"sherwin dubren" wrote in message
FarmI wrote:
"sherwin dubren" wrote in message
FarmI wrote:
"sherwin dubren" wrote in message

In my case, I feel that proper usage of these chemicals will have a
negligible effect on the environment. Automobiles, planes, power
plants, etc. far out shadow anything I do in my backyard. If you
have
never tasted a quality apple from the tree, you probably don't know
what you are missing.
If you are implying that unless sprays are used it is not possible to
harvest quality apples then you are wrong.

Our apples were superb this year and not one drop of spray was used and
we harvested from 4 apple trees. Our other apple trees are still too
small to be producing yet.

Can you define quality?

Looks good, has superb flavour, keeps well and keeps a great flavour
right through to the final apple.

Red Delicious can be clean, shinny, and red,
but is the last apple I would buy or grow.

That is a personal preference.

I'm sure some people love Red Delicious so that apple would fit their
criteria of being a good apple. I don't like Red Delicious either, but
then I've only ever eaten commercially produced ones. Home grown ones
may be very different.

You don't mention which varieties you are growing. You also don't
mention where you live.
This can make a difference. This discussion started with Heirloom
Apples, most of which need spraying to keep them clean.

Beauty of Bath, Lord Lambourne, Cox's Orange Pippin, Worchester
Pearmain, Laxton Superb, Bramley Seedling, Fuji, Red Gauntlet.

I live in Australia.

If you anything about apples, then you should recognise that the list I
gave of what we have is chock full of heritage/heirloom apples.

And certainly location MAY indeed be a factor is growing apples that
you call "clean". But that is not what you originally wrote. I grow
apples that are not sprayed at all, ever.

It is possible to grow good apples without spraying.

I recognize the names of most of the apples you grow. In fact I grew
the Cox apple in my backyard. I guess the "nasties" have not made it
down under.

Depends on what you define as nasties. Fruit Fly and codling moth are
probably the worst but we dont' have any on our farm and I'm assiduous in
making sure none arrives here either.


In fact, your government is trying to limit the
importation of USA apples because of several pests. See the
following web site:

http://www.daff.gov.au/__data/assets...-pear-aust.pdf

Fire Blight is the real worry. We don't have that here.

Here in the central USA, when I stopped spraying my Cox apples, the
bugs had a feast. The way things are spreading around the world, it
won't be long before they start paying you a visit.

That is why there are huge screams here everytime there is a threat to our
biosecurity. That is why the recent Free Trade agreement made beteween the
US and Australia caused conniption fits here.