Golden Sweet
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Origin & History
An old Connecticut variety of unknown exact origin. It has been pretty generally disseminated throughout the state but is nowhere grown extensively (Beach). Listed by nearly all nurserymen (Beach). Thomas notes it is tender far West but succeeds well in the Southwest.
Tree
Tree large and very vigorous, forming a tree of moderate size according to Downing and Elliott, though Beach describes it as large. Form roundish spreading, inclined to droop, dense (Beach); Warder describes it as round-headed. Branches spreading and irregular (Elliott). Hardy and very productive. Comes into bearing rather young and yields moderate to heavy crops biennially (Beach); Elliott, however, describes it as productive annually of large crops. Moderately long-lived (Beach). Succeeds well in all soils (Elliott).
Shoots stout and dark (Warder). Young shoots reddish brown (Downing). Twigs long, curved, slender; internodes long (Beach). Bark brown, lightly mottled with scarf-skin; pubescent (Beach). Lenticels quite numerous, medium size, oval, slightly raised (Beach). Buds medium size, broad, plump, obtuse, free, slightly pubescent (Beach); Thomas describes buds as large. Foliage large, dark (Warder). Leaves sharply serrate (Thomas).
Fruit
Size: Below medium to nearly large, uniform in size and shape (Beach). Most sources describe it as medium to large or above medium.
Form: Roundish to roundish oblate or somewhat ovate, regular or faintly ribbed (Beach). Warder describes it as globular and regular. Downing says roundish, scarcely flattened, fair and well formed. Elliott describes it as roundish, rather deeper than wide. Thomas says roundish, slightly flattened.
Stem: Very long, moderately thick (Beach). Downing and Thomas give about an inch or more long, slender at its junction with the fruit. Warder describes it as long, slender, and yellow. Elliott says medium to long.
Cavity: Acute, of medium depth, medium in width to rather narrow, symmetrical, usually partly russeted, often with outspreading russet rays (Beach). Warder describes it as wide and regular. Elliott says round, shallow, regular. Thomas describes it as acuminate.
Calyx: Medium to small, closed; lobes medium in length, narrow, acute (Beach). Warder alone describes it as reflexed; all other sources agree it is closed.
Basin: Shallow to moderately deep, narrow to medium in width, somewhat obtuse, smooth, symmetrical, furrowed (Beach). Warder describes it as shallow, wide, and regular. Elliott says round, moderately deep, slightly furrowed or crimped at base of calyx. Thomas and Downing both say moderate.
Skin: Thin, tender, smooth, waxy, yellowish-green becoming clear pale yellow when fully mature (Beach). Warder describes the surface as very smooth, waxen to rich yellow. Downing says pale yellow or straw color when fully ripe. Elliott gives yellow on green, suffused slightly underneath the skin, with many small greenish dots that become russety in sun. Thomas says greenish, becoming pale yellow.
Dots: Scattered, indented, green (Warder). Elliott describes many small greenish dots that become russety in sun.
Flesh & Flavor: Yellowish-white, firm, fine-grained, moderately tender, juicy, very sweet, aromatic, good to very good (Beach). Warder describes the flesh as yellow, breaking, fine-grained, juicy, with flavor "very sweet, aromatic, like sassafrass." Downing says tender, sweet, rich, and excellent. Elliott describes it as yellowish white, very rich, sweet, hardly tender. Thomas says very sweet, good, of moderate quality.
Calyx Tube: Medium in width, cone-shape to truncate funnel-form. Stamens median (Beach).
Core & Seeds: Core medium to rather small, abaxile; cells often unsymmetrical, open; core lines clasping the funnel cylinder. Carpels ovate. Seeds medium to rather small, rather narrow, angular, acute, medium brown (Beach). Warder describes the core as medium, regular, closed, with seeds numerous, small, pointed, light brown. Elliott gives core medium, round ovate, with seeds abundant, ovate pointed.
Season
Mid-August to late September (Beach). Downing gives August and September. Warder says August. Thomas says late in summer. Elliott gives it as July and August, the earliest range among the sources.
Uses
Cultivated principally for home use; of no commercial value except that it is sold in limited quantities in local markets (Beach). All sources agree it is valuable for baking and culinary purposes. Downing and Elliott also recommend it for stock feeding, with Elliott calling it unsurpassed for baking or stock feeding. Downing adds market use.
