| 'Harrison' apple | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genus | Malus |
| Species | Malus domestica |
| Cultivar | 'Harrison' |
The Harrison cider apple is one of the most famous 18th-century American cider apples, primarily used for the production of apple cider. Grown in New Jersey before and after the American Revolution, it fell out of favor by 20th century. The Harrison cider apple was considered lost until it was recovered in Livingston, New Jersey at an old cider mill in September 1976.
William Coxe, the first American to publish an illustrated book on the already enormous variety of fruits being grown in North America following the American Revolution, [1] described the Harrison Cider Apple in 1817:
This is the most celebrated of the cider apples of Newark in New-Jersey: it is cultivated in high perfection, and to a great extent in that neighbourhood, particularly on the Orange mountain; the shape is rather long, and pointed towards the crown - the stalk long; hence often called the long stem - the ends are deeply hollowed; the skin is yellow, with many black spots, which gives a rough-ness to the touch: the flesh is rich, yellow, firm and tough; the taste pleasant and sprightly, but rather dry - it produces a high coloured, rich, and sweet cider of great strength, commanding a high price in New York, frequently ten dollars and upwards per barrel when fined for bottling. The trees are certain bearers; the apples fall about the first of November; they are below middling size, and remarkably free from rot; ripen at that time, but will keep well when housed. The tree is of strong and vigorous growth, throwing out numerous suckers from the limbs- the wood is hard... it obtained its name from a family in Essex County New-Jersey, where it originated, and is very extensively cultivated. [2]
The breeding stock for apples, pears, cherries, plums, and peaches that has become the source of contemporary pome fruits in North America was set in place and fully described in Coxe's book. While most of these fruit varieties or their parents arrived from Europe, Coxe advocated growing the new American varieties derived from the European ones, since they showed themselves to be better adapted to the American climate and soils. [3]
When S.A. Beach wrote "The Apples of New York" in 1905, no mention of the Harrison was made, [4] as it had slipped into obsolescence by the 20th century. The chief cause of this obsolescence was the growing momentum of the temperance movement throughout the United States, beginning in the 1820s. [5]
In September 1976, a fruit variety collector from Vermont went in search of the Harrison and Campfield Cider Apples in the neighborhood of Orange Mountain in Essex County, New Jersey that Coxe had written about in 1817. On September 25, he discovered an old cider mill in Livingston, New Jersey (Nettie Ochs Cider Mill on Old Short Hills Road, no longer in existence). [6] The owner had a 'Harrison' apple tree in his backyard, which, according to the owner, had been planted by his grandfather at the turn of the century. This tree was about to be cut down to make room for an expanding vegetable garden; and it was cut down less than one week later. The tree was full of small yellow apples matching Coxe's description. The suckers Coxe had described were also present. Scions were cut and stored for the winter. In the spring of 1977, dozens of Alnarp #2 seedling rootstocks were topworked with the 'Harrison' cider apple.
In 1980, the recent recovery of the 'Harrison' and 'Campfield' cider apples in Livingston and Roseland, New Jersey was shared with Lew Nichols and Annie Proulx in Vershire, Vermont. [7]
In the fall of 1992, trees, fruit, and scions of the Harrison Cider Apple, from the 1976 Livingston, New Jersey discovery, were sent from Vermont to Thomas Burford of Virginia, a respected nurseryman and expert on heirloom apples. [8] [9]
Subsequently, the Harrison Cider Apple has become widely available. [10] Ironbound Hard Cider worked with Tom Burford to bring the Harrison cider apple back to commercial scale in New Jersey. The cidery uses the Harrison to produce modern versions of three Colonial-era products (Newark Cider, Cider Royal, and pét-nat sparkling cider) on its 108-acre farm in Asbury, New Jersey, about 50 miles west of Newark.
Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus Pyrus, in the family Rosaceae, bearing the pomaceous fruit of the same name. Several species of pears are valued for their edible fruit and juices, while others are cultivated as trees.
Cider apples are a group of apple cultivars grown for their use in the production of cider. Cider apples are distinguished from "cookers" and "eaters", or dessert apples, by their bitterness or dryness of flavour, qualities which make the fruit unpalatable but can be useful in cidermaking. Some apples are considered to occupy more than one category.
The Baldwin apple is a bright red winter apple, very good in quality, and easily shipped. It was for many years the most popular apple in New England, New York, and for export from the United States of America. No apple in the vicinity of Boston was so popular as Baldwin. It has also been known as 'Calville Butter', 'Felch', 'Late Baldwin', 'Pecker', 'Red Baldwin's Pippin', 'Steele's Red Winter', and 'Woodpecker'.
