Apples: A Guide to the Identification of International Varieties

326 Pages·1983·67.48 MB·English

by  John Bultitude (auth.)

APPLES
A GUIDETO THE IDENTIFICATION OF INTERNATIONALVARIETIES
APPLES
A GUIDE TO THE IDENTIFICATION
OF
INTERNATIONAL VARIETIES
John Bultitude
MACMILLANPRESS
LONDON
Macmillan Reference Books
©Crown copyright 1983.
Published by permission of the Controller
of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may
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with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who
does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal
prosecution and civil claims for damages.
First published 1983 by
1HEMACMILLANPRESS LTD
London and Basingstoke
Associated companies in Auckland, Delhi, Dublin,
Gaborone, Hamburg, Harare, Hong Kong, Johannesburg,
Kuala Lumpur, Lagos, Manzini, Melbourne, Mexico City,
Nairobi, New York, Singapore, Tokyo.
Reprinted 1984
First published in paperback 1984
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Bultitude, John
Apples.
l.Apple
I. Title
634'.11 SB363
ISBN 978-0-333-38536-4 ISBN 978-1-349-07749-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-07749-6
The paperback edition of this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not,
by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated
without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than
that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this
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Typeset by Leaper & Gard Ltd, Bristol
Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi
PartI
INTRODUCTION 3
HISTORYOFTHEAPPLE 5
CURRENTPRODUCnON 7
Part II
IDENTIFICATION OFAPPLES 11
LISTOFVARIETIESDESCRIBED 17
COLOURPLATES 19
DESCRIPTIONSOFAPPLEVARIETIES 67
INDEXOFSYNONYMS 321
REFERENCES 325
Acknowledgements
TheauthorparticularlywishestothankthemanycolleaguesattheNationalFruitTrials,BrogdaleExperimentalHorti
cultureStationwhohelpedsomuchovertheperiodofalmosttenyearsneededtoproducethisbook.MrJ.M.S.Potter,
aBE,theformerDirectoroftheNationalFruitTrials,madetheoriginalselectionofvarietiesandobtainedagreementfor
theworktobedone.
OtherDirectorshelped particularlythepresentDirector,MrJ.Ingram,whoencouragedthefinalcompletion.Miss
MurielW.G.SmithallowedTheNationalAppleRegisteroftheUnitedKingdomtobequotedextensivelyandgavemuch
usefuladvice.Recently,MrJackWoodwardandMissEnidTurnerhaveassistedwiththepreparationandediting.
MrHughF.Ermen,apersonalfriendandcolleagueatBrogdale,tookthephotographsneededforthecolourplates.
ThephotographicdepartmentoftheMinistryofAgriculture,FisheriesandFoodtookandproducedtheblack-and-white
photographs.
Overtheyears,manytypistshavebeeninvolvedinthepreparationofthemanuscriptandtheirhelphasbeengreatly
appreciated.
Part I
Introduction
Theapplehasbeen apartofman'sdiet throughoutAsia names often referring to ongm or appearance. For
andEuropeforcenturies.Thcrearcrecordsinbothearly instance, pippin and kernel were used to denote trees
Greek and Roman literature ofapples, and it must be raisedfromseed andmayhavebeen truefortheoriginal
assumedthattherewassomerecognitionofdistinctvarie tree. All the Cox's Orange Pippin trees todayare not
ties ofsuperior quality as there are also references to strictly pippins as they arc vegetatively propagated by
propagation by grafting. Although the earliest reliable budding or grafting. Golden Delicious is a fairly apt
recordsareGreekand Roman,theappleasweknowit description ofa properlymaturedgoldenappleof that
todaywouldappeartohavebeenselectedbypeopleliving variety.EgremontRussetdescribesanaturallyrussetted
farthercast.A descriptionofthespreadofthe appleis variety.Thenamesqueeningorquoiningarebelievedto
giveninChapter2. derive from quoin,meaninga cornerorangle,and arc
Appletreeshavebeentakentoallpartsoftheworldby usedtodescribeangularapples.Someofthedescriptive
theEuropean colonizers, with the result that todaythe namesarctheresultofimagination ratherthantruth.
