Ladies' Sweeting

Origin / History

American. Ladies' Sweeting originated near Newburgh, N.Y. Hovey, citing Downing, says it had for a long time only a local reputation, "confined to the banks of the Hudson," before Downing's account of it in the Fruits and Fruit Trees of America. The trees were first disseminated from the nurseries of Messrs. Downing upwards of a dozen years before Hovey wrote. Owing to their moderate growth, the trees had come into bearing beyond their native locality only within a year or two. The fruit was still too sparingly produced to find its way into the markets.

Some cultivators supposed it would not succeed so well in New England as on the Hudson. They thought that, like the Newtown Pippin and some other sorts, it would require a more genial climate and warmer soil. Hovey found from a short experience that it flourishes there as well as the Baldwin. The late Capt. Lovett of Beverly was one of the first to introduce it into New England. Hovey says finer specimens were raised in Lovett's garden than he had seen elsewhere, and his drawing was made from fruits received from Lovett's collection in 1854. Hovey safely commends it as suited to New England orchards.

Ladies' Sweeting attracted unusual attention among orchardists, and some pronounced it "far the finest" winter sweet apple yet produced. Hovey says it lacks the rich sweet of the Broadwell, which also keeps very late, but "what little it loses in this respect is made up in its showy appearance." He concludes that, "taking its combined qualities, it must be considered a very valuable variety." Thomas calls it "one of the best winter sweet apples." Warder calls it a "prime favorite" of Chas. Downing, and adds that, though it has many admirers, it "finds strong competitors in the Broadwell, Paradise Winter, and some others of the same season."

Tree

A slow, moderate grower, making short, slender annual growths. Hovey calls it "moderately vigorous," but less vigorous than the Tolman or Danvers Winter Sweet and some others. Thomas calls the growth "feeble." Elliott quotes "Wood, not very strong: grows thriftily," and Warder calls the tree thrifty.

Upright, branching off at an open angle, forming an open, roundish head. Annual growth downy at the ends. Wood reddish chestnut, slender, and short-jointed; old wood brownish chestnut. Buds small, short, flattened, erect; flower buds small, woolly (Hovey).

Leaves small, ovate, broad at the base, narrowing to the point; thick, deep green, prominently and coarsely veined, downy beneath. Margins sharply and deeply serrated; slightly recurved on the midrib. Petioles short, about half an inch long, stout, downy (Hovey). Flowers small; petals round, concave, of a rather dingy shade of white; clusters small (Hovey).

Late in coming into bearing (Hovey), but abundantly productive once bearing: a "profuse bearer" (Thomas). Elliott has repeatedly fruited it and met with it in the West, where it "seems generally to succeed, but varies much in different soils."

Fruit

Size: Large, about three and a half inches broad and three inches deep (Hovey). Thomas alone calls it medium.

Form: Round to roundish. Hovey describes it as regular, very slightly ribbed, and narrowing very little to the crown. Others give it as roundish ovate, "narrowing rapidly to the eye" (Elliott), with a narrow apex (Thomas). Warder calls it somewhat conic and occasionally angular.

Stem: Short; half an inch long (Elliott), or less than half an inch and stout, rather deeply inserted (Hovey). Warder gives it as short, or long and slender.

Cavity: Medium to small. Hovey describes it as medium-sized and funnel-shaped, with the stem rather deeply inserted. Elliott calls it shallow. Warder gives it as medium or wide, regular, brown. Faintly rayed with white around the stalk (Elliott, Thomas).

Calyx: Small to very small and closed for most authors; Warder calls the eye very small, closed. Hovey alone calls the eye rather large and open, with woolly calyx segments.

Basin: Small, ribbed, with the eye little sunk (Hovey). Elliott calls it narrow and "shallow-plaited." Warder gives it as medium, often abrupt, folded.

Skin: Fair, smooth to very smooth. Ground greenish yellow or pale yellowish green in the shade, to light or pale yellow. Nearly covered with red in the sun, striped, the color deepest on the sunny side. The red is given variously: broadly light red, rather faintly striped with crimson (Hovey); broken stripes of pale red (Elliott); striped and splashed with bright red (Warder); striped with red, with a nearly uniform shade of fine red to the sun (Thomas).

Faintly marbled or clouded with white over the red, Elliott says "generally," and on the shady side. A thin white bloom when first gathered (Elliott). A very beautiful, showy, handsome fruit, comparable in appearance with the Baldwin (Hovey); "always fair, handsome fruit" (Elliott).

Dots: Numerous, distinct, well-marked, yellowish to yellowish gray or gray, sprinkled over the red. Warder calls them large.

Flesh and flavor: Greenish white (Warder: white). Fine-grained, crisp, very or "exceedingly" tender. Juice abundant, sweet, