Apple Trees And The Fruit They Grow

Apple Trees and The Fruit They Grow Apples have been around for as long as I can remember. There are references to apples in the bible. The Greeks and Romans refer to the apple as the symbol of love and beauty. Apples first started to travel west when the Romans first attacked and conquered England. William Tell is well known for shooting an apple off his son's head, by order of the attacking army of Switzerland. And when the first pilgrims came to America, they discovered Crab apples. But to their dismay they found out that they were not very edible. So they had ordered apple seeds and apple cuttings from the coming and going ship named the May Flower. A man from Massachusetts named John Chapman, who is also known to many people as Johnny apple seed. He planted apple trees in the states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

Apple Sticker

A Granny Smith apple

Apple Sticker

As the country grew most farms had at least one apple tree. The quality of those apples were very low compared to today's standards, because of the lack of knowledge about growing apples.

In 1826 when pioneers cam to the Cascade mountains, they discovered that the area's lava and ash mixed soil made the perfect conditions for growing apples. The arid climate also meant that there was fewer insects compared to that of the eastern states. It also meant that they had a less probability of disease and fungus. Then in 1889 pioneers noticed that the apple trees grew better quality of apples when they were planted near the riverbanks. So they developed a form of irrigation.

The average size of an orchard is about one hundred acres. The bigger orchards are about 300 acres. The apple orchards employ more than three hundred workers year round in the state of...