Apple Trees 39- Historic Varieties Grown and Supplied by Bernwode Fruit Trees

POMME GRISE Forsyth tells us, in 1810, that “Pomme Grise, was introduced into this country by Mr. Alexander Barclay, of Brompton, well known for his ingenuity in bleaching of wax. He is a great lover of horticulture, and has raised several new sorts of Gooseberries from seed. This is a fine Apple, from Canada, of a flattish form and russet colour, streaked beautifully with red. It ripens late, and keeps till March. This is an excellent eating Apple.” Bunyard (1920) said that it came to England from Canada in 1794. Downing (1878) thought that it might originally have been French or Swiss, but there are no records in those countries to support it. Hedrich, in America in 1922 said that it had been cultivated more than a century in Canada and “finds greatest favor among the French in the valley of the St. Lawrence”. It might well be French and very old indeed, having been planted along the colonization routes of the French in Canada in the 17th or 18th century. Throughout the 19th century it was known and appreciated for the rich little apple that it is, but it has been unknown here, after Bunyard wrote of it in 1920. It has lived on in America, throughout, and is also now in the Belgian national collection, but not encountered elsewhere. Hogg in 1884 described it as a dessert apple, small, roundish/ovate, with skin covered in rough russet. Underneath the russet it is green in the shade, but orange in the sun. The flesh is tinted yellow, crisp, very juicy and sugary, with a brisk and highly aromatic flavour. The eye is small and open, set in a narrow and shallow basin. The stalk is about half an inch long, inserted in a shallow and small cavity. This is the apple that is known in America and our experience of it, having been sent scions from the collection of the late Nick Botner, in Oregon, in 2001. Apples here are ripe in early October, when they are gently crisp and crunchy, very sweet, richly flavoured with just the right amount of acid and bursting with juice. The skin is covered with broken russet, and it can be a little tough, but not enough to deter the pleasure inside. The apples store over the winter. Pollination Group 4

PORT WINE KERNEL Also called Port Wine Pippin. The old tree was found at Hay Redding Orchard at Chaxhill, Gloucestershire, and propagated before entering the collection of the Gloucestershire Orchard Group, who provided scions for us. A medium sized, dessert and possibly cider apple. Conical, with green skin turning warm yellow, flushed and streaked with red, sometimes covering most of the apple and sometimes quite dark red. The nature of the apples varies quite a lot from year to year. In late September the apples are very juicy, very sweet and with a good, rich flavour, with hints of banana and an additional floral savour. The flesh is not crisp, but not soft either. It is best called tender. In some years an excellent dessert apple. Pollination Group 5

PORTER An old American apple, long grown in Britain. Calhoun, in ‘Old Southern Apples’ (1995) writes that it was first grown around 1800 by the Rev. Samuel Porter of Sherburne, Massachusetts and that it was atypical for such ‘northern’ apples to retain their fine qualities when grown in the warmer ‘south’. It was a popular commercial fruit in the USA in the middle of the 19th century. He adds that, when cooked, it keeps its shape and retains flavour well, though it is also a dessert apple. Small and large apples ripen together over a two month period. Scott, in 1872, claims to have brought it from America and introduced it through his nursery. He describes it as a small to medium, top quality, September to October fruit; oblong, regular and narrowing towards the eye. The skin is glossy, bright yellow and with a deeper tinge in the sun or a light blush. The flesh is ‘fine grained, and abounding in juice, sprightly, agreeably aromatic, and nicely subacid’. He adds the tree is a free grower and fruits abundantly, ‘and deserves extensive cultivation’. Pollination Group 6

POWELL'S RUSSET A once popular old Somerset apple dating from before 1700, now rare. Taylor reports in "The Apples of England", 1936, that Powell's Russet was a medium sized Somerset dessert apple with green skin and much russet marking. The apples were said to be round and flattened, the eyes open in a shallow saucer and the stems of medium length in a russeted cavity. This description accords with the tree we have, acquired from Mr and Mrs Tann of Aldham, Essex. Apples are a little hard when young, but soften and develop a full rich flavour, later. Pollination Group 4

