This esteemed variety was raised about the year 1780, by a nurseryman of the name of Stagg, at Caister, near Yarmouth, in Norfolk. The name of Hicks’s Fancy was given to it by Kirke, formerly a nurseryman at Brompton, near London, from the circumstance of a person of the name of Hicks, giving it the preference to the other varieties which were fruited in the nursery. An instance of the absurd system by which the names of fruits have been multiplied.
108. EARLY SPICE.—Hort.
- Identification.—[Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 3, n. 786.
Fruit, of medium size, two inches and three quarters wide, and two inches and a quarter high; roundish, and somewhat angular. Skin, smooth, of an uniform pale yellow or straw color, and thinly strewed with greenish dots. Eye, small and open, with long, reflexed segments, and set in a small basin. Stalk, three quarters of an inch long, deeply inserted in a rather angular cavity, which is thickly lined with russet. Flesh, white, tender, marrowy and very juicy; with a pleasant, refreshing and sub-acid flavor.
An excellent early culinary apple, which is well suited for baking, and is also good as an eating apple. It is ripe in the first week of August, but soon becomes woolly after being gathered.
109. EARLY WAX.—Hort.
- Identification.—[Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 2, p. 14.
- Synonyme.—Wax Apple, [Ron. Pyr. Mal.] 3.
- Figure.—[Ron. Pyr. Mal.] pl. ii. f. 1.
Fruit, below medium size, two inches wide, and two inches and a half high; oblong, and somewhat ribbed, particularly at the base. Skin, thick and membranous, of an uniform waxen yellow color. Eye, partially open, with long reflexed segments, and set in a moderately deep basin. Stalk, long and slender, inserted in a deep and angular cavity, from which issue prominent ribs. Flesh, yellowish-white, tender and soft, with a sweet and abundant juice.
A dessert apple of ordinary merit, valuable only for its earliness, as it ripens in the first week of August, but does not keep any time.