Fruit, of medium size, two inches and three quarters wide, and two inches and a quarter high; round. Skin, smooth, pale yellowish-green at first, but changing to clear pale yellow as it ripens, and set with embedded white specks, particularly round the eye. Eye, small and closed, set in a round and shallow basin. Stalk, half an inch long, inserted in a rather shallow cavity. Flesh, white, tender, crisp, and juicy, with a quick and pleasantly sub-acid flavor, and as is justly remarked by Mr. Thompson, “closely approximates that of the Newtown Pippin, of perfect American growth.”
An estimable and refreshing early dessert apple, of the first quality; ripe in the end of July and the beginning of August.
The tree is a healthy, and free, though not a vigorous grower, and an abundant bearer. It is well adapted for dwarf or espalier training when grown on the paradise stock, and ought to find a place in every collection however small.
Though of American origin this variety succeeds to perfection in this country; a qualification which few of the American apples possess.
Fruit, of medium size, two inches and three quarters wide, and two inches and a quarter high; roundish, slightly flattened, and prominently ribbed from the eye downwards to the base. Skin, smooth, pale yellow, with an orange tinge next the sun, strewed all over with minute dots and a few whitish specks. Eye, closed with broad segments, and set in a deep, irregular, and angular basin. Stalk, short, not extending beyond the base, and inserted in a deep and angular cavity. Flesh, yellowish-white, crisp, very juicy, and with a brisk, pleasant, and refreshing flavor.
An excellent early culinary apple, of first-rate quality, ripe in the second week of August. It might with propriety be called the Summer Hawthornden, as it equals that esteemed old variety in all its properties.
The tree is healthy and hardy, but not a large grower. It is, however, a good bearer, though not so much so as the Hawthornden, and is well adapted for growing as a dwarf.
This variety is said to be of Scotch origin, but I cannot ascertain where, or when it was first discovered. It is not mentioned by Gibson, neither is it enumerated in the catalogue of Leslie and Anderson, of Edinburgh, or any of the Scotch nurserymen of the last century. It was first introduced to the south by the late Mr. Hugh Ronalds, of Brentford, who exhibited it at the London Horticultural Society.
Fruit, medium sized; somewhat oblato-ovate. Skin, dull yellow, covered with thin brownish grey russet, and marked with large russety dots. Eye, open, placed in a small, round, and rather shallow basin. Stalk, half-an-inch long, inserted in a narrow, deep, and russety cavity. Flesh, yellowish-white, tender, crisp, juicy, and sugary, with a brisk and rich aromatic flavor, resembling the old Nonpareil.
A delicious apple for the dessert, and of the first quality; it is in use during October and November, after which it becomes dry and meally.
The tree is a free and upright grower, perfectly hardy, an early and abundant bearer; even in the nursery quarters it produces freely when only two years from the graft. It is well adapted for dwarf and espalier training, when grown on the paradise stock.
This esteemed variety was raised about the year 1780, by a nurseryman of the name of Stagg, at Caister, near Yarmouth, in Norfolk. The name of Hicks’s Fancy was given to it by Kirke, formerly a nurseryman at Brompton, near London, from the circumstance of a person of the name of Hicks, giving it the preference to the other varieties which were fruited in the nursery. An instance of the absurd system by which the names of fruits have been multiplied.
Fruit, of medium size, two inches and three quarters wide, and two inches and a quarter high; roundish, and somewhat angular. Skin, smooth, of an uniform pale yellow or straw color, and thinly strewed with greenish dots. Eye, small and open, with long, reflexed segments, and set in a small basin. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, deeply inserted in a rather angular cavity, which is thickly lined with russet. Flesh, white, tender, marrowy and very juicy; with a pleasant, refreshing and sub-acid flavor.
An excellent early culinary apple, which is well suited for baking, and is also good as an eating apple. It is ripe in the first week of August, but soon becomes woolly after being gathered.
Fruit, below medium size, two inches wide, and two inches and a half high; oblong, and somewhat ribbed, particularly at the base. Skin, thick and membranous, of an uniform waxen yellow color. Eye, partially open, with long reflexed segments, and set in a moderately deep basin. Stalk, long and slender, inserted in a deep and angular cavity, from which issue prominent ribs. Flesh, yellowish-white, tender and soft, with a sweet and abundant juice.
A dessert apple of ordinary merit, valuable only for its earliness, as it ripens in the first week of August, but does not keep any time.
Fruit, of medium size, two inches and three quarters wide, and the same in height; roundish, inclining to ovate, and ribbed round the eye. Skin, yellowish-green, with markings of russet on the shaded side, but covered with red, which is striped with darker red on the side next the sun. Eye, large, and somewhat closed, with broad flat segments like those of Trumpington, placed in a rather deep and somewhat undulating basin. Stalk, short, inserted in a rather shallow cavity, which is lined with delicate yellowish-brown russet. Flesh, yellowish, crisp, and tender, with a fine, brisk, sugary, and vinous flavor.
