Fruit, above medium size, three inches and a quarter wide, and two inches and a quarter deep; roundish, regularly and handsomely formed, a little flattened, somewhat resembling a Nonesuch. Skin, smooth, at first pale-yellow tinged with green, but changing to a beautiful clear yellow, on the shaded side; but of a beautiful clear red streaked with deeper red, on the side next the sun, and strewed with numerous small, russety dots. Eye, open, set in a wide, and even basin. Stalk, short and stout, inserted in a deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish, firm, rich and pleasantly flavored.
An American dessert apple, very pretty, and handsome; of good quality, but only second-rate; it is in use from November to February.
This variety originated at Newtown on Long Island U. S. It received the name of Matchless, from the late William Cobbett, who sold it under that name.
Fruit, rather large, of an oblong figure, somewhat pyramidal, rather irregular in its outline, and slightly pentangular on its sides, three of which are generally much shorter than the other, forming a kind of lip at the crown; from two inches and a half to three inches deep, and the same in diameter at the base. Eye, closed, rather deeply sunk in a very uneven irregular basin. Stalk, half-an-inch long, slender, rather deeply inserted in a wide uneven cavity. Skin, dull greenish-yellow, with a few green specks, intermixed with a little skin, (thin?) grey russet, and tinged with brown on the sunny side. Flesh, firm, crisp, tender. Juice, plentiful, saccharine, with a slight aromatic flavor.
A dessert apple; in use from November to April.
An American variety of excellence. The tree grows large, and bears well. It sometimes happens with this as it does with Hubbard’s Pearmain, that smooth fruit grow upon one branch and russety ones upon another; and in cold seasons the fruit are for the most part russety.
It was named the New York Pippin by Mr. Mackie, and first propagated in his nursery, at Norwich, about forty years ago. (1831.)
Never having seen or met with this apple, I have here given Mr. Lindley’s descriptions verbatim, for the benefit of those who may meet with it; as it is no doubt still in existence in the county of Norfolk.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and a half wide, and two inches and a quarter high; roundish-oblate, regularly and handsomely shaped. Skin, smooth, pale yellow, mottled with thin pale red, on the shaded side; and striped with broad, broken stripes of red next the sun. Eye, small and closed, set in a wide, shallow, and even basin. Stalk, short and slender, inserted in a shallow cavity. Flesh, white, tender, juicy, sugary and slightly perfumed.
An excellent culinary apple, of first-rate quality, and, according to Mr. Thompson, excellent for apple jelly; it is ripe in September, and continues during October.
The tree is a free grower, attaining about the middle size, and is an abundant, and early bearer, young trees three years old from the graft producing an abundance of beautiful fruit.
Although an old variety, I do not think this is the Nonesuch, of Rea, Worlidge, or Ray, as all these authors mention it as being a long keeper, for which circumstance, it might otherwise have been considered the same. Rea says “it is a middle sized, round, and red striped apple, of a delicate taste, and long lasting.” Worlidge’s variety is probably the same as Rea’s he says “The Non-such is a long lasting fruit, good at the table, and well marked for cider.” And Ray also includes his Non-such among the Winter Apples.
Fruit, medium sized; roundish, broad at the base and narrowing towards the apex. Skin, yellowish-green, covered with large patches of thin grey russet, and dotted with small brown russety dots, with occasionally a tinge of dull red, on the side next the sun. Eye, rather prominent, very slightly if at all depressed, half open, with broad segments which are reflexed at the tips. Stalk, an inch long, set in a round and pretty deep cavity which is lined with russet. Flesh, greenish, delicate, crisp, rich, and juicy, abounding in a particularly rich, vinous, and aromatic flavor.
One of the most highly esteemed and popular of all our dessert apples. It is in use from January till May.
The tree is a free grower, and healthy, scarcely attaining the middle size, and an excellent bearer. It prefers a light and warm soil, succeeds well on the paradise stock, and is well adapted for growing in pots, when grafted on the pomme paradis of the French. Bradley in one of his tracts records an instance of it being so cultivated. “Mr. Fairchild (of Hoxton) has now (February) one of the Nonpareile apples upon a small tree, in a pot, which seems capable of holding good till the blossoms of this year have ripened their fruit.” In the northern counties and in Scotland, it does not succeed as a standard as it does in the south, and even when grown against a wall, there is a marked contrast in the flavor when compared with the standard grown fruit of the south.
