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See also: Article on Apples - Kitchen Tips - Apple Quotes
Who’s Who (John Chapman, or Johnny Appleseed)
APPLES
There are more than 7,000 varieties of apples, but only about 100 are grown commercially in the U.S. Eight varieties account for 80% of total U.S. production. Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, McIntosh, Rome Beauty, Jonathan, York and Stayman.
There are about 2500 known varieties in the US. Thirty-six states grow them commercially with the following as top producers, WA, NY, MI, CA, PA, & VA. 56%of the 1999 crop was eaten as fresh fruit and 42% was processed.
The U.S. produced 10 billion pounds of apples in 2006, more than 1/2 were grown in Washington state.
Apples were introduced to New York by the European settlers who brought seeds with them in the 1600s.
Apples are 'self-incompatible' - you need two trees growing near each other to have successful pollination.
The 11th labor of Hercules was bringing home the Golden Apple of the Hesperides out of the mythical West.
The world production of apples is more than 40 million tons.
Americans eat about 19.6 pounds of fresh apples annually, compared to about 46 pounds consumed annually by residents of European Countries.
China is now the world's largest apple producer, followed by the U.S. in second place.
The Albemarle Pippin is a red-striped, yellow apple, also called Yellow Newton Apple
The "Flower of Kent" is a large green skinned apple variety, and is thought to have been the variety that struck Sir Isaac Newton.
McIntosh Apples were discovered on a single mutated plant in the late 1700's by Canadian John McIntosh.
The apple is the official state fruit of New York, West Virginia, Washington and Rhode Island. It is the official state flower of Michigan.
Washington state produces more apples than any other state in the union.
The U.S. produced 9.9 billion pounds of apples in 2005, more than 1/2 were grown in Washington state.
The apple blossom was named the official state flower of Arkansas in 1901.
The most valuable fruit crops in the United States are in order, grapes, apples, oranges and strawberries (2000).
When the first colonists migrated to North America, they brought apple seeds with them. The first recorded planting was in 1629 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
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