PRELIMINARY NOTES ON THE SEEDLING APPLES 



OF MAINE. 



W. M. Munson. 



In 1845 Charles Downing wrote: " New varieties of apples 

 are constantly springing up in this country from seed, in favor- 

 able soils ; and, when of superior quality may, as a general rule, 

 be considered much more valuable for orchard culture than for- 

 eign sorts, on account of their greater productiveness and lon- 

 gevity. Indeed every state has some fine apples peculiar to it, 

 and it is therefore impossible, in the present state of pomology in 

 this country, to give a complete list of the finest apples of the 

 United States." 



Among the earliest Maine apples to attract attention were 

 several varieties originating in the town of Winthrop, on the 

 farm at present owned by John Stanley and Wyman Hanson. 

 These apples sprang from seed brought to Winthrop before 1800 

 by Ichabod Howe, to whom is due the credit of planting the first 

 orchard in the town of Winthrop. The seeds were brought from 

 Ipswich, Massachusetts, and from the miscellaneous collection of 

 seedlings produced, several valuable sorts were selected ; among 

 them being Winthrop Greening, which was first brought to 

 notice by Jacob Nelson of Winthrop, who owned the Howe farm 

 in the year 1808. Nelson, Lambert and many other varieties of 

 local importance were also included. 



In 1850, 10 of the 167 varieties deemed worthy of special men- 

 tion for New England, by the author of Cole's American Fruit 

 Book, were natives of Maine. The names and descriptions of 

 7 of these were furnished to the author by Dr. Ezekiel Holmes, 

 at that time Secretary of the Maine Pomological and Horticul- 

 tural Society, and were as follows : Bailey Golden, Briggs 

 Auburn, Fairbanks, Moses Wood, Stevens Gilliflower, Winn 

 Russett, and Winthrop Pearmain. The other three sorts named 

 were Cole Quince, Table Greening, and Winthrop Greening. 



* Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1872), p. 70. 



