Remarks on the Huntsman"s Favorite by members of the State Horticultural Society:
William Cutter: The Huntsman is long-lived and deserves a place in our list.
E. J. Holman: The Huntsman is of the York Imperial order, an old variety, not sufficiently known. In Kansas City, I saw them on sale at six dollars per barrel. The tree is a good bearer, and will be planted more than it has been; it never blights.
B. F. Smith: I agree with Mr. Holman.
W. G. Gano: It is a very desirable orchard tree; it is just wonderful how our old orchards hold out; its quality and size are good. It has one fault: if put in cold storage it bleaches out, as most yellow apples do.
I cannot keep yellow apples in cold storage, and the Huntsman has disappointed me; but if taken out and sold when just right it is a success, and sells in Kansas City at six dollars per barrel.
MAMMOTH BLACK TWIG.
This apple originated with John Crawford, near Ray"s Mills, Washington county, Arkansas. It is conceded to be a seedling of the Black Twig (said to be a misnomer for the Winesap). It has been exhibited as the "Arkansaw." Mr. Crawford says he brought to Arkansas and planted seeds of the Limber Twig and Black Twig over fifty-five years ago, and this apple sprang from one of those seeds. Really an enlarged and improved Winesap. Tree a fine, upright, spreading grower.
Remarks on the Mammoth Black Twig by members of the State Horticultural Society:
William Cutter: My trees set fruit for three years, but it all dropped off.
President Wellhouse: Mr. Munger says his were very small this year, but also that all his apples were small.
G. W. Bailey: I have a few, planted eight years, but the fruit this year was very small.
E. J. Holman: Many Mammoth Black Twig trees have been extensively propagated by nurserymen. We should know more about them. This variety came before the public with a "hurrah," and people were told it was an apple with the quality of Winesap and the vigor of Ben Davis.
Mrs. A. Z. Moore (Missouri): My husband and I superintended sixty acres.
We grew 500 bushels of them, all very fine. Of the tree I know little, but the apples were beautiful. They are of dark color and very handsome.
B. F. Smith: Two years ago I was down the Port Arthur road, and saw some, and they were fine-looking apples; but on testing it I thought many others were better, though in the general trade I think it will do well. We have a few trees and they are rapid growers, but I would not recommend them for flavor.
Mr. Adams: I can give you no particular information on this apple, but believe in the right location it is as fine as any grown. Location has much to do with its success.
Walter Wellhouse: I examined some Mammoth Black Twigs in Leavenworth, and they were of good size--as large as any Winesap I ever saw, and of good color.
L. D. Buck: It is a hardy grower. This year it is small.
PECK"S PLEASANT.
_Synonym_: Waltz Apple.
A first-rate fruit in all respects, belonging to the Newtown Pippin cla.s.s. It has long been cultivated in Rhode Island (where, we think, it originated) and in the northern part of Connecticut, and deserves extensive dissemination. It considerably resembles the Yellow Newtown Pippin, with more tender flesh, and is scarcely inferior to it in flavor. The tree is a moderate, upright, spreading grower, but bears regularly and well, and the fruit commands a high price in the market.
The apples on the lower branches of old trees are flat, while those on the upper branches are nearly conical. Young shoots reddish brown, slightly downy. Fruit above medium size, roundish, a little ribbed, and slightly flattened, with an indistinct furrow on one side. Skin smooth, and, when first gathered, green, with a little dark red; but when ripe a beautiful clear yellow, with bright blush on the sunny side and near the stalk, marked with scattered gray dots. The stalk is peculiarly fleshy and flattened, short, and sunk in a wide, rather wavy cavity. Calyx woolly, sunk in a narrow, abruptly and pretty deeply sunk basin. Flesh yellowish, fine grained, juicy, crisp and tender, with a delicious, high aromatic, sprightly subacid. Very good or best. November to March.