It is generally allowed that the Nonpareil is originally from France. Switzer says “It is no stranger in England; though it might have its original from France, yet there are trees of them about the Ashtons in Oxfordshire, of about a hundred years old, which (as they have it by tradition) was first brought out of France and planted by a Jesuit in Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth’s time.” It is strange, however, that an apple of such excellence, and held in such estimation as the Nonpareil has always been, should have received so little notice from almost all the early continental pomologists. It is not mentioned in the long list of the Jardinier François of 1653, nor even by De Quintinye, or the Jardinier Solitaire. Schabol enumerates it, but it is not noticed by Bretonnerie. It is first described by Duhamel and subsequently by Knoop. In the Chartreux catalogue it is said “elle est forte estimée en Angleterre”, but, among the writers of our own country, Switzer is the first to notice it. It is not mentioned by Rea, Worlidge or Ray, neither is it enumerated in the list of Leonard Meager. In America it is little esteemed.
Fruit, medium sized, three inches wide, and two inches and three quarters high; oblate, irregular in its outline, caused by several obtuse angles or ribs, which extend from the base to the basin of the eye, where they form prominent knobs or ridges. Skin, smooth, green at first, but changing to yellow, and almost entirely covered with dull brownish-red, which is thickest and darkest next the sun; sometimes it is marked with a few broken stripes of dark crimson, and in specimens where the color extends over the whole surface, the shaded side is mottled with yellow spots. Eye, open, set in a rather deep and angular basin. Stalk short, inserted in a deep and russety cavity. Flesh, firm and crisp, with a brisk and pleasant flavor.
A well known and first-rate culinary apple; it is in use from January to June. It is extensively cultivated in Norfolk, where, besides being applied to general culinary purposes, they are baked in ovens, and form the dried fruits met with among confectioners and fruiterers, called “Norfolk Biffins.”
The tree is vigorous in its young state, but unless grown in a rich soil, and a favorable situation, it is apt to canker, particularly if it is too moist.
The name of this apple has hitherto been written Beaufin, as if of French origin; but it is more correctly Beefing, from the similarity the dried fruit presents to raw beef.
Fruit, medium sized; oblong, irregularly formed. Eye, very large, deeply sunk in an uneven, oblique hollow. Stalk, rather short, not deeply inserted. Skin, greenish-yellow; on the sunny side of a brownish-red, streaked with a darker color. Flesh, white, very firm. Juice, abundant and of a very excellent flavor.
A dessert apple; in use from October till March.
Its name seems to indicate a Norfolk origin; but I never could find it in any part of the county.—Lindley.
Fruit, below medium size, two inches broad, and the same in height; oblong, slightly angular on the sides, and narrowing a little towards the apex. Skin, smooth and very thin, pale green at first, but changing by keeping to pale yellow with a mixture of green; sometimes it has a slight tinge of red next the sun. Eye, small, half open, with acuminate segments, set in a rather shallow and wide basin. Stalk, slender, half-an-inch long, inserted in a shallow cavity with a fleshy protuberance on one side of it. Flesh, white, firm and breaking, brisk, sweet, and perfumed.
An excellent long-keeping culinary apple, and useful also in the dessert; it is in use from November to July. In the “Guide to the Orchard,” Mr. Lindley says “This is a valuable Norfolk Apple known in the Norwich market by the name of White Pippin. The fruit when peeled, sliced, and boiled in sugar, becomes transparent, affording for many months a most delicious sweetmeat for tarts.”
The tree is a free and vigorous grower, and attains the middle size. It is a regular and abundant bearer.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and three quarters broad, and about three inches high; roundish, inclining to ovate, being narrowed towards the eye. Skin, smooth and tender, of a beautiful grassy green in the shade, and dull brownish-red marked with a few broken stripes of a darker color, on the side exposed to the sun. Eye, small and closed, with long segments, set in a narrow, round, deep, and even basin. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, inserted in a narrow and deep cavity. Flesh, greenish-white, tender, crisp, and very juicy, with a brisk and somewhat vinous flavor.
An excellent culinary apple of first-rate quality; in use from November to April.
The tree is a very strong and vigorous grower, attaining the largest size, and is an abundant bearer.
This is sometimes called Cowarne Queening, but that is a very different variety, and is a cider apple.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and three quarters broad, and two inches and a half high; ovate. Skin, smooth, pale yellow at first, but changing by keeping to lemon yellow, without any trace of red, but with slight markings of russet. Eye, closed, with long green segments, set in a wide and rather deeply plaited basin. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, inserted in a deep, funnel-shaped, and russety cavity. Flesh, white, fine and marrowy, juicy, sugary, and vinous.
A second-rate dessert apple; in use from November till February.
The tree is a strong and vigorous grower, and an excellent bearer.
