Herefordshire Pomona

Last updated
An illustration for a pear variety from the Pomona HP-pears.jpg
An illustration for a pear variety from the Pomona

The Herefordshire Pomona is a 19th-century catalogue of the apples and pears that were grown in the county of Herefordshire in England. It was one of the first attempts to fully catalogue the existing varieties of English fruit and has been called "a classic of late Victorian natural history". [1] Only 600 copies were ever printed and originals now fetch high prices whenever they are sold.

Over a period of about ten years in the late 19th century, the Pomona Committee of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club of Hereford held an annual autumn show featuring the local varieties of apples and pears. The club members were worried that although Herefordshire was famous for its orchards "it was very remarkable that so few of the best varieties of apples should appear in the markets, or the fruit shops". [1] At the behest of the committee, Dr Robert Hogg, at the time Vice-President of the Royal Horticultural Society, author of The Fruit Manual, and editor of the RHS Journal; and local doctor and former president of the Woolhope club, Dr Henry Graves Bull, catalogued and described the fruit displayed at the shows. The descriptions were painstakingly illustrated over a period of eight years by Alice Blanche Ellis and Edith Elizabeth Bull, the latter of whom was Robert's daughter. [2]

The book originally appeared in seven issues, the first part appearing in 1878 and the last in 1884, and included the 441 original watercolours produced by Alice and Edith of the different fruits, buds, blossoms of the cultivars and the blights which attacked them. [3] The hand-coloured lithographs were done by the Belgian firm of G. Severeyns. [4] Once complete the seven parts were collected together and published by Jakeman & Carver [5] as The Herefordshire Pomona Containing Original Figures and Descriptions of the Most Esteemed Kinds of Apples and Pears. 600 copies were published with pebbled green morocco covers, raised bands and gilt decorative panels. They have become highly sought after and originals can command prices of over £10,000, [6] although the information is now available on CD at a fraction of the price. [2]

Related Research Articles

Pear Species of fruit

Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. 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.

Perry is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, similar to the way cider is made from apples. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in the Three Counties ; it is also made in parts of South Wales and France, especially Normandy and Anjou. It is also made in Commonwealth countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Schnapps or schnaps is a type of alcoholic beverage that may take several forms, including distilled fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs, infusions, and "flavored liqueurs" made by adding fruit syrups, spices, or artificial flavorings to neutral grain spirits.

Fruit tree pollination

Pollination of fruit trees is required to produce seeds with surrounding fruit. It is the process of moving pollen from the anther to the stigma, either in the same flower or in another flower. Some tree species, including many fruit trees, do not produce fruit from self-pollination, so pollinizer trees are planted in orchards.

H. P. Bulmer

H.P. Bulmer is a cider-making company founded in 1887 in Hereford, England.

Bulmers cider is one of a number of brands owned by British cider maker H. P. Bulmer of Hereford. It is one of the biggest selling British bottled cider brands in the UK because it has the highest concentration of apples, with a number of variants including Bulmers Original & Pear. It should not be confused with Bulmers Irish Cider, sold outside the Republic of Ireland as Magners.

Breinton Civil parish in Herefordshire, England

Breinton is a civil parish in Herefordshire, England. Breinton lies just to the west of Hereford. The population of this civil parish was 836 at the 2011 census. The name Breinton appears to be a modernised form of the word Bruntone, meaning a village near a flowing stream.

Thomas Andrew Knight British botanist (1759–1838)

Thomas Andrew Knight (1759–1838), FRS, of Elton Hall in the parish of Elton in Herefordshire and later of Downton Castle, was a British horticulturalist and botanist. He served as the 2nd President of the Royal Horticultural Society (1811–1838).

Malling series Apple cultivar

The Malling series is a group of rootstocks for grafting apple trees. It was developed at the East Malling Research Station of the South-Eastern Agricultural College at Wye in Kent, England. From about 1912, Ronald Hatton and his colleagues rationalised, standardised and catalogued the various rootstocks in use in Europe at the time under names such as Doucin and Paradise. Their first list had nine rootstock varieties, assigned the "type" numbers I–IX. The list later grew to twenty-four, and the Roman numerals gave way to Arabic numerals with the prefix "Malling" or "M.". From about 1917, collaboration between East Malling and the John Innes Institute, in Merton Park in Surrey, gave rise to the Malling-Merton series, which were resistant to Eriosoma lanigerum, the woolly apple aphid.

Pearmain Apple cultivar

A pearmain, also formerly spelt "permain", is a type of apple. The name may once have been applied to a particular variety of apple that kept well, although in more modern times its inclusion in varietal names was, like the term 'Pippin', "largely decoration" rather than indicating any shared qualities.

Ashmeads Kernel Apple cultivar

Ashmead's Kernel is a triploid cultivar of apple. Traditionally Ashmead's Kernel was thought to be diploid but a poor pollinator.

Bringewood Ironworks was a charcoal ironworks in north Herefordshire. It was powered by the river Teme, with a blast furnace, a finery forge and latterly a rolling mill for blackplate.

Foxwhelp Apple cultivar

The Foxwhelp is a very old cider apple cultivar, originating in the west Midlands of England.

The Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club is a society devoted to the natural history, geology, archaeology, and history of Herefordshire, England. Founded in 1851, it has had many notable members and played an important early role in the history of mycology in Britain.

Harrison Cider Apple Apple cultivar

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 became obsolete by the 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.

Redstreak Apple cultivar

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.

Stoke Edith House

Stoke Edith House is a derelict country house with surrounding park in Stoke Edith, Herefordshire, England. The present 17th century quadrangular mansion was preceded by a multi-gabled, Elizabethan home. Set within gardens, it was destroyed by fire in 1927.

Cider in the United Kingdom is widely available at pubs, off licences, and shops. It has been made in regions of the country where cider apples were grown since Roman times; in those regions it is intertwined with local culture.

The Cambrian Journal contains a list of names for about 200 Welsh apples, the majority of which were from the Monmouth area.

Michelin is a variety of cider apple commonly grown in commercial orchards in the United Kingdom, although originating in France.

References

  1. 1 2 George Monbiot (2004-10-30). "Fallen fruit". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
  2. 1 2 "The Herefordshire Pomona: A Brief History". Marcher Apple Network. 2005. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
  3. Robert Macfarlane (2005-07-30). "Where the wild things were". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 October 2006.
  4. Auckland City Libraries
  5. University of Reading
  6. "The Herefordshire Pomona". Antiquariat Botanicum. Archived from the original on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2006.