Apple trees were grown and prized for their fruit by the people of ancient Rome. It is believed that the Romans took cultivated apples with them into England when they conquered the country. Apple growing became common in England and many other parts of Europe.

Both the seeds of apples and the trees themselves were brought to America from England, probably in 1629. John Endicott, one of the early governors of Massachusetts Bay Colony, is said to have brought the first trees to America. The cultivated varieties of apples gradually spread westward from the Atlantic Coast. John Chapman is said to have helped spread apple growing in America. He carried apple seeds with him wherever he went, and planted them in thinly settled parts of the country. For this reason, he became known as "Johnny Appleseed".

How Apples are Grown

A seed from an apple will usually grow into a tree if it is planted under satisfactory conditions. After a number of years the seeding tree will bear apples of its own. Generally these apples will be smaller and poorer than the apple from which the seed was taken. They may also be different in other ways from all other varieties of cultivated apples. For these reasons new apple trees are usually grown from buds. These buds are cut from a healthy apple tree, which bears plenty of good apples of the kind the farmer wants. The buds are made to grow on strong roots of other apple trees by the process called budding. Budding is a kind of grafting. The apples these trees bear will be like the apples of the tree from which the twigs were cut. Budding permits the fruit grower to have as many trees as he wishes, all bearing exactly the same variety of apples.

Once in a while, however, it happens that an apple tree grown from seed is better than the parent tree in some important way. When such a superior apple seedling is found, it may become the parent tree for a valuable new apple variety. Many of the thousands of varieties of cultivated apples began in this way.

Apple trees in orchards are usually planted in rows 9 to 13 feet apart with the trees spaced 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 feet apart. This spacing leaves room to spray and cultivate the orchards, and to harvest the fruit conveniently even after the trees have grown to full size. The trees should be pruned from time to time so that they will develop a rounded shape with branches fairly close to the ground. Apple trees that are properly cared for will bear good crops for a long time. Many orchards remain in fine condition for thirty years or more.