Fruit, medium sized; roundish, narrowing towards the eye. Skin, entirely covered with deep red, which is streaked with deeper red, except on any small portion where it has been shaded, and there it is green, marked with broken streaks and mottles of red, the whole surface strewed with light grey russety dots. Eye, small and closed, very slightly depressed, and surrounded with plaits. Stalk, nearly an inch long, inserted in a deep and russety cavity. Flesh, greenish, tender, sweet, juicy, and without any predominance of acid.
An American dessert apple of little value; in use from October to January.
In the Horticultural Society’s Catalogue this is made synonymous with Esopus Spitzenburgh, but it is quite a different variety.
Fruit, below medium size; roundish, inclining to oblate, regularly and handsomely shaped. Skin, pale yellow, with a blush of red on the side which is exposed to the sun. Eye, small and closed, with short obtuse segments, set in a shallow and plaited basin. Stalk, very short, inserted in a shallow cavity. Flesh, firm.
Specific gravity of the juice from 1076 to 1081.
This is a fine old Gloucestershire cider apple, which is extensively cultivated on the thin limestone soils of the Forest of Dean. The cider that it produces is strong bodied, rich, and highly flavored.
The tree produces numerous straight, luxuriant, upward shoots, like a pollard willow; it runs much to wood, and in deep soils attains a considerable size before it becomes fruitful.
Fruit, medium sized; roundish, obscurely ribbed, and sometimes narrowing towards the eye, where it is angular. Skin, smooth and shining, of a fine golden yellow color, strewed with mottles of crimson on the shaded side; and dark red marked with patches of deep crimson on the side exposed to the sun; sometimes when much exposed to the sun the yellow assumes a deep orange tinge. Eye, small and closed, set in an angular basin. Stalk, very short, not a quarter of an inch long, inserted in a small, round, and shallow cavity, surrounded with thick russet. Flesh, yellowish-white, tender, mellow, juicy, sweet, and finely perfumed.
A beautiful and valuable apple, suitable either for the dessert, culinary use, or for the manufacture of cider. It is in use from October to January.
The tree attains about the middle size, is perfectly hardy and healthy, and quite free from canker and disease. It is a most abundant and regular bearer.
I am surprised that this beautiful apple has hitherto escaped the notice of pomologists, it being so universally grown, and generally popular, in the district to which it belongs. In the north-eastern parts of Sussex, and the adjoining county of Surrey, it is extensively cultivated, and I believe there is scarcely a cottager’s garden where it is not to be met with, nor is there a cottager to whom its name is not as familiar as his own, it being considered to supply all the qualifications that a valuable apple is supposed to possess; and although this judgment is formed in contrast with the other varieties grown in the district, nevertheless, the Forge is a useful and valuable apple, particularly to a cottager, whether we consider its great productiveness, its uses as a dessert and excellent cooking apple, or the excellent cider which it produces. It is said to have originated at a blacksmith’s forge near East Grinstead.
Fruit, below medium size, two inches and a half high, and two inches wide; conical, and flattened at both ends. Skin, pale yellowish-green, with redish-brown on the side exposed to the sun, covered with pale, thin, yellowish-brown russet. Eye, small and open, set in a shallow and plaited basin. Stalk, short, not deeply inserted. Flesh, greenish-yellow, juicy, rich, and highly flavored, with much of the flavor of the Nonpareil and Golden Pippin.
An excellent dessert apple of first-rate quality; it comes into use in November, and keeps till April.
The tree is a great bearer, but tender and subject to canker.
It is well adapted for dwarf training when worked on the paradise stock.
This variety was raised by Thomas Seton Forman, Esq., Pennydarron Place, near Merthyr Tydvil, Glamorganshire.
Fruit, below medium size, two inches and a half high, and about the same broad; ovate. Skin, yellow in the shade, and clear thin red on the side exposed to the sun, strewed all over with small russety dots. Eye, small and open, set in a narrow and shallow basin. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, inserted in a round and moderately deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish, tender, very juicy, and briskly acid.
