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THESIS

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The Apple

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Harry J. Eustace
1901 :

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Harry J ° Bustace,
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THESIS

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THE APPLE.

Introduction.

The apple is the leading orchard fruit of temperate cli-
mates. From its great hardiness, easy cultivation, productive-
ness, its long continuance through the whole twelve months and
its various uses, tt ranks higher than any other fruit.

As a money making crop it is now receiving more attention
than ewer before far the following reasons: Since the perfect-
ion of spraying, insects and diseases can be controlled. By the
use of cold storage the market period can be prolenged so fresh
apples can be sold through the year and has made a foreign
market possible. Progress made in the utilization of the sur-
plus by canneries and manufacture of cider has added much to
the progress, Improved methods of culture and priming and the
introduction of better wrieties has doubled the bearing capaci-
ty.
Ze

ORIGIN,

It has been cultivated from time immemorial. Charred
remains have been found in the prehistoric lake dwellings of
Switzerland. Tt is native to southwestern Asia and adjacent
Burope. From just where we at first received the cultivated
apple is unknown; but in all probability it was introduced
by the Romans, to whom twenty-two varieties were known in
Pliny’s time and afterward the stock of wrieties greatly
increased at the Norman conquest.

The tree has a very remote origin. According to an
ancient tradition, Adam was choked with an apple offered him
by the fair hand of Eve. Sceptics will probably doubt this
but they will credit those ancient Greek and Roman naturalists
who describe the apple tree and its fruit with great accurate-
ness,

Theophrastus, Herod itus and Columella all make mention
of the apple tree. Piiny says that the Greeks called then
"“Medica® from the country where they first originated. He
describes them as a fruit with a delicate, tender skin, easily
pared off. He says of the crab apples or "Wildings® that
they are small and sharply sour for which peculiarity they
receive many curses. Columella, a practical husbandman who

lived and wrote long before Pliny, not only described the
Se

apple tree but also the process of grafting and gave several
different methods which he says were hinded down from the
"olden time*®.

Apple trees were brought into America very early. In 1629
by the order of the "Governor and company of Massachusetts
Bay in New England® apple seeds were brought from England
into the Colenies and Governor’s Island was granted to Gover-
nor Winthrop in 1632 on condit ion that he should plant a vine-

yard and an orchard.

BOTANY.

The botanical position of the cultivated apple may be
stated as follows: -

Order; Rosacea; Sub-order; Pomeae; Genus; Pyrus.

The apple has come from two original stems. <All of our
common apples are modifications of Pyrus Malus, a low, round-
headed tree with thick and fussy, irregularly dentate, short
steamed leaves and fairly compact clusters of wooly stemmed
flowers. The crab apples are derived from Pyrus baccata,
commonly known as the Siberian Crab. It is of smoother and
more wiry growth, with narrower and thinner essentially

glabrous long-stemmed leaves and more often clusters of glab-
4e

rous-stemmed flowers. The fruit is small and hard and the
calyx lobes fall at maturity, leaving this cup or basin of
the fruit smooth and plain, Hybrids between these species
have produced such varieties as the Transcendent and Hyslop
crabs. The race is known as P. prunifolia. Two native
species of interest to the fruit grower are P. Ioensis and
P. coronaria. The former is the prairie states crab and is
of sane promise. In growth, leaves and flowers it resembles
the P. Malus somewhat. The fruit is spherical or spherical-
oblong, short-stemmed, very hard, and remains green-colored.
Pyrus coronaria, the fruit of the eastem states crab is
flattened endwise and is long stemmed. The leaves are deep
cut and often three-lobed. There are no improved varieties
of this species and no authentie hybrids between it and the
common apples. Pyrus Ioensis has produced a number of valua-
ble hybrids with the common apple and this race is known as
P. Soulardi. The Soulard crab is the best known of these.
Its value lies only in its hardiness.

PLANTING.

Opinions differ widely as to the relative merits of fall
and spring planting. Upon thoroughly drained soils fall plant-
5.

ing is generally preferable. The advantages are several. The
trees have time to become established during the open weather
of the fall and they can make a start in the spring before
the ground is hard enough to allow of spring planting. This
early start means not only a better start the first season,
but what is more important, trees get a very hia upon the
so1l,endure the droughts of midsummer much better than trees
planted in the spring. More care is nearly always taken when
the planting 4s done in the settled weather and workable soil
of fall than in the days of hurry in the spring.

