Harrison Cider Apple
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 'Harrison' apple | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genus | Malus |
| Species | Malus domestica |
| Cultivar | 'Harrison' |
The Harrison cider apple is one of the most famous 18th-century American cider apples, primarily used for the production of apple cider. Grown in New Jersey before and after the American Revolution, it fell out of favor by the 20th century. The Harrison cider apple was considered lost until it was recovered in Livingston, New Jersey at an old cider mill in September 1976.
William Coxe, the first American to publish an illustrated book on the already enormous variety of fruits being grown in North America following the American Revolution,[1] described the Harrison Cider Apple in 1817:
This is the most celebrated of the cider apples of Newark in New-Jersey: it is cultivated in high perfection, and to a great extent in that neighbourhood, particularly on the Orange mountain; the shape is rather long, and pointed towards the crown - the stalk long; hence often called the long stem - the ends are deeply hollowed; the skin is yellow, with many black spots, which gives a rough-ness to the touch: the flesh is rich, yellow, firm and tough; the taste pleasant and sprightly, but rather dry - it produces a high coloured, rich, and sweet cider of great strength, commanding a high price in New York, frequently ten dollars and upwards per barrel when fined for bottling. The trees are certain bearers; the apples fall about the first of November; they are below middling size, and remarkably free from rot; ripen at that time, but will keep well when housed. The tree is of strong and vigorous growth, throwing out numerous suckers from the limbs- the wood is hard... it obtained its name from a family in Essex County New-Jersey, where it originated, and is very extensively cultivated.[2]
The breeding stock for apples, pears, cherries, plums, and peaches that has become the source of contemporary pome fruits in North America was set in place and fully described in Coxe's book. While most of these fruit varieties or their parents arrived from Europe, Coxe advocated growing the new American varieties derived from the European ones, since they showed themselves to be better adapted to the American climate and soils.[3]
When S.A. Beach wrote "The Apples of New York" in 1905, no mention of the Harrison was made,[4] as it had slipped into obsolescence by the 20th century. The chief cause of this obsolescence was the growing momentum of the temperance movement throughout the United States, beginning in the 1820s.[5]
