American Pomology. ApplesWarder, J. A. (John Aston)
Science
American Pomology. Apples
Warder, J. A. (John Aston)
Apples
On the borders of civilization we sometimes meet with a singular
being, more savage than polished, and yet useful in his way. Such an
one in the early settlement of the northwestern territory was Johnny
Apple-seed--a simple-hearted being, who loved to roam through the
forests in advance of his fellows, consorting, now with the red man,
now with the white, a sort of connecting link--by his white brethren
he was, no doubt, considered rather a vagabond, for we do not learn
that he had the industry to open farms in the wilderness, the energy
to be a great hunter, nor the knowledge and devotion to have made him
a useful missionary among the red men. But Johnny had his use in the
world. It was his universal custom, when among the whites, to save the
seeds of all the best apples he met with. These he carefully preserved
and carried with him, and when far away from his white friends, he
would select an open spot of ground, prepare the soil, and plant these
seeds, upon the principle of the old Spanish custom, that he owed so
much to posterity, so that some day, the future traveler or inhabitant
of those fertile valleys, might enjoy the fruits of his early efforts.
Such was Johnny Apple-seed--did he not erect for himself monuments
more worthy, if not more enduring, than piles of marble or statues of
brass?
In tracing the progress of fruits through different portions of our
country, we should very naturally expect to find the law that governs
the movements of men, applying with equal force to the fruits they
carry with them. The former have been observed to migrate very nearly
on parallels of latitude, so have, in a great degree, the latter; and
whenever we find a departure from this order, we may expect to
discover a change, and sometimes a deterioration in the characters of
the fruits thus removed to a new locality. It is true, much of this
alteration, whether improvement or otherwise, may be owing to the
difference of soil. Western New York received her early fruits from
Connecticut, and Massachusetts; Michigan, Northern Illinois, and
later, Wisconsin and Iowa received theirs in a great degree from New
York. Ohio and Indiana received their fruits mainly from New Jersey,
and Pennsylvania, and we may yet trace this in the prevalence of
certain leading varieties that are scarcely known, and very little
grown on different parallels. The early settlement at the mouth of the
Muskingum river, was made by New England-men, and into the
"Ohio-purchase," they introduced the leading varieties of the apples
of Massachusetts. Among these, the Boston or Roxbury Russet was a
prominent favorite, but it was so changed in its appearance as
scarcely to be recognized by its old admirers, and it was christened
with a new name, the Putnam Russet, under the impression that it was a
different variety. Most of the original Putnam varieties have
disappeared from the orchards. Kentucky received her fruits in great
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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