[Plate I. 
Its great merit as a cider apple seems to have been quickly recognised, but its cultivation up 
to this period could not have been on an extensive scale or it would have been more generally 
known. Even Philips in his celebrated poem entitled “ Cyder ” seems as ignorant of its existence as 
most of the writers on orchards were at that period. A highly appreciative notice of it is found in 
a letter to a friend written by Hugh Stafford of Pynes in Devonshire, Esq., bearing date 1727. He 
says, “This is an Apple long known, and of late years has acquired a much greater reputation than 
it had formerly. The fruit is rather small than middle-sized, in shape long, and all over of a dark 
red colour. I have been told by a person of credit that a hogshead of cider from this fruit has been 
sold in London for or eight guineas, and that often a hogshead of French wine has been given 
in exchange for the same quantity of Fox-whelp. It is said to contain a richer and more cordial juice 
than even the Red-streak itself, though something rougher if not softened by racking. The tree 
seems to want the same helps as the Red-streak to make it grow large. It is of Herefordshire 
extraction.” Mr. Knight in the “Pomona Hcrefordicnsis ,” published in 1811, also thought it 
“certainly a true Herefordshire Apple,” and this of late, has been the prevalent belief, derived 
probably from the opinion of the twe last named writers. 
The merit of its production thus rests with the Forest of Dean, on the authorities we have 
given, but there is no record of the origin of its singular name. It may readily be supposed 
however that the stray seedling sprung up near a fox’s earth, and thus when it had shown its 
character it obtained its name. Some devoted admirers think they see in the eye of this Apple a 
distinctive resemblance to the physiogonomy of a young fox, but here surely the name has guided 
the imagination. Wherever the young seedling may have grown, the brilliant colour of its fruit 
would render it conspicuous, and its rough peculiar flavour with a judge of Apples would proclaim 
its merit. It is probable that a fox-hunter found and named it, and certainly none appreciate more 
highly than fox-hunters the merits of its cider. 
Description .—The fruit is roundish, inclining to conical or ovate, with an uneven outline, 
caused by several obtuse ribs on the sides, and which terminate in ridges round the eye; in good 
specimens one side is generally convex, while the other is flattened. Skin beautifully striped with 
deep bright crimson and yellow; on the side next the sun it is more crimson than it is on the shaded 
side, where the yellow stripes are more apparent. Eye very small, set in a narrow, shallow, and 
plaited basin ; segments short, somewhat erect, and slightly divergent. Calyx-tube funnel-shaped. 
Stamens marginal. Stalk three-quarters of an inch long, obliquely inserted by the side of a fleshy 
swelling, which pushes it on one side and gives it a curving direction. Flesh yellow tinged with 
red, tender, and with a rough and acid flavour. Cells of the core wide open. It belongs to group 
10 of Dr. Hogg’s New Classification of Apples. 
The surface of the Fox-whelp Apple is usually marked by small dark coloured, circular scabs 
or patches, which are thought by some growers to be characteristic of the Fox-whelp, but this is not 
so. The round patches are formed by the miscroscopic fungus, Spiloccea pomi, and are commonly to 
be found on the apples of very aged trees of all kinds of fruit. Like all fungus growths this is much 
more abundant in some seasons than in others. 
The coloured plate of the Foxwhelp Apple was drawn from fruit grown on the estate of 
W. H. Apperley, Esq., of Withington. The trees are believed to have been planted by one of 
his ancestors about the year 1690, and are still in fruitful vigour. 
