Early Harvest. Nickajack.
Carolina Juice. Maverack's Sweet.
Red Astrachan. Batchelor or King.
Gravenstein. Buff.
American Summer Pearmain. Shockley.
Julian. Ben Davis.
Mangum. Hall.
Fall Pippin. Mallecarle.
Maiden's Blush. Horse.
Summer Rose. Bonum.
Porter. Large Striped Pearmain.
Rambo. Rawle's Janet.
Large Early Bough. Disharoon.
Fall Queen, or Ladies' Meigs.
Favorite. Cullasaga.
Oconee Greening. Camack's Sweet.
Some varieties are included in all these lists, showing that the best
cultivators regard some of our finest apples as adapted to all parts of
the country. A careful comparison of Hooper's lists, as recommended by
the best Western cultivators, whose names are there mentioned, will show
that they name the same best varieties, with a few additions.
We have carefully examined the varieties recommended by Ernst, by
Kirtland and Elliott, by Barry, and by the national convention of
fruit-growers, and find a general agreement on the main varieties. There
are some differences of opinion, but they are minor. They have left out
some of Downing's list, and added some, as a matter of course. All this
only goes to show the established character of our main varieties. Out
of all these, select a dozen of those named, in most of the lists, and
you will have all that ever need be cultivated for profit. The best six
might be still better. Yet, in your localities, you will find good ones
not named in the books, and new ones will be constantly rising.
Downing adds that "Newtown Pippin does not succeed generally at the
West, yet in some locations they are very fine. Rhode Island Greening
and Baldwin generally fail in many sections, while in others they are
excellent."
Now, it is contrary to all laws of vegetation and climate, that a given
fruit should be good in one county and useless in the next, if they have
an equal chance in each place. A suitable preparation of the soil, in
supplying, in the specific manures, what it may lack, getting scions
from equally healthy trees, and grafting upon healthy apple-seedling
stocks--observing our principles of acclimation--_and not one of our
best apples will fail, in any part of North America_.
On a given parallel of latitude, a man may happen to plant a tree upon a
fine calcareous soil, and it does well. Another chances to plant one
upon a soil of a different character, and it does not succeed. It is
then proclaimed that fruit succeeds well in one locality, and is useless
in another near by and in the same latitude. The truth is, had the
latter supplied calcareous substances to his deficient soil, as he might
easily have done, in bones, plaster, lime, &c., the fruit would have
done equally well in both cases. We should like to see this subject
discussed, as it never has been in any work that has come under our
observation. It would redeem many a section from a bad reputation for
fruit-growing, and add much to the luxuries of thousands of our
citizens. Apples can be successfully and profitably grown on every farm
of arable land in North America. We present, in the following cuts, a
few of our best apples, in their usual size and form. Some are
contracted for the want of room on the page. We shall describe a few
varieties, in our opinion the best of any grown in this country. These
are all that need be cultivated, and may be adapted to all localities.
We lay aside all technical terms in our description, which we give, not
for purposes of identification, but to show their true value for
profitable culture. The quality of fruit, habits of the tree, and time
of maturity, are all that are necessary, for any practical purpose.
NICKAJACK.--_Synonyms_--Wonder, Summerour.
Origin, North Carolina. Tree vigorous, and a constant prolific bearer.
Fruit large, skin yellowish, shaded land striped with crimson, and
sprinkled with lightish dots. Yellowish flesh, fine subacid flavor.
Tender, crisp, and juicy. Season, November to April.
BALDWIN.--_Synonyms_--Late Baldwin, Woodpecker, Pecker, Steele's Red
Winter.
[Illustration]
Stands at the head of all apples, in the Boston market. Fruit large and
handsome. Tree hardy, and an abundant bearer. It is of the family of
Esopus Spitzenburg. Yellowish white flesh, crisp and beautiful flavor,
from a mingling of the acid and saccharine. Season, from November to
March. On some rich western soils, it is disposed to bitter rot, which
may be easily prevented, by application to the soil of lime and potash.
CANADA RED.--_Synonyms_--Old Nonsuch, Richfield Nonsuch, Steele's Red
Winter.
An old fruit in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Tree not a great grower,
but a profuse bearer. Good in Ohio, Michigan, and other Western states.
Retains its fine flavor to the last. January to May.
BELLFLOWER.--_Synonyms_--Yellow Bellflower, Lady Washington, Yellow
Belle-fleur.
[Illustration]
Fruit very large, pale lemon yellow, with a blush in the sun. Subacid,
juicy, crisp flesh. Tree vigorous, regular and excellent bearer. Season,
November to March. Highly valuable.
