“This fine apple originated in Rowley, Mass. The size is
large, the form oblong like the Bellflower, tapering to the
eye, with broad ridges the whole length of the fruit; the
skin a light greenish yellow, striped with bright red, but
the red seldom extends to the eye; flesh yellow, light, high
flavored and excellent. This is one of the very finest
apples which New England has produced. It ripens from
November to February, and deserves a place in every
collection of fruits, however small. This apple received its
present name from the circumstance of the late Rev. Dr.
Spring, of Newburyport, having purchased the first fruit
brought to market.”
21. VANDERVEER PIPPIN.—Tree large, one of the most vigorous,
spreading, but not drooping; ripens its wood late, occasionally
touched with frost-blight and liable to burst at the surface of the
ground during the winter. Bears young, every year, and very
abundantly. Buds well, grafts well on the root, grows off strongly,
forms a top readily, and will please nurserymen. Fruit large, more
uniformly of one size all over the tree than any in the orchard; shape
of fruit flat; color, red stripes on a yellow, russety ground. Flesh
coarse, gritty; flavor strong, penetrating, without aroma; December to
March. This fruit is remarkable for having almost every good quality
of tree and fruit and being notwithstanding a third-rate apple. The
tree is hardy, its bloom, from peculiar hardiness, escapes injury from
frost, and even a second set of blossoms put out, though feeble ones,
if the first are destroyed. The fruit is comely, cooks admirably,
keeps well; but a certain sharpness and coarseness will always make it
but a second or third-rate fruit. No tree is sought by farmers in this
region, with more avidity. Its origin is doubtful. Brunson, of Wayne
County, brought it to Indiana, and all our nurseries trace their stock
to his. It was carried for the first time to New Jersey, by Quakers
visiting that region, from his orchard. It should have been mentioned,
that it holds its age remarkably well, very old trees producing as
largely, and as fair, sound fruit as when young.
22. YELLOW BELLE FLEUR, OR BELLFLOWER.—Tree spreads and droops more
than any tree of the orchard, the Newark pippin, perhaps, excepted;
wood very slender and whip-like, healthy, ripens early, not subject to
frost-blight, grafts well on the root, but is rather tender during the
first winter when so worked; buds well, but from its drooping,
sprawling habits, is hard to form into a top. Bears moderately young
(not so young as the white); abundantly. Flesh melting and tender and
juicy; flavor fine and delicate rather than high; color deep yellow
when ripe; ripens from December to March. One of the most deservedly
popular of winter apples and always salable in all markets.
23. WHITE BELLE FLEUR.—This apple is cultivated in Ohio under the
names of _Hollow-cored Pippin_, _Ohio favorite_, and, by the
Cincinnati pomologists, of _Detroit_. It is also the _Cumberland
Spice_ and _Monstrous Bellflower_ of Coxe. It was taken to the West by
Brunson of Wayne County, Indiana, and thence disseminated in every
direction; and it may be called _the_ Bellflower of Indiana, since it
and not the yellow, predominates in all orchards. The yellow, however,
within five years, has been largely distributed. Tree, medium sized,
spreading; wood stronger than the yellow belle fleur, healthy, ripens
its wood early, but liable to after-growth in warm falls, and
therefore subject to frost-blight. The tree, from its habit of growth,
more liable to split and break under a full crop than any tree of the
orchard. One of the youngest bearers in the nursery; fruitful to a
fault. Grafted on the root it kills off in winter; buds well and forms
a top without difficulty. Fruit above medium and sometimes very large;
color, greenish white, and, in some seasons with a blush on the sunny
side; flesh breaking at first, but when fully ripe, melting and juicy;
flavor mild and delicate. It is not apt to cloy, and more can be eaten
than of almost any variety. Ripe from December to March.
