APPLE PICKING TIME: FRUITS BITTER, TASTIER, MORE PLENTIFUL THIS YEAR

Yes, Virginia, there was a Johnny Appleseed.

In reality, he was John Chapman, an American pioneer who planted large numbers of apple trees along the frontier during the late 1790s and early- to mid-1800s.

Chapman became a folk hero because of many stories, poems and tales of his gifts of apple seeds and saplings to everyone he met.

One story tells of Johnny Appleseed wearing a tin pot as a hat, coffee sack as a shirt, and no shoes, criss-crossing the land planting apple trees.

Chapman, who did help plant many apple trees throughout Ohio and Indiana, owned about 1,200 acres of orchards.

Regardless, Johnny (Chapman) Appleseed would probably be proud of apple growers today.

Especially this year.

The apples are bigger, tastier, better in quality, and probably more plentiful this year than during the past two years.

"We have a good crop of apples," said David Diebold, of Diebold Orchards in Benton. "It's not a bumper crop, but a good one."

Stanley Beggs of Pioneer Orchard agrees.

"The apples look good, and they seem to be running larger," said Beggs.

Overall, the two orchardists agree the 1996 apple crops look good.

During the past two years the apple crop throughout Missouri has been less than great, with about 32 million pounds a year ago and 38 million pounds in 1995.

Both of these totals are much less than the 56 million-pound crop in 1993.

"We'll be picking apples through October and probably into the first week of November," said Diebold.

'We had a short crop last year, but this year is trying to make up for it," he said. "We have a big a crop, and we have big apples."

Apples have been available at Diebold Orchards since June.

"We started with June apples, and continue into the summer with Summer Golds," he said.

Diebold credits two things for the larger-sized apples -- extended cool weather in April and May and good pruning.

"The cool weather caused many varieties of apples to elongate," said Diebold. "But the roundness is still there, which results in larger fruit ... a longer apple makes for a larger apple."

Joe Diebold, David's brother, was in charge of the pruning.

"He did a great job," said David Diebold. "Overall, the 1996 crop is certainly better for us than last year," Diebold said. Diebold Market sells the majority of its apples to local markets.

"Actually, we had a good apple crop last year," said Beggs, "and it's even better this year."

Pioneer has been picking apples since Aug. 5.

"They're running good size," said Beggs. Picking should continue to Halloween. "We always try to wind up by then."

Beggs was host to a group of retail apple sellers last week near his orchard. "The group represented a number of grocery stores," said Beggs. "They wanted to see how the fruit was grown."

A number of people are interested in how the fruit grows. "We conduct tours for schoolchildren here," said Beggs. "For a small fee, the children come as a tour, get on a wagon and ride into the orchard. They have an opportunity see how apples grow, and they get an apple to take with them. We conduct several tours each season."

Pioneer Orchard sells through local markets, commercial markets and conducts a "pick-your-own" program.

Missouri is not among the largest apple-producing states, but apple orchards provide more than $6 million a year to the state's economy. One of the best apple years of the 1990s was 1993, with more than 56 million pounds of apple with a value of more than $8.6 million.

The apple forecast is also a good one for Illinois this year.

Illinois fruit growers had a good year in 1996, with more than 2 million bushels, almost double the big harvest of 1994. That translates into about 85 million pounds of apples. Illinois orchardists produced about 50 million pounds in 1994.

"And we're looking forward to another good season," said a spokesman of Eckert Farms, which operates three apple farms in Southern Illinois.

Other Illinois orchardists report good crops. A spokesman for Hartline Orchards said apples in the Cobden and Anna-Jonesboro areas, would be picked through most of October.

Although orchards can be found throughout Illinois, the state's major apple growers are in Union and Jackson counties in Southern Illinois.

Southern Illinois orchards are as large as 400 acres, and apples from that region are shipped throughout the nation.

The number of Illinois apple growers has declined over the past decade, but about 400 growers tend more than 5,700 acres of apple orchards.

The United States is the leading fruit-producing country in the world, raising 10 percent of all apples, pineapples and plums; 20 percent of lemons, oranges, peaches and strawberries; and 55 percent of grapefruit.

Washington state is the largest apple producer with more than 175 million bushels a year. Other big apple states are Michigan, New York and California, each with more than 20 million bushels a year.

Nationally, more than 2 billion bushels of the fruit is produced. Big producers include the United States, Soviet Union and China.

Apples have long been a favorite fruit of people. Archaeologists studying the ruins of a Stone Age village in Europe have found charcoal remains of apples.

Early American colonists brought both apple seeds and apple trees with them from England. Over the years, apple growers have developed new and improved varieties of the fruit. There are more than 1,000 varieties of apples, ranging in color from various shades of red to green and yellow, with flavors ranging from tart to sweet.

A few varieties account for the lion's share of apples. Names such as Cortland, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonathan, McIntosh, Rome Beauty and Empire are among the more notable varieties.