Maine has a long
tradition of apple growing. European immigrants planted thousands of orchards
in Maine during the two hundred years following their arrival, first with
seeds brought from Europe, Canada and southern New England, and later with
seeds from the Maine trees themselves. Apple seeds were readily available,
easy to transport and easy to plant.
It did not matter to the early Maine
farmers that seedling apple trees never grow to be identical to the parent
tree and only occasionally produce high quality fruit. They used most of their
apples for animal food, cider, and vinegar while reserving only a small number
for cooking and fresh eating.
If you want to replicate a particular
variety, say a McIntosh, you must graft a short piece of a one year old
McIntosh twig, called a scion, onto another tree called a rootstock. Although
some early farmers did know how to graft trees, grafters were uncommon and
commercial nurseries were rare. It was not until after the civil war that
Maine farmers began to plant many grafted trees as we do today. Because of the
vast number of seedlings that were planted, however, many excellent locally
adapted apples came into being simply by chance. The noteworthy were named.
When a grafter was available, these named varieties were spread around the
neighborhood, county, state, and, in some cases, around the world. In this
way, about 200 varieties originated within the state.
A hodgepodge of named varieties were
also imported into the state from other parts of New England, Canada and
beyond. Some of these imports literally could not survive Maine's harsh
winters while other simply did not produce fruit of any quality here in the
north. Some did do quite well, and they and their progeny became important
additions to our pomological heritage.
Below are some of the 30 or so Maine
varieties that still remain. Most of the others are now gone. But the search
goes on. These apples and others we've discovered will all be planted in the
Maine Heritage Orchard in Unity, Maine at the Maine Organic Farmers and
Gardeners farm. Some of these varieties may be of value to the orchardists of
today. Others will be of interest to home-owners. Others are novelties. All
are part of the pomological heritage of Maine. We can learn a great deal about
our ancestors by growing their trees and eating the fruit they selected, named
and handed down to us. If you know of any Maine varieties we might be
interested in saving, please let us know. We follow all leads!
Left to right: Summer
Sweet - Winekist - Moses Wood |