24. BALDWIN.—Works well in nursery by root or bud, and is fine for
nurserymen. Top forms easily. Not upright, as Downing says, but a
round, spreading top. We give Downing’s description:
“The Baldwin stands at the head of 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. It bears most
abundantly, and we have had the satisfaction of raising
larger, more beautiful, and highly favored specimens here,
than we ever saw in its native region. The Baldwin, in
flavor and general characteristics, evidently belongs to the
same family as Esopus Spitzenburg, and deserves its
extensive popularity.
“Fruit large, roundish, and narrowing a little to the eye.
Skin yellow in the shade, but nearly covered and striped
with crimson, red, and orange, in the sun; dotted with a few
large russet dots, and with radiating streaks of russet
about the stalk. Calyx closed, 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. The tree is a vigorous,
upright grower, and bears most abundantly. Ripe from
November to March, but attains its greatest perfection in
January.”
25. MICHAEL HENRY PIPPIN.—Tree upright, with a round-shaped top; wood
strong, rather slow grower, ripens its main growth of wood early, but
liable to fresh growth in warm, wet falls; bears very young, every
other year abundantly and not a single apple in the next year. Should
not be grafted on the root; and it is rather troublesome when budded,
from a disposition to make dwarf spur-like branches, rather than
upright limbs. Fruit medium-sized, long, large about the base,
sharpening toward the eye; color green, clouded and black speckled;
flesh tender, melting; flavor rich, inclined to sweet, and very fine.
Ripens from December to March.
26. RED SWEET PIPPIN.—Tree handsome, round-topped, but rather
spreading; wood strong, and vigorous growth, ripens early; tree very
healthy, apt to grow with very smooth bark affording little shelter
for insects; bears young, every year and abundantly. Works well in the
nursery either by grafting on the root, or by budding. Fruit medium
size inclining to large; color red with grey stripes on the shaded
side; flesh breaking and firm; flavor sweet and rich. It bakes well,
is good for pies, eats well, and its kitchen and table qualities
combined make it a desirable fruit. Ripe from December to April.
27. PRYOR’S RED.—Tree upright; wood slow growing, slender, and the
branches full of small wood, healthy, not subject to frost-blight;
comes very late into bearing, requiring ten or twelve years for full
bearing; bears only moderate crops; every year. Difficult to work in
the nursery, but does better by grafting on the root than by budding.
Fruit above medium size; color, red dotted with white specks; the
whole surface covered with slight bloom; flesh melting; flavor very
rich and high, and by some thought to be even richer than the golden
russet. If this apple only grew on the Vanderveer pippin tree, it
would require nothing more to render it perfect. Ripens from December
to March. Its keeping properties are more in danger from the _teeth_
than from ordinary decay. A very salable and popular apple, which,
when once had, none would consent to lose. It is unknown in New
England and New York except by description; and is not even described
by Downing, and but little more than mentioned by Kenrick.
28. GREEN NEWTOWN PIPPIN.—Tree spreading, wood slender and slow
growing; ripens early, making it often troublesome for nurserymen to
procure buds fit for late work; not subject to frost-blight. The tree
requires vigorous cultivation to redeem it from a feeble growth; the
bark is inclined to crack on the branches and scale up, and when once
roughened it is difficult ever again to make them smooth. Late coming
into bearing, bears abundantly every other year. They should never be
grafted on the root; they should be budded on strong healthy stocks
and high up in order to do well. Fruit large, green, changing to
yellow when dead-ripe; flesh firm, breaking; flavor very rich. Ripe
from February to May. This apple is cultivated in extraordinary
abundance at the East both for home and foreign markets. They sell in
London, at sixpence a piece. The farm of R. L. Pell contains 2,000
bearing trees of this variety; a note descriptive of which we give
from Downing:
“One of the finest orchards in America is that of Pellham
farm, at Esopus, on the Hudson. It is no less remarkable for
the beauty and high flavor of its fruit, than the constant
productiveness of trees. The proprietor, R. L. Pell, Esq.,
has kindly furnished us with some notes of his experiments
on fruit-trees, and we subjoin the following highly
interesting one on the apple.
