Apple History

Apple History

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
WSU Department of Horticulture's Nathan Tarlyn and I shared an intriguing phone conversation relative to the apple industry in the Northwest. "In this part of the state, "In Whitman County apples were grown 120 years ago and this was the primary place that apples were grown in the state of Washington. Orchard men came out here from the East and brought with them, name varieties of apples. They were already types that were known and planted. A lot of settlers when they came west just planted seedlings. The problem with seedlings is that if you plant a seedling from a particular type of apple, it will not grow the type of apple that you planted. Most seedling apples are like mutt dogs, they are no good to us as growers or breeders. The very first guys to come out here to the County in late 1880s brought with them nursery stock. The problem is that in this area of the state there was no irrigation, it was all dry land. So they planted their trees in suitable locations where there was at least adequate water for the trees. When the Columbia Basin irrigation project came along in the 40s, that brought irrigation to the central part of the state. The whole industry moved from this part of the state to the central part of the state.
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