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Image provided by: Walworth-Seely Public Library
THE TIMES - PAGE 7 - APRIL 10.1990 their best. So the boys would sneak ., around his place- for a sample. of the famous fruit. To Seely's disgust,. the grapes would disappear very fast night, after night. So he attached a small stick of dynamite'high in the tree where no one would realized it was there. (Also the batteries needed to set off the charge). In the still of the night, possibly after a basketball game, a loud report would be heard. Folks in the neighborhood would know that someone was stealing Mr. ~eely's grapes. That soon took hold with the boys, and Mr. Seely's grapes were safe again. Occasionally his daughter Bessie who worked at a bank in Rochester, would pay a visit on weekends. After the death of Mr. Seely she lived there and worked for Joe Finley in his store that used to be owned by Irving M. Salyerds and is now owned by Gordon Youngman. The original home where Mr. Seely lived was then sold and ,donated to the town, and is now the Walworth Seely Library. One. of the last t-hings I can remember that Mr. Seely did was t9 recite \The Raven\ completely from memory and without any prompting from anyone at a Walworth Masonic meeting. He did such a remarkable quotation of this poem that all who heard it gave him a standing ovation. - I have been asked where Mr. Seely's final resting place is - Walwotth, Marion or Sodus Point. His last wish was to be cremated and his ashes strewn out across the four corners of Walworth on a windy day, so they would be well scattered. To my knowledge, his wish was granted. Pictured above Bertha and Charlie emb broke. . Charlie will occasionally be supplying the \TIMES\ with insights into Wgworth 's colorful past. NOW OPEN IN PALMYRA WELLS FINANCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION INSURANCE AND INVESTMENTS Announces ou-r New Palmyra Location 628 East Main St. (across from Agway) to better servethe Palmyra, Newark & Lyons areas PERSONAL INSURANCE Auto:.,* -Home Life * Renters BUSINESS INSURANCE General Liability * Worker's Comp. & DBL commercial Property & Auto INVESTMENTS & FINANCIALPLANNING Quality coverage representing many prime companies at the lowest rates possible gives us a competitive edge. CALL US - IT WILL WORTH IT TO YOU. I WELLS FINANCIAL SERVICES CORPORATION 1 I INSURANCE AND INVESTMENTS 1 HOURS FOR BOTH OFFICES: Mon., Tues., Wed. & Fri. 8-4 Thurs. 10-6; Closed 12:30-1:30 daily; Saturday appointments available NEW - PALMYRA OFFICE 628 E. Main St. (across form Agway) Jay Seely in the workshop where he spent much of his time. WALWORTH OFFICE 2263 Marion Road The Introduction of Apples in New York 597-3544 597-6200 If you travel the roads of New York in early May, you cannot help but be impressed with the wild trees in bloom along the roadside or in abandoned fields. Most of the trees with white or pink blossoms that can be seen at this time are wild apple trees. If you've ever wondered how all of these wild apple trees became established, two entomo- logists from the New York State Experi- ment Station at Geneva have provided an explanation according to Ken Silsby, Regional Fruit Specialist. In a book entitled Tortricid Fauna of Apples in New York published in 1971, P. J. Chapman and S.E. Link attempted to survey the current and potential apple pests belonging to specific family of moths. ' These two researchers provided an account of how apples became established as a natura- lized plant in New York to put their survey into perspective. Apples are not native to the new world. They are believed to have been derived from trees originally growing in southern Eursia in the area between the Caspian and Black Seas. The Romans aided the early dissemination of apples by introducing apples into most of \The planting of apple trees was regarded by neighbors as a sign that an individual planned to stay in the area. \ Europe during their conquest. The earliest colonies brought apples to the western hemisphere mostly in the form of apple'seeds with few grafted trees. French missionaries brought the first apple seeds to Western New York and planted them in areas along the Niagara River about 1700 or earlier. At about the same time, Jesuit missionaries introduced apples into central New York. Native Americans acquired apple seeds and established seedling orchards near their campgrounds. Following the Revolutionary War, the settling of Western New York ac- celerated, aided by the completion of the Erie Canal-Barge Canal in 1825. Nearly all of these pioneers established seedling orchards as they became settled. The planting of apple trees was regarded by neighbors as.a sign that an individual planned to stay in the area. Some land companies required settler to plant apple orchards in order to successfuliy claim a parcel of land. Apples consumed either as fresh or in the form of cider constituted an important part of the diets for these early New Yorkers. - . After 1850, improvements in transport- ation by canal and by railroad allowed the transport of apples to eastern mar- kets and turned apples into a com- mercial crop. A great increase in the +' planting of apple trees took place during the later half of the 1800's. An agricul- tural census performed in 1875 counted - over 18 million apple trees in New York That figure companes with 5 million trees in the 1985 New York Orchard Survey. At an average tree spacing of the day, those 18 million trees would have covered an area ,equal to one percent of the total land area of the state. Since that era, competition from other growing areas and other crops, + together with episodes of adverse weather have gradually forced the conam- tration of the fruit industry into the best adapted areas of the state like the Lake Ontario plain. As commercial apple growing was abandoned in: less well adapted areas, dairy farming evolved and played a part in the naturalization of apple trees. Pastured cows which. either were fed apples or consumed apples from the abandoned trees passed the seed through their digestive system and \planted\ the seeds with their droppings. As the cattle browsed on the resulting seedlings, the apple trees became a low growing bush. ' - Eventually, the area covered by the . seedlings increased in width until cows could no longer reach some of the shoots in the center which were then free to finally develop into trees. The authors of the previously men- tioned book, therefore, concluded that the naturalization of the apple into New York State was the product of its popu- larity with settlers, early commerciai success, and the rise of the dairy industry as the fruit industry became concentrated into the best adapted sites. Wild apple trees are now so abundant that it would prove futile to remove them in spite of +'. the fact that they harbor apple pests. In their present state, the wild trees beautify the landscape in the springtime and provide a source of food for wildliie. On June 12,1990, Tyler Jeffrey was born to Stacey and Jeff Ellis of Day- spring Ridge in Gananda. Tyler was born at Rochester General Hospitd weighing 7.lbs., 10 oz. and measuring 21 inches. Tyler has a big sister, Paige who is 2, years and 2 months old.. Grandparents are Bonnie and Ed Cooney of Newark and Marjorie ~llisof Kendall, N.Y. -I