EARLY HARVEST.--_Synonyms_--Early French Reinette, Prince's Harvest,
July Pippin, Yellow Harvest, Large White Juneating, Tart Bough.
[Illustration]
The best early apple. Bright straw color. Subacid, white, tender, juicy,
and crisp. Equally good for cooking and the dessert. Season, the whole
month of July in central New York; earlier south, and later north, as of
all other varieties.
RED ASTRACHAN.--Brought to England from Sweden in 1816. One of the most
beautiful apples in the whole list. Fruit very large, and very smooth
and fair. Color deep crimson, with a little greenish yellow in the shade
and occasionally a little russet near the stalk. Flesh white and crisp,
rich acid flavor. Gather as soon as nearly ripe, or it will become
mealy. Abundant bearer. July and August.
ESOPUS SPITZENBURG.--_Synonym_--True Spitzenburg.
[Illustration]
Large, fine flavored, lively red fruit. It is everywhere well known, as
one of the very best apples ever cultivated, both for cooking and the
desert. December to February, and often good even into April. A very
great bearer.
KING OF TOMPKINS COUNTY.--_Synonym_--King Apple.
This is an abundant annual bearer. Skin rather yellowish, shaded with
red and striped with crimson. Flesh rather coarse, but juicy and tender,
with a very agreeable vinous aromatic flavor. One of the best. December
and March.
RHODE ISLAND GREENING.--_Synonyms_--Burlington Greening, Jersey
Greening, Hampshire Greening.
[Illustration]
A universal favorite, everywhere known. Acid, lively, aromatic,
excellent alike for the dessert and kitchen. Great bearer. November to
March. It is said to fail on some rich alluvial soils at the West. Avoid
root grafting, and apply the specific manures, and we will warrant it
everywhere.
BONUM.--_Synonym_--Magnum Bonum.
From North Carolina. Fruit large, from light to dark red. Flesh yellow,
subacid, rich, and delicious. Tree hardy, vigorous, and an early and
abundant bearer.
AMERICAN GOLDEN RUSSET.--_Synonyms_--Sheep Nose, Golden Russet,
Bullock's Pippin, Little Pearmain.
The English Golden Russet is a variety cultivated in this country, but
much inferior to the above. The fruit is small, but melting juicy, with
a very pleasant flavor. It is one of the most regular and abundant
bearers known. Tree hardy and thrifty. October to January. We know from
raising and using it at the West, that it is one of the very best.
PIPPIN, FALL.--Confounded with Holland Pippin and several other
varieties.
[Illustration]
A noble fruit, unsurpassed by any other autumn apple. Very large,
equally adapted to table and kitchen. Fine yellow, when fully ripe, with
a few dots. Flesh is white, mellow, and richly aromatic. October and
December. A fair bearer, though not so great as many others.
NEWTOWN PIPPIN.--_Synonyms_--Green Newtown Pippin, Green Winter Pippin,
American Newtown Pippin, Petersburg Pippin.
[Illustration]
This is put down as the first of all apples. It commands the highest
price, in the London market. It keeps long without the least shriveling
or loss of flavor. Fruit medium size, olive green, with small gray
specks. Flesh greenish white, juicy, crisp, and of an exceedingly
delicious flavor. _The best keeping apple_, good for eating from
December to May.
The yellow pippin, is another variety nearly as good.
PORTER.--A Massachusetts fruit, very fair; a very great bearer. Is a
favorite in Boston. Deserves general cultivation. September and into
October.
SMOKEHOUSE.--_Synonyms_--Mill Creek Vandevere, English Vandevere.
An old variety from Pennsylvania, where the original tree grew by a
gentleman's smoke-house; hence its name. Skin yellow, shaded with
crimson, sprinkled with large gray or brown dots. September to February.
One of the very best for cooking.
RAMBO.--_Synonyms_--Romanite, Bread and cheese apple, Seek-no-further.
[Illustration]
This is a great fall apple. Medium size, flat, yellowish white in the
shade, and marbled with pale yellow and red in the sun, and speckled
with large rough dots. Flesh greenish white, rich, subacid. October to
December.
CANADA REINETTE.--This has ten synonyms in Europe, which indicates its
popularity. In this country it is known only under the above name. Fruit
of the very largest size. A good bearer. The quality is in all respects
good. Lively, subacid flavor. December to April, unless allowed to hang
on the tree too long. Pick early in the fall.
ROME BEAUTY.--_Synonyms_--Roman Beauty, Gillett's Seedling.
