PLATE XLV. 
3. KINGSTON BLACK. 
[Syn : Black Kingston; Taynton Black ; Taunton Black '. ] 
This valuable variety is believed to be a Somersetshire Apple, and is said by tradition to 
have been raised at Kingston, near Taunton. There is, however, no authentic record of its origin. 
Description .—Fruit : of medium size, somewhat irregular in shape, two and a quarter inches 
broad, by two inches high, forming a short cone, broad and flat at the base ; obscurely angular, and 
generally higher on one side of the apex than the other. Skin : of a dark mahogany or deep 
crimson colour, which extends over nearly the whole surface ; where the colour is paler it is splashed 
with broken streaks of dark crimson, and where shaded from the sun, the ground colour is deep 
yellow approaching orange, and this is also marked with crimson streaks ; the whole surface is 
strewed with fine cinnamon russet dots and the base is generally covered with ashy grey russet, 
which often runs in streaks up the sides of the fruit. Eye : rather small with erect segments, which 
are reflexed at the tips ; stamens median ; tube funnel-shaped. Stalk : about a quarter of an inch 
long, inserted in a deep russety cavity. Flesh : yellowish with a pink tint near the skin, and fine¬ 
grained. Juice : plentiful, of a rich tawny red colour, agreeable in flavour, moderately sweet, and 
pleasantly acid, with an astringent after-taste. 
Mr. With’s analysis of the Kingston Black Apple (season 1881) gives the following results :— 
Density of fresh juice ... 
Ditto ditto after 24 hours’ exposure to air 
And one hundred parts of juice by weight yielded of— 
S ugar ... ... ... ... ... 
Tannin, Mucilage, Salts, &c. 
Water 
1*052 
!'055 
10*028 
6*792 
83*180 
