ORIGIN OF SOME OLD AND NEW APPLE VARIETIES 



Wil 1 iam J . Lord 

 Department of Plant and Soil Sciences 



This past winter it was suggested that an article in Fruit 

 Notes on the origin of some old and new apple varieties would be 

 of interest and of value to readers. Apparently, customers occa- 

 sionally ask the roadside-stand operator about the origin of a 

 vari ety . 



Most of the apple varieties planted in this country origin- 

 ated here, but the history of many is obscure and except for vari- 

 eties more recently introduced, few came into existence as the prod- 

 uct of the plant breeder. Most of the varieties originated as 

 chance seedlings and were discovered and introduced into cultiva- 

 tion by some observer or admirer of the fruit. Mcintosh, Delicious, 

 Wealthy, Northern Spy and Baldwin are examples of commercial vari- 

 eties that originated as such chance seedlings. 



The following is a list of some of the apple varieties being 

 Sold in Massachusetts and their origin. Where varieties have re- 

 sulted from a controlled cross between two other varieties, the 

 origin of such varieties is expressed by placing the letter "X" be- 

 tween the parent varieties. For example, the Milton variety is a 

 cross between Yellow Transparent X Mcintosh. 



Bal dwin A chance seedling in an orchard at Wilmington, Massa- 

 chusetts. It was propagated and widely introduced in 

 Eastern Massachusetts as early as 1784. 



Cortland Originated from the cross of Ben Davis X Mcintosh. 

 The cross was made at Geneva, New York, by the New 

 York State Agricultural Experiment Station, and it 

 was introduced for trial about 1915. 



Davey Open-pollinated seedling of Mcintosh. Originating in 

 North Grafton, Massachusetts, in the orchard of S. 

 Lothrop Davenport, it was introduced commercially in 

 1950. 



Del i cious A chance seedling originally distributed under the 

 name Hawkeye, it was discovered in Iowa in 1881. 



Early Yellow Transparent X Mcintosh. Developed in Geneva, 

 Mcintosh New York, by the New York State Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, it was introduced for trial in 1923. 



Golden Originating as a chance seedling in West Virginia, it 

 Del i cious was introduced by Stark Brothers in 1916. 



