Akin

Origin/History

The original tree was grown from seed brought from Tennessee and planted in 1831 near Lawrenceville, Illinois, on the farm now owned (as of 1905) by W. J. Akin. It was first propagated for sale in 1868. Mr. Akin exhibited it in December, 1890, at the Cairo meeting of the Illinois State Horticultural Society, where it was awarded first premium both as a "Seedling" and a "New Variety good enough to be recommended."

Taylor (U.S. Dept. Agr. Yr. Bk., 1903) writes: "It has now been fruited in several states, and is one of the most promising of the recently introduced sorts for the apple growers who desire a variety well adapted to the needs of the fancy trade in the larger cities. It succeeds well in the Middle West and in the winter apple districts of the Allegheny Mountain region, and is worthy of thorough test on rich, warm soils in the northern apple districts from New York westward."

When well developed, Akin is a beautiful, dark red, winter apple of pretty good quality, especially adapted for fancy trade and for dessert use. It appears best suited to more southern localities, though it has usually developed well at Geneva, New York; in occasional seasons its fruit has not attained good color there. It succeeds best in the Middle West and on rich, warm soils. Although it had not been sufficiently tested (as of 1905) to determine its value for cultivation in New York, it was considered promising, hardy, healthy, and reliably productive.

Tree

Growth habit and form: Tree upright, becoming somewhat spreading, dense, medium in size. Beach (1905) describes it as moderately vigorous; Hedrick (1922) describes it as vigorous.

Branches: Long, moderately stout (Beach); long, stout (Hedrick).

Twigs: Long, straight, stocky, with thick tips; internodes short to medium in length.

Bark: Olive-green varying to dull purplish-brown, largely covered with a gray pubescence that becomes thicker and heavier towards the tips.

Lenticels: Numerous, conspicuous, oblong or roundish, raised.

Buds: Medium size, obtuse, broad, appressed, quite pubescent.

Leaves: Large, broad.

Fruit

Size and Form

Fruit usually medium or above, sometimes large (Beach). Hedrick (1922) describes it as medium, and the Fisher/USDA survey (1963) records the fruit as medium, approximately 2½ inches. Form oblate to roundish oblate (Beach); round-oblate (Hedrick); often irregular, slightly ribbed, sides sometimes unequal. Fairly uniform in size and shape.

Stem

Medium to long (Beach); long (Hedrick). Slender.

Cavity

Obtuse, broad, rather shallow to deep (Beach); shallow (Hedrick); often distinctly furrowed. Beach notes it is not often russeted; Hedrick describes it as often distinctly furrowed and corrugated.

Calyx

Small to medium, usually closed.

Basin

Medium in width and depth, usually somewhat abrupt, somewhat furrowed and corrugated.

Skin

Tough, smooth. Ground color rather attractive yellow (Beach); yellow (Hedrick); blushed and striped with bright deep red. In well-colored specimens almost completely red. The USDA survey (1963) records the fruit as dark red, 80% striped, attractive. Dots small, whitish or with russet point, sometimes conspicuous in contrast with the dark red skin (Beach); small, white (Hedrick). Prevailing effect: attractive bright red with contrasting clear yellow or greenish-yellow (Beach).

Internal Structure — Calyx Tube, Stamens, Core, Carpels, Seeds

Calyx tube conical, sometimes approaching funnel-form. Stamens median. Core abaxile, medium, open or partly closed; core lines meeting. Carpels elliptical or approaching roundish obcordate, slightly emarginate (Beach); elliptical, emarginate (Hedrick). Seeds moderately dark brown (Beach); dark brown (Hedrick); long, rather narrow (Beach); long, narrow (Hedrick); acute, numerous.

Flesh and Flavor

Beach (1905): Flesh whitish, slightly tinged with yellow, rather crisp, moderately coarse, moderately tender, very juicy, sprightly subacid, aromatic, good to very good for dessert.

Hedrick (1922): Flesh yellow, crisp, coarse, tender, very juicy, subacid, aromatic; good to very good.

Fisher/USDA survey (1963): Flesh creamy, firm, crisp, medium quality.

[NOTE: The three sources present minor conflicts in flesh color — Beach gives "whitish, slightly tinged with yellow," Hedrick gives "yellow," and the Fisher survey gives "creamy." All three sources agree on crispness and juiciness. Beach and Hedrick agree on subacid, aromatic character and good to very good quality; the Fisher survey rates quality as only medium. The Fisher survey also records the season as Early October, which conflicts substantially with the January–June season given by both Beach and Hedrick; see Season section below.]

Season

Beach (1905) and Hedrick (1922) both give the season as January to June, placing Akin firmly in the late winter and spring keeping category. In ordinary storage it keeps well till midwinter; in cold storage till March or later (Beach).

The Fisher/USDA survey (1963) records "Early Oct." as the season for the clone received from Stark Bros. Nursery, Louisiana, Missouri. This conflicts with the January–June season consistently reported by earlier authoritative sources; the clone surveyed may represent a different selection or the notation may refer to harvest date rather than eating season.

Uses

Especially adapted to the needs of the fancy fruit trade and for dessert use. Sufficiently promising to be worthy of testing for commercial purposes (Beach, 1905).

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in source.

Other

References cited by Beach (1905): Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:234; Riehl, Am. Pom. Soc. Rpt., 1897:137; Taylor, U.S. Dept. Agr. Yr. Bk., 1903:268, col. pl.; Ill. State Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890.

Alternate names noted in historical context: Beach (1905) notes that Akin should not be confused with "Aiken's Winter" of Downing, which is a crab of Minnesota origin. Hedrick (1922) figures the variety under the caption "Akin Red" (Fig. 5).

Clone provenance (Fisher, 1963): The clone surveyed was received from Stark Bros. Nursery, Louisiana, Missouri. Reporting station: WyC.