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  • From: Don Yellman <dyellman@earthlink.net>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Apples for the Hawkes
  • Date: Sun, 15 Sep 2002 23:11:24 -0400

Gord:

Agree on Freedom, which has been a bust for me in flavor and in so many other ways. On a one to ten scale for flavor, I would give it about a three, just ahead of Ben Davis. In fact, I think I will take my 12 year old Freedom out, and replace it with something that tastes good. It may be resistant to scab, but not to anything else. I don't grow Liberty, but have tasted them, and don't much like them either.

Have you considered Spartan? This is a Mac x Albemarle Pippin (aka Yellow Newtown) cross, that has excellent scab resistance. It looks like a slightly flattened Mac, and is a truly excellent table and culinary apple. I know it is very popular in Vermont and upstate New York, where is is used as a cider apple from unthinned orchards. But when thinned, this apple becomes large and handsome. My wife, upon whom I rely for unvarnished opinions, ate one the other day and remarked on its excellent flavor and texture. I had widespread fireblight on the apples this year, and Spartan was one of the few that came through nearly unscathed. Spartan also shows signs of being a heavier cropper than Freedom, by a factor of about six, and has a fine natural shape on M7 rootstock. I plan to make one or two more copies of my Spartan; maybe I just have an exceptionally good tree.

Empire also seems to require little in the way of spraying attention, but does need a lot of thinning. It's a fine table apple, but, in my judgment, not as good as the Spartan I am growing here. For sheer productivity, it's pretty hard to beat Empire. It's a bit of a surprise that either of them do so well for me, since I can't grow McIntosh at all.

I am growing out a Novaspy from a scion sent to me by Ed Fackler in spring 2001, and will probably set it in the orchard late this fall. Don't know much about it, or how it compares for flavor, but doubt that Ed would have sent me a dud. That might be another one to look into.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA





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