Other
Lowther's Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914) records the variety in tabular form with division ratings:
Golden Sweet. Size: L. Form: fir. Color: gy. Quality: VG. Use: b. Season: . N. Div.: 12*. C. Div.: 13*. S. Div.: 4*.
Book Sources
Described in 6 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 30 catalogs (1845–1936) from Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Washington
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845
- Hovey & Co. , Cambridge , Massachusetts — 1849
- Azell Bowditch (Nursery / Fruit Catalog) , Boston , Massachusetts — 1850
- Joseph Breck & Co. , Boston , Massachusetts — 1855
- St. Helena Nursery , Howell's Prairie, Marion County , Oregon — 1864
- Palouse Nursery and Pleasant Dale Fruit Farm , Colfax, Washington Territory (situated two miles northeast of Colfax) - undated (single-page broadside flyer; "Washington Territory" suggests pre — 1889
- Puyallup & Yakima Nurseries , Puyallup, Washington (Lock Box 191) and North Yakima , Washington — 1892
- Milwaukie-Canby Nurseries , Canby, OR (and Milwaukie, OR) — 1893
- Oregon Wholesale Nurseries , Salem , Oregon — 1893
- Green's Nursery Co. (Charles A. Green) , Rochester , New York — 1894
- The Vineland Nurseries (Kelsey & Co. , Proprietors), St. Joseph, Missouri (Office: 13th and Atchison Sts., 2 Blocks East of the Citizens St. Car Line) — 1894
- Woodburn Nurseries , Woodburn, Marion Co. , Oregon — 1894
- Reading Nursery , Jacob W. Manning, Proprietor, Reading , Massachusetts — 1898
- Brown Brothers Co. , Continental Nurseries, Rochester, NY (also operated from Toronto, Canada) — 1899
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901
- Brown Brothers Co. , Continental Nurseries, Rochester, NY (also operated from Toronto, Canada) — 1901
- Pacific Nursery Company (W. O. Hudson & A. D. Hudson) , Tangent , Oregon — 1903
- Henderson Luelling / Traveling Nursery (historical recall) , Oregon — 1904
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904
- The Dalles Nurseries , The Dalles , Oregon — 1906
- Russellville Nursery Co. , Montavilla Station, Portland, OR (three miles east of Portland, one mile from Montavilla car line) — 1907
- Carlton Nursery Co. , Carlton , Oregon — 1909
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912
- Union Nurseries , J.B. Weaver & Sons, Union , Oregon — 1915
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920
- Benedict Nursery Co. , Portland , Oregon — 1921
- Hudson's Wholesale Nurseries , Tangent , Oregon — 1936
- North-Western Nurseries , Walla Walla , Washington
View original book sources (6)
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Golden Sweet. ORANGE SWEETING.
From Connecticut. Tree very robust, vigorous, spreading, round-head, early — productive; Shoots stout, dark, foliage large, dark.
Fruit large, globular, regular; Surface very smooth, waxen to rich yellow; Dots scattered, indented, green.
Basin shallow, wide regular; Eye medium, closed; Calyx reflexed.
Cavity wide, regular; Stem long, slender, yellow.
Core medium, regular, closed; Seeds numerous, small, pointed, light brown; Flesh yellow, breaking, fine-grained, juicy; Flavor very sweet, aromatic, like sassafrass; Quality good to very good; Use, baking and market; Season, August.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Golden Sweet.
Orange Sweeting. Early Golden Sweet.
A celebrated Connecticut fruit. Tree very vigorous, spreading, forming a tree of moderate size, hardy and very productive. Young shoots reddish brown.
Fruit above the medium size, roundish, scarcely flattened, fair, and well formed; when fully ripe, pale yellow or straw color. Stalk about an inch long, slender at its junction with the fruit. Calyx closed, and set in a basin of moderate depth. Flesh tender, sweet, rich, and excellent. Good to very good. August and September. A valuable sort for cooking, market, or stock feeding.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)GOLDEN SWEET.
