THE WHITE BELLEFLEUR APPLE. 



75 



its name. I found it afterwards, however, 

 brought to our market from various other 

 parts of the country, under as many various 

 names. I sent specimens of it to the Mas- 

 sachusetts Hort. Society and the Pa. So- 

 ciety, and also to several eminent pomolo- 

 gists, yourself among the rest ; no one of 

 whom recognized it, except Mr. T. Han- 

 cock, of Burlington, New-Jersey. He sug- 

 gested its identity with his Jersey Green- 

 ing, (not the Jersey Greening of Coxe._) In 

 the 2d vol., page 545 of the Horticulturist, 

 Prof. Kirtland, in his Pomological Notes, 

 asks the question, — " Is not this synony- 

 mous with Wbolman's Long or Ortley Pip- 

 pinV He does not inform us whether 

 the question is suggested by his own obser- 

 vation or that of some other person. 



Having received grafts from Mr. Han- 

 cock some years before, of what he culti- 

 vates as the Jersey Greening, I was led to a 

 careful comparison of the wood, growth and 

 habit of the tree, when it surprised me to 

 observe the striking resemblance. This I 

 had also observed on former occasions with 

 the Ortley Pippin ; grafts of which I had 

 received from the late R. Manning. I 

 watched, therefore, with considerable anxi- 

 ety the maturity of their first fruiting the 

 past summer, to solve the mystery hanging 

 over the nomenclature of this excellent 

 fruit. The result is most satisfactory in 

 removing every doubt, and proving our 

 Detroit to be synonymous with the Ortley 

 Pippin of Li?idley's Guide, and Manning 's 

 Book of Fruits, which I presume is the 

 Wool/nan's Long of Thompson, as described 

 in your Fruits and Fruit Trees of America. 

 The fact that it was sent from New-Jersey 

 to England, and there pronounced as iden- 

 tical with WoolmarCs Long, would appear 

 to fix it as an European variety, and to re- 

 move all doubt of its origin and introduc- 

 tion among us. Still, Mr. Floy, who first | 



sent the Ortley to England, declares that 

 it is an American variety,* which origi- 

 nated in New-Jersey ; and Mr. Thompson 

 has not offered us any means of knowing 

 that " Woolman's Long," like " Vicar of 

 Winkfield," may not be a new English 

 name, by which this fruit has been re- 

 christened in bringing it into Bri ish gar- 

 dens. More than all, as this apple is culti- 

 vated to an immense extent in the western 

 states as the Detroit, or White Bellefleur, 

 and as this latter name has become a stan- 

 dard one in this country, through Down- 

 ing's Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, I 

 feel justified in assuming the White Belle- 

 fleur to be the standard name. 



I have, in describing this apple, confined 

 myself strictly to its western character, 

 which, I am aware, differs somewhat from 

 your descriptions in point of colour, size 

 and texture. To the first I am readily re- 

 conciled, from having observed, when on a 

 visit to the north last summer, the singu- 

 lar and remarkable fact, that some fruits 

 which, with us, are very rarely coloured at 

 all, are there always very highly coloured. 

 The second, I presume to be the natural 

 consequence of our soil and climate. 



The growth of the young tree is upright, 

 long and slender ; from the latter cause, 

 often bending to one side, under the weight 

 of the foliage. Wood smooth, and yellow- 

 ish brown, with the ends of the long slen- 

 der shoots inclined to mildew. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Size. — Large. 



Form. — Generally conical, slightly flat- 

 tened at the base; surface mostly even, 

 but not uniformly so ; much disposed to 

 vary in form and evenness of surface. 



Calyx. — Small, partly closed, and in a 

 shallow basin. 



* .See late edition of Floy't Lindley, 1846. 