An excellent culinary apple, and suitable also for the dessert; in use from November to March.
This variety originated in the garden of Mrs. Horrex, of Foulden, in Norfolk, and was first brought into notice by Mr. George Lindley, who communicated it to the Horticultural Society, March 7, 1820.
Fruit, growing in clusters of two or three together, very small, not much larger than a good sized cherry; roundish, and sometimes a little flattened, and narrowing towards the crown. Skin, deep, rich, golden yellow on the shaded side; and bright redish-orange on the side exposed to the sun. Eye, small and closed, not depressed, and surrounded with a few knobs. Stalk, about an inch long, inserted in a shallow cavity, which is lined with russet. Flesh, yellow.
Specific gravity of the juice 1080.
A valuable cider apple.
This variety was raised by Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., from the Cherry Apple, impregnated with the pollen of the Golden Pippin. It was named Foxley from the seat of the late Uvedale Price, Esq., in whose garden, where it had been grafted, it first attained maturity. Mr. Knight says, “there is no situation where the common Wild Crab will produce fruit, in which the Foxley will not produce a fine cider.”
Fruit, medium sized; ovate, and irregularly shaped, with prominent angles on the sides. Skin, yellow and red, mixed with a good deal of deeper red streaked all over the fruit.
Specific gravity of the juice 1076 when the fruit is healthy; and when small and shrivelled it is 1080.
The juice of this variety is extremely rich and saccharine, and enters in a greater or less proportion into the composition of many of the finest ciders in Herefordshire, to which it communicates both strength and flavor.
This is one of the oldest of our cider apples, and is enumerated by Evelyn; but is not so highly extolled as the Redstreak, and some other varieties. In Evelyn’s “Advertisements concerning Cider,” a “person of great experience,” says “Cider for strength and a long lasting drink is best made of the Fox-Whelp of the Forest of Dean, but which comes not to be drunk till two or three years old.” By Worlidge it was “esteemed among the choice cider fruits.”
Fruit, medium sized; oblato-ovate, even and regularly formed. Skin, of an uniform deep yellow, covered all over with dark spots interspersed with fine russet, particularly round the apex. Eye, small, with long narrow segments overlapping each other, partially open, and set in a wide and deep basin. Stalk, short and slender, about half-an-inch long, inserted in a round, narrow, and smooth cavity. Flesh, yellow, tender, and crisp, very juicy, vinous, and aromatic.
A dessert apple of first-rate quality; in use from October to December.
The tree does not attain a large size, but is vigorous, healthy, and hardy, and an excellent bearer. It is well suited for a dwarf or espalier, and succeeds well on the paradise stock.
This is of American origin, and was introduced to this country by John Sudlow, Esq., of Thames Ditton, and first exhibited at the London Horticultural Society in 1819.
Fruit, of good size; somewhat conical, being broad at the base, and narrow at the crown. Skin, dark grass-green on the shaded side; and dark muddy livid red where exposed to the sun. Eye, sunk, and surrounded by four or five obtuse but prominent ridges. Stalk, short and stiff, notwithstanding which the fruit is generally pendant.
Specific gravity of its juice 1073.
This is a cider apple cultivated in the north-west parts of Herefordshire, where the climate is cold, and the soil unfavourable, and where proper attention is never paid by the farmer to the management of his cider, which in consequence is generally fit only for the ordinary purposes of a farm-house.—Knight.
The trees are vigorous and productive.
Mr. Knight says, “The Friar probably derived its name from some imagined resemblance between its color and that of the countenance of a well-fed ecclesiastic.”
Fruit, large, three inches and a half wide, and two inches and a half high; roundish, with broad irregular ribs on the sides. Skin, green, covered with broken stripes of dark dull red on the side next the sun. Eye, large and closed, moderately depressed, and surrounded with broad plaits. Stalk, short and slender, deeply inserted in a narrow and uneven cavity. Flesh, greenish-white, firm, crisp, very juicy, briskly acid, and slightly perfumed.
