narrowing towards the apex, where it is terminated by several prominent
angles. Skin, deep yellow slightly tinged with green, and marked with
faint patches of red, on the shaded side; but entirely covered with
deep red, except where there are a few patches of deep yellow, on the
side next the sun. Eye, small and closed, with short segments, and set
in a narrow and angular basin. Stalk, short, inserted in a wide and
deep cavity, which, with the base, is entirely covered with rough brown
russet. Flesh, yellowish, tender, and juicy, with a pleasant sub-acid
flavor.
A valuable and now well-known culinary apple, in use from October
to February. When well grown the Beauty of Kent is perhaps the most
magnificent apple in cultivation. Its great size, the beauty of its
coloring, the tenderness of the flesh, and profusion of delicate
sub-acid juice, constitute it one of our most popular winter apples,
for culinary purposes, and one of the most desirable and useful, either
for a small garden, or for more extended cultivation.
The tree is a strong and vigorous grower, attains a large size, and is
a good bearer; but I have always found it subject to canker when grown
on the paradise stock, and in soils which are moist and heavy.
I have not been able to ascertain the time when, or the place where
this variety originated. It is first noticed by Forsyth in his Treatise
on Fruit Trees, but is not enumerated in any of the nurserymen’s
catalogues, either of the last, or the early part of the present,
century. It was introduced to the Brompton Park Nursery, about the
year 1820, and is now as extensively cultivated as most other leading
varieties. In America, Downing says, “the fruit in this climate is one
of the most magnificent of all apples, frequently measuring sixteen or
eighteen inches in circumference.”
22. BEDFORDSHIRE FOUNDLING.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 42. Lind. Guide, 63. Down.
Fr. Amer. 107.
SYNONYME.--Cambridge Pippin, _Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat._
FIGURE.--Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xxviii. f. 2.
Fruit, large, three inches and a quarter wide, and three inches and
a half high; roundish-ovate, inclining to oblong, with irregular and
prominent angles on the sides, which extend to the apex, and form
ridges round the eye. Skin, dark green at first, and changing, as it
attains maturity, to pale greenish yellow on the shaded side; but
tinged with orange on the side next the sun, and strewed with a few
fawn-colored dots. Eye, open, set in a deep, narrow, and angular basin.
Stalk, short, inserted in a deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish, tender,
pleasantly sub-acid, and with a somewhat sugary flavor.
An excellent culinary apple of first-rate quality, in use from November
to March.
23. BELLE BONNE.--Lind.
IDENTIFICATION.--Lind. Guide, 63. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 43.
SYNONYMES.--Winter Belle boon, _Park. Par._ 587. Winter Belle and
Bonne, _Raii Hist._ II. 1448. Winter Belle and Bon, _Worl. Vin._ 156.
Rolland, _Acc. Lind. Guide_.
Fruit, above medium size, three inches wide, and three and a quarter
high; ovato-conical. Skin, thick, pale greenish yellow, and marked with
a few redish streaks on the side next the sun. Eye, small and closed.
Stalk, half-an-inch long, obliquely inserted under a fleshy lip. Flesh,
firm, juicy, and well-flavored.
A valuable culinary apple, in use from October to January. The tree is
very hardy, a strong, vigorous, and healthy grower, and a good bearer.
This is a very old English variety. It was known to Parkinson so early
as 1629, and also to Worlidge and Ray. But it is not noticed by any
subsequent author, or enumerated in any of the nursery catalogues
of the last century, until discovered by George Lindley, growing
in a garden at Gatton, near Norwich, and published by him in the
Transactions of the London Horticultural Society, vol. iv., p. 58. He
seems to be uncertain whether it is the Summer, or Winter Belle Bonne
of these early authors, but Worlidge’s description leaves no doubt as
to its identity. He says “The Summer Belle et Bonne is a good bearer,
but the fruit is not long lasting. The Winter Belle and Bon is much
to be preferred to the Summer in every respect.” I have no doubt,
therefore, that the latter is the Belle Bonne of Lindley. Parkinson
says “they are both fair fruit to look on, being yellow, and of a meane
(medium) bignesse.”
