A Celebrated Shipping Apple — Munroe's Favorite. 74S 



A CELEBRATED SHIPPING APPPLE : MUNROE'S 



FAVORITE. 



By Jas. Lany. 



Sijn. Dunn's Seedling, Gander's Seedling, Golden Cup, Garibaldi. 

 — Fruit large, about four inclies wide and three and a half inches 

 high, roundish and even in its outline ; skin deep yellow, with a fine 

 clear waxy appearance, sometimes flushed with red on the side next 

 the sun; eye small, closed, set in a rather deep basin; stalk short, and 

 set in a deep cavity lined with russet. The tree is a strong vigorous 

 grower, and attains a large size. 



This apple first came under my notice in the year 1868, when in 

 Castlemaine market one day I noticed some beautiful apples exposed 

 for sale on a stall. On making inquiries I found that they had been 

 grown by a miner named Munroe, residing at Strathlodden. They 

 were very beautiful, and attracted much attention at that time. Some 

 time afterwards I made the acquaintance of Mr. Munroe, when he 

 informed me that the tree from which the apples came was growing 

 in the garden when he purchased the place, whether it was a seedling 

 or had been planted he did not know. I obtained scions of the 

 variety from him, and worked a number of trees with it. When it 

 fruited with me I sent specimens to Mr. George Neilson, Curator of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society's Gardens, at Burnley, to see if he 

 could identify it with any of the varieties growing there. He wrote 

 me saying that it was quite distinct from any in their collection, and 

 suggested that the name should be Munroe's Favorite. This was 

 adopted, and it was registered in the Society's collection as Munroe's 

 Favorite. A Mr. Gander, of Doncaster, afterwards claimed it as his 

 seedling, but, in the opinion of Mr. Neilson, he failed to substantiate 

 his claim. I also found that it was largely grown in the Bendigo 

 district under the name of Garibaldi, and was also very highly 

 esteemed as one of the finest of apples. It was also known in the 

 Diamond Creek district as Golden Cup. Dunn's Seedling of South 

 Australia is also the same apple. 



The true origin of this beautiful apple may, perhaps, never be 

 definitely known, but it seems to have been a great favorite in 

 diif erent parts of the State. It has also proved itself to be one of the 

 very best export apples, having a beautiful waxy appearance when ripe. 



In this connection it may be well to quote the opinion of the late 

 Mr. F. D. Barnes, Managing Director of the P. & 0. S. N. Co., 

 London, to whom I sent two cases of different sorts in the year 1889, 

 amongst which was Munroe's Favorite. He says : — " Munroe's 

 Favorite turned out simply perfect, just like wax, and beautifully 

 yellow. Munroe's Favorite I should send, because it is the most 

 beautiful apple I have ever seen." The place now taken by Munroe's 

 Favorite as an export apple fully justifies the opinion expressed by 

 Mr. Barnes fourteen years ago, while my own opinion is that it is the 

 best commercial apple in cultivation in Australia. 