Infal) planting, however, it is important to insist that
the trees be thoroughly well matured. The practice of some
nurserymen in "stripping" trees before the growth is completed
to prepare them for September delivery, results in weakening
the tree. It is believed timt many failures in youn; planta-
tions are attributed to this cause. In buying trees it
would be well to place the order in August or September with
the understanding that the trees should stand in the nursery
rows until the leaves begin to die and fall. In the meantime,
the holes can be dug so that when the trees arrive they can
go directly into their places without delay or without the
expense of heeling them in. There is a tendency among nur-

serymen to urge fall planting, and there are many good
6.
orchardists who think fll planting unwise. It is true that
unless conditions are right, spring planting is to be pre-
ferred.

The soil in which the trees are set should always be ina
thorough state of cultivation; that is, in fine mechanical
condition, fertile, free from hard or “sour® places and from
weeds, It is generally best to put the land into hard crops
for a season before the trees are set, although sod land, if
well fitted, often gives good results when turned under and
set at once to orchards.

A mistake is often made in setting apple trees too close
together rather than too far apart. The trees demand plenty
of room to spread out and the best results are obtained when
each tree stands far enough from its neighbors to allow it
to possess an individuality all its own. Another reason for
wide planting,- the necessity of spraying and for this reason
as well as to allow of better cultivation, the outside rows
should not be set close to fences. The distance at which trees
may be set depends much upon the system of pruning. If
heading in is practiced vigorously ad systematically, the
trees may be set nearer than if allowed to take their natural
form. Forty feet each way may be considered a safe distance
when the trees are allowed to take their natural form.

It is generally found advisable to plow the entire field
before the orchard is set, rather tn to plow strips where
Te

the trees are to go, for it will then be easier to shape the
land better with reference to surface @ainage and general
convenience. The hole should be dug broad and ample; and the
harder the soil the larger the hole should be, for in that
ease the loose dirt which is filled in must give the trees
a start. Chop up the soil in the bottom of the hole or throw
in a few sheovelfuls of loose surface earth. Every care must
be taken to get the soil firmed about the roots, especially
under the crown or fork of the roots, in order that no air
spaces may be left to dry out. Stamp the earth very firmly

about the tree before leaving it for the double purpose
of retaining the moisture and holding it agiinst the wind.

Mulches of straw or manure are scometimes advised for newly
set trees. If applied to fall planted trees, care must be
taken to tramp them down well or they may become a nesting
place for mice, which will girdle the tree if there be heavy
snows. |

The trees may be trimmed before they areplanted but it

is preferable to do it afterward: for the proper height is
better estimated and the operation made much easier. When.
a tree is dug in the nursery, probably one-half of the entire
root system is left in the ground. It is therefore evident
that the top should be cut back to a corresponging amount. A
tree which is allowed to carry too much wood when it is trans-

planted may fail outright or it may suffer seriously by the
droughts of summer. Aim to start the top at the desired height

when the tree is planted.

CULTIVATION.

The best tillage is that which begins early in the season
and keeps the surface stirred until late summer or early wf11.
For the first few years it is generally advisable to turn the
land rather deeply with a plow at the first spring cultivation.
In all friable or loose soils, shallow cultivation is always
preferable. When the land is once in good condition, but
little effort and time are required to rum through the orchard.
Crust should never be allowed to form upon the surface and
weeds should be killed before they become established.

In general, level culture is the best. This is secured
by plowing one year to the trees and the next year away from
them,

Never allow hay or grain to be grown in the orchard. Any
hoed crop may be used for seven or eight years if the orchard
is well cared for. An open space of several feet should be
left about the trees. Very thrifty young orchards may some-
times be thrown into bearing by seeding them down for a time,
but the sod should be broken up before the trees beccme
checked in vigor.

Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous are the elements
demanded by the orchard land. Generally it is better to
supply nitrigen by good cultivation, as a free application
might do more harm than good in promoting the growth at the
expense of the fruit.

Potash is the most important element to be applied direct-
ly to the orchard. Wuch of the store of potash in the soil
is made available by thorough tillage, but in a bearing orch-
ard it must be applied each year in a commercial form. One
ef the best sources is wood ashes. Forty or fifty bushels to
the acre is cmsidered to be a good dressing, if it has been
kept dry.