A culinary apple of first-rate quality; in use from November to March.
Fruit, large; oblong and irregular. Skin, green, with a few specks of darker green interspersed; and dashed with red on the sunny side. Eye, hollow. Stalk, half-an-inch long, deeply inserted, quite within the base. Flesh, pale yellowish-green, sub-acid, and of good flavor.
A culinary apple; in use from October to January.—Lindley.
Fruit, medium sized; oblong, tapering from the base to the crown, perfectly round in its circumference, and free from angles. Skin, pale yellow on the shaded side; but when exposed to the sun of a bright lively red, shaded with darker streaks and patches quite into the crown.
Specific gravity of its juice 1066.
Though this contains but a small portion of saccharine matter, it contributes to afford excellent cider when mixed with some of the older varieties.
Fruit, immensely large, sometimes measuring four inches and a half in diameter; of a roundish shape, angular on the sides, and flattened both at the base and the apex. Skin, smooth, pale yellowish-green, interspersed with white dots and patches of thin delicate russet, and tinged with a faint blush of red next the sun. Eye, large, open, and deeply set in a wide and slightly furrowed basin. Stalk, short and stout, inserted in a deep and open cavity, which is lined with rough russet. Flesh, white, tender, juicy, and though not highly flavored, is an excellent culinary apple.
It is in use from October to Christmas.
This variety is of American origin, but some doubts exist as to where it was first raised, that honor being claimed by several different localities. The general opinion, however, is, that it originated in the garden of a Mr. Smith, in the neighbourhood of Baltimore, and was first brought over to this country by Captain George Hudson, of the ship Belvedere, of Baltimore, in 1817. It was introduced from America into France by Comte Lelieur, in 1804. But from the account given in the Allgemeines Teutsches Gärtenmagazin, it is doubtful whether it is a native of America, for in the volume of that work for 1805, it is said to have been raised by Herr Künstgartner Maszman, of Hanover. If that account is correct, its existence in America is in all probability owing to its having been taken thither by some Hanoverian emigrants. At page 41, vol. iii., Dittrich has confounded the synonymes of the Gloria Mundi with Golden Mundi, which he has described under the name of Monstow’s Pepping.
Fruit, large, three inches and a half wide, and over two inches and three quarters high; ovate, somewhat of the shape of Emperor Alexander, ribbed on the sides, and terminated round the eye by a number of puckered-like knobs. Skin, dull greenish-yellow, with numerous embedded whitish specks, particularly round the eye, and covered with large dark russety dots, and linear marks of russet; but on the side exposed to the sun it is of a deeper yellow, with a few broken streaks and dots of crimson. Eye, small and slightly closed, set in a shallow and puckered basin. Stalk, short and fleshy, inserted in a wide, deep, and russety cavity. Flesh, greenish-yellow, tender, soft, juicy, sprightly, and slightly perfumed.
An excellent culinary apple; in use from October to January.
Fruit, large, three inches and a quarter broad, and two inches and three quarters high; oblate, ridged and angular about the eye, and ribbed on the sides. Skin, smooth and shining, yellow, mixed in some parts with a tinge of green, and washed with thin clear red on the side next the sun; the whole surface is strewed with minute russety dots, and several large dark spots, such as are often met with on the Hawthornden. Eye, large, with long segments, and set in an angular basin. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, inserted in a deep cavity, which is surrounded with a large patch of rough grey russet. Flesh, yellowish-white, firm but tender, very juicy, with a pleasant, brisk, and slightly perfumed flavor.
A culinary apple of first quality; it is in use the end of October and continues till Christmas.
The tree is a strong and vigorous grower, attaining a great size, and is an excellent bearer.
I had this variety from Mr. James Lake, of Bridgewater, and it is evidently identical with the Glory of the West of Diel, a name which, according to Lindley, is sometimes applied to the Dutch Codlin. The variety here described bears a considerable resemblance to that known by the name of Turk’s Cap.
