North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark Dorogi" <mddorogi@comcast.net>]

Doug Woodard had asked that I give some feedback on the Lymans Large Summer
apple that I have.

The tree had its first good crop this year, aided no doubt by my sticking to
a strategy of early sprays of captan and malathion followed by bagging the
fruit over Memorial Day weekend (I am in southeast Michigan).  I was
probably late bagging them since many were the size of half-dollars by then,
and there was some insect damage inside the bags, but probably less than
10%.  Overall, I am happy with the way the baggies worked.

As another poster suggested, this tree drops apples with little provocation.
They've been falling off at the rate of three or four a day for a few weeks,
and as of August 3rd, there are three apples left. So the Lymans Large
Summer season is over.

The apples are pretty large, typically 9 to 13 ounces. They have very short
stems, and the top of the apple is usually pushing against the branch where
the stem is attached.  I wonder if the rapid growth actually puts pressure
on the stem, causing them to fall.

We have made a half-dozen pies and found them to be quite good; the apple
holds its shape and has good balance.  

The apples, to my taste, are very good straight off the tree.  In fact, I
only planted apples that would be good to just grab off the tree and eat,
and in that regard this one passes the test.  They are very crisp and juicy,
and remind me a bit of Honeycrisp in terms of the juiciness and texture. The
flesh does not seem dense to me.  The flavor is very good, at least partly
because of the novelty of eating apples so early in the season (even in late
July they were quite good). I would say they are superior to Granny Smith,
which strike me as more bland, more dense, and not as well balanced. 

Of course, the flavor is not going to compare with some of my other trees
like the Cox's Orange Pippen or Esopus Spitzenberg, which are much more
intense. But for an early apple, this one does seem very good.

The apples do have a fair amount of water core; my Tompkins King does too.
If anyone know cultural or other methods to minimize it, let me know.

Here are a few pictures.  The tree was planted in fall 2001 when I got it
from Southmeadow Fruit Gardens.  I don't know what rootstock it is on.  It
is very fast growing, and is about 8 to 9' tall and 15' wide, and the trunk
is 5.5" in diameter a foot above the ground. In my experience the tree is
moderately sensitive to scab, although the three sprays I did in April/May
seemed to do the trick.

The tree:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/mddorogi/LymansApple004.jpg

Apple fresh off the tree, note the juicy flesh and water core; the seeds
indicate it could probably ripen a little more:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/mddorogi/LymansApple007.jpg
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o116/mddorogi/LymansApple008.jpg


Mark Dorogi
Ann Arbor, MI