North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["kieran or donna" <redherring@tnaccess.com>]

I used to have access to a Bramley tree when I lived in England.  They were
great for cooking, and a few people who liked tart apples ate them raw.  But
I have to agree that a major part of their charm was the huge size.  Many
tart summer apples are also excellent for cooking.  How about Liveland
raspberry?  The tree I know makes nice big apples at a good time to dry
them, they keep a whole lot better than Yellow Transparent, and they cook
soft.  Plus LR is sweet enough you can eat it too.  There's also the Horse
Apple, a nice big yellow that comes ripe here in August and is a great eater
and cooker, tart but eventually sweet too.   I have been trying to grow one
for years, trouble with my rootstock and had to regraft it.  There's a
really sour apple around here, big and green and it must like clay soil or
it wouldn't be here.  The old man who had collected it died this year, but
his trees are still there, about 40 miles from me.  I don't know if it cooks
soft or not.  I think the late Robert Dudney also had this one in his
collection, as he had a big green apple called "Big Jelly" that was supposed
to be sour enough to make a pig squeal.  That implies it stays hard, or that
they made jelly while it was still really green.  Donna