REFERENCES. 1. Kenrick, 1832:37. 2. Downing, 1845:84. 3. Phoenix, Horticulturist, 1:361. 1846. 4. N. Y. Agr. Soc. Trans., 1846:189. 5. Thomas, 1849:136. 6. Cole, 1849:102. fig. 7. Barry, 1851:280. 8. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:40. 1851. fig. 9. Elliott, 1854:81. fig. 10. Gregg, 1857:37. fig. 11. Hooper, 1857:41. 12. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1862. 13. Warder, 1867:551. fig. 14. Downing, 1869:196. fig. 15. Wickson, 1889:244. 16. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:292. 17. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:240. 18. Waugh, Vt. Sta. An. Rpt., 14:295. 1901. 19. Budd-Hansen, 1903:90. fig.
SYNONYMS. Early Golden Sweet (14). GOLDEN SWEET (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19). GOLDEN SWEETING (7, 10). Orange Sweet (6, 9). ORANGE SWEETING (1). Orange Sweeting (2, 13, 14). Trenton Early (9). Yellow Sweeting ? (1).
Fruit of good medium size, attractive clear yellow when fully mature, rich, sweet, very good in flavor and quality. Cultivated principally for home use. Of no commercial value except that it is sold in limited quantities in local markets. In season from the middle of August to the last of September. The tree is a good grower, healthy, hardy, moderately long-lived, comes into bearing rather young and yields moderate to heavy crops biennially.
Historical. An old Connecticut variety (2). Its exact origin is unknown. It has been pretty generally disseminated throughout the state but is nowhere grown extensively. It is listed by nearly all nurserymen (17).
TREE.
Tree large, vigorous. Form roundish spreading, inclined to droop, dense. Twigs long, curved, slender; internodes long. Bark brown, lightly mottled with scarf-skin; pubescent. Lenticels quite numerous, medium size, oval, slightly raised. Buds medium size, broad, plump, obtuse, free, slightly pubescent.
FRUIT.
Fruit below medium to nearly large, uniform in size and shape. Form roundish to roundish oblate or somewhat ovate, regular or faintly ribbed. Stem very long, moderately thick. Cavity acute, of medium depth, medium in width to rather narrow, symmetrical, usually partly russeted, often with outspreading russet rays. Calyx medium to small, closed; lobes medium in length, narrow, acute. Basin shallow to moderately deep, narrow to medium in width, somewhat obtuse, smooth, symmetrical, furrowed. Skin thin, tender, smooth, waxy, yellowish-green becoming clear pale yellow when fully mature. Calyx tube medium in width, cone-shape to truncate funnel-form. Stamens median.
Core medium to rather small, abaxile; cells often unsymmetrical, open; core lines clasping the funnel cylinder. Carpels ovate. Seeds medium to rather small, rather narrow, angular, acute, medium brown. Flesh yellowish-white, firm, fine-grained, moderately tender, juicy, very sweet, aromatic, good to very good. Season mid-August to late September.
— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)Golden Sweet. Size: L. Form: fir. Color: gy. Quality: VG. Use: b. Season: . N. Div.: 12*. C. Div.: 13*. S. Div.: 4*.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Golden Sweet. Orange Sweet. American. Originated in Connecticut. Tree, free grower while young, making, however, an orchard tree of only medium size; spreading, irregular branches; succeeds well in all soils; productive annually of large crops of fair fruit. Fruit, medium to large; form, roundish, rather deeper than wide: color, yellow on green, suffused slightly underneath skin, and with many small greenish dots that become russety in sun; stem, medium to long; cavity, round, shallow, regular; calyx, closed; basin, round, moderately deep, slightly furrowed or crimped at base of calyx; flesh, yellowish white, very rich, sweet, hardly tender; core, medium, round ovate; seeds, abundant, ovate pointed. As a baking fruit, or to grow for stock feeding, this is unsurpassed. July and August.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Golden Sweet.* Medium or rather large, roundish, slightly flattened; greenish, becoming pale yellow; stalk an inch or more long, slender; cavity acuminate; basin moderate; flesh very sweet, good, of moderate quality. The fruit is always fair, the tree a free grower, and very productive. Buds large; leaves sharply serrate. Late in summer. Valuable for culinary purposes. Tender far West; succeeds well Southwest. Connecticut. Fig. 359.