Fruit, medium sized; two inches and three quarters broad, by two inches and a half high; roundish, and slightly ribbed about the eye. Skin, light green, striped and mottled with light red on the side next the sun; and strewed all over with greyish-white dots, on the exposed, and brown dots on the shaded side. Eye, open, set in a plaited basin. Stalk, a quarter of an inch long, inserted in a shallow cavity. Flesh, greenish-white, soft, tender, juicy, and briskly acid.
A good second-rate apple for the dessert: in use from November to April, and keeps well without shrivelling.
377. WHEELER’S RUSSET.—Langley.
- Identification.—[Lang. Pom.] 134. [Mill. Dict.] [Fors. Treat.] 129. [Lind. Guide], 100. [Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 3, n. 753. [Diel Kernobst.] xi. 109. [Rog. Fr. Cult.] 107.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and three quarters broad, and two inches and a quarter high; roundish-oblate, and somewhat irregular in its outline. Skin, entirely covered with pale yellowish-grey russet; with redish-brown where exposed to the sun, strewed with russety freckles. Eye, small and closed, with short segments, set in a wide, and undulated basin. Stalk, from a quarter to half-an-inch long, inserted in a round, narrow, and deep cavity. Flesh, greenish-white, firm, juicy, brisk, and sugary, with a rich, vinous, and aromatic flavor.
A valuable, and highly flavored dessert apple of the first quality; it is in use from November to April; and as Mr. Lindley says, when ripened, and begins to shrivel, it is one of the best russets of its season.
The tree is a free grower, healthy, and hardy, but does not attain above the middle size. It is generally a good bearer, and succeeds well in almost any soil, provided it be not too moist.
This apple was raised by James Wheeler, the founder of the Gloucester nursery, now in the occupation of his grandson, Mr. J. Cheslin Wheeler. He was an intelligent and assiduous man in his profession, and published in 1763, “The Botanist’s and Gardener’s New Dictionary.” He died about the beginning of the present century, having attained over ninety years of age.
378. WHEELER’S EXTREME.—Forsyth.
- Identification.—[Fors. Treat.] 129.