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13-03-2004, 08:02 AM

In article ,
says...

MOM PEAGRAM wrote:

Johnny appleseed didn't know that I guess.

I once read (and that doesn't mean it is true) that Johnny appleseed
didn't expect most of his seedlings to be eaten as they were. He
knew that as settlers moving west to the new land would want apple
orchids. Some would bring scion wood from their trees back east and
would need trees to graft them onto. I don't remember now if the
author of that story offered any proof but I suppose it might be true.

Steve

Well... Way back then apples in the US were mostly grown for cider (and
of course without refridgeration pressed apple juice fermented). Water
being of dubious quality and all. When prohibition hit, the apple
growing industry needed a new market for their produce, and so focus
shifted to "eating apples". In those thousands upon thousands of apple
trees planted, only a few were deemed worthy for marketing as eating
apples, to be cloned and cultivated further.

Johnny Appleseed was welcomed into the homes of the frontiersmen
because he was bringing alcohol, not the wholesome delicious apples
that we know today. Life was hard and brutal - mild alcohol was safer
than water and a welcome relief from boredom in the hard winter months.
Back then, anyone that wanted apples for eating grafted known stock -
just as they do today. In those days apples came no more true to seed
than they do now.

Prohibition (and many religions) demonized alcohol, and so the myth of
Johnny Appleseed planting apple orchards for wholesome healthy eating
was born.

BP