Fruit, medium sized; conical or oblong, very irregular in its outline, caused by prominent and unequal ribs on the sides, which extend to and terminate in ridges round the eye. Skin, smooth and shining, deep grassy green, strewed with imbedded grey specks, and dotted with brown russety dots on the shaded side; but washed with thin brownish-red, which is marked with spots or patches of darker and livelier red, and strewed with star-like freckles of russet on the side exposed to the sun. Eye, small and closed, placed in a rather deep and angular basin, which is lined with linear marks of rough russet. Stalk, about half-an-inch long, somewhat obliquely inserted by the side of a fleshy swelling, which is more or less prominent. Flesh, greenish-white, tender, crisp, and brittle, abounding in a profusion of rich, brisk, sugary, and vinous juice, with a finely perfumed and refreshing flavor.
An excellent apple, of first-rate quality, and well deserving of more general cultivation; It is in use from January to May, and keeps well.
Some thirty years ago, Ord’s apple was brought into public notice as a variety which was worthy of universal cultivation; and was considered of such importance as to form the subject of a paper in the Horticultural Society’s Transactions, by A. Salisbury Esq. At that time it was received into all the collections in the London nurseries, and was very generally grown; but in the course of years it was again lost sight of, and I believe there are now very few places where it is to be met with. I shall be glad, however, if this notice should direct the attention of some lover of a good apple, to rescue this excellent variety from the oblivion into which it is likely to fall, and to restore it to the position it once occupied as one of our finest dessert apples.
This excellent variety originated at Purser’s Cross, near Fulham, Middlesex. It was raised in the garden of John Ord, Esq. by his sister-in-law, Mrs. Anne Simpson, from seed of a Newtown Pippin imported in 1777. There is another variety called Simpson’s Seedling, raised from the seed of Ord’s apple, to which it is very similar; but being much inferior in quality, its cultivation has been in a great measure discontinued.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and a half wide, and two inches high; roundish-oblate, evenly and regularly formed. Skin, thick and membranous, of a fine pale yellow color, and thickly strewed with brown dots; very frequently cracked, forming large and deep sinuosities on the fruit. Eye, scarcely at all depressed. Stalk, short and thick, inserted in a very shallow cavity. Flesh, yellowish, firm, crisp and juicy, rich and sugary, with a highly aromatic flavor, which is peculiar to this apple only.
A dessert apple of the highest excellence; ripe in the end of August, and continues during September, but does not last long. Nicol says “this is an excellent apple, as to flavor it is outdone by none but the Nonpareil, over which it has this advantage, that it will ripen in a worse climate and a worse aspect.”
The tree is a free grower, of an upright habit, and an excellent bearer; but is subject to canker as it grows old. The branches are generally covered with a number of knobs or burrs; and when planted in the ground these burrs throw out numerous fibres which take root and produce a perfect tree.
This is a very old Scotch apple, supposed to have originated at Arbroath; or to have been introduced from France by the monks of the Abbey which formerly existed at that place. The latter opinion is, in all probability, the correct one, although the name, or any of the synonymes quoted above are not now to be met with in any modern French lists. But in the “Jardinier François” which was published in 1651, I find an apple mentioned under the name of Orgeran, which is so similar in pronounciation to Orgeline, I think it not unlikely it may be the same name with a change of orthography, especially as our ancestors were not over particular, in preserving unaltered the names of foreign introductions.
Fruit, rather below medium size, two inches and a half wide, and two inches and a quarter high; orbicular, flattened at the base and apex. Skin, yellowish-green, strewed with thin russet and russety dots on the shaded side; but washed with thin red, and strewed with russety specks on the side next the sun. Eye, large and open, with short stunted segments, set in a wide and shallow basin. Stalk, half-an-inch long, inserted in a wide, and rather shallow cavity, which is lined with thin russet. Flesh, greenish-yellow, firm, crisp, rich, juicy and sugary, with a brisk and aromatic flavor, somewhat resembling, and little inferior to the Ribston Pippin.
A handsome and very excellent dessert apple; it is in use from October to February, and is not subject to be attacked with the grub, as the Ribston Pippin is.
This variety was raised from the seed of the Ribston Pippin, at Osterley Park, the seat of the Earl of Jersey, near Isleworth, Middlesex, where the original tree is still in existence.
Fruit, small and conical. Skin, entirely grass green, always covered with a thin russet; sometimes when highly ripened it is tinged with a very pale brown on the sunny side. Eye, very small, surrounded with a few obscure plaits. Stalk, very slender, three quarters of an inch long. Flesh, pale green, very firm and crisp, not juicy, but very rich and highly flavored.
