SOME RECENTLY DESCRIBED HARDY APPLES.
We are under obligations to Mr. T. C. Robinson, of Owen Sound, for calling our attention to an article written for the Rural New Yorker, by Dr. S. H. Hoskins, in which he describes some apples recently discovered through the exertions of the Montreal Horticultural Society, and which are as yet mostly unpropagated, although many of them have been long known among the French population of the Province of Quebec. Several of these apples are regarded by Dr. Hoskins as belonging to the Fameuse or Snow Apple class, and seem to be descendants of that well known and highly esteemed apple. The descriptions given are those of Dr. Hoskins as they appear in the extract sent by Mr. Robinson.
Fameuse Sucre.—This is an inviting blackish-red little dessert apple, it is of the same size as Fameuse, but much darker in color than the reddest of that very variable variety in respect of color; form roundish, or slightly oblate; flesh white, deeply stained with red; and very crisp, yet tender, at once mildly sub-acid and sugary, with an aroma of the most peculiar, penetrating, and enduring quality, more like that of some spicy foreign grape than of an apple. I am bold to say that no known apple equals Fameuse Sucre in delicacy and piquancy of taste. It is a true revelation, in apples, of a capacity for flavor which we might look for in some rare tropical fruit, than in an apple from the extreme north. It is not a sweet apple, it is a deliciously sugared apple, as its name indicates, with a distinct aromatic acidity beneath the saccharine, like, yet unlike, the highest flavored strawberry. The season of Fameuse Sucre is from the middle of September until the last of October, or later. The tree seems as hardy as Fameuse; it is upright in growth, it spreads but gradually, its branches bear the bright gloss of health. Like Fameuse, it bears light and heavy crops alternately; those who have it say it equals Fameuse in yield.
Roseau.—This is not the Roseau of any of the books. The fruit is of even, medium size, oblate, basin wrinkled; color, a very dark red; flesh white, stained with red, crisp, juicy, sub-acid, high flavored. Season, September. Tree hardy and long lived, a moderate grower, with an upright close head; an early, yearly, moderate bearer.
Mountain Beet.—This is, in some respects, the most singular apple I ever saw. It is of medium size, roundish-conical, very dark-red, almost black, yet with the clear red shining through. But the curious thing about it is its flesh, as deeply red to the core as a blood-beet, with a red juice, staining the fingers like that of a strawberry. The fruit has the aroma, but not the sugared quality of the Fameuse Sucre—a sort of “country cousin” of that variety. This tree is in the hands of at least one nurseryman, is regarded as productive and hardy, and is being set for profit in the well-known fruit growing town of Abbotsford, P. Q. It is the only variety in this list of which I have yet been able to procure cions. Season of fruit, October and November.
Canada Baldwin.—Fruit, size of Fameuse; roundish-oblate, overspread with streaks and splashes of dark, over light red, with many distinct grey specks. Flesh white, often much stained with red, tender, crisp, juicy, mildly sub-acid. Keeps till May or June. The tree is a vigorous grower, with a somewhat upright though gradually spreading head. It has fruit spurs distributed evenly along its branches, and bears as young as the Fameuse, in alternately heavy and light crops. This variety has got out of the hands of the French, and is propagated and planted to some extent. It has the fault, on light soils, of sunscalding upon the bark, but is otherwise hardy. Would probably do well top-grafted.
Pomme de Fer.—This is the late keeper of the Province of Quebec. There is a tradition that it was brought from Philadelphia over a hundred years ago, by the Seigneur of Chambly; but this is improbable, as it is not recognized as much resembling any American apple, while its seedling, the Canadian Baldwin described above, is of the distinct Canadian type. Tree fairly hardy, a moderate bearer. Fruit, above medium, roundish to a roundish-oblong, dull-red, with many very distinct grey dots, somewhat like the Flushing Spitzenburg. Flesh yellow, very firm, moderately juicy, mildly sub-acid, somewhat aromatic. This apple keeps till June or July, but is not highly recommended by the Montreal Society.
