_Synonyms_: Woodpecker, Pecker, Steel's Red Winter, Red Baldwin, and
Butters.
The Baldwin stands at the head of all New England apples, and is
unquestionably a first-rate fruit in all respects. It is a native of
Massachusetts, and is more largely cultivated for the Boston market than
any other sort. Tree vigorous, upright, spreading, productive. Young
shoots dull reddish brown. Fruit large, roundish, and narrowing a little
to the eye. Color yellow in the shade, but nearly covered and striped
with crimson, red, and orange in the sun, dotted with a few russet dots,
and with radiating streaks of russet about the stalk. Calyx closed, and
set in a rather narrow plaited basin. Stalk half to three-fourths of an
inch long, rather slender for so large a fruit, planted in an even,
moderately deep cavity. Flesh yellowish white, crisp, with that
agreeable mingling of the saccharine and acid which constitutes a rich,
high flavor. Very good. The tree is a vigorous, upright grower, and
bears most abundantly. Ripe from November to March, but with us it is
perfection in January.