PRESTWOOD GOLD While exploring old trees in Prestwood, Buckinghamshire, once famous for its extensive cherry orchards, with our local guide, George Lewis, we visited a very old tree in the garden of Lesley Stoner. Mr and Mrs Stoner’s house was built in the 1850s on the edge of the common, in an area of old cherries interspersed with apples, part of which became the garden. The tree seems to be of an age before 1850. Named by Lesley, this large, mid season cooking apple is green becoming golden, with sometimes a warm blush, and breaks down to a very sweet and rich purée. In some years, the fruit can be a very good eating apple, crisp, sweet, rich and tangy. It does not keep beyond the autumn. A very good apple. Pollination Group 4

PRIMROSE PIPPIN An interesting early to mid season apple notified to us by Helen Beale who sent cuttings from a tree owned by Ted and Iris Watts, who later kindly sent us fruit. Their property at Flexford Farm, Lymington, Hampshire was formerly owned by Tess Longman who died in her 80s. Tess used to provide Helen with apples. They were known as Primrose Pippins by Tess Longman. There were once five trees of it and two remain. The unusual numbers suggest it was once a commercial orchard. The small rounded and flat yellow apples, with some russet, are ripe in late August to September and do not keep long, but have a fine, rich flavour. Pollination Group 5

PRINZENAPFEL A German dessert apple known in the 18th century, and first recorded in England in the London Horticultural Society catalogue of 1826. The L.H.S. catalogue of 1842 described it as medium sized, oblong, pale yellow, flushed red and ripe in October. An attractive apple, long and gently ribbed with golden skin mostly covered with an orange red flush and carmine streaks. The flesh is fine and tender, rather than crisp, moist enough and very rich. The acidity is just right. After keeping a week or two, by the end of October it has a rich strawberry flavour, but is, by then, softening. There are sometimes red blotches in the flesh. The appearance is both unusual and attractive, and the apple is still popular in Germany and elsewhere in northern Europe. Pollination Group 4

PROFIT 1 Also called Profit Apple, it was once a widespread and popular culinary apple, first recorded in 1863. The National Apple Register records that it was still in existence in 1947, but no examples were found in recent times until two visitors to an apple day in 2001, at Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester, brought in some anonymous apples. They were identified as being the ‘lost’ Profit Apple. One was from George Tozer of Woodcutts, near Salisbury, the other was Barry Wenham, of the Manor House, Fordingbridge, Hampshire. Neither of their names and contact details were kept at the time, but a television appeal managed to locate them. Chris Hunter of Kingston Maurward College sent us scions of both trees shortly after. However, they are different and neither seems to match the fairly brief historical descriptions of Profit. This one is a late season, medium sized eating apple, green turning pale yellow, roundish and lightly ribbed, with crisp, juicy, rich flesh in early October and keeping well into November. If either Profit 1 or Profit 2 is the ‘lost’ Profit’ it is more likley to be Profit 2. Pollination Group 5

PROFIT 2 As with Profit 1, an apple brought to the 2001 Apple Day at Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester, when two different visitors brought in anonymous apples which were identified as being the ‘lost’ Profit Apple. The scions we received from the Apple Day organizers were from both sources but were not labelled as to which source. Profit 2 is a larger apple than Profit 1 and is more flat than round, with smoother skin, becoming clear yellow sometimes with a warm blush. The skin is tough and, after picking, the apples go a little greasy – both hallmarks of an apple that will store well. They can be eaten raw, and the flavour is sweet and mild, but a little weak. The cooked fruit keeps its shape, has a rich perfumed flavour and has no need for added sugar. It gives up hardly any juice and is ideal for mincemeat, chutneys and open tarts. Ripe in October, the apples store beyond December. If either Profit 1 or Profit 2 is the ‘lost’ Profit’ it is more likley to be Profit 2. Pollination Group 5

PUCKRUPP PIPPIN A late dessert apple, first described in 1872, though possibly a much older apple. The accession in the National Collection is believed to be different to that described in 1872, and has been renamed Puckrupt Pippin. Ours is from the Tann collection. It may have originated in Puckrup, Gloucestershire. An apple with a sweet, citric flavour and firm, deep cream flesh, storing until February. Pollination Group 4