PLATE LXXIII. 
4. GOLDEN SPIRE. 
The origin of this variety seems not to be known. Mr. Richard Smith, of Worcester, met 
with it in Lancashire, where it is greatly cultivated, about twenty-five years ago, and has since 
distributed it with much satisfaction. 
Description .—Fruit : large, conical, snouted, ribbed round the apex, and of a perfect codlin 
shape. Skin : smooth, and shining, pale straw yellow where shaded, but of a thin golden colour, 
tinged with pale orange, where exposed to the sun. Eye : rather deeply sunk in a ribbed and 
angular basin ; segments, divergent and pointed, sometimes quite reflexed ; tube, conical; stamens, 
basal. Cells : open. Stalk : half an inch long, slender, set in a deep and somewhat uneven cavity. 
Flesh : tender, with an agreeable acidity, and with all the merits of a fine cooking apple. 
A fine, solid fleshed, well flavoured, culinary apple, which comes into season in August, and 
will continue until November, December, or even later, if well kept. 
The tree grows very upright, and the shoots are small, giving it an “Aspen-like ” appearance. 
It bears profusely, and is a worthy rival to Lord Snjjield , the Keswick Codlin , and other early 
culinary apples, with the additional advantage of keeping better. It is a favourite, therefore, for 
small gardens and for the markets, indeed as a market apple it can scarcely be surpassed, since it 
combines quantity with quality, and keeps much longer than all other early varieties. 