An excellent dessert apple of first-rate quality, in use from October to Christmas. The tree is a healthy and vigorous grower, and a good bearer.
The Elford Pippin is supposed to have been raised at Elford, near Lichfield, where it is a very popular variety, and to which locality it is at present chiefly confined.
Fruit, of the largest size; ovate. Skin, smooth, greenish-yellow, with a few streaks of red on the shaded side; and orange covered with streaks and patches of bright crimson on the side exposed to the sun, the whole strewed with numerous russety dots. Eye, large, and half open, with broad, erect, and acuminate segments, set in deep, even, and slightly ribbed basin. Stalk, an inch or more in length, inserted in a deep, round, and even cavity, which is lined with russet. Flesh, yellowish-white, tender, crisp, juicy, and sugary, with a pleasant and slightly aromatic flavor.
A beautiful and valuable apple, both as regards its size and quality. It is more adapted for culinary than dessert use, but is also desirable for the latter were it only on account of its noble appearance at the table. It is in use from September to December.
The tree is a strong and vigorous grower, producing long stout shoots, is perfectly hardy and a good bearer.
This apple was introduced to this country by Mr. Lee, nurseryman of Hammersmith, in 1817, and was exhibited by him at the London Horticultural Society; the specimen produced being five inches and a half in diameter, four inches deep, sixteen inches in circumference, and weighed nineteen ounces. It is generally supposed that this was its first appearance in England; but there can be little doubt that it is the Phœnix Apple figured by Brookshaw, whose account of it in 1808, is as follows:—“It was much grown fifty years back in the neighbourhood of Twickenham, but was rather lost. The late Mr. Ash, nurseryman at Strawberry Hill, near Twickenham, preserved it from his father, who had an old tree of it. This specimen came from that tree. This apple was seen in Russia by an English nobleman, who thought it so excellent an apple, that he was induced to send some trees of it to England, and what will appear extraordinary to English gardeners, they were taken up in the summer with their leaves on, when they could not be less than twelve years old by their appearance, and when they arrived, after being six months before they came to hand, they were planted and produced fruit, and are now fine trees. The apple has a bloom on it like a red plum when on the tree, and is a very excellent beautiful apple, ripens in October, and will keep through December. It is to be had at the late Mr. Ash’s nursery, at Strawberry Hill, near Twickenham, under the name of Phœnix Apple, from its being lost and revived.”
Fruit, above medium size; conical, irregular in its shape. Skin, pale yellow with a faint blush on the side exposed to the sun. Eye, closed, set in a moderately deep basin. Stalk, short, stout, and rather deeply inserted. Flesh, white, tender, and agreeably acid.
A culinary apple of first-rate quality; ripe in August and continues in use till October.
The trees are excellent bearers, but in most orchards they are generally found unhealthy, cankered, and full of the woolly aphis, a state produced, according to Mr. Lindley, by their being raised from suckers, and truncheons stuck into the ground. In the “Guide to the Orchard,” he says, “Healthy, robust, and substantial trees are only to be obtained by grafting on stocks of the real Sour Hedge Crab; they then grow freely, erect, and form very handsome heads, yielding fruit as superior to those of our old orchards, as the old, and at present deteriorated Codlin is to the Crab itself.” This circumstance was noticed by Worlidge nearly two hundred years ago—“You may graft them on stocks as you do other fruit, which will accelerate and augment their bearing; but you may save that labor and trouble, if you plant the Cions, Slips, or Cuttings of them in the spring-time, a little before their budding; by which means they will prosper very well, and soon become Trees; but these are more subject to the canker than those that are grafted.”
This is one of our oldest English apples, and still deserving of more general cultivation than is at present given to it. Formerly it constituted one of the principal dishes in English cookery, in the shape of “Codlings and Cream.” Ray says, “Crudum vix editur ob duritiem et aciditatem, sed coctum vel cum cremore lactis, vel cum aqua rosacea et saccharo comestum inter laudatissima fercula habetur.” The name is derived from coddle, to parboil.
Fruit, large, three inches and a quarter wide, and three inches high; ovate, and regularly formed. Skin, almost entirely covered with clear bright red, and marked with fawn-colored russety dots, except on a portion of the shaded side, where it is yellow tinged and streaked with red. Eye, small and closed, set in a moderately deep and undulating basin. Stalk, slender, about an inch long, inserted in a wide, round, and deep cavity. Flesh, yellow, crisp, juicy, richly, and briskly flavored.
