On Sep 29, 2014, at 10:48 PM, Joshua Clark  wrote:

> During Disston's hey day there was an abundance of apple wood. My
> understanding is that in colonial times apples were a key part of the
> average homestead's diet. They provided a major source of both food and
> drink. Sloane's books are filled with anecdotes about apples. The trees
> these apples grew on were full-sized trees, not the dwarf varieties you see
> today.

I have a friend that has a hunting camp up in the Poconos up near the PA/NY
border. Between his holdings and several neighbors there are about 1000 acres of
largely uninhabited land. It was once small farms, but they were never very
productive and were largely abandoned in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Those that remained were given up for taxes in the 1930's. As you wander the
land you run across the foundations of these old farmsteads, and the occasional
apple tree. My friend explained that when he was a kid there were lots more
apple trees but as the surrounding forests reclaim the land the taller trees
shade the apple trees too much and they die.

Bill