34

THE HAWTHORNDEN APPLE.

Hawthornden. Hort. Soc. Fruit Cat. no. 440. White Hawthornden. Nicol's Fruit Gardener, p. 256.

This valuable variety is said to have been originally raised eight or ten miles south of Edinburgh, in the village, the name of which it bears, which is better known as the birth-place of the poet Drummond. It is one of the most abundant bearers we have; and as the extreme buds of the branches are mostly blossom-buds, the ends become pendulous when the crop of fruit is fully grown. Ripens in October, and will keep good about a month or six weeks.

WOOD short-jointed, of a light chestnut colour, downy, with small white specks.

LEAVES oval, taper-pointed, regularly serrated, with small stipulæ.

FLOWERS middle-sized, with bright, rose-coloured, roundish, cordate petals.

FRUIT large, flattish, irregularly shaped, one side being larger than the other.

STALK half an inch long.

EYE a little depressed.

SKIN clear, greenish yellow, reddish on the side next the sun.

FLESH white.

JUICE plentiful, sweet and pleasant.

This is reckoned the best Apple in Scotland; but it is apt to canker in that country.

— John Lindley, Pomologia Britannica, Vol. 1 (1841)

Hawthornden. White Hawthornden, | Mountaineer. Foreign. Above medium, roundish flattened, pale yellow, blush in sun ; flesh, white, acid. October, November. Not equal to Maiden's Blush.

— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)

Fig. 76.—HAWTHORNDEN.

Hawthornden.

This famous Scotch fruit appears to do very well in this country, but it must yield the palm to its American cousin and representative, the Maiden's Blush, which possesses all its good qualities as a market and kitchen fruit, with attractive appearance.

Tree spreading, vigorous and productive; an early bearer.

Fruit large, regular, and very flat; Surface perfectly smooth, always fair, and of a beautiful white, very rarely and faintly blushed; Dots minute.

Basin shallow, narrow, regular; Eye small, closed.

Cavity wide, wavy, green; Stem medium.

Core wide, regular, somewhat open, meeting the eye; Seeds numerous, angular, imperfect, brown; Flesh greenish-white, breaking, fine grained, juicy; Flavor acid, aromatic; of second quality for table, but first rate for cooking; Uses, kitchen and market; Season October.

— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)

4. HAWTHORNDEN.

[Syn: Hawthorndean; White Hawthorndean; Red Hawthorndean.]

This variety was raised at Hawthornden, a romantic spot near Edinburgh, where Drummond the poet was born in 1585. The period when this apple was first produced is not known. It is first mentioned in the catalogue of Leslie and Anderson of Edinburgh; but was not known about London until 1790, when it was introduced into the Brompton Park Nursery.

Description.—Fruit; varying very much in size according to the soil, situation, or condition of the tree, generally above medium size, roundish and depressed, with occasionally a prominent rib on one side which produces an irregularity in its appearance. Skin; smooth, covered with a delicate bloom, greenish yellow, with a blush of red on one side which varies in extent and colour according as it has been more or less exposed to the sun. Eye; small and closed, with broad and flat segments, placed in a pretty deep and irregular basin. Stalk; short, stout, and sometimes fleshy, inserted in a deep and irregular cavity. Flesh; white, crisp and tender, very juicy, with an agreeable and pleasant flavour.

The Hawthornden has long been one of the most valuable and popular apples in cultivation. It is suitable only for kitchen use, and is in season from October to December.

The tree has always been considered as very healthy and vigorous, and unrivalled as an early and abundant bearer, but of late years in some situations it has lost its condition and only produced small and diseased fruit, as if it had exhausted the soils of its own particular requirements.

— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)

Hawthornden.

White Hawthornden.

A celebrated Scotch Apple, which originated at Hawthornden, the birthplace of the poet Drummond. It resembles, somewhat, our Maiden's Blush, but is inferior to that fruit in flavor. An excellent bearer, a handsome fruit, and good for cooking or drying, and exceedingly profitable for market.

