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.
107. EARLY NONPAREIL.—Lind.
- Identification.—[Lind. Plan. Or.] 1796. [Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 3, n. 467. [Lind. Guide], 88. [Rog Fr. Cult.] 67.
- Synonymes.—Stagg’s Nonpareil, acc. [Hort. Soc. Cat.] New Nonpareil, Ibid. Summer Nonpareil, [Ron. Cat.] Hicks’s Fancy, [Ron. Pyr. Mal.] 4. Lacy’s Nonpareil, acc. Rogers.
- Figure.—[Ron. Pyr. Mal.] pl. ii. f. 6.
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.