fruitplaysanimportantpartinmanyeconomics.Produc Thedescriptionsinthetextarelinkedwithbothblack
tionfiguresforthe moreimportantcommercialvarieties and-whitesectionphotographsand alsocolouredplates.
grownintheworld arcgiveninChapter3,togetherwith Ifagoodspecimenappleiscutinhalf,thesectioncanbe
details ofstepstaken toimproveproduction. comparedwiththeblack-and-whitephotographsandalist
InPartIIofthisbookallthosevarietiesofcommercial madeofthosewhichseemtofit.Thecolourofthefruitwill
importance arc described, as well as some that arc of furtherreducethelist.Referencetothetextwillgivesome
gardeninterest onlyandsomethatarcofhistoricalnote. idea ofthe season and other characteristics which will
Allvarietiesarclisted inalphabeticalorder,withabrief furthernarrowthefield.Itisworthrememberingthatthe
accountofthefruit'sappearance,tasteandseason,aswell ageofthetreecanbehelpful.Themorerecentlyplanted
assomeimportantfeaturesofthetree. trees arc most likely to be those of commercial usage
Of necessitythe descriptionsare ratherstereotyped, whereasveryoldgardentreesarelikelytobeofabroader
butaplacehasbeenmadeforgeneralcomments,toreflect spectrum.
the author'sfeelingaboutavariety.Althoughbrief,the To summarize, the following features should be
commentsshouldgivesomeindicationofavariety'svalue. examinedforacompleteidentification.
Alldescriptionsarebased on theauthor'sownobserva
I) Colour
tionsandexperienceofapplesgrownattheNationalFruit
2) Shape
Trials,BrogdaleExperimentalHorticultureStation,and
3) Season
theyarenotarepetitionofdatapublishedbyothers.
4)Size
Thisbookisnotintendedasaclassification,butrather
5) Appearanceofcross-section
asanaidtothosewithinterestinandexperienceofapple
6) Additionalexternalfeatures.
growinginorderto identifythe morecommon sortsof
apple. Manyof the varieties listed willnot be found in Byusingthe first four criteria, itshould be possibleto
commercialorchardsandsomewilloccuronlyrarelyin reducethe numberofpossiblevarietiestoaboutthreeor
gardens.Becauseavarietyisdescribedinthisbook,itdocs four. The individual varietiesshould then be examined
notnecessarilycommenditforgrowingingardensorelse moreclosely,withcarefulappraisaloftheircross-sections
where,itmerelyindicatesthatitisgrownandisliableto andcomparisonofadditionalexternalfeatures.
need identificationfrom timetotime. There arc dangers in 'fitting' unknown apples to
In TheHandbookofHardyFruits,ApplesandPears, descriptionsandphotographswithoutsomeexperienceof
E.A. Bunyard grouped varieties in seven sections thevariabilitiesthat can occurwithinavariety.Climate,
accordingto skincolourandfinish (i.e. whether skinis management, pests and diseases can allhelp to distort
smoothorrussetted),andfurtherdividedeachsectioninto apples. Applesforidentificationshouldalwaysbegood
fivegroups based on shape. Later Taylor used similar typicalapplesand not 'kingfruits'.When assessingthe
schemesinhisbook TheApplesof Englandandasimilar characteristics ofa fruit, itshould be remembered that
methodhasbeen used inPart IIofthisbook(seeTables applesarenotproducedinafactoryonamachineandasa
2-9). consequencethereisconsiderablevariationbetweenfruits
Otherfeatures,themeaningsofwhicharcdefinedat ofagivenvariety.
thebeginningofPart II,arethenassessed.Many ofthe AlsoincludedattheendofPartIIisalistofsynonyms,
termswillbefamiliartohorticulturistsandfruitgrowers, togetherwiththenamesadoptedinthisbook,forthemore
buttofacilitatetheuscofthisbooktheyaredefined. important commercialvarieties.Some names that have
Manyof the varieties in this book have descriptive nowbeensupercededarealsoincluded.