A most excellent dessert apple; in use from November to February.
This is a native of the United States, and is there considered one of the best dessert apples. Along with the Newtown Pippin it ranks as one of the most productive and profitable orchard fruits, but like many, and indeed almost all the best American varieties, it does not attain to that degree of perfection in this country that it does in its native soil. The tree is tender and subject to canker, and the fruit lacks that high flavor, and peculiar richness which characterizes the imported specimens. It was raised at Esopus, on the Hudson, where it is still grown to a large extent.
Fruit, small; round and flattened, somewhat oblate. Skin, smooth, green at first, but becoming of a yellowish-green as it ripens, and with a faint tinge of thin red where exposed to the sun. Eye, open, with long, reflexed, acuminate segments, placed in a shallow basin. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, slender, inserted in a round and even cavity. Flesh, yellowish, firm, and crisp, with a brisk, sugary, and rich flavor.
A dessert apple of first-rate quality, nearly allied to the Golden Pippin; it is in use from October to February.
Fruit, small, two inches and a quarter wide, and an inch and three quarters high; ovato-oblate, and rather irregularly formed. Skin, smooth and shining, thick and membranous, of a pale straw color, and with a faint of red on the side exposed to the sun; thickly strewed all over with small russety dots. Eye, somewhat closed, with broad, flat segments, which are reflexed at the tips, and set in a shallow and plaited basin. Stalk, very short, inserted in a wide cavity, which is lined with rough brown russet. Flesh, yellowish-white, tender, very juicy, sweet, and though not richly yet pleasantly flavored.
A dessert apple, but not of the first quality; in use from November to February.
Fruit, small, two inches and a quarter broad, and two inches high; ovate, even, and regularly shaped. Skin, tender, of a bright green color at first, but changing as it attains maturity, to a fine clear yellow without any tinge of red. Eye, closed, set in a shallow, and finely plaited basin. Stalk, inserted in a pretty deep cavity, which has sometimes a fleshy protuberance on one side of it. Flesh, fine, firm, crisp, and juicy, with a rich, refreshing, sugary, and vinous flavor.
A dessert apple of first-rate quality, in use from November to February.
Fruit, medium sized, about two inches and three quarters wide, and two inches and a half high; roundish-ovate, somewhat ribbed towards the eye. Skin, smooth, clear deep yellow, thinly strewed with large brownish russety dots, on the shaded side, and marked with patches and veins of thin, delicate, pale brown russet, and a faint tinge of red on the side exposed to the sun. Eye, closed, set in a narrow and even basin. Stalk, half-an-inch long, inserted in a narrow and shallow cavity, which is lined with russet. Flesh, yellowish, tender, sweet, aqueous, and slightly perfumed.
A culinary apple, in use from December to February.
The Famagusta of the Horticultural Society’s Catalogue cannot be the original Famagusta mentioned by Rea, Worlidge, and Ray, because Rea says it is “a fair large early apple,” which is confirmed by Worlidge placing it “in the number of the best early apples.” The name is, therefore, now given to a variety different from that to which it was originally applied, but which may still be in existence in some parts of the country.
Fruit, medium sized; oblong-ovate, and with prominent ribs on the sides, which terminate at the crown in bold ridges. Skin, yellowish-green on the shaded side; and brownish-red where exposed to the sun. Eye, deeply set in an angular basin. Flesh, greenish, firm, rich, and sugary.
A dessert apple of first-rate quality; in use from January to April.
The tree is a strong, vigorous, and upright grower, very hardy, and an abundant bearer.
This variety originated at Farleigh, in Kent.
Fruit, medium sized; roundish, and flattened at both ends. Skin, pale greenish-yellow, streaked with dull red on the shaded side; and bright dark crimson, strewed with grey dots, and small patches of russet on the side next the sun, and extending almost over the whole surface. Eye, large, partially open, with broad connivent segments, which are reflexed at the tips, and set in a shallow and plaited basin. Stalk, a quarter of an inch long, inserted in a wide and shallow cavity. Flesh, yellowish-white, firm, crisp, brisk, sugary, and pleasantly flavored.
An excellent apple, either for the dessert or culinary purposes; it is in use from November to February.
The tree is very hardy and a great bearer. It is only of late years that it has been brought into general cultivation, and now it is grown very extensively by the London market gardeners, for the supply of Covent Garden Market.
Fruit, below medium size; pearmain-shaped. Skin, yellowish on the shaded side; with a little red, and a few dark red streaks on the side next the sun; the whole thickly covered with large russety dots, and a few patches of russet. Eye, set in a pretty deep and ribbed basin. Stalk, about half-an-inch long, inserted in a funnel-shaped and russety cavity. Flesh, fine and delicate, very juicy, with a rich, sugary, and vinous flavor.
