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Do you know . . .
Early records
state that ‘Genetin’ apples were produced and shipped by rail car in Missouri
to Cheyenne, Wyoming and then transported by wagon to gold miners in Central
City, Colorado in 1869.
In 1897,
9 million barrels (30 million bushels) were grown in Missouri, which is
the largest crop on record in the state. The main summer varieties
grown were Yellow Transparent, Early Harvest, Red June, Benoni, Early Pennock,
Duchess and Lowell. Fall apple varieties grown were Maiden Blush,
Wealthy, Jeffries, Grimes Golden, Jonathan, and Rome Beauty. Late season
varieties that were stored in cellars and eaten during winter and spring
included Gano, Winesap, York, Black Twig, Ingram White Winter Pippin, Huntsman,
and Ben Davis.
By 1900,
Missouri was the center of activity for growing apples in the U.S. as production
shifted from the eastern states to the midwest. Apples were transported
in wooden barrels by rail cars and boats to such destinations as Sioux
City, Minneapolis, Detroit, Buffalo, Phildelphia, Baltimore , Birmingham,
Mobile, New Orleans, Galveston, as well as European ports.
In 1904, there
were 25 million apple trees planted in Missouri that produced a crop worth
$30 million (worth about 501 million in today’s dollars).
Census figures of 1913 reported nearly 15,000 apple growers with most
of them producing their crop on less than 10 acres of land.
In the 1920's
and 30's many insects and diseases invaded Missouri orchards. Without
effective control measures to combat these pests, apple production declined.
The Great Armistice Day freeze (November 1940), in which there was an unseasonably
warm fall followed by a rapid drop in temperature, killed many thousands
of trees not only in Missouri, but also in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and
Illinois. After the freeze, apple production moved westward
to states with less erratic climatic conditions and lower pest populations.
| Home | Welcome | History
| Facts | Cultivars
| Yields | Storage
| Nutrition | Recipes
| Orchards |
For further information about Missouri Apples contact:
Dr. Michele R. Warmund, State Fruit Specialist
1-87 Agriculture Building
Columbia, MO 65211
Phone: (573) 882-9632 Fax: (573) 882-1469
The Missouri Apple site is maintained
by the people at AgEBB at the
University of Missouri.
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