A dessert apple; in use from November to April.
I have never seen this apple. It was first noticed by Mr. George Lindley whose description of it I have given above. He says “it is supposed to have originated at Oxnead, near Norwich, the seat of the Earl of Yarmouth. It has been known many years in Norfolk, no doubt prior to the extinction of that Peerage in 1733, and I have never seen it out of the county. The tree is a very small grower; its branches are small and wiry and of a grass green color; it is very hardy and an excellent bearer.”
Fruit, small, two inches wide, and an inch and a half high; roundish-oblate. Skin, pale greenish-yellow rather thickly covered with thin grey russet, and faintly tinged with orange next the sun. Eye, small and closed, set in a shallow and rather angular basin. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, slender, and inserted in a rather shallow cavity. Flesh, yellow, juicy, sugary, brisk and richly aromatic.
A dessert apple of first-rate quality; in use during December and January.
The tree is of small dimensions, but healthy, and a prolific bearer. It is well adapted for dwarf training, when grown on the paradise or doucin stock.
This variety was raised by Mr. Padley, gardener to his Majesty George III., at Hampton Court. According to Rogers, Mr. Padley was a native of Yorkshire, and after coming to London and filling a situation of respectability, he was appointed foreman in the kitchen garden at Kew. “On the death of the celebrated ‘Capability Brown’ Mr. G. Haverfield was removed from Kew to Hampton Court, and took Mr. Padley with him as foreman. On the death of Haverfield, Padley’s interest with his sovereign out-weighed all the interests of other candidates, though urged by the most influential persons about Court. ‘No, no, no,’ said his Majesty, ‘it is Padley’s birthright.’”
Fruit, small; oval, and regular in its shape. Skin, almost entirely covered with dark dull red, and striped with brighter red, except a portion on the shaded side, which is green; the whole surface is thickly strewed with small russety dots, which give it a speckled appearance. Eye, small and open, set in a shallow basin. Stalk, sometimes short and fleshy as represented in the accompanying figure; and at other times, about half-an-inch long, and woody, but still retaining the swollen boss at its union with the fruit. Flesh, firm in texture, crisp, very juicy and pleasantly acid, with a sweet, brisk, and poignant flavor.
A nice sharp-flavored dessert apple; but considered only of second-rate quality; it is in use from December to March.
Fruit, below medium size, two inches and a half wide, and two inches and a quarter high; oval, and slightly angular on its sides. Skin, greenish-yellow, entirely covered with thin grey russet. Eye, small, with long acuminate segments, set in a narrow and irregular basin. Stalk, an inch long, very slender, inserted in a round, even, and deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish-white, crisp, brisk and aromatic.
A good dessert apple of second-rate quality; in use during November and December.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and a half wide, and two inches and a quarter high; round and slightly flattened, with prominent ribs on the sides, which extend into the basin of the eye. Skin, pale straw-colored, almost white, with a few stripes of red on the shaded side; but entirely covered with beautiful crimson, which is striped with darker crimson, and strewed with small grey dots where exposed to the sun. Eye, large and closed, set in a rather shallow and ribbed basin. Stalk, fleshy, set in a wide and deep cavity. Flesh, very white, tinged with red, more so than the Passe Pomme Rouge, tender, juicy, rich, sugary and vinous.
An excellent autumn culinary apple; ripe in September.
The tree is vigorous and healthy, but does not attain a large size. It is a very abundant bearer, and well suited for dwarf training when grown on the paradise or doucin stock.
Dahuron says of this apple “on la nomme en Hollande Pomme de Jerusalem;” but according to Knoop, the Dutch pomologist, it is the Pigeon, which is known under that name.
Fruit, small; roundish-oblate, even and regularly formed. Skin, thick, red all over, pale on the shaded side, but of a deep and bright color next the sun; and so sensitive of shade, if any portion of it is covered with a leaf or twig, a corresponding yellow mark will be found on the fruit. Eye, small, set in a narrow, even, and rather deep basin. Stalk, half-an-inch long, slender, set in a wide, deep, and even cavity. Flesh, white, tinged with red under the skin on the side exposed to the sun, crisp, juicy, and richly flavored when first gathered, but soon becomes dry and woolly.
An excellent early apple, suitable either for culinary purposes or dessert use; it is ripe in the beginning of August, but may be used in pies before then. Bretonnerie says it may be used “en compôte” in the beginning of July, and is preferable to the Calville Rouge d’Eté.
The tree is rather a delicate grower, never attaining a large size, but healthy and hardy, and an excellent bearer. It succeeds well as a dwarf on the paradise or doucin stock.