 Fall-Winter. ME 7-492 (Golden Delicious x
McIntosh). Monmouth, ME (Kennebec County), 1966. Bred in 1933 by the late Russ Bailey
of the University of Maine and named for Henry Brock, the Alfred, ME, orchardist who
first popularized it. This relatively new and unknown variety first gained my
admiration a few years ago after its surprising popularity at a Fedco winter taste
test. The very large conic fruit is yellow and mostly covered with a deep rusty red
blush. The white to cream-colored fine-grained flesh is aromatic, sweet and crisp, the
perfect combination of its two parents, and makes outstanding fresh eating. Small core makes it
excellent for pies and sauce. Fruits over a long period. Tree is vigorous and develops
strong wide-angled branches, highly desirable for carrying fruit. Keeps till
mid-winter.
Brock is one of the apples featured in Warren Manhart's recent and
highly recommended book called Apples for the 21st Century. (NATCO, Portland, OR,
1995[ISBN 0-9648417-0-3]). Russ Bailey also bred a number of other apples that were
never named. We are currently attempting to track them down and evaluate them. This
fall we located a Golden Delicious x Northern Spy which we intend to graft this spring
in our test orchard. |
