, McIntosh, Red Canada and Northern Spy for Michi gan ; Wealthy, McIntosh, North-western Greening and Wolf River for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
For Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas: Winesap, Jonathan, Grimes Golden, Stayman Winesap and Yellow Trans parent for all States ; York Imperial and Wealthy for Kansas and Missouri ; Delicious for Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.
For Minnesota, Wisconsin and northern Iowa : Wealthy and North-western Greening for all States ; Brilliant and Tolman Sweet for northern Iowa; Oldenburg for northern Iowa and Minnesota; McIntosh and Fameuse for Wisconsin ; and Delicious in a narrow area in south-eastern Minnesota and in some sections of Wisconsin.
For Nebraska, central Iowa and southern Iowa : Oldenburg, Jonathan and Grimes Golden for all sections ; Wealthy for Ne braska and central Iowa; Winesap and Delicious for Nebraska and southern Iowa ; North-western Greening for central and southern Iowa; and Stayman Winesap, Virginia Beauty and York Imperial for Nebraska.
For Utah, Colorado and New Mexico : Delicious, Gano, Jona than, Rome Beauty and Winter Banana are first choice, and Stayman Winesap, Paragon, Arkansas Black, Grimes Golden, Rhode Island Greening and North-western Greening are second choice for Utah; Jonathan and Rome Beauty are first choice, and Delicious, Grimes Golden and Winesap or Stayman Winesap are second choice for Colorado; Stayman Winesap, Delicious, Jonathan and Wilson Red June for all altitudes in New Mexico; Arkansas Black for low altitudes, and Rome Beauty, White Pear main and McIntosh for high altitudes in New Mexico.
For Washington, Oregon and Idaho : Winesap, Delicious and Winter Banana are first choice, and Jonathan, Esopus Spitzen burg, Rome Beauty, Stayman Winesap, Black Ben and Yellow Newtown are second choice for Washington; Winesap, Jonathan, Rome Beauty and Delicious are first choice for Oregon and Idaho; Arkansas Black, Stayman Winesap, Paragon and Winter Banana are second choice for Oregon; Yellow Transparent is first choice for Hood river valley in Oregon, and Esopus Spitzenburg, Arkan sas Black, Delicious, Gravenstein Ortley are second choice.
For California : Red Astrachan, Gravenstein, Yellow Bellflower, Yellow Newtown, Delicious, White Pearmain and Winter Banana for the coastal valleys; and Yellow Transparent, Red Astrachan, White Astrachan, Gravenstein, Rome Beauty, Jonathan, De licious, Winesap, Stayman Winesap, Esopus Spitzenburg, Arkan sas Black, Grimes Golden, Gano and Baldwin for the foothill and mountain sections.
For western Montana : McIntosh, Delicious and Wealthy. See also article FRUIT FARMING. (L. S. R.) Recipes.—The following are certain commonly required apple recipes:— Apple Charlotte. To make this dish, grease heavily a pie-dish and coat it with breadcrumbs. Lay in it alternate layers of (I) thick slices of peeled and cored cooking apples, (2) a mixture of finely chopped suet, breadcrumbs and grated lemon rind. Brown sugar (to taste, but fairly thickly) should be scattered on the apple layers. The whole should be covered with greased paper and baked for about 7 5min. in a moderate oven.
Apples, Preserved. To preserve apples, boil the cores and skin of 8 lb. of apples with 6 lb. of sugar in 6 pints of water for 25 minutes. Strain, add the apples cut in quarters, with the juice of three large lemons, and simmer until tender. Store in air-tight jars.
Apple Sauce. To make this, heat, with II oz. of sugar and i oz. of butter, I lb. of apples (peeled, cored and chopped). If required, a very little water may be added, but this should be avoided, as apples are, anyway, chiefly water. Cook till tender, pass through a sieve, and re-heat. If, at this point, Opt. of whipped cream is added, the sauce is often dignified with the name Chantilly.
Apfel Strudel, a German apple cake made of kneaded dough, spread with apples, nuts and spices and folded like a jelly roll. The cake is usually twisted into a figure of eight and baked in a slow oven.
Apple Turnover (or Pasty), a small apple pie, so called be cause the crust consists of a single piece of paste folded through the centre either cross-wise or diagonally and turned over until the opposite edges meet. The commercial apple turnover is a good sized triangle of puff paste filled with thinly sliced apples. When made at home, the apple turnover appears in daintier sizes. Shaped in squares, half circles or triangles, its light and flaky crust is filled with apple sauce, spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and a bit of butter added for "richness."