24. BELLEDGE PIPPIN.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 49.
SYNONYMES.--Belledge, _Lind. Guide_, 36. Belledge Pippin, _Hort. Soc.
Cat._ ed. 1, 65.
FIGURE.--Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xvi., f. 4.
Fruit, below medium size, two inches and a half wide, and two inches
high; roundish, narrowing a little towards the apex, regularly and
handsomely formed. Skin, pale green, changing to yellow as it ripens,
with a tinge of brown where exposed to the sun, and strewed with
grey, russety dots. Eye, small, partially closed with short segments,
and placed in a round, narrow, and rather shallow basin. Stalk,
half-an-inch long, inserted in a round and deep cavity. Flesh, greenish
yellow, tender, soft, brisk, sugary, and aromatic.
An excellent, but not first-rate apple, suitable either for the dessert
or culinary purposes. It is in use from November to March.
25. BELLE GRIDELINE.--Lind.
IDENTIFICATION.--Lind. Plan Or. 1796. Lind. Guide, 36.
SYNONYME.--Belle Grisdeline, _Fors. Treat._ 93.
Fruit, medium sized; round, and regularly formed. Skin, clear yellow,
marbled and washed with clear red, and intermixed with thin grey russet
next the sun. Eye, set in a deep, round basin. Stalk, slender, deeply
inserted in a round cavity. Flesh, white, firm, crisp, and briskly
flavored.
An excellent dessert apple, in season from December to March. The tree
is healthy and vigorous, of the middle size, and an excellent bearer.
This beautiful variety was first brought into notice by Mr. George
Lindley, who found it growing in a small garden near Surrey Street
Gates, Norwich, where it had originated about the year 1770. Mr.
Lindley first propagated it in 1793, and the original tree died about
seven years afterwards.
26. BENNET APPLE.--Knight.
IDENTIFICATION AND FIGURE.--Pom. Heref. t. 21. Lind Guide, 101.
Fruit, somewhat long, irregularly shaped, broad at the base, and narrow
at the apex, but sometimes broader at the middle than either of the
extremities. A few obtuse angles terminate at the eye, which is small
and nearly closed, with very short segments. Stalk, half-an-inch long,
and very slender. Skin, dingy colored russety grey in the shade; and
shaded on the sunny side with numerous streaks and patches of orange
color and muddy red.
The specific gravity of the juice is 1073.
This is a good cider apple, and produces liquor of great excellence
when mixed with other varieties. It is chiefly grown in the deep
strong soils of the south-west part of Herefordshire, and is common in
the district known as the Golden Vale. Knight says it was a very old
variety, and was known previous to the 17th century, but I have not
been able to find any record of it in the early works on Pomology.
27. BENWELL’S PEARMAIN.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 534. Lind. Guide, 64.
Fruit, medium sized; pearmain-shaped. Skin, dull green with broken
stripes of dull red, on the side next the sun. Eye, small, set in a
shallow and slightly plaited basin. Stalk, deeply inserted in a round
cavity, scarcely protruding beyond the base. Flesh, yellowish white,
crisp, juicy, brisk, and aromatic.
A dessert apple, in use from December to January.
It received its name from a gentleman of the name of Benwell, of
Henley-on-Thames, from whom it was received, and brought into
cultivation by Kirke, a nurseryman at Brompton.
28. BERE COURT PIPPIN.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Trans. vol. v. p. 400. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3,
n. 55. Lind. Guide, 10.
Fruit, medium sized; round, and slightly flattened. Skin, pale green,
and changing to yellow as it ripens, with stripes of red next the sun.
Eye, open, placed in a wide and shallow basin. Stalk, inserted in a
deep cavity. Flesh, crisp, juicy, and briskly acid.
An excellent culinary apple, in use during September and October.