Fruit, medium sized; roundish, obscurely angled, and slightly flattened. Skin, thick and membranous, pale green, strewed all over with small russety dots, and faintly mottled with a tinge of brownish-red next the sun. Eye, small and closed, set in a narrow, shallow, and plaited basin. Stalk, short, inserted in a very shallow cavity. Flesh, greenish-white, tender, juicy, sugary, and brisk.
A dessert apple of second-rate quality; in use from January to March.
This variety is of Scotch origin, and is said to have originated at Gogar, near Edinburgh.
Fruit, small; oblato-cylindrical, even and free from angles. Skin, entirely covered with rough scaly russet, with sometimes a patch of the yellow ground color exposed on the shaded side, and covered with brownish-red on the side next the sun. Eye, small and open, with very short, reflexed segments, set in a wide, shallow, and slightly plaited basin. Stalk, half-an-inch long, inserted in a shallow cavity. Flesh, yellow, firm, crisp, juicy, sugary, with an exceedingly rich and powerful aromatic flavor.
This is one of the richest and most excellent dessert apples; it is in use from December to May; but is very apt to shrivel if exposed to light and air as most russety apples are.
The tree is a free grower, and perfectly hardy. It attains about the middle size and is an excellent bearer. When grown on the paradise stock it is well adapted for dwarf training, and forms a good espalier.
Independently of being one of the best dessert apples, it is also one of the best for cider; and from the great strength of its juice, the specific gravity of which is 1085, it has been called the Brandy Apple.
Fruit, below medium size, two inches and a quarter wide, and the same in height; ovate, sometimes a little flattened, which gives it a roundish shape. Skin, pale green, becoming yellowish-green as it attains maturity; much covered with russet round the base and on the shaded side; but yellow, marked with streaks of a redish tinge, with crimson dots next the sun, and thickly strewed all over with large freckles of russet. Eye, open, generally with long segments, but in the roundish specimens they are short and stunted, and placed in a shallow basin. Stalk, very short, and quite embedded in the cavity. Flesh, greenish-white, firm, crisp, and very juicy, of a brisk, sweet flavor.
A good dessert apple, of second-rate quality; in use from December to March.
The tree is hardy and a vigorous grower, producing enormous crops, and on that account extensively cultivated, particularly in Kent, for the supply of the London markets. Though a good apple it is one more deserving the attention of the orchardist than the fruit gardener.
Fruit, small, about two inches and a half wide, and two inches high; roundish, inclining to oblate. Skin, smooth, pale grass green on the shaded side; but fine clear golden yellow dotted with crimson dots, on the side exposed to the sun, and in some parts marked with ramifications of very thin delicate brown russet, which generally issue from the basin of the eye. Eye, small, and rather open, with narrow, acute, and stiff segments, set in a narrow and plaited basin. Stalk, very short, not a quarter of an inch long, quite embedded in a narrow, round, and rather deep cavity, which, with the base, is covered with very thick and rough scaly russet. Flesh, yellowish-white, crisp, not very juicy, sugary, brisk, and perfumed, not unlike the flavor of the Golden Pippin.
A very excellent dessert apple of first-rate quality; in use from October to Christmas.
I do not know what the Golden Mundi of Forsyth is, which he describes as a fine handsome apple, beautifully streaked with red; but that now described is the Golden Monday of the Berkshire orchards, and the same as has been cultivated in the Brompton Park nursery for upwards of a hundred years.
The Golden Russet is sometimes called by the name of Golden Monday, but it is a very distinct variety from this.
Fruit, large; round, and narrowing towards the eye, handsome. Skin, smooth, clear bright yellow, without any blush of red, but a few small redish spots and small patches of russet. Eye, small, set in a round and deep basin, surrounded with plaits. Stalk, short, with a fleshy growth on one side of it, which connects it with the fruit. Flesh, yellow, tender, with a pleasant acid juice, and baking of a clear amber color, perfectly melting, with a rich acidity.
A valuable culinary apple; in use from September to December.
This was first brought into notice by Sir Thomas Harr, of Stowe Hall, Norfolk, whose gardener procured it from a tree supposed to be the original, in an old orchard at Downham, and communicated it to the Horticultural Society of London, in 1820.
Fruit, medium sized, about two inches and a half in diameter, and the same in height; abrupt pearmain-shaped, irregularly ribbed on the sides, and uneven at the apex. Skin, pale yellow, strewed with patches of russet, and covered with minute russety dots on the shaded side; but deep redish orange, streaked with deeper color, and strewed with minute russety dots on the side exposed to the sun. Eye, large and open, with reflexed segments, and set in a wide, deep, and angular basin. Stalk, slender, three quarters of an inch long, and obliquely inserted, with frequently a fleshy protuberance on one side of it, in a rather shallow cavity, which is lined with green russet. Flesh, yellowish, firm, crisp, very juicy, sweet, and lacking acidity, which gives it a sickly flavor.
An apple of second-rate quality, suitable either for culinary purposes or the dessert; in use from November to March.
The tree is an upright grower and a free bearer, but requires to be grown in good soil.
In America this is esteemed as a cider apple.
Fruit, small; roundish, inclining to oblong, regularly and handsomely shaped, without inequalities or angles on the sides. Skin, rich yellow, assuming a deep golden tinge when perfectly ripe, with a deeper tinge where it has been exposed to the sun; the whole surface is strewed with russety dots, which are largest on the sunny side, and intermixed with these are numerous embedded pearly specks. Eye, small and open, with long segments, placed in a shallow, smooth, and even basin. Stalk, from half-an-inch to an inch in length, inserted in a pretty deep cavity. Flesh, yellow, firm, crisp, very juicy and sugary, with a brisk, vinous, and particularly fine flavor.
One of the oldest and by far the most highly esteemed of our dessert apples, and neither the Borsdorffer of the Germans, the Reinette of the French, nor the Newtown Pippin of the Americans, will ever occupy in the estimation of the English the place now accorded to the Golden Pippin. It is also an excellent cider apple. The specific gravity of its juice is 1078.
It is in season from November to April.
The tree is a free and vigorous grower, but does not attain a great size. It is also an excellent bearer.
When and where the Golden Pippin was first discovered, are now matters of uncertainty; but all writers agree in ascribing to it an English origin, some supposing it to have originated at Parham Park, near Arundel, in Sussex. Although it is not recorded at so early a period as some others, there is no doubt it is a very old variety. It is not, however, the “Golding Pippin” of Parkinson, for he says “it is the greatest and best of all sorts of Pippins.” It was perhaps this circumstance that led Mr. Knight to remark, that from the description Parkinson has given of the apples cultivated in his time, it is evident that those now known by the same names, are different, and probably new varieties. But this is no evidence of such being the case, for I find there were two sorts of Golden Pippin, the “Great Golding,” and the “Small Golding, or Bayford,” both of which are mentioned by Leonard Meager, and there is no doubt the “Golding Pippin,” of Parkinson, was the “Great Golding.” Whether it was because it was little known, or its qualities were unappreciated, that the writers of the 17th century were so restrictive in their praises of the Golden Pippin, it is difficult to say; but true it is whilst Pearmains, Red Streaks, Codlings, and Catsheads, are set forth as the desiderata of an orchard, the Golden Pippin is but rarely noticed. Ralph Austin calls it “a very speciall apple and great bearer.” Evelyn certainly states that Lord Clarendon cultivated it, but it was only as a cider apple: for he says “at Lord Clarendon’s seat at Swallowfield, Berks, there is an orchard of 1000 Golden and other cider Pippins.” In his Treatise on Cider he frequently notices it as a cider apple; but never in any place that I can recollect of as a dessert fruit. In the Pomona, he says, “About London and the southern tracts, the Pippin, and especially the Golden, is esteemed for making the most delicious cider, most wholesome, and most restorative.” Worlidge merely notices it as “smaller than the Orange Apple, else much like it in color, taste, and long keeping.” Ray seems the first who fully appreciated it, for after minutely and correctly describing it, he says, “Ad omnes culinæ usus præstantissimum habetur, et Pomaceo conficiendo egregium.” De Quintinye’s remarks are not at all complimentary. He says it has altogether the character of the paradise or some other wild apple, it is extremely yellow and round, little juice, which is pretty rich, and without bad flavor. But the Jardinier Solitaire, more impartial, or with better judgment, says, “son eau est tres sucrée; elle a le goût plus relevé que la Reynette; c’est ce que luy donne le mérite d’être reconnuë pour une tres excellente pomme.” The opinion of Angran de Rueneuve is also worth recording.
“La Pomme d’Or est venuë d’Angleterre; on l’y apelle Goule-Pepin. J’estime qu’elle doit être la Reyne des Pommes, et que la Reynette ne doit marche qu’aprés elle; car elle est d’un plus fin relief que toutes les autres Pommes.” Switzer calls it “the most antient, as well as most excellent apple that is.” But it is not my intention to record all that has been written in praise of the Golden Pippin, for that of itself would occupy too much space, my object in making these extracts being simply to show the gradual progress of its popularity.
The late President of the London Horticultural Society, T. A. Knight, Esq., considered that the Golden Pippin, and all the old varieties of English apples, were in the last stage of decay, and that a few years would witness their total extinction. This belief he founded upon the degenerate state of these varieties in the Herefordshire orchards, and also upon his theory that no variety of apple will continue to exist more than 200 years. But that illustrious man never fell into a greater error. It would be needless to enter into any further discussion upon a subject concerning which so much has already been said and written, as there is sufficient evidence to confute that theory. The Pearmain, which is the oldest English apple on record, shows no symptoms of decay, neither does the Catshead, London Pippin, Winter Quoining, or any other variety; those only having been allowed to disappear from our orchards, which were not worth perpetuating, and their places supplied by others infinitely superior.
It is now considerably upwards of half a century since this doctrine was first promulgated, and though the old, exhausted, and diseased trees of the Herefordshire orchards, of which Mr. Knight spoke, together with their diseased progeny—now that they have performed their part, and fulfilled the end of their existence—may ere this have passed away, we have the Golden Pippin still, in all the luxuriance of early youth, where it is found in a soil congenial to its growth; and exhibiting as little symptoms of decay as any of the varieties which Mr. Knight raised to supply the vacancy he expected it to create.
In the Brompton Park Nursery, where the same Golden Pippin has been cultivated for nearly two centuries, and continued from year to year by grafts taken from young trees in the nursery quarters, I never saw the least disposition to disease, canker, or decay of any kind; but, on the contrary, a free, vigorous, and healthy growth.
But this alarm of Mr. Knight for the safety of the Golden Pippin, and his fear of its extinction, were based upon no new doctrine, for we find Mortimer a hundred years before, equally lamenting the Kentish Pippin. After speaking of manures, &c., for the regeneration of fruit trees, he says, “I shall be glad if this account may put any upon the trial of raising that excellent fruit the Kentish Pippin, which else, I fear, will be lost. For I find in several orchards, both in Kent, Essex, and Hertfordshire, old trees of that sort, but I can find no young ones to prosper. A friend of mine tried a great many experiments in Hertfordshire, about raising them, and could never get them to thrive, though he had old trees in the same orchard that grew and bore very well. I likewise tried several experiments myself, and have had young trees thrive so well, as to make many shoots of a yard long in a year, but these young shoots were always blasted the next year, or cankered; which makes me think that the ancients had some particular way of raising them, that we have lost the knowledge of.” Although this was written a hundred and fifty years ago, we have the Kentish Pippin still, which though not so much cultivated, or so well known now as then, is nevertheless where it does exist as vigorous and healthy as ever it was.