18V 



PROMISING NEW FRUITS. 425 



SAN JACINTO APPLE. 



SYNONYM : Mrs. Bryan, erroneously. 



[PLATE L.] 

 EABLY HISTORY. 



The San Jacinto apple appears to have first come to light in the 

 orchard of Dr. A. M. Ragland, of Pilot Point, Dent on County, Tex., 

 under the following circumstances : 



About 1881 or 1882 he obtained 12 apple trees under the name 

 " Mrs. Bryan " from a Georgia nursery. 1 When these trees came 

 into bearing, four of them produced fruit which was entirely distinct 

 in size, color, and time of ripening from the fruit borne by the other 

 8 trees, which were true to name. After several years of fruiting. 

 Dr. Ragland was so favorably impressed with the value of the fruit 

 from these four trees that he had the variety propagated. In the year 

 1900 it was propagated by T. Y. Munson & Son and listed for sale in 

 a catalogue issued in 1902 under the name "Mrs. Bryan," the fact 

 that it differed from the variety entitled to that name not having been 

 established at that time. 



Meanwhile doubt had arisen as to which of these two varieties was 

 the true " Mrs. Bryan." Specimens of the fruit were submitted to the 

 proprietors of the nursery from which the trees came, but they were 

 unable to identify them, having never seen a variety like these speci- 

 mens so far as they knew. Specimens were also sent to Mrs. J. W. 

 Bryan, of Dillon, Dade County, Ga., on whose place the Mrs. Bryan 

 apple originated. She did not recognize the variety, but was positive 

 that it was not the " Mrs. Bryan." 



It having become evident that the identity of this variety was en- 

 tirety unknown up to this time to the parties who were chiefly con- 

 cerned and in view of the apparent value of the variety for southern 

 latitudes and the interest which it was attracting it was named " San 

 Jacinto" 2 by Dr. Ragland, in honor of the battle of San Jacinto, 

 which took place on April 21, 1836, near the mouth of the river of 

 that name and which resulted in the establishment of Texas as an 

 independent republic. 



In the fall of 1903 this variety was listed for sale under its present 

 name in the catalogue of the Munson Nurseries, Denison, 3 Tex., this 

 being, so far as known, the first publication of the name. 



Since the fact that it is distinct from " Mrs. Bryan " became evident 

 some 8 or 10 years ago, its history has received more or less con- 



1 Letter from Dr. A. M. Ragland, December, 1911. 



2 Letter from Mr. T. V. Munson, December, 1911 ; also letter from Dr. A. M. Ragland, 

 December, 1911. 



* Letter from Mr. T. V. Munson, December, 1911. 