A rootstock is part of a plant, often an underground part, from which new above-ground growth can be produced. It could also be described as a stem with a well developed root system, to which a bud from another plant is grafted. It can refer to a rhizome or underground stem. In grafting, it refers to a plant, sometimes just a stump, which already has an established, healthy root system, onto which a cutting or a bud from another plant is grafted. In some cases, such as vines of grapes and other berries, cuttings may be used for rootstocks, the roots being established in nursery conditions before planting them out. The plant part grafted onto the rootstock is usually called the scion. The scion is the plant that has the properties that propagator desires above ground, including the photosynthetic activity and the fruit or decorative properties. The rootstock is selected for its interaction with the soil, providing the roots and the stem to support the new plant, obtaining the necessary soil water and minerals, and resisting the relevant pests and diseases. After a few weeks, the tissues of the two parts will have grown together, eventually forming a single plant. After some years, it may be difficult to detect the site of the graft although the product always contains the components of two genetically different plants.
Winesap is an old apple cultivar of unknown origin, dating at least to American colonial times. Its apples are sweet with a tangy finish. They are used for eating, cooking, and are especially prized for making cider.
Applejack is a strong alcoholic drink produced from apples. Popular in the American colonial era, the drink's prevalence declined in the 19th and 20th centuries amid competition from other spirits.
The 'Rhode Island Greening' is an American apple variety and the official fruit of the state of Rhode Island.
William Coxe Jr. was a pioneer pomologist and a U.S. Representative from New Jersey. He served as Mayor of Burlington, New Jersey.
The origins of the Rambo apple cultivar are unknown. It may date back to the American colony of New Sweden, when in 1637 Peter Gunnarsson Rambo, a Swedish immigrant, arrived on the Kalmar Nyckel. Swedish natural historian Pehr Kalm, who wrote Travels in North America, 1747–51, took notes of his interview with Mr. Peter Rambo, grandson of Peter Gunnarsson Rambo, recording that the "original Peter Rambo had brought apple seeds and several other tree and garden seeds with him in a box." The first Rambo apple tree was very likely grown from one of these seeds. There is no certainty, however, since the earliest documented mention of the apple variety's origin occurs in William Coxe's A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees, and the Management of Orchards and Cider, published in 1817. Coxe wrote only that the Rambo was much cultivated in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey and took "its name from the families by whom it was introduced into notice."
The Kingston Black, also known as Black Taunton, is a cultivar of apple originating from the United Kingdom and used in making cider. The name of the cultivar comes from the apples' dark red or purplish skin, though despite the name, the fruit does not have a black hue.
The Newtown Pippin, also known as Albemarle Pippin, is an American apple that originated in the late 17th or early 18th century and is still cultivated on a small scale. At one time, there were two very similar apple cultivars known as the 'Yellow Newtown' and 'Green Newtown', one of which perhaps originated as a sport of the other.
'Dabinett' is an apple cultivar, customarily used in Somerset for making cider.
A cider mill, also known as a cidery, is the location and equipment used to crush apples into apple juice for use in making apple cider, hard cider, applejack, apple wine, pectin and other products derived from apples. More specifically, it refers to a device used to crush or grind apples as part of the overall juice production.
The Foxwhelp is a very old cider apple cultivar, originating in the west Midlands of England.
The Styre or Stire, also known as the Forest Styre, was an old English variety of cider apple which was formerly common in the Forest of Dean. It is currently thought to be extinct, but may still survive in old orchards or gardens.
The Redstreak, also spelt Redstrake, Red Streak or Red-streak, is or was a very old variety of cider apple formerly commonly planted in England.
'Surprise' is a pink-fleshed apple that is the ancestor of many of the present-day pink/red-fleshed apples bred by American growers.
Slack-ma-Girdle is an old variety of cider apple formerly widely grown in the South-West of England. It is one of a group of similar and closely related varieties all often known by the name "Woodbine".
The Poveshon, sometimes "Povershon", is an 18th-century American cider apple, primarily used for the production of apple cider. Grown in New Jersey before and after the American Revolution, it became obsolete by the 20th century as the cider industry in the state declined. It is considered lost, though it has possibly been rediscovered.
Thomas Nelson Burford was an American pomologist, orchardist, and apple historian. He is considered one of the most influential figures in the revival of heritage apples and cider in the United States.
