Chemically the apple is composed of vegetable fibre, albumin, sugar, gum, chlorophyll, malic acid, gallic acid, lime, and much water. It also contains more phosphorus than any of the other fruits or vegetables. This is useful in forming the nervous matter of the brain and spinal cord and the general nervous system. What I have said of fruits in general will apply to apples and all fruits to follow, and I wish merely to call attention to the best of the species for all purposes, and especially for purposes of diet for the sick and for the well.

The apple grows in most of the States of the Union, and is generally distributed over the world. Some varieties, of course, are better in some districts than in others, and some are known only in certain localities. Some of the handsomest apples are now coming from the Rocky-Mountain States and from the Pacific States. While beautiful to look at and many of them with good flavor, in the latter respect they are far behind the old varieties grown in the East If purchasing apples in the market in the summertime the best varieties to inquire for are the Summer Queen, a red apple, on a yellow ground; the Sweet Bough, a sweet apple, better for eating out of hand than for cooking, and in color a greenish-yellow; the Red Astrachan, a beautiful red apple, crimson in its tints, which came to us from Russia. Another Russian apple is the Yellow Transparent. The Summer Permain is a beautiful red apple.

The best of the fall apples are the Maiden's Blush, the Fallawater, or Tulpehocken, the King, Smith's Cider, Grimes Golden, and the Yellow Bell Flower - Belle Fleur. This last apple is, of all apples, facile princeps from October to Christmas.

Winter Apples

Among the best are the Baldwin and the Spitzenberg. In the trade this latter apple is called "Spitz." It is not a very attractive-looking red apple, but taste it, and you will say there is a spiciness, a flavor, that attracts you; and eat another, and you will say, surely this is the best apple I have ever eaten. It is very scarce in the market.

New York State is the chief source of supply.

There the trees are not doing well, and this makes the apple scarce and high in price. Never mind that, buy it at any price, if you want a delicious fruit to eat out of hand or to cook. The Newtown Pippin - Albemarle Pippin - is a grand apple, and the best specimens grow in the Shenandoah Valley, in Virginia, and its neighborhood, and in our markets it brings double the price of any other apple. It is a large yellowish-green apple. The stalk is short and deep set, and surrounded by light russet rays.

When buying apples of any kind, always look for smooth, regular-shaped specimens. The irregular, knotty ones have been a prey to insects. Those with black and other dark spots have been a prey to fungi, and, as a rule, are what are called scabby, and have been raised by careless growers and are not first class.

Another grand apple is the Carthouse (or Gilpin) Apple. There are two species, the white flesh and the yellow flesh. The yellow flesh is far superior. Other good winter apples are the Rome Beauty, Stayman's Wine Sap, the Lady Apple, and the Morven. The Morven is a seedling of the Lady Apple which I found growing on one of my fruit farms at New Castle, Delaware. Other good apples are Northern Spy, Smoke House, Rox-bury Russet, Swaar, York Imperial, and Stark.

The diabetic sometimes has a great craving for an apple. The least objectionable are, the Red Astrachan, Summer Permain, Smith's Cider, Bell-Flower, Rome Beauty, Spitzenberg, Northern Spy, and York Imperial. In the spring, apples have more sugar, and should then be avoided by the diabetic.