History of the Apple
The'modern'appleisbelievedtohavebeenderivedfrom mental HorticultureStation,Kent,UK.
south-westernAsia,wherethemixofnativeMalusspecies A number of apple varieties were of importance in
could havegivenfruitsofasizeand qualityattractiveto England throughouttheseventeenthandeighteenthcen
man.Neither the Greeks norRomanswerethe firstad turies,butofmostsignificancewasGoldenPippin.Both
vancedcivilizationsinthearea;onemayassumethatthey Parkinson and Batty Langley (1728) listed the variety,
inheritedtheirexperienceofapplesfromothers.Thefirst whichhadareputationforgoodquality.ThereareGolden
stepstowards growingappletreesdeliberately mayhave Pippintreesinexistencetoday,butthereisnowayofbeing
begunintheMiddle East orsouth-easternEurope,with surethattheyarcthesameastheoriginalvariety.Towards
thetechniquesinvolvedbeingspreadbythe Greeksand theendoftheeighteenthandatthestartofthenineteenth
Romans.AsChristianitymovedwestwardsandreligious century,manyorchards,andGoldenPippintreesinparti
orders formed settled communities,the apple followed, cular, were seriously affected by disease, chiefly apple
butmoreimportantlycommunicationimproved. canker (Neetria gal/igena). The apparent demise of
Thiswestward movementofvarious people probably GoldenPippinpromptedThomasAndrewKnight(1759
helped to carry the apple into western Europe,but the 1838)topromotethebeliefthatvarietieshadalimitedlife
Romans are believed to have been responsible for its andthattheythenwentintoirreversibledecline;theonly
introduction into France and England. Julius Caesar way,hethought,torestorethesituation wastoraisenew
started theconquestofBritainin55BCandtheRomans varieties. Knight began to make deliberate crosses
stayed untilthe early part ofthe fifthcenturyAD.The betweenvarietiesofknownqualityand,althoughnoneof
varietiesPornmed'ApiandCourtPenduPlatarebelieved hisseedlingswereofimportance,hestimulated,through
tobeofRoman origin, but there isno realevidence for hisactivitieswiththe RoyalHorticulturalSociety,acon
this. siderable interest inbreedingnewvarieties.
After the Romans, there wasan unsettled period in EncouragedbytheRoyalHorticulturalSocietyandits
BritishhistoryuntiltheNormanconquest,whichbrought award system,vast numbers of apples were raised and
afurther longperiod ofsettlementandorder.The mon named throughout the nineteenth century in England.
asteriesthatwerefoundedatthistimeplayedanimportant Towards theendofthecentury,ThomasLaxton,anurs
partintheearlydevelopmentoftheapple,mainlybecause eryman of Bedford, began breeding new varieties. A
oftheir association withsimilarestablishmentsthrough number of Laxton's varieties were of high quality and
outFrance andotherChristianparts ofEurope. some,likeLaxton'sSuperb,Lord Lambourneand For
Muchofthefruitgrownduringthisperiodwasontrees tune, were plantedon acommercialscale.At thistime,
raisedfromseed.The quality wasmixedand thebulkof fruit research stations were established by commercial
thefruitwentintociderproduction.Applesdonotbreed growersandcidermanufacturersatEast MailinginKent
truefromseedandthosethat wererecognized ashaving and LongAshton near Bristol;these stations haveboth
good eating or cooking qualities were propagated by developedand arenowstate-financedthroughtheAgri
grafting.Anumberoftheseappleswerenamedandsome cultural Research Council. Plant-breeding work was
havesurvivedtothisday. begun at these stations and overlapped with the work
Therewere periodic importationsof 'new'apples to beingdone byLaxton.