[Illustration]
Fruit large, yellow, ground shaded, and striped with red, and sprinkled
with little dots. Flesh yellowish, juicy, tender, subacid. Bears every
year a great crop of very large showy apples. It is not superior in
flesh or flavor, but keeps and sells very well. Always must be very
profitable, and hence very popular.
AUTUMN SWEET BOUGH.--_Synonyms_--Late Bough, Fall Bough, Summer Bell
Flower, Philadelphia Sweet.
Tree very vigorous and productive. Fruit medium. Skin smooth, pale
yellow with a few brown dots. Flesh white, tender, sweet vinous flavor.
One of the best dessert sweet apples. August and October.
WESTFIELD SEEK-NO-FURTHER.--_Synonyms_--Seek-no-further, Red Winter
Pearmain, Connecticut Seek-no-further.
[Illustration]
Fruit large, pale dull red, sprinkled with obscure russety yellow dots.
Flesh white, tender and fine-grained. On all accounts good. October to
February according to Downing. Elliott says from December to February.
But the doctors often disagree. So you had better eat your apples when
they are good, whether it be October or December, or according to
Downing, Elliott, or Hooper.
RIBSTON PIPPIN.--_Synonyms_--Glory of York, Travers', Formosa Pippin,
Rock hill's Russet.
This occupies as high a place in England, as any other apple. In this
country, two or three others, as Baldwin and Newtown Pippin, are more
highly esteemed. This is most successfully grown in the colder parts of
the United States and Canada. Fruit medium, deep yellow, firm, crisp;
flavor sharp aromatic. November to April.
NORTHERN SPY.--This is a new American variety, with no synonyms. It
originated near Rochester, N. Y.
[Illustration]
There is not a better dessert apple known. It retains its exceedingly
pleasant juiciness, and excellent flavor from January to June. In
western New York, they have been carried to the harvest field, in July
in excellent condition. A fair bearer of beautiful fruit. Subacid with a
peculiar freshness of flavor. Dark stripes of purplish red in the sun,
but a greenish pale yellow in the shade. High culture and an open top
for admission of the sun, affects the fruit more favorably than any
other.
ROXBURY RUSSET.--_Synonyms_--Boston Russet, Putnam Russet.
[Illustration]
An excellent fruit, and prodigious bearer. Medium size, flesh greenish
white, rather juicy, and subacid. Good in January, and one of the best
in market in June.
There are other russets of larger size, but much inferior. This should
be in every collection. It is not first in richness and flavor, but it
is superior to most in productiveness, and is one of the best keepers.
LARGE YELLOW BOUGH.--_Synonyms_--Early Sweet Bough, Sweet Harvest,
Bough.
No harvest-apple equals this, except the EARLY HARVEST. Excellent for
the dessert, but rather sweet for pies and sauce. Fruit above medium.
Tree a moderate grower, but a profuse bearer. Flesh white and very
tender. Very sweet and sprightly. July and August. Should have a place,
even in a small collection.
SWAAR.--One of the best American fruits. Its name in Dutch, where it
originated on the Hudson River, means heavy.
[Illustration]
Fruit is large, and when fully ripe, of a dead gold color, dotted with
many brown specks. Flesh yellowish, fine grained, and tender. Flavor
aromatic and exceedingly rich. Bears good crops. December to March.
WINESAP.--This is one of the best apples for cider, and good also for
the table and kitchen. Fruit hangs long on the tree without injury. It
is very productive, and does well on a variety of soils. Very fine in
the West. Yellow flesh, very firm, and high flavored. November to May.
Deservedly, a very popular orchard variety.
MAIDEN'S BLUSH.--A comparatively new variety from New Jersey. Remarkably
beautiful. Admired as a dessert fruit, and equally good for the kitchen
and for drying. Clear lemon yellow, with a blush cheek, sometimes a
brilliant red cheek. Rapid growing tree, with a fine spreading head,
bearing most abundantly. August and October.
[Illustration]
LADIES' SWEETING.--The finest sweet apple, for dessert in winter, that
has yet been produced. Skin smooth and nearly covered with red, in the
sun. Flesh is greenish white, very tender, juicy, and crisp. Without any
shriveling or loss of flavor, it keeps till May. So good a winter and
spring sweet apple is a desideratum in any orchard or garden.
The foregoing are all that any practical cultivator will need. Most will
select from our list, perhaps half a dozen, which will be all they wish
to cultivate. From our descriptions, which are not designed to enable
planters to identify the varieties, but to ascertain their qualities,
any one can select such as he prefers. And they are so generally known,
that there will be but little danger of getting varieties, different
from those ordered.