THE BALDWIN APPLE.
This popular market apple has been in cultivation for at least a century. It originated in what was then known as Wilmington, in the county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, on the farm of Mr. Butters, who gave it the name of the Woodpecker apple, because it seemed to be a favorite with those birds, who used to frequent the tree and peck the fruit. From this tree grafts were taken, and the variety became known in that vicinity by the name given it by Mr. Butters, which, however, soon became shortened into Pecker Apple, under which name it was planted by the Vice President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, B. V. French, at Braintree, Mass., in 1818. At an early period of its history, about 1771, it came to the notice of Col. Baldwin, of Woburn, Mass., who introduced it to public attention, whence it received its present name of Baldwin. From this it has been extensively cultivated and widely diffused, so that to-day it is probably better known and more sought after by dealers in apples than any other variety. In the report of the American Pomological Society for 1877, it is double starred in more States than any other, and within the zone, where its profitable cultivation is possible, there are probably more trees planted of the Baldwin than of any two other kinds.
It cannot be successfully grown in all parts of Ontario, the severe cold of our higher latitudes being too great for the health of the tree. It is reported as doing well in the counties of Brant, Elgin, Haldimand, Halton, Lambton, Lincoln, Middlesex, Norfolk, Oxford, Peel, Waterloo, Welland, Wentworth, and York, and in parts of Grey, Huron, and Wellington.
The tree is naturally vigorous and productive, coming soon into bearing, and yielding every alternate year large crops of good sized, well-shaped, high colored fruit, which keeps well, and bears handling and carriage in a remarkable degree. In most markets, and especially in the European, high colored apples sell best, hence this variety has a preference over light colored sorts. It is ranked as “very good” in quality, and in this climate is in use from January to May.
We are credibly informed that the part of the farm belonging to Mr. Butters upon which the original Baldwin apple tree grew, subsequently passed into the hands of a gentleman eminent as an agriculturist and horticulturist, who took the pains to erect a suitable monument to the memory of this tree, upon the spot where it stood. And surely it is well thus to mark, that coming generations may remember the birth-place of an apple that has had such a history, that having stood the test of a century, is still a most popular and valuable fruit, that is sought after in the markets of the old world as well as the new, that has contributed so much to the comfort of the human race in so many lands and in so many climes, and that promises to continue its beneficent mission for centuries yet to come, gladdening alike the eye and heart of childhood and age.
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