Remarks on Peck"s Pleasant by members of the State Horticultural Society:
H. L. Ferris: We have a large number; while generally small, they can be made larger by cultivation and care. They are the longest keepers I know of, and carry well in shipping.
William Cutter: I was well acquainted with it in Illinois.
Secretary Barnes: About a year and a half ago, Governor Morrill said to me, "Why don"t you get your people to grow Peck"s Pleasant? It is the best apple grown."
E. J. Holman: I have several trees, planted in 1870. They have been light bearers. The apple is of high quality, and keeps until January.
The color is not so good as Huntsman. They die early.
H. L. Ferris: I cannot agree to that. I never had one die.
C. C. Cook: It is a good apple for home use; not very profitable.
W. G. Gano: Good family apple; green; subacid; elegant in quality.
INGRAM.
A new variety, grown from seed of Rawle"s Janet, by Martin Ingram, of Greene county, Missouri. Tree productive, and the fruit especially valued for its long keeping. Fruit medium, or below, roundish oblate, orange yellow, mostly overspread with broken stripes of rich, warm red, gray russet dots, and slight marblings. Stalk slender. Calyx small.
Flesh yellowish white, moderately juicy, crisp, mild subacid. Core above medium. Seeds dark brown. February to June. (Hort.)
Remarks on the Ingram by members of the State Horticultural Society:
Mrs. A. Z. Moore: I speak of this as the "coming apple" in southern Missouri. They are not very large; beautiful in color; have a tendency to overbear and grow in cl.u.s.ters. Must be picked by hand; is free from common diseases.
J. F. Maxey: I am greatly interested in it. Very late last spring, while in Kansas City, I noticed a variety of apples that looked so fresh, with stems as green as if just picked, in shape and color like large Janets.
They had come out of cold storage. I asked the name, and was told they were Ingram. I was told they were grown in the vicinity of Garden City, Kan. I wrote to Garden City, and received an answer from the grower, saying this apple was well worthy of growing.
Mrs. A. Z. Moore: I have seen it kept until the following August.
G. P. Whiteker: I got twenty barrels of them from Mr. Rose in Kansas City. I brought them here [Topeka] and retailed most of them, and got six dollars per barrel for them. I do not think we found two bad apples to the barrel. Most people thought them Janets. I believe it a profitable tree to plant.
B. F. Smith: In collecting apples in Douglas county for the World"s Fair, we could not tell them from the Janet, except in size. It is beautifully streaked, and the grower called it a variety of the Janet.
LOWELL.
_Synonyms_: Queen Anne, Tallow Apple, Michigan Golden, Golden Pippin of some, Greasy Pippin, and Orange.
Origin unknown. Tree hardy, vigorous, spreading, productive. Young wood reddish brown. Fruit large, roundish, oval or conic, bright waxen yellow, oily. Stalk of medium length. Cavity deep, uneven. Basin deep, abrupt, and furrowed. Calyx closed. Flesh yellowish white, with a brisk, rich, rather acid flavor. Good to very good. September, October.
Remarks on the Lowell by members of the State Horticultural Society:
J. B. McAfee: I have realized more from my Lowells than from any other apple in my orchard. They are early and prolific. The Lowell has been the best-paying and the easiest-selling apple in our market [Topeka].
Phillip Lux: I planted mine in 1870. They blight badly and the fruit is often knotty. Have made no money from them.
J. W. Robison: I grew it in Illinois. I planted it here in 1879 and 1880, and it paid there and here. It is a large, green, smooth apple, and follows the Maiden"s Blush closely. The tree did not blight with me there or here. It is best cooked. It does not get mellow or soft. It is an old variety and is falling out.
E. J. Holman: This apple is all right in such a market as Topeka in its season. It is not good to ship. Another apple we know little of is the Orange Pippin. There is two or three dollars in it where there is one dollar in the Maiden"s Blush. It can be shipped to Liverpool and back in good condition. No other will compare with it in productiveness. It ought to be on our list.
CELESTIA.