This variety was raised by the Rev. S. Breedon, D.D., of Bere Court,
near Pangbourne, in Berkshire.
29. BESS POOL.--Ron.
IDENTIFICATION.--Ron. Pyr. Mal. 46.
SYNONYME.--Best Pool, _Fors. Treat._ 94.
FIGURE.--Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xxiii. f. 8.
Fruit, above medium size, two inches and three quarters wide, and
nearly three inches high; conical, and handsomely shaped. Skin, yellow,
with a few markings of red on the shaded side; but where exposed to
the sun it is almost entirely washed and striped with fine clear red.
Eye, small, and partially open, set in a rather deep and plaited basin,
which is surrounded with five prominent knobs or ridges. Stalk, short
and thick, inserted in a rather shallow cavity, with generally a fleshy
protuberance on one side of it, and surrounded with yellowish brown
russet, which extends over a considerable portion of the base. Flesh,
white, tender, and juicy, with a fine, sugary, and vinous flavor.
An excellent apple either for culinary or dessert use. It is in season
from November to March.
The tree is hardy, a vigorous grower, and an abundant bearer. The
flowers are very late in expanding, and are, therefore, not liable to
be injured by spring frosts.
30. BEST BACHE.--Knight.
IDENTIFICATION.--Pom. Heref. t. 16. Lind. Guide, 194.
SYNONYME.--Bache’s Kernel, _Acc. Pom. Heref._
Fruit, medium sized; oblong, with obtuse angles on the sides, which
extend to the apex. Skin, yellow, shaded with pale red, and streaked
with darker red, interspersed with a few black specks. Eye, small,
segments short and flat. Stalk, short and stout.
Specific gravity of the juice 1073.
A cider apple, grown in the south-east part of Herefordshire.
31. BETSEY.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 57.
Fruit, small, about two inches wide, and an inch and three quarters
high; roundish, inclining to conical and flattened. Skin, dark green
at first, and considerably covered with ashy grey russet; but changing
to pale yellow, and with a brownish tinge on the side next the sun.
Eye, open, with short reflexed segments, and set in a very shallow
depression. Stalk, short, about a quarter of an inch long, with a
fleshy protuberance on one side of it, and inserted in a shallow and
narrow cavity. Flesh, greenish yellow, tender, juicy, rich, and sugary.
A dessert apple of first-rate quality, in use from November to January.
32. BIGGS’S NONESUCH.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Trans. vol. I. p. 70. Lind. Guide, 88. Rog. Fr.
Cult. 40.
SYNONYME.--Bigg’s Nonsuch, _Fors. Treat._ 116.
FIGURE.--Brook. Pom. Brit. pl. lxxxviii., f. 3.
Fruit, medium sized; round, and broadest at the base. Skin, yellow,
striped with bright crimson next the sun. Eye, open, with long reflexed
segments, set in a wide and deep basin. Stalk, short, and deeply
inserted. Flesh, yellowish, tender, and juicy.
An excellent culinary apple, in use from October to December. It is
fit for use immediately it is gathered off the tree, and has a strong
resemblance to the old Nonesuch, but keeps much longer.
The tree is hardy and an excellent bearer; attains to the medium size,
and is less liable to the attacks of the Woolly Aphis than the old
Nonesuch.
This variety was raised by Mr. Arthur Biggs, the intelligent and
scientific gardener to Isaac Swainson, Esq., of Twickenham, Middlesex.
33. BIRMINGHAM PIPPIN.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Lind. Guide, 38. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 59.
SYNONYMES.--Grumas’s Pippin, _Fors. Treat._ 105. Brummage Pippin, and
Grummage Pippin, _Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat._ Stone Pippin _of the Nursery
Catalogues_.
Fruit, small, two inches and a quarter wide, and an inch and three
quarters high; round, and slightly flattened. Skin, pale dingy yellow,
mottled and veined with very thin grey russet, and russety round the
base. Eye, small, quite open, frequently without any segments, and
placed in a very slight depression. Stalk, short, scarcely at all
depressed. Flesh, greenish, very firm, crisp, and juicy, briskly and
pleasantly flavored.