Tree vigorous, upright, spreading, and, when in bearing, somewhat pendulous. Young shoots very short-jointed, dull reddish brown. Buds prominent.

Fruit rather above the medium size, pretty regularly formed, roundish, rather flattened. Skin very smooth, pale light yellow, nearly white in the shade, with a fine blush where exposed to the sun. Flesh white, juicy, of a simple, pleasant flavor. Good. September.

There is a New, or winter Hawthornden, the wood of which is brownish red, tree more robust, the fruit larger, and a longer keeper than the above.

— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)

White Hawthornden. See Hawthornden.

— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)

HAWTHORNDEN.

REFERENCES. 1. Hooker, Pom. Lond., 1813:T. 44 (cited by 2). 2. Forsyth, 1824:106. 3. Pom. Mag., 1828:No. 34. col. pl. 4. London Hort. Soc. Cat., 1831:No. 530. 5. Mag. Hort., 1:326. 1835. 6. Manning, 1838:48. 7. Ib., Mag. Hort., 7:45. 1841. 8. Downing, 1845:86. 9. Cole, 1849:113. 10. Hovey, Mag. Hort., 17:18. 1851. fig. 11. Barry, 1851:284. 12. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:40. 1851. 13. Mag. Hort., 19:174. 1853. 14. Elliott, 1854:171. 15. Gregg, 1857:43. 16. Hooper, 1857:43. 17. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1862. 18. Warder, 1867:410. fig. 19. Leroy, 1873:376. fig. 20. Thomas, 1875:501. 21. Montreal Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1:10. 1876. 22. Ib., 5:24. 1879. 23. Hogg, 1884:105. 24. Rural N. Y., 45:233. 1886. figs. 25. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:292. 26. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:241. 27. Gaudier, 1894:No. 13. col. pl. 28. Dempsey, Out. Fr. Stas. An. Rpt., 1:24. 1894. fig. 29. Bunyard, Jour. Roy. Hort. Soc., 1898:354.

SYNONYMS. Hawley (27) but erroneously. HAWTHORNDEAN (2, 6, 7). Hau'thorndean (23). HAWTHORNDEN (1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29). Lincolnshire Pippin (27). Lord Kingston (27). Maiden's Blush erroneously (10). Old Hawthorndean (23, 27). Pomme de Hawthornden (27). Red Hawthornden (10). Shoreditch White (27). Weisser Hawthornden (27). Wheeler's Kernel (27). White Apple (27). White Hawthorndean (23, 27). White Hawthornden (3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14).

A Scotch variety which has done fairly well in various parts of this country from New England to California. Warder (18) says of it: "This famous Scotch fruit appears to do very well in this country, but it must yield the palm to its American cousin and representative, the Maiden's Blush, which possesses all its good qualities as a market and kitchen fruit, with attractive appearance."

The tree is said to be a vigorous grower and a biennial cropper, and the fruit is above medium to large, regular, fair, white sometimes nearly overspread with faint blush that deepens to bright red in the sun. Flesh mild subacid, not of high flavor, pleasant, good. Season September and October.

We are not acquainted with this variety. It appears to be but little known among New York fruit growers. It is still occasionally listed by nurserymen (26).

— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)

Hawthornden: size medium; form roundish (oblate); color greenish yellow; quality good; use both kitchen and market; season early autumn; Northern Division reports 5* (also reported in another division); Central Division reports 6* (also reported in another division).

— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)

HAWTHORNDEN. Her. Pom., 6. (Hawley, Lincolnshire Pippin, Old Hawthornden.) Culinary, October to December, medium, 3 by 2¼, round, slightly flattened, irregular. Colour, creamy-yellow with faint red flush. Flesh, tender, white, sub-acid. Eye, closed, in a moderately deep and ribbed basin. Stem, short and very stout in a rather deep cavity. Growth, moderate; fertility medium. Leaf, very pale, nearly flat, rather large, shallow serrate. Origin, raised at Hawthornden, Scotland before 1790. One of the best cooking sorts, making a dwarfish flat tree.

— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)