THE MINISTER APPLE, 



MiNisTEE. Manning's Booh of Fruits. 



The Minister apple is far less extensively culti- 

 vated than its merits deserve. In Essex County, 

 Massachusetts, where it originated, it is considerably 

 disseminated, and is esteemed, by all who know it, 

 as one of the very best winter apples ; not certainly 

 as the latest keeper, but in the tenderness of its 

 flesh, in the abundance of its sprightly juice, and 

 the delicacy of its flavor, unsurpassed in the months 

 of December and January, when it is in its greatest 

 perfection. It is also very prepossessing in its 

 appeai'ance, as well as distinct in its form, having a delicate pale yellow 

 and waxy-looking skin, beautifully and most distinctly striped with pale 

 crimson; while its oblong conical form, similar to the Bellflower, and 

 very peculiar formation about the stem, render it one of the most dis- 

 tinct as well as one of the most easily recognized of all apples. 



The Minister originated on the farm of the late David Saunders, 

 of Ipswich village, near Rowley, Mass., but at what period we have 

 been unable to ascertain. It was first brought to notice by the late 

 Dr. Spring, of Newburyport, who purchased the first fruit that was 

 brought to market, and from this circumstance it was called the Minis- 

 ter apple. It soon came under the notice of the late R. Manning, of 

 Salem, who was always collecting whatever appeared new and promising, 

 for his pomological garden, and through his exertions it was introduced 

 to the notice of cultivators generally. Subsequently, the late Capt. 

 Lovett, of Beverly, added it to his collection, which embraced all the 

 finest apples ; he considered it a most valuable variety, and, for many 

 successive years, exhibited superior specimens before the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society. 



We have remarked that it is not so extensively cultivated as many 

 other apples, being confined chiefly to Massachusetts. Among all tlie 

 varieties brought before the Ohio Pomological Convention at its seven 

 sessions up to 1856, we do not find even its name mentioned, showing 

 how little it is disseminated in the West. It has never yet found its 

 way to the Boston market in any quantity. Possessed of so many good 

 qualities this may appear surprising, and it shows how slowly even our 

 best fruits acquire a general reputation, or become extensively known. 

 The Minister is a fair growing tree, upright in habit, rather slender 



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