A very good dessert apple; in use from January to June.
It is remarkable for the firmness and density of its flesh, and Mr.
Lindley says, its specific gravity is greater than that of any other
apple with which he was acquainted.
The tree is of diminutive size, with short but very stout shoots. It is
a good bearer.
This variety is supposed to be a native of Warwickshire. It is what is
generally known in the nurseries, under the name of Stone Pippin, but
the Gogar Pippin is also known by that name.
34. BLAND’S JUBILEE.--H.
SYNONYMES.--Jubilee Pippin, _Hort. Trans._ vol. v., 400. Bland’s
Jubilee Rose Pip, _Nursery Catalogues_.
Fruit, large, three inches and a quarter wide, and two inches and
three quarters high; round, narrowing a little towards the eye, and
obscurely ribbed. Skin, dull yellow tinged with green, but changing
to clear yellow as it ripens; marked with russet in the basin of the
eye, and strewed over its surface with large russety dots. Eye, small
and closed, with long acuminate segments, set in a narrow, deep, and
even basin. Stalk, short, inserted in a moderately deep cavity. Flesh,
yellowish, tender, crisp, juicy, sugary, and perfumed.
An excellent apple, either for culinary purposes, or the dessert. It is
in use from October to January.
This was raised by Michael Bland, Esq., of Norwich. The seed was sown,
on the day of the jubilee which celebrated the 50th year of the reign
of George III., in 1809, and the tree first produced fruit in 1818. It
is not a variety which is met with in general cultivation, but deserves
to be more extensively known.
35. BLENHEIM PIPPIN.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 70. Lind. Guide, 38. Down
Fr. Amer. 81.
SYNONYMES.--Blenheim, _Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat._ Blenheim Orange, _Ibid._
Woodstock Pippin, _Ibid._ Northwick Pippin, _Ibid._ Kempster’s Pippin.
FIGURE.--Pom. Mag. t. 28. Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xxxi. f. 2.
[Illustration]
Fruit, large, the average size smaller than represented in the
accompanying figure, being generally three inches wide, and two and a
half high; globular, and somewhat flattened, broader at the base than
the apex, regularly and handsomely shaped. Skin, yellow, with a tinge
of dull red next the sun, and streaked with deeper red. Eye, large and
open, with short stunted segments, placed in a round and rather deep
basin. Stalk, short and stout, rather deeply inserted, and scarcely
extending beyond the base. Flesh, yellow, crisp, juicy, sweet, and
pleasantly acid.
A very valuable and highly esteemed apple, either for the dessert
or culinary purposes, but, strictly speaking, more suitable for the
latter. It is in use from November to February.
The common complaint against the Blenheim Pippin is, that the tree is
a bad bearer. This is undoubtedly the case when it is young, being
of a strong and vigorous habit of growth, and forming a large and
very beautiful standard; but when it becomes a little aged, it bears
regular and abundant crops. It may be made to produce much earlier, if
grafted on the paradise stock, and grown either as an open dwarf, or an
espalier.
This valuable apple was first discovered at Woodstock, in Oxfordshire,
and received its name from Blenheim, the seat of the Duke of
Marlborough, which is in the immediate neighbourhood. It is not noticed
in any of the nursery catalogues of the last century, nor was it
cultivated in the London nurseries till about the year 1818.
