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A Brief Apple History
The apple emerged as a celebrated fruit at the
beginning of the people of Earth. Whether you start with Adam and
Eve or the anthropological data on Stone Age man in Europe, the
apple was there. Greek and Roman mythology refer to the apple as
symbols of love and beauty. When the Romans conquered England about
the first century B.C., they brought apple cultivation with them.
William Tell gained fame by shooting an apple off his son's head
at the order of the invaders of Switzerland.
The Pilgrims discovered crabapples had preceded
them to America, but the fruit was not very edible. The Massachusetts
Bay Colony requested seeds and cuttings from England, which were
brought over on later voyages of the Mayflower. Other Europeans
brought apple stock to Virginia and the Southwest, and a Massachusetts
man, John Chapman, become famous for planning trees throughout Ohio,
Indiana, and Illinois. He became known as Johnny Appleseed. Seeds
from the apple given to a London sea captain in 1820 are sometimes
said to be the origin of the State of Washington apple crop.
As the country was settled, nearly every farm
grew some apples. Although some were very good, most of the early
varieties would be considered poor today. Of nearly 8000 varieties
known around the world, about 100 are grown in commercial quantity
in the US, with the top 10 comprising over 90% of the crop.
Our modern orchards combine the rich heritage
of apple growing with research and field trials to grow an annual
US crop exceeding 220,000,000 bushels. New varieties are still being
discovered and cultivated, with the best eventually becoming “household
words like McIntosh, Delicious, Empire, Rome, Spartan, Cortland,
Granny Smith, etc. Recent arrivals include Fuji, Braeburn, Liberty
and more than a few “throwbacks” to antique varieties
enjoying resurgence.
Clearly, an apple combines the best attributes
of “something old and something new.”
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