BEST APPLE IN WORLD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19125, 21 September 1936, Page 12

BEST APPLE IN WORLD

ENGLISH FRUIT LAUDED TREES PROM ROMAN ERA LONDON, Aug. 26. Many little-known facts about English apples—the finest in the world and grown ail over the world— are revealed in “The Apples* of England,” just pubThe" author of this new work on “pomology,” the title by which the study of 'Our national fruit is dignified, is Mr H. V. Taylor, Horticultural Commissioner. to- the Ministry of Agriculture, which lias handled each of the 199 varieties, "he describes. . It was Mr. Cox, a retired brewer living near Slough, who raised the . first: Cox’s Grange Pippin in his garden a century ago, and’in 1935 two giant trees, probably grafts from the original, still grew in this garden. ‘ * An obscure Mr. Bramley grew the first Bramley Seedling, the world-famous cooking apple. The beautiful Scarlet Nonpareil was found growing in the tardea of a public-house at Eisher. *A mechanic raised the first Chelmsford Wonder, in 1870, and shoe-makers, hand-loom weavers, monks and country rectors have all contributed, to the varietiflf of . apples that;exist to-day: fir OLD IN 16th CENTURY. “The Devon Quarrenden, mentioned in 1685, is still listed bv most firms, but the oldest apple now grown is pro Dab Jy Court Pendu Plat, mentioned in the sixteenth century as an old variety.* The Pearmain, from which the famous Worcester .Pearmain derives its name, goes back to 12C4, and some of our apples could trace their parentage, n documents existed, to apples introduced during the Roman occupation of Britain. JEingland in turn has given apples to thd whole World. In 1818 tire world a Stock of Blenheim Orange was represented by. one tiny tree at Woodstock, that sprang, from an unknown origin. Branches of this first tree have been multiplied many thousand times by grafting in Europe, America, Australia, a-n.T New Zealand, and the wood of all the Blenheim trees is identical with the wood of the original. Mr. Taylor’s book shows that, given a favourable season, there need be no month when fresh English apples cannot be obtained. Starting with Laxton s Early Crimson in July, it is possible to work through all the varieties and end with the Stunner, whose season is April and May. After a really hot summer, Stunners of excellent- and agreeable taste may be had from May to September.