Phorphoric acid may be obtained in the form of a high
grade plain superphosphate, in bone compounds and Thomas slag
phosphoric acid is rather less important in orchards than
potash.

A sowed crop is valuable by affording a cover to the land
and improv ing the soil when it is plowed under. The crop
grown for a cover should be sown. .not earlier than midsummer.
The most thorough tillage can then be given early in the
season and the benefits of the cover can be secured for the
early fall and winter.

It is not easy to say just what is the best plant for
cover and green manure. Clover is a stand-by but it is often

difficult to obtain a good"catch" late in the season, and to
10,

obatin its full value it should stand upon land an entire
season. Vetch answers very well and is generally considered
the best all-around cover crop for this latitude. But it is
killed by the winter and must be sown early in the season.

Rye is a favorite upon light soils and does well even if
the land is poorly prepared. However, it contains very little
fertilizing value.

The gist of all is that the orchard should be cultivated
and fed. Cultivation should begin early and be continued often.
It may be stopped in August if the grower thinks best, and
then, if the land needs it, a green crop may be sown for
turning under the next spring.

PRUNING.

If the tree has been properly pruned at transplanting, the
first summer will develop the faundation of a well defined
top. It is not well to start a young tree with a great num-
ber of branches, as they seon become over-crowded to the great
injury of the tree with reference to fruiting.

As the trees advance with age they will become somewhat
over-crowded with branches, some of which can be removed from
time to time as seens necessary for the well-being of the
trees; but this thinning should be done juduciously, and only

@ small portion removed during any one season. Yearly inspect-
 

oe
ll.

ions should be mae and such branches as have become destitute
of fruiting spurs except at their terminal points, should be
cut out in thinning and a young twig be allowed to grow up
and furnish a new fruiting branch in the way of renewal.

There will be no lack of young shoots for this purpose, as
they will sprout from the base of the cut branch, and the
strongest and best placed should be selected if it is desired
to introduce a new branch.

The main object in pruning the apple is to ecmomize all
the growth to procure additional branches by arresting the
extension of shoots while vegetation is active, by pinching
or removing their extreme points without waste of foliage,
and by rubbing off buds where shoots are not required, instead
of allowing an accumulation of yearly growths to mture, then

removing and throwing them forth as waste.

SPRAYING.

The spraying of apple orchards has ceased to be an exper-
iment. The beneficial results obtained at the experiment
stations have fully corroborated in practical field work. But
in order that the best results may be obtained, spraying must
be done intelligently. Success is very largely a matter of
detail. Little things, seemingly unimportant, all effect
the results obtained. Pailure may usually be attributed to
12.

lateness of application, carelessness in applying or in pre-
paring the material or to defective apparatus. |
Spraying is plant insurince. With very few exceptions it

is a preventive measure and not a cure,

HARVESTING and MARKETING.

If apples are to be stored or exported, it is generally
best to pick them just as they arrive at their full size and
when they have attained only a part of their full color. If
over ripe or fully ripe, they must be used at once or kept in
cold storage and then when they are taken out of the storage
they will keep but avery short time. If put in cold storage
before they are fully matured, they will keep much longer when
taken out.

The proper time for picking will depend upon the camdition
of the fruit, the season and the climate.

Summer and autusm apples should be sorted and packed as
soon as picked. Winter sorts may be piled up in the orchard
under the trees for a while without danger of injury, and
sorted and packed after the picking is all done. |

Until within the last few years the barrel was the almost
universal apple package and it is still used for handling
the great bulk of the crop. SEarly perishable kinds have,
15.

however, ‘long been shipped in various packages commonly used
for peaches. Recently the growers of the Pacific coast have
led the way in packing winter apples in boxes. Some eastern
growers are finding it to their advantage .to follow this
western fashion for their fancy fruit, and it seems probable
that the better grades of fruit at least, will come more and
more to be marketed in smaller packages. In Boston a bushel
box is now popular for apples and other products. In packing
apples in barrels it is customary to place the first one or
two layers by hand, turning the stem ends all down. The barrel
is then filled, a basketful at a time, by lowering the basket
into the barrel and carefully turning out the fruit. The
barrel is shaken occasionally to settle down the fruit and
when the top is reached it is rounded up enough so that the
head has to be pressed into place with considerable force,

along lever or special barrel press being used for the purpose.

Sasvbed 1 2 Des wwe

DISEASES and INSECTS.