A dessert apple of first-rate quality; ripe in December, and continues till March.
Fruit, small, about two inches and a quarter broad, and the same in height; roundish-ovate, and broadest at the base. Skin, of a fine deep yellow color, like a Golden Pippin, but almost entirely covered with russet, which is brown on the shaded side, and grey where exposed to the sun, mixed with a tinge of redish brown. Eye, small and open, set in a round, wide, and rather deep basin. Stalk, half-an-inch long, inserted in a rather shallow cavity. Flesh, yellowish-white, tender, crisp, rich, sugary, and aromatic, partaking much of the flavor of Anise—hence the origin of one of the synonymes.
An excellent dessert apple, and when well ripened is considered of first-rate quality by those who are partial to its peculiar flavor. It is in season from December to March, and at an advanced period becomes woolly.
The tree is a small and slender grower; but an abundant bearer. It requires a rich soil and warm situation, and succeeds well as a dwarf on the paradise stock.
Fruit, small, two inches and a quarter broad, and an inch and three quarters high; roundish, flattened, and broadest at the base; even and regularly formed. Skin, fine bright yellow, marked with reticulations of pale brown russet. Eye, small and closed, set in a wide and pretty deep basin. Stalk, short and stout, inserted in a deep and funnel-shaped cavity. Flesh, white, firm, sugary, and richly perfumed.
A delicious little dessert apple; in use from December to April.
The tree is a free grower, quite hardy, and an excellent bearer; but requires a light and warm soil.
According to Knoop, this apple is called Pomme de Caractère, from the linear tracings of russet with which it is covered, being so disposed as to give it the appearance of being marked with letters or characters.
Fruit, small, two inches broad and about the same in height; roundish, and a little flattened. Skin, pale greenish-yellow, but so entirely covered with dark grey russet as to leave none of the ground color visible, except that portion exposed to the sun, which is dark redish brown. Eye, large and closed, set in a wide and rather shallow basin. Stalk, about an inch long, sometimes obliquely inserted, by the side of a fleshy prominence, in a wide and shallow cavity. Flesh, greenish-white, firm, rich, sugary, and highly perfumed with the flavor of anise or fennel.
An excellent dessert apple; in use from November to January.
The tree is a small grower, but an abundant bearer, and requires a warm and rich soil to have the fruit in perfection.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and a half wide, and the same in height; conical, round at the base, flattened at the apex, and distinctly angular on the sides. Skin, pale dull greenish-yellow on the shaded side, and streaked with broken patches and pencilings of pale red, where exposed to the sun, the whole covered with russety dots. Eye, closed, as if drawn together or puckered, placed level with the flat crown, and with a small knob or wart at the base of each segment. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, thickest at the insertion, and placed in a small, round, and shallow cavity, which is surrounded with dark brown russet. Flesh, greenish-white, tender, juicy, and acid, with a brisk and pleasant flavor.
An excellent culinary apple, extensively grown in the neighbourhood of Lancaster, where it is highly esteemed; it is in use from October to January.
This, which may be called the Lancashire Fill-basket, is very different from the Kentish variety of that name.
Fruit, medium sized, three inches wide, and two and a quarter high; oblate, and marked on the sides with ten distinct angles, five of which are more prominent than the others. Skin, pale green, changing to pale greenish-yellow as it ripens, and occasionally tinged with a cloud of thin dull red on the side exposed to the sun, and thinly strewed with a few dots. Eye, closed, with long and downy segments, set in a narrow and ribbed basin. Stalk, from half-an-inch to an inch in length, slender, and inserted in a deep funnel-shaped cavity, which is lined with russet. Flesh, white, tender, and marrowy, juicy, and briskly flavored.
A culinary apple of second-rate quality; in use during October and November.
It is much grown in the Berkshire orchards.
Fruit, large; roundish, and considerably flattened, with obtuse angles on the sides, which extend into the basin of the eye, where they form prominent knobs on the apex. Skin, greenish-yellow, thickly strewed with green dots on the shaded side; but next the sun, dull red marked with patches and streaks of livelier red, and dotted with light grey dots. Eye, large and open, with broad reflexed segments, and placed in a large angular basin, which is marked with russet. Stalk, an inch long, thick and strong, deeply set in an angular cavity. Flesh, greenish-white, firm, crisp, and juicy, with a pleasant and briskly acid flavor.
A culinary apple of first-rate quality; in use from November to January.
The tree is a pretty good bearer, one of the strongest and most vigorous growers, and consequently more suitable for the orchard than the fruit garden.
This is a very old variety, being mentioned by Parkinson, Leonard Meager, and Ray, but there is no notice of it in the works of any subsequent writer till the publication of Forsyth’s Treatise.