Friday 4 September 2009

Crop: Mother, or American Mother

Quite a good crop of over 1kg from a maiden stepover. Last year the flavour was very good, sweet and aromatic; this year I picked too early, as the fruit started blowing off in the gales and ones I've tried so far have been disappointing.

Bunyard's description: MOTHER. FL and Pom., 1883, 121. G., Mutter Apfel. (So many apples have the name " Mother " that Hogg distinguished this one by prefixing the country of its origin : American Mother.) Dessert. October to November, medium, 2j by 2j, oval conical, slightly ribbed. Colour, golden-yellow with dull brownish-red flush and faint stripes. Flesh, soft and, juicy, very sweet, yellow or slightly green of distinct flavour, resembling Peardrops. Eye, very small, closed, in a small fairly deep basin. Stem, rather short, slender in a moderate cavity which is compressed on one side. Growth, moderate ;" fertility rather irregular. Leaf, rather large, pale, nearly flat, down-hanging, sharply serrate. Origin, rather uncertain, but recorded in America before 1848. A very choice dessert fruit, which often keeps good till mid January.

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