Bitter Rot; Ripe Rot (@leeasporium fructigenum, Berk. )
Yt appears as brown spots which become larger with the growth
of the fruits. These spots bear light coldred postules which
turn to black. fhe spots are firm and have a very bitter

taste. These rots make rapid progress in stored fruits.
14.

Remedy is four applications of Bordeaux mixture,

Rust (Gymmosphorangium Link) A disease in which circular

orange colored spots about one-fourth of an inch in diameter
appear on the leaves in June. Also produces yellow spots on
the fruit about the same time,
Remedy. Rust is hard to combat. Spraying does not check it
to any great extent. Red cedar trees harbor one stage of the
fungus which is the chief cause of the rust; it is therefore
good policy to destroy all red cedars in the vicinity of the
orchard.

Scab. (Fusiciladium dendriticum. Pckl.) The worst disease
with whieh apple growers have te contend. It is caused by
a fungus which attacks the skin of both foliage and fruit.

On the fruit the spots have a dark velvety-~-green surface but
afterward they become nearly or quite black. Where the spots
are large the fruit may become one-sided or otherwise distort-
ed and often if cracks open.

On the leaves the fungus has the appearance of a dark
mould. It is faind in spots on both the upper and under sur-
faces. The disease may cause the leaves to be much cruapled
and finally show brown, dead tissue which breaks away, leaving
the foliage torn and ragged, or the entire leaf may drop off.
Remedy - The scab may generally be controlled by three appli-
cations of Bordeaux mixture if made at the proper time and
very thoroughly. The first application should be made after
15.

the buds break but before the blossoms open; the second just
after the blossans fall; and the third from ten to fourteen
days after the second.

Canker Worms. There are two species that are especially
troublesome. These are the Spring Canker Worm (Paleacrita ver-
nata, Peck) and the Fall Canker Worm (Amsopteryx pometaria,
Harr.) The life histories of the two species are very simil-
jar. When first hatched the caterpillars. of both species are
very small and of a light green color. They devour the leaves
rapidly. When mature, they are about an inch long and vary
in color from light green to darker shades. When ready to
pupate they go into the ground where the cocoon is spun and
the chrysalis formed. The adults of both species are moths.
The males are winged, the females wingless.

Remedy. The females may be trupped while trying to ascend the
tree. The caterpillars may be successfully combated by spraying
with Paris green or same arsenical insecticide.

Codling Moth. The insect that causes wormy apples. An
early brood appears about the time the apple blossoms. The
@ges are laid on the side of the fruit or in the blow end.
Larva complete their growth in the apple, come out and let
themselves down by a thread and land on the rough bark of the
tree where they will spin cocoons and the moth comes out.
Remedy. Spray with Paris green or put bands around the tree

to catch them.
16.

Plant Lice. The most troublesome species is a little
green louse that attacks the leaves and buds in the spring.
Is found in great numbers on the under side of the leaves,
sucking the sap from the tissues, causing the leaves to curl.
Remedy. Since they are sucking insects they must be killed
by contact poison. They must be struck directly with a spray
of whale oil soap and water as they do not move about.

Wolly Louse of the Apple. Are found on both the roots
and young branches causing gall-like swellings. Most serious
damage is done to young trees.

Remedy. When occuring on the roots, apply tobacco dust
about the infested parts. If the branches are attacked,
spraying with whale oi1 soap or kerosene emulsion will kill
them,

Scale Insects.Two species are cammon in apple orchards,
the Oystereshell Bark Louse (Mytelaspis pomorum, Bouche) and
the San Jose Scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus, Comst.) These
insects are especially injurious to young trees. The eggs
hatch in the spring, from late April or early May until June,
according to the season. The young lice soon settle down
and insert their sharp, thread-like mouth parts into the
tender bark from which they suck the sap. The scalesof the
males of both species are more delicate, nearly white, and
larger and more slender than those of the female. The adult

males are two-winged insects.
17.

Remedy. Ver the Oyster-shell Bark Louse spray as soon as the
eggs hatch, with whale o11 soap or kerosene emulsion,

For the San Jose Scale, where it has once become firmly
established a thorough treatment with whale o11 soap has
killed it. The most effective known method of treatment is
fumigation with hydrocyanic acid gas.
ROOM USE ONLY

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Nov 4 ‘68

 

 

 

 
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