A dessert apple of the first quality, in use from December to February.
The tree is very hardy and an abundant bearer.
11. ASHMEAD’S KERNEL.—Lind.
Identification.—Lind. Guide, 86. Ron. Pyr. Mal. 63, but not of Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 2.
Synonyme.—Dr. Ashmead’s Kernel, in Gloucestershire.
Figure.—Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xxxii. f. 5.
Fruit, below medium size; round and flattened, but sometimes considerably elongated; the general character, however, is shown in the accompanying figure. Skin, light greenish yellow, covered with yellowish brown russet, and a tinge of brown next the sun. Eye, small and partially open, placed in a moderately deep basin. Stalk, short, inserted in a round and deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish, firm, crisp, juicy, sugary, rich, and highly aromatic.
A dessert apple of the very first quality, possessing all the richness of the Nonpareil, but with a more sugary juice. It comes into use in November, but is in greatest perfection from Christmas till May.
The tree is very hardy, an excellent bearer, and will succeed in situations unfavorable to the Nonpareil, to which its leaves and shoots bear such a similarity, as to justify Mr. Lindley in believing it to be a seedling from that variety.
This delightful apple was raised at Gloucester, about the beginning of last century, by Dr. Ashmead, an eminent physician of that city. The original tree existed within the last few years, in what had originally been Dr. Ashmead’s garden, but was destroyed in consequence of the ground being required for building. It stood on the spot now occupied by Clarence Street. It is difficult to ascertain the exact period when it was raised; but the late Mr. Hignell, an eminent orchardist at Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, informed me, that the first time he ever saw the fruit of Ashmead’s Kernel, was from a tree in the nursery of Mr. Wheeler, of Gloucester, in the year 1796, and that the tree in question had been worked from the original, and was at that time upwards of thirty years old. From this it may be inferred that the original tree had attained some celebrity by the middle of last century. The Ashmead’s Kernel has long been a favorite apple in all the gardens of West Gloucestershire, but it does not seem to have been known in other parts of the country. Like the Ribston Pippin it seems to have remained long in obscurity, before its value was generally appreciated; it is not even enumerated in the catalogue of the extensive collection which was cultivated by Miller and Sweet, of Bristol, in 1790. I find it was cultivated in the Brompton Park Nursery, in 1780, at which time it was received from Mr. Wheeler, nurseryman, of Gloucester, who was author of “The Botanist’s and Gardener’s Dictionary,” published in 1763, and grandfather of Mr. J. Cheslin Wheeler, the present proprietor of the nursery, to whom I am indebted for specimens of the fruit, and much valuable information connected with the varieties cultivated in that district.
12. AUGUSTUS PEARMAIN—Hort.
Identification.—Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3. p. 30.
Fruit, below medium size; pearmain-shaped, regular and handsome. Skin, thick and membranous, yellow in the shade, and marked with a few broken stripes of red; but red, streaked all over with deeper red on the side next the sun; it is dotted with grey dots, and sometimes marked with patches of grey-colored russet, which is strewed with scales of a darker color. Eye, small and closed, with long segments, set in a narrow and even basin. Stalk, very short, not protruding beyond the base, and having the appearance of a knob obliquely attached. Flesh, tender, juicy, brisk, and vinous, with a pleasant aromatic flavor.
A dessert apple, generally of only second-rate quality; but in some seasons it is of a rich flavor and of first-rate quality.
It is in use from November to Christmas.
13. BACHELOR’S GLORY.—H.
Fruit, large, three inches wide, and two and three quarters high; roundish and irregularly ribbed, generally higher on one side of the eye than the other. Skin, smooth and shining, striped with deep golden yellow, and crimson stripes. Eye, closed, with broad flat segments, and set in a plaited, irregular, and angular basin. Stalk, about half an inch long, deeply inserted in a funnel-shaped cavity, which is lined with rough scaly russet. Flesh, yellow, tender, juicy, and pleasantly flavored.
A second-rate fruit, suitable either for the dessert or culinary purposes; in use from October to November.
This is a variety grown in the neighbourhood of Lancaster, where it is much esteemed, but in the southern districts, where the more choice varieties can be brought to perfection, it can only rank as a second-rate fruit.
14. BADDOW PIPPIN.—H.
Synonyme.—Spring Ribston, Riv. Cat. 1848.
Fruit, medium sized; roundish or rather oblate, with prominent ribs on the sides, which terminate in four, and sometimes five considerable ridges at the crown, very much in the character of the London Pippin. It is sometimes of an ovate shape, caused by the stalk being prominent instead of depressed, in which case the ribs on the sides, and ridges round the eye, are less apparent. Skin, deep lively green, changing as it ripens to yellowish green, on the shaded side; but covered on the side next the sun with dull red, which changes to orange where it blends with the yellow ground; the whole considerably marked with thin brown russet, and russety dots. Eye, rather large and open, with short segments, and set in an angular basin. Stalk, very short, not more than a quarter of an inch long, and inserted in a shallow cavity. Flesh, greenish white, firm, crisp, juicy, sugary, and with a particularly rich and vinous flavor, partaking somewhat of the Nonpareil and Ribston, but particularly the latter.
This is a first-rate dessert apple, in use in November, and possessing the desirable property of keeping till April or May.
This variety originated in the garden of Mr. John Harris, of Broomfield, near Chelmsford, and was first introduced to public notice in the autumn of 1848.
15. BALDWIN.—Ken.