Carthouse
Apple
Carthouse
Origin / History
Said to have originated in Virginia. According to Coxe (1817), it obtained its name from a family in Delaware State. By Thomas's time (1903), it was known under several names in the West — Gilpin, Romanite, Red Romanite, and Small Romanite — and was much cultivated as a long keeper throughout that region.
Tree
Hardy, of a handsome, open, spreading, and vigorous growth. A most abundant bearer, and hangs on the tree very late in the season. (Thomas does not describe the tree.)
Fruit
Size: Coxe describes the fruit as small; Thomas gives medium or rather small.
Form: Inclining to oblong (Coxe); roundish-oblong, nearly regular, apex flattened (Thomas).
Stem: One-half to an inch long, slender (Thomas). Not described by Coxe.
Cavity: Not described in either source.
Calyx: Not described in either source.
Basin: Slightly furrowed, wide, distinct (Thomas). Not described by Coxe.
Skin: Color a deep red, sometimes a little streaked with yellow, of a polished smoothness (Coxe); striped and shaded deep red on a greenish yellow ground (Thomas).
Flesh / Flavor: Flesh very firm, yellow, and rich; not fit for eating until mid-winter, when it becomes juicy, tender, and finely flavoured (Coxe). Thomas describes the flesh as tough, crisp, fresh, agreeable, mild sub-acid, nearly sweet, of moderate quality.
Core / Seeds: Not described in either source.
Season
Keeps fresh until late in spring (both sources). Coxe notes it is not fit for eating until mid-winter; Thomas confirms it is highly regarded as a long keeper.
Uses
Highly esteemed as a table apple late in the spring, and as a good cider fruit (Coxe). Much cultivated as a long keeper at the West (Thomas).
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in either source.
Other
Not described in either source.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1904) from Illinois
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904
View original book sources (2)
— William Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817)NO. 92. CARTHOUSE, OR GILPIN.
This apple is said to have been brought from Virginia—it obtained its name from a family in the Delaware State. It is highly esteemed for its excellence as a table apple late in the spring, and as a good cider fruit: it is a most abundant bearer, and hangs on the tree very late in the season; the tree is hardy, of a handsome, open, spreading, and vigorous growth—the fruit is small, the colour a deep red, sometimes a little streaked with yellow—the skin of a polished smoothness; the form inclining to an oblong: the flesh is very firm, yellow, and rich, not fit for eating until mid-winter, when it becomes juicy, tender, and finely flavoured.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Carthouse.* (Gilpin, Romanite, Red Romanite, and Small Romanite, of the West.) Medium or rather small, roundish-oblong, nearly regular, apex flattened; striped and shaded deep red on greenish yellow ground; stalk one-half to an inch long, slender; basin slightly furrowed, wide, distinct; flesh tough, crisp, fresh, agreeable, mild sub-acid, nearly sweet, of moderate quality. Keeps fresh till late in spring. Much cultivated as a long keeper at the West. Virginia.