In a previous article in the N. American POMONA (April 1985), a number of apple varieties suitable for home gardening were just mentioned by name. Here now are details about some outstanding varieties, their origin, special character and taste appeal. May I start with a theme-setting quote by one of the foremost food experts of our times. He says "The shades of flavour which the apple can offer are almost inexhaustible . . . nothing we eat or drink presents such fascinating diversity of savour within the compass of a single generic type, or affords such rare delight to the epicure." (Morton Shand, OlderTypes Of Apples, 1948)

Discriminating consumers have always searched for better tasting apples, a wish that usually remained unfulfilled because of the limited variety selection in the stores and markets. However, the home orchard will give us the chance to explore a wide spectrum of apple flavours and textures. Once the Mclntosh-Delicious-Granny barrier has been overcome we learn to realize how greatly individual tastes vary. We just don't know what we like until we have tasted it. If a variety we plant does not come up to our expectations, (which have usually been formed by advertisements, nostalgic recollections or hearsay), we can easily topwork i.e. regraft our apple tree to a different variety. In a couple of years the new variety can be tasted. We are never stuck with a particular variety. Even older trees can be changed over to one or more different varieties.

Starting an apple garden with non-commercial varieties is an adventure and it is good to know what to expect. I shall briefly characterize a dozen varieties which I would choose for growing, by looking back over 25 years of growing, testing and tasting. This personal selection is tuned in to recent research findings which say that North Americans prefer their apples to be more on the sweet than on the tart side. Crispness and juiciness are more important than fancy aroma. No doubt this goes back to the days of the pioneers when hard cider was the universal drink, other than plain water, and its strength, palatability and keeping quality depended on the sugar content of the apples used. On the other hand, the European, especially the British taste is for tangier, tarter, less sweet and more aromatic varieties.

We have also found that wearers of blue jeans generally prefer hard and sour apples! Sourness is abhorred by other customers especially by people of southern, oriental and mediterranean background. Eating quality should be considered first when selecting varieties but for the home grower some other considerations are important: season and length of harvest, keeping quality in the home environment, usefulness for various purposes, tree size, type and frequency of sprays required and, last not least, the amount of care you can give your trees. With this in mind the following selection is presented. It covers the season from August to April:

1. MANTET (Early to Mid August). This is the first really tasty summer apple, just following the varieties which are crudely sour one day and mealy the next. The name is a contraction of MANitoba, where it originated, and TETovsky, a hardy Russian variety, its mother parent. The father comes from the McIntosh family. The fruit is of medium size except on young trees and in off years when it can get the size of a grapefruit. It is striped and splashed with pink and red on a yellow-green background and has its father's tender, finegrained flesh. It is pleasantly sweet, subacid i.e. mildly tart and aromatic. You will not find it in the market; it can't stand rough handling.

2. CHENANGO (Late August to Mid September). A truly unique variety which originated in N.Y. State in the early eighteen hundreds. Elegant in shape, beautiful in complexion, tender in flesh, delightful in scent, refined and succulent in taste. (Note: this describes an apple, not a girlfriend.) In colouring it ranges from a pale waxy yellow to a deep vibrant designer's pink. As it ripens over two to three weeks you can get the pick of the crop every day for many days. It is very delicate and should be harvested with uncalloused hands.

3. JAMES GRIEVE (Mid September). This is a very productive no-nonsense apple from Scotland. The lad after whom it was named found it and sold it to a local nursery who sold it to other nurseries who sold it all over Europe. Finicky gourmets can take it or leave it, but most people like its pure apple taste and country tang. Normally it is of a pale yellow with some red striping but about 25 years ago Van Liere, a Dutchman, told a risque joke in his orchard. When he looked up one of his James Grieve trees had blushed all over. Thus the sport known as James Grieve Lired came about.

4. KIDD'S ORANGE RED (Early October). This apple is also called DELCO after its parents DELicious and COx Orange Pippin and incorporates most of its parents best qualities: superb aroma from the Cox and sweetness, size and robustness from its mother, the Delicious. The market, however, committed to appearance, will not tolerate its half drab, half ruddy uninspiring skin. Hidden underneath is an utterly luscious and almost spicy flavour which lasts and lasts way into the new year. Raised in New Zealand in 1924, it finds a congenial climate in North America.

5. KANDIL SINAP (Early October). Who would believe that this immigrant from Turkey's Black Sea coast would find itself so much at home here? Hardly known in North America twenty-five years ago it is now a favourite of many home fruit gardeners. They extoll the combination of fine dessert quality, culinary usefulness, great keeping quality and distinctive appearance. In fact it looks like a shiny yellow super egg with a red cheek, a delight to the palate and the eye. If you can imagine a backyard tree loaded with tasty conversation pieces, Kandil Sinap is it. The best flavour develops in zone 5b in warm soils.

6. PRISCILLA (Mid October). Looking for an apple that does not need to be sprayed against scab? This is one of a new man-made breed and the scab-resistant offspring of six generations of carefully bred and selected apple varieties including Golden Delicious, McIntosh and Red Delicious. The name was chosen for the cooperating Universities: "P" for Purdue, "R" for Rutgers and "I" for Illinois. The -SCILLA part is something else again. If you have to know how it came about, phone (519) 621-8897 and I will tell you the story. PRISCILLA is sweet, mildly tart and pleasantly aromatic, a favoured dessert apple, equally cherished by children for taking to school.

7. TUMANGA (Mid October). If you have ever cursed the leatherlike skin of store bought apples take courage. Tumanga is the apple for you and also for cooks who don't peel apples, for denture wearers and, above all, for true gourmets. It looks as if it had a skin which it has but biting into it you would swear that it had been peeled. The skin is so tender that it fools us by its distinctive yellow color with orangey flush. Tumanga is flat and irregular and looks more like a designer's nightmare than a dream. It is, however, ranked as the Chanel No. 5 of the apple world because of its refined piquant flavor and modern, racy aroma.

8. MUTSU (Mid October). Named after a picturesque ocean bay in Japan, its homeland, it has fast become a favourite in North America. After all, its mother variety Golden Delicious comes from here. When the British imported it right after and mindful of World War II, they changed it to "Crispin" and are still growing it under this name. It is an easy tree to look after but needs the company of at least two other varieties, if you expect fruit. For many customers it satisfies the craving for an apple that is crisp, green, tangy and juicy. For the gourmet, Mutsu is the best possible baking apple.