The name John Chapman may not be familiar to you, but he's a character you probably know.

In a short Disney cartoon that came out several decades ago, he was depicted as a ragged wanderer, who owned nothing but the clothes on his back and a bag full of seeds that he'd dropped here and there at random, singing a happy son song: "Oh, the Lord's been good to me – and so I thank the Lord – fer givin' me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seed..."

Yes, we're talking about the legendary Johnny Appleseed.

The real, historical John Chapman was actually a whole lot more interesting – if less romantic and idealistic (though he was a devout and charitable man as well as an early animal rights activist).

Far from being a ragged mendicant wanderer who just went around dropping apple seeds. He was an entrepreneur who wanted to show American farmers how to grow a profitable cash crop. He was also an early environmentalist who saw the value of good land stewardship. Johnny was born to a poor New England farmer and his wife in 1774 and apprenticed to an orchardist as a teenager. His father had an apple orchard; not surprisingly, apples became his favorite fruit.

As an adult, he moved westward with his family (in those days, the "West" meant Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana). Unlike the Disney story, Chapman did not simply go around dropping seeds; he built nurseries with fences around them. These became the basis of a thriving business that really gave the American apple industry its start. A lot of folks today would raise an eyebrow at some of his business practices; he offered credit freely, took goods in trade and wasn't too concerned about when (or in many cases even if) he was repaid. He also lived frugally, going barefoot most of the time in order save on leather.

The only reason I bring up old Johnny today is because New York senator Chuck Schumer is introducing legislation in Congress that would help apple farmers in his state.

Here's the thing: apples can be difficult to cultivate, particularly the more desirable varieties like staymen winesap (the king of apples in my opinion), honeycrisp, spitzenberg (Thom Jefferon's favorite) and gala (sorry, red so-called "delicious" does not qualify). The senator is proposing a $20 million program through the USDA that would help New York apple farmers to upgrade their orchards and grow more of these varieties – which command much higher prices on the world market.

While it would be nice to help apple orchardists outside of New York as well. Assuming the bill passes and the President signs it, we look forward to seeing if this turns out to be a good investment in agriculture that eventually pays for itself and serves as a model for apple orchards elsewhere – in the tradition of John Chapman – or it winds up being another government boondoggle.