Fruit, large, three inches and a quarter wide, and three inches high; roundish-ovate, and slightly angular. Skin, pale green, but tinged with red, and marked with a few indistinct streaks of darker red, on the side exposed to the sun. Eye, open, with long spreading segments, and placed in a moderately deep basin. Stalk, short and thick, not deeply inserted. Flesh, yellowish, firm, brisk, and sugary, and with an abundance of pleasantly acid juice.
An excellent apple, suitable either for culinary purposes, or the dessert; in use from November to March.
The tree is hardy, vigorous, a most abundant bearer, and even in seasons when other varieties fail, this is almost safe to ensure a plentiful crop. It is extensively cultivated in Norfolk, and deserves to be more generally known in other districts of the country.
20. BEACHAMWELL.—Hort.
Identification—Lind. Guide, 35. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 13.
Synonymes.—Beachamwell Seedling, Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 1, 42. Motteux’s Seedling, Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat.
Figures.—Pom. Mag. t. 82. Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xxvii. f. 6.
Fruit, small, about two inches wide, and the same in height; ovate, handsomely and regularly formed. Skin, greenish yellow, covered with patches and dots of russet, particularly round the eye. Eye, small and open, set in a shallow, narrow, and even basin. Stalk, about half an inch long, almost embedded in a round cavity. Flesh, yellowish white, tender, crisp, and very juicy, with a rich, brisk, and sugary flavor.
A rich and deliciously flavored dessert apple, of the highest excellence; in use from December to March.
The tree is perfectly hardy, a healthy and vigorous grower, but does not attain a large size; it is an excellent bearer.
This variety was raised by John Motteux, Esq., of Beachamwell, in Norfolk, where, according to Mr. George Lindley, the original tree still existed in 1831. It is not very generally cultivated, but ought to form one even in the smallest collections.
21. BEAUTY OF KENT.—Fors.
Identification.—Fors. Treat. 93. Lind. Guide, 27. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 37. Down. Fr. Amer. 81.
Synonyme.—Kentish Pippin, of some, Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat.
Figures.—Brook. Pom. Brit. pl. xc. f. 6. Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xv. f. 1.
Fruit, large; roundish-ovate, broad and flattened at the base, and narrowing towards the apex, where it is terminated by several prominent angles. Skin, deep yellow slightly tinged with green, and marked with faint patches of red, on the shaded side; but entirely covered with deep red, except where there are a few patches of deep yellow, on the side next the sun. Eye, small and closed, with short segments, and set in a narrow and angular basin. Stalk, short, inserted in a wide and deep cavity, which, with the base, is entirely covered with rough brown russet. Flesh, yellowish, tender, and juicy, with a pleasant sub-acid flavor.
A valuable and now well-known culinary apple, in use from October to February. When well grown the Beauty of Kent is perhaps the most magnificent apple in cultivation. Its great size, the beauty of its coloring, the tenderness of the flesh, and profusion of delicate sub-acid juice, constitute it one of our most popular winter apples, for culinary purposes, and one of the most desirable and useful, either for a small garden, or for more extended cultivation.
The tree is a strong and vigorous grower, attains a large size, and is a good bearer; but I have always found it subject to canker when grown on the paradise stock, and in soils which are moist and heavy.
I have not been able to ascertain the time when, or the place where this variety originated. It is first noticed by Forsyth in his Treatise on Fruit Trees, but is not enumerated in any of the nurserymen’s catalogues, either of the last, or the early part of the present, century. It was introduced to the Brompton Park Nursery, about the year 1820, and is now as extensively cultivated as most other leading varieties. In America, Downing says, “the fruit in this climate is one of the most magnificent of all apples, frequently measuring sixteen or eighteen inches in circumference.”
22. BEDFORDSHIRE FOUNDLING.—Hort.
Identification.—Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 42. Lind. Guide, 63. Down. Fr. Amer. 107.
Synonyme.—Cambridge Pippin, Acc. Hort. Soc. Cat.
Figure.—Ron. Pyr. Mal. pl. xxviii. f. 2.
Fruit, large, three inches and a quarter wide, and three inches and a half high; roundish-ovate, inclining to oblong, with irregular and prominent angles on the sides, which extend to the apex, and form ridges round the eye. Skin, dark green at first, and changing, as it attains maturity, to pale greenish yellow on the shaded side; but tinged with orange on the side next the sun, and strewed with a few fawn-colored dots. Eye, open, set in a deep, narrow, and angular basin. Stalk, short, inserted in a deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish, tender, pleasantly sub-acid, and with a somewhat sugary flavor.
An excellent culinary apple of first-rate quality, in use from November to March.
23. BELLE BONNE.—Lind.
Identification.—Lind. Guide, 63. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 43.