BritainfromEurope,probablythemostfamousbeingthat AtthepresenttimeinEngland,onlyEastMailingcon
madebyRichard Harris,fruiterertoHenryVIII(inabout tinuestobreed newvarietiesbycrossingknown parents.
1500).RichardHarriswasreportedtohavefetchedoutof AtLongAshton,thetechniqueknownasmutationselec
France 'great store of grafts especially pippin, before tionisused.Mutationsoccurnaturally,butatthisresearch
whichtimetherewerenopippinsinEngland'.Themate stationmutationsareinducedbysubmittingplantmaterial
rialheimported,alongwithotherfruits,wasplantedinan toy-radiation.
orchard of about 140 acres at Teynham in Kent. The OtherEuropeancountriesalsocontinuedtodevelop
Harrisimportationwasnotthefirst,northelast,butitwas theapple,andtherewasacontinualexchangeofideasand
partofagradualimprovementofthequalityofapplesin varieties.Applesweretakentoallpartsoftheworldbythe
England overtheyears. Europeancolonizersand,inmanyplaces,theyflourished.
By1629,Parkinson wasabletolistinParadisiinsole Todayapplesareanimportantaspectofmanyeconomies.
Paradisusterrestrisenumberofapples,withcommentson Asthecolonialsettlementsbecameindependent,research
their qualities,and toshowfineengravings ofspecimen establishmentsweresetupandworkonbreedingandcul
fruits.Catshead,Costardand Lcathcrcoatwereallmen tural aspects ofthe apple relative tothe conditionsand
tionedbyParkinsonandarcpresentintheapplecollection demandsofeachcountrywasstartedandcontinuesatthe
retained at the National Fruit Trials, Brogdale Experi- presenttime.Newvarietiesraisedinthesecountrieswere
6 HISTORYOFTHEApPLE
broughtbackto Europeanmarketsfirstforsaleand later secondmostimportant variety.Insomeways,NewZea
tobegrowninorchards.Forexample,sinceWorldWarII, landisuniqueasafruit-growingcountryinthatitgrowsa
GoldenDeliciousfromAmericaandGrannySmithfrom mixofNorth American, British, Australian and home
Australia have become increasingly important to com bredvarieties.
mercialproducersinFranceandSpain. The apple went to North America with the earliest
ThemoreimportantapplesofsouthernEuropeareof EuropeansettlersintheearlyI600sandasthepopulation
North American origin, whereas those of northern moved westthe applewent also.Propagation, asinthe
Europearestillpredominantlyoftheso-calledaromatic earlydaysinEurope,waslargelybyseedasthiswasmore
varietieslike Cox'sOrange Pippin. Fortunatelyfor the easilycarried.JohnnyAppleseed,thefolk-heroofapple
growersofCox'sOrangePippin,itcannotbeproduced growers, wasperhapsa symbol of the spread ofsettle
successfullyoutsidenorthern Europe,exceptperhapsin mentswestward.Theoutstandingvarietieswere grafted
NewZealand.Attemptshavebeenmadetoimprovethe on to seedling rootstocks, and new importations from
productionofCox'sOrangePippinbyclonalselectionand Europesoonledtoaproliferationofmaterialthatbecame
breeding,buttheresultshavenotsofarbeenentirelysatis embarrassing to tree raisers and growers alike. Bythe
factory.Colouredsportshave not been acceptableuntil beginningofthiscentury,themainvarietiesgrowninthe
therecent introductionofQueenCox. USAwereBaldwinandBenDavid.Todaythedominant
In Australia and New Zealand, the most important apples are Delicious, Golden Delicious and Mcintosh.
variety isGrannySmith,which wasdiscovered inAus ThevarietyMcintoshisaCanadianappleandisthemost
tralia.It representsinexcessof50percent ofAustralian importantoneinthatcountry.Theleadingvarietiesinthe
production and probablymore than 30 percent in New USAandCanadaarealsoimportantinmostfruit-growing
Zealand. Delicious and itssports are also important in areasoftheworld,exceptnorthern Europe.
NewZealandbutnotinAustralia,whereDemocratisthe