[bcbirdclub] Fw: Apple Tree

From: "Roger Mayhorn" <rmayhorn@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "BCBC Listserve" <bcbirdclub@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2009 19:59:37 -0500
Hi All,
You may remember a few days ago I posted this photo of apples.



Well, Sandra Weigand of Lynchburg wrote to tell me that she had sent the photo 
to an apple expert friend of hers. He believed that the apple was called 
Fameuse (French for "famous") or Snow Apple. He said he could tell for sure if 
he could taste one. I sent Sandra a few apples, and she showed them to her 
friend, Tom. Following is her reply which was really surprising to me.

Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt

----- Original Message ----- 
From: SPWeigand@xxxxxxx 
To: rmayhorn@xxxxxxxxxx 
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 8:33 PM
Subject: Apple Tree


Hi Roger,  

I took your apples over to Tom this afternoon and had a tasting with him. He 
confirmed that it is the Fameuse or Snow Apple.  He said it is possible for 
apple trees to live to be over 100 years old, so who knows just how old yours 
is.  Tom's father was an orchardist and he told me that when he was about 9 
years old in 44 or 45 his father, mother, he and his brother went up to 
Winchester to visit with The Byrds who were in the apple growing there.  While 
there his father took him out into an old orchard where there were snags 
growing that had actually been planted by Hessian soldiers in the late 1700s.  
I am including an old black and white
picture he gave me to scan of some of those trees.

Since it comes very true from seed, he recommended you save the seeds from the 
remaining apples you eat and plant them in a few weeks.  You can use the 
plastic planting pots and sow many of them per pot. Cover the pot with a 
plastic bag to keep in the moisture until they germinate.  When they are 6-8 
inches tall, they can be transplanted into individual pots or into an outside 
garden.   He says they will grow to 3-4 feet tall by the late fall and they can 
be planted out anywhere.  They will begin fruiting in 6-7 years.  He 
recommended you give seeds to friends to have them do the same.  In fact, he 
sent 3 apples home with me to do that.  I think I will give it a try and see 
what happens.  I have no sun in which to plant an apple tree, but if they 
germinate, will give them to friends.

Tom says there are only four nurseries in the world which are growing "your" 
tree variety at the present time.

I thank you for the opportunity to talk with Tom just about apples and the 
places he has been.  I had no idea he has planted orchards all over the world. 
It was fascinating to listen to him today.  I have been a participant in one of 
his tasting events.  He teaches grafting, fruit history, etc. everywhere also. 
He and I are on the Board and Executive Committee of The Old City Cemetery here 
in Lynchburg, so our conversations are usually on other things.

Below is a history he emailed me from a book:  Apples: A Catalog of 
International Varieties.

FAMEUSE is called Snow, or as often Snow Apple, and is also known as Snow 
Chimney, Chimney Apple, Red American, Royal Snow, Pomme De Neige and Chimney 
Point.  Chimney Point is a village within the town of Addison, Vermont built by 
the French who likely planted the Fameuse there from seedlings or seed brought 
from Canada.  The variety was noted in Canada in 1739, where it is also 
speculated to have originated in a seedling orchard from seeds brought from 
France. 



 However, some European pomologists claim it originated in Canada.  Snow is the 
probable parent of the McIntosh.  It is reported in Historic American Trees 
that during the American Revolution a contingency of Hessian soldiers planted 
an orchard about three miles north of Winchester, Virginia, of Fameuse apple 
trees.  Sixteen of the trees survived into the 20th century and were still 
bearing fruit in the 1930’s.  



Snow is one of the very few apple varieties that tend to reproduce its likeness 
from seed.  The coloration can vary, but usually it is a solid red or pale 
yellow flushed red and the flesh is pure white, sometimes streaked red.  It is 
tender, juicy and subacid.  



Where conditions are favorable, scab will develop.  For maximum production a 
pollinator is necessary.  To increase the fruit color leaves were often removed 
from around the best apples on the tree.  The medium size tree bears heavily, 
nearly annually, with vigorous growth and produces short spurs.  The bark is a 
dark red and the coarse shiny leaves are waved with sharp serrations.  



It is a quality dessert, cooking and cider-making apple that ripens in late 
September and October, depending on the location. It stores well.





I know this well never be as exciting to you as birds, but you never know.  You 
may just find some other "old" apple trees in your area and I am sure Tom would 
be delighted to identify/teach about them as well.

Blessings,
Sandra


Tom Burford
PO Box 367
Monroe, VA 24574
434-845-6074
burford@xxxxxxx
appleprofessor@xxxxxxxxxxx
Attachment: Apple Tree...jpg
Description: JPEG image
[bcbirdclub] Fw: Apple Tree

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