“For several years past, I have been experimenting on the
apple, having an orchard of 2,000 bearing Newtown
Pippin-trees. I found it very unprofitable to wait for what
is termed the ‘bearing year,’ and it has been my aim to
assist nature, so as to enable the trees to bear every year.
I have noticed that from the excessive productiveness of
this tree, it requires the intermediate year to recover
itself—to extract from the earth and the atmosphere the
materials to enable it to produce again. This it is not able
to do, unassisted by art, while it is loaded with fruit, and
the intervening year is lost; if, however, the tree is
supplied with proper food it will bear every year; at least
such has been the result of my experiments. Three years ago,
in April, I scraped all the rough bark from the stems of
several thousand trees in my orchards, and washed all the
trunks and limbs within reach with soft soap; trimmed out
all the branches that crossed each other early in June, and
painted the wounded part with white lead, to exclude
moisture and prevent decay. I then, in the latter part of
the same month, slit the bark by running a sharp-pointed
knife from the ground to the first set of limbs, which
prevents the tree from becoming bark-bound, and gives the
young wood an opportunity of expanding. In July I placed one
peck of oyster-shell lime under each tree, and left it piled
about the trunk until November, during which time the
drought was excessive. In November the lime was dug in
thoroughly. The following year I collected from these trees
1,700 barrels of fruit, part of which was sold in New York
for four, and others in London for nine dollars per barrel.
The cider made from the refuse, delivered at the mill two
days after its manufacture, I sold for three dollars and
three-quarters per barrel of thirty-two gallons, exclusive
of the barrel. In October I manured these trees with stable
manure in which the ammonia had been fixed, and covered this
immediately with earth. The succeeding autumn they were
literally bending to the ground with the finest fruit I ever
saw, while the other trees in my orchard not so treated were
quite barren, the last season having been their bearing
year. I am now placing round each tree one peck of charcoal
dust, and propose in the spring to cover it from the compost
heap.
“‘My soil is a strong, deep, sandy loam on a gravelly
subsoil. I cultivate my orchard grounds as if there were no
trees on them, and raise grain of every kind except rye,
which grain is so very injurious that I believe three
successive crops of it would destroy any orchard younger
than twenty years. I raised last year in an orchard
containing twenty acres, trees eighteen years old, a crop of
Indian corn which averaged 140 bushels of ears to the acre.’”
29. RAWLE’S JANET, OR JENNETTING.—Tree round topped, a little
spreading and handsome. Wood strong, slow growth, short jointed, and
the healthiest, perhaps, of all orchard trees. Does not bear young;
but when established, a great bearer every year, unless overloaded,
when it rests a year. It is the finest of all apples to graft on the
root, and should be always so propagated in the nursery; if budded, it
being a late starter in spring, the stock will put out its branches
before the bud, and make great trouble. Fruit medium sized; color
green striped with red; roundish but inclined to sharpen toward the
eye; flesh white, melting, very juicy; flavor mild and delicate.
Ripens from February to May. This is, and deserves to be, an
exceedingly popular apple in all the West. The tree is remarkably
healthy; it blooms ten days later than other varieties, and therefore
seldom loses a crop by spring frost; but the bloom is very sensitive
to frost if overtaken; the fruit is very relishful; keeps as well as
the Newtown Pippin, and by many, and by this writer among the number,
is much preferred to that noted variety. It has the peculiar
excellence of enduring frost without material injury; a property which
has enabled cultivators to save thousands of bushels of fruit which by
sudden and early cold had been severely frosted.
* * * * *
The reason that the Cockle-bur, that great pest on farms, cannot be
destroyed by being cut off once a year, is that nature has provided
for its propagation by bestowing on it seed vessels which ripen at two
different times of the year. This will be found to be the case on
careful examination.—_Western Farmer and Gardener._