The following interesting account of this favorite variety was recently
communicated to the Gardener’s Chronicle. “In a somewhat delapidated
corner of the decaying borough of ancient Woodstock, within ten yards
of the wall of Blenheim Park, stands all that remains of the original
stump of that beautiful and justly celebrated apple, the Blenheim
Orange. It is now entirely dead, and rapidly falling to decay, being a
mere shell about ten feet high, loose in the ground, and having a large
hole in the centre; till within the last three years, it occasionally
sent up long, thin, wiry twigs, but this last sign of vitality has
ceased, and what remains will soon be the portion of the woodlouse and
the worm. Old Grimmett, the basket-maker, against the corner of whose
garden-wall the venerable relict is supported, has sat looking on it
from his workshop window, and while he wove the pliant osier, has
meditated, for more than fifty successive summers, on the mutability of
all sublunary substances, on juice, and core, and vegetable, as well
as animal, and flesh, and blood. He can remember the time when, fifty
years ago, he was a boy, and the tree a fine, full-bearing stem, full
of bud, and blossom, and fruit, and thousands thronged from all parts
to gaze on its ruddy, ripening, orange burden; then gardeners came in
the spring-tide to select the much coveted scions, and to hear the tale
of his horticultural child and sapling, from the lips of the son of the
white-haired Kempster. But nearly a century has elapsed since Kempster
fell, like a ripened fruit, and was gathered to his fathers. He lived
in a narrow cottage garden in Old Woodstock, a plain, practical,
laboring man; and in the midst of his bees and flowers around him, and
in his “glorious pride,” in the midst of his little garden, he realized
Virgil’s dream of the old Corycian:--“Et regum equabat opes animis.”
The provincial name for this apple is still “_Kempster’s Pippin_,” a
lasting monumental tribute, and inscription, to him who first planted
the kernel from whence it sprang.”
36. BOROVITSKY.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 74. Lind Guide, 3. Down. Fr.
Amer. 70.
FIGURE.--Pom. Mag. t. 10.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches high, and about the same in width;
roundish and slightly angular. Skin, pale green strewed with silvery
russet scales on the shaded side; and colored with bright red, which is
striped with deeper red on the side next the sun. Eye, set in a wide
and plaited basin. Stalk, an inch long, deeply inserted in a rather
wide cavity. Flesh, white, firm, brisk, juicy, and sugary.
An excellent early dessert apple, ripe in the middle of August.
This was sent from the Taurida Gardens, near St. Petersburg, to the
London Horticultural Society in 1824.
37. BORSDORFFER.--Knoop.
IDENTIFICATION--Knoop. Pom. t. x. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 73. Down.
Fr Amer. 99.
SYNONYMES.--Porstorffer, _Cord. Hist._ Reinette Batarde, _Riv. et
Moul. Meth._ 192. Borstorf, _Knoop. Pom._ 56. Borstorff Hative,
_Ibid._ 129. Borstorff à long queue, _Ibid._ 129. Bursdoff, or
Queen’s Apple, _Fors. Treat._ ed. 3, 15, Red Borsdorffer, _Willich
Dom. Encyc._ Borsdorff, _Lind. Guide_, 39. Postophe d’Hiver, _Bon
Jard._ 1843. p. 512. Pomme de prochain, _Acc. Diel. Kernobst._
Reinette d’Allemagne, _Ibid._ Blanche de Leipsic, _Acc. Knoop. Pom._
Reinette de Misnie, _Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat._ Grand Bohemian Borsdorffer,
_Ibid._ Edler Winterborstorffer, _Diel. Kernobst._ II. 80. Edel
Winterborsdorfer, _Ditt. Handb._ I. 372. Witte Leipziger, _Acc. Knoop.
Pom._ Maschanzker, _Acc. Diel Kernobst._ Weiner Maschanzkerl, _Baum.
Cat._ 1850. Winter Borsdorffer, _Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat._ Garret Pippin,
_Ibid._ King, _Ibid._ King George, _Ibid._ King George the Third,
_Ron. Pyr. Mal._ 26.
FIGURES.--Knoop. Pom. t. x. Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xiii. f. 8.
