Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/780

APPLE. gravel. Such land, situated so as to afford good, air as well as land drainage, produees more regu- lar crops of highly colored and highly flavored fruits than lower and heavier lands. Atmos- pheric drainage is one of the best material safe- guards against late spring frosts, and good land drainage assures a warm, congenial soil for the plant.

Two-year-old apple trees contain, in the air-dried substance: nitrogen, 0.891 per cent.; phosphoric acid, 0.122 per cent.; potash, 0.44 per cent.; and water, 00.83 per cent. About ten tons of such matter is produced upon an acre of nursery stock. The fruit contains: nitrogen. 0.13 percent.; phosphoric acid, 0.01 per cent.; potash, 0.19 per cent. A ton of ripe apples contains, at the usual prices, about 91 cents' worth of valua- ble fertilizing ingredients. Generally lands such as those above described, contain a suflicient sup- ply of nitrogen for the needs of the tree, but as the. greatest demand in the ripening of the fruit and seed is made upon potash and phosphoric acid, these are the two ingredients most fre- quentlv needed by the orchard. They are the ingredients, too, which can be made good only by the applic.ition of a manure of some kind, while if nitrogen be lacking, it can be made up by gro^xing a leguminous crop, such as Canada peas, cow-peas, or beans, upon the soil and turn- ing it under.

. Good cultivation is an impor- tant part of orchard management. Two crops can seldom be profitably grown on the same soil at the same time. The orchard should not be used as. a pasture lot or as regular farm land. Culti- vation should be done earlv in the season to stimulate early growth, but discontinued by .July 15th in the United States in order that growth may be checked and the wood mature properly to insure hardiness during the winter and a crop the following season. Another essential of orchard management is proper pruning. This must be modified to suit the variety, the locality, and the purpose for which the tree is grown. In general, a low head, wide-spreading branches evenly disposed about the trunk and at different heights are desirable ends. Harvesting depends upon the season of ripenin,g. Jlost commercial fruits are so-called "winter apples" and are al- lowed to remain upon the trees as long as pos- sible without being frozen. Fruits so treated are, as a rule, better flavored and more highly colored than those picked earlv, and experiments indicate that they are less liable to scald in cold storage.

Varieties. Each section of the world possesses a certain number of varieties which are peculiarl.v suited to its soil and climate. When apple-culture is to be extended to a new region, the problem to be solved is, to ascertain which varieties are best adapted to the conditions pre- vailing in that region. In the United States, the varieties held in highest favor by the inhabitants of any given locality have usually proved safest to plant for commercial purposes.

Uses. The apple is used most extensively for cooking and for eating out of hand. It is also employed for cider making and vinegar making, the finest vinegar being made from apple juice. For these purposes smaller or inferior fruits are usually taken. Brandy and other beverages are made from the juice also. Large quantities of the fruit are now dried in evaporators, the product being quite extensively e.xported to European countries.

Apple Diseases. The apple is subject to a number of well-known fungous diseases, the more important of which are the rust, scah, and bitter or ripe rot. The runt is due to the fungus Itocstelia piraia. This fungiis is peculiar in that it spends part of its life on the apple tree and part on the cedar. It causes yellow spots on the leaves of the apple in May or .June, attacking the fruit about the same time and rendering it ' worthless. Upon the underside of the leaves and on the swollen, diseased parts of the fruit, vast quantities of spores are produced, which find their way to some cedar or juniper tree. Here they cause enlargements on the branches. These swellings, or cedar apples, as they are called, are half an inch or more in diameter, and ripen the next spring, when their horn-shaped, orange- colored masses are easily to be seen. On these are borne spores, minute and easily blown about. Some of these find their way to the apples. The form on the cedar is known as Gi/nuwspo- rnnginm macropus. Instead of depending upon the cedar for the alternate generation, the myce- lium of the fungus may find its way into the buds and young twigs of the apple tree, and from them infest the ne.xt crop. Destroying all cedar trees and thoroughly spra.ving the trees with Bordeaux mixture (see Fungicide) upon the appearance of the leaves will aid in keeping the disease in check. The apple-scab is caused by the fungus Fusicladium dendriticum. Both leaves and fruit of the apple and pear are subject to this disease. Upon the fruit dark circular spots are formed. The centres of the spots are dark brown or black, witTi light-colored edges. Often a munber of spots run together, when the fruit usually cracks, showing hard, brown tissue within. The diseased area ceases to grow, and one-sided fruit is produced. Upon the leaves the appearance is somewhat similar to that upon the fruit, except that the light border of the spot is lacking. The leaves become crumpled and ra.i;ged, and finally fall off. This is undoubtedly the most serious fungous disease to which apples and pears are subject, and no locality seems entirely free from it. Differences have been noticed in the susceptibility to the disease of dift'erent varieties. Spitzenberg, Fameuse, Fall Pippin, and Harvest apples are especially subject to scab; while Ben Davis, King Fallawater, and manv others are less seriously affected. This di-sease and the loss caused by it may be prevented bv thorough spraying with Bordeaux mixture or similar fungicide, three applications being given the trees at intervals of ab(mt ten days, beginning at the swelling time of the buds. In many of the Southern States, as well as in northern localities, the bitter rot is the cause of much lo.ss to fruit-growers. This rot, due to the fimgus Glwosporium fructigenum, attacks the fruit at any stage of growth. The diseased tissue becomes brown and very bitter; hence the name. Spraying as recommended above, is the preventive treatment. A. black rot caused bv Spli(rropsis malorum is similar to the bitter rot, and yields to the same treatment. A disease, known as the brown spot of Baldwins, is common to that and many other varieties. The flesh becomes dry and brown in any part of the fruit. Its origin is obscure, and reliable preventives are unknown. A serious disease of the apple tree in Europe, lately found in