THE APPLES OF NEW YORK. 221 



NELSON, 



REFERENCES, i. Am. Jour, of Hort., 2:16. 1867. 2. Downing, 1872:284. 3. 

 ///. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1879. 4. Beach, N. Y. Sta. An. Rpt., 13:590. 1894. 5- 

 Ib., 14:262. 1895. 6. Ib., 15:282. 1896. 7. Beach and Clark, N. Y. Sta. Bui 

 248:133. 1904. 



SYNONYM. NELSON SWEET (3, 4, 6). 



A good sweet apple of medium size, green with dull blush, in 

 season from February to June. Its commercial limit here in 

 common storage is April or May. The tree is a good grower 

 and a reliable cropper. It comes into bearing rather young and 

 is almost an annual bearer, yielding moderate to rather heavy 

 crops. It is a good variety for the home orchard where a very 

 late-keeping sweet apple is desired, but it is not considered 

 valuable commercially because it is sweet, not large and not 

 very attractive in appearance. 



Historical. Nelson was first brought to notice in Illinois but its origin is 

 uncertain. It was first exhibited before the Illinois Horticultural Society at 

 its Champaign meeting, December, 1866 (i). Received in 1889 from Benjamin 

 Buckman, Farmingdale, Illinois, for testing here. It appears to be practically 

 unknown in New York. 



TREE. 



Tree vigorous to moderately vigorous. Form open, spreading and rather 

 flat. Tivigs short to rather long, rather slender to stout with large terminal 

 buds, nearly straight but geniculate ; internodes medium to rather long. Bark 

 clear reddish-brown tinged with olive-green, partly streaked with thin scarf- 

 skin, slightly pubescent. Lenticels quite numerous, small to medium, round 

 or oval, usually not raised. Buds rather small to large, broad, plump, obtuse, 

 free, slightly pubescent. 



FRUIT. 



Fruit medium to above, uniform in size and shape. Form roundish to 

 roundish-ovate, sometimes inclined to oblong, pretty regular but sometimes 

 inclined to elliptical and often somewhat ribbed. Stem below medium to 

 above, rather slender, pubescent. Cavity rather small, usually narrow, moder- 

 ately deep, acuminate, partly russeted, sometimes lipped. Calyx rather small 

 to medium, usually closed, pubescent; lobes reflexed, long, acute. Basin 

 shallow to moderately deep, often narrow, obtuse to somewhat abrupt, 

 furrowed and wrinkled. 



Skin moderately thick, tough, smooth, dull green at first, but eventually 

 becoming more or less tinged with yellow, shaded with a brownish blush 

 which sometimes partly deepens to red. A suture line often extends from 

 the cavity to the basin. Dots numerous, often submerged and whitish, some- 

 times areolar with russet point ; about the cavity they are larger, irregular and 

 often elongated. Prevailing effect green or yellowish. 