[Illustration]
Fruit, below medium size; roundish oblate, rather narrower at the apex
than the base, handsomely and regularly formed, without ribs or other
inequalities. Skin, shining, pale waxen yellow in the shade, and bright
deep red next the sun; it is strewed with dots, which are yellowish on
the sunny side, and brownish in the shade, and marked with veins and
slight traces of delicate, yellowish-grey russet. Eye, large and open,
with long reflexed segments, placed in a rather deep, round, and pretty
even basin. Stalk, short and slender, inserted in a narrow, even, and
shallow cavity, which is lined with thin russet. Flesh, white with a
yellowish tinge, crisp and delicate, brisk, juicy, and sugary, and with
a rich, vinous, and aromatic flavor.
A dessert apple of the first quality, in use from November to January.
The tree is a free grower and very hardy, not subject to canker, and
attains the largest size. It is very prolific when it has acquired
its full growth, which, in good soil, it will do in fifteen or twenty
years; and even in a young state it is a good bearer. If grafted on the
paradise stock it may be grown as an open dwarf, or an espalier. The
bloom is very hardy, and withstands the night frosts of spring better
than most other varieties.
This, above all other apples, is the most highly esteemed in Germany.
Diel calls it the Pride of the Germans. It is believed to have
originated either at a village of Misnia, called Borsdorf, or at a
place of the same name near Leipsic. According to Forsyth, it was such
a favorite with Queen Charlotte, that she had a considerable quantity
of them annually imported from Germany, for her own private use. It
is one of the earliest recorded varieties of the continental authors,
but does not seem to have been known in this country before the close
of the last century. It was first grown in the Brompton Park Nursery
in 1785. It is mentioned by Cordus, in 1561, as being cultivated in
Misnia; which circumstance has no doubt given rise to the synonyme
“Reinette de Misnie;” he also informs us it is highly esteemed for its
sweet and generous flavor, and the pleasant perfume which it exhales.
Wittichius, in his “Methodus Simplicium,” attributes to it the power of
dispelling epidemic fevers and madness!
38. BOSSOM.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Trans. vol. iv., 528. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n.
75. Lind. Guide, 64.
Fruit, large and conical; handsomely and regularly formed. Skin, pale
greenish yellow, considerably covered with russet, and occasionally
marked with bright red next the sun. Eye, set in a shallow and plaited
basin. Stalk, an inch long, inserted in a rather deep cavity. Flesh,
yellowish white, tender, crisp, juicy, and sugary, and with a pleasant
sub-acid flavor.
An excellent culinary apple, though not of the first quality, in use
during December and January. The flesh is said to assume a fine color
when baked.
39. BOSTON RUSSET.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 736. Down. Fr. Amer. 133.
SYNONYMES.--Roxbury Russeting, _Ken. Amer. Or._ 53. Shippen’s Russet,
_Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat._ Putman’s Russet.
Fruit, medium sized, three inches and a quarter wide, and two inches
and a half high; roundish, somewhat flattened, narrowing towards the
apex, and slightly angular. Skin, covered entirely with brownish
yellow russet intermixed with green, and sometimes with a faint tinge
of redish brown next the sun. Eye, closed, set in a round and rather
shallow basin. Stalk, long, slender, and inserted in a moderately deep
cavity. Flesh, yellowish white, juicy, sugary, briskly, and richly
flavored.
A very valuable dessert apple, of the first quality, in season from
January to April, and will even keep till June. It partakes much of the
flavor of the Ribston Pippin, and, as a late winter dessert apple, is
not to be surpassed.
The tree is not large, but healthy, very hardy, and an immense bearer,
and, when grafted on the paradise stock, is well suited for being grown
either as a dwarf, or an espalier.
This is an old American variety, and one of the few introduced to this
country which attains perfection in our climate. It is extensively
grown in the neighbourhood of Boston, U.S., both for home consumption
and exportation, and realizes a considerable, and profitable return to
the growers.
40. BOWYER’S RUSSET.--Hort.
IDENTIFICATION.--Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, p. 38. Lind. Guide, 87.
SYNONYME.--Bowyer’s Golden Pippin, _Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat._
FIGURE.--Pom. Mag. t. 121.