Strawberry of Montreal.—This is none of the “Strawberry” apples of the books. The tree is extra hardy, and its stout and vigorous growth, and clean, glossy bark, show it to be especially adapted to the cold north. It is erect in growth, without having a dense head. Fruit above medium in size, sometimes large, roundish-conic, yellowish, mostly splashed with red. Flesh yellowish, tender, moderately juicy, mildly sub-acid. It ripens with the Duchess of Oldenburg, but is a better dessert apple. Placed by many growers among the best five for profit, and I recommend it to the attention of your readers in the cold north-west.
Decarie.—Regarding this apple tree, I make the following extract from the invaluable report of the Fruit Committee of the Montreal Horticultural Society for 1876:—“The original tree, producing this noble apple, stood in Jeremie Decarie’s orchard in Coteau St. Pierre, east of the Cote St. Luke road, which orchard is now owned by his grandson of the same name. It was cut down a few years ago. It was then about a hundred years old, had a butt as large as a flour barrel, and was of a height so remarkable as to be compared to an elm. The tree is a vigorous grower, and forms an erect head, which spreads but very gradually, so that though it attains great size, yet it may be planted fairly close. We have seen eighty, if not one hundred of these trees, planted fifteen years ago on the Coteau, and growing in sandy loam, and from these we judge the tree to be hardy and healthy. It bears light and heavy crops alternately. We once saw seven barrels under one tree which had been fifteen years planted. Mr. Lortie, after marketing them for many years, says they are very profitable. Fruit, on trees grown in grass, even when they have suffered from want of drainage, large; but when the soil was cultivated, very large, and commanding marked attention. Form, roundish-conic to oblong-conic, often deeply ribbed, with a deep, narrow, russety cavity, and a basin which, though medium in depth, is wrinkled and obscurely ribbed. Color, light or dark red, sometimes very dark all over, and covered with a beautiful bluish-white bloom, with many medium sized gray dots. Flesh whitish, rather firm, juicy, with, says Downing, a slight peculiar quince-like flavor. Season, September fifteen to October first.”
With regard to the Fameuse Sucre, the Fruit Committee of the Montreal Horticultural Society say that it is “an inviting, blackish-red, little dessert apple. There are about a dozen trees of it in the orchard of the Hon. E. Prud’homme, at Coteau, St. Pierre. They have been planted some seven or eight years, but some of them are twenty years old. It has proved profitable, but is not among the five best kinds for profit. Its chief merit is as a dessert apple, for which purpose it comes in just before the middle of September.” Of the Pomme de Fer, the Committee say that it is not likely to be planted in future except in limited quantities for home use. They say of the Strawberry of Montreal that they know nothing of its origin, the oldest tree known to them is a grafted tree, planted by the late Charles Bowman, at Forden, Cote St. Luke, about the year 1835. Of late years, Messrs. Lacombe, Bigarreau, and Desmarchais, of Cote des Neiges, have propagated it largely. On the whole, they think it deserves more extensive cultivation as a hardy tree, whose fruit, ripening at the same time as the Duchess of Oldenburg, is yet superior to it in quality, and commands a ready sale in the market. The Committee say of Decarie, that amateurs should grow this handsome fruit; but though it is hardy, saleable, and a heavy bearer, yet commercial orchardists name five other apples to be preferred before it. They do not mention the Mountain Beet, which is a singular fact, in-as-much as one of the members resides at Abbotsford, where Dr. Hoskins says it is planted for profit.
The varieties which this Committee name as the best for profit in that section of the country are, first the Fameuse, which holds the first place without a rival, especially on account of its adaptability to various soils, and being their heaviest cropper, selling at $5 per barrel; second, the St. Lawrence, which brings, in the city market, thirty per cent. more than the Fameuse, in this way compensating for its smaller crop, which is from one-half to three-fourths that of the Fameuse; third, the Alexander, which bears about two-thirds as much as the Fameuse, and sells for $5 per barrel; fourth, the Red Astracan, which sells at $2 per bushel; and fifth, the Duchess of Oldenburg, which bears very nearly as well as the Fameuse, and sells in the city at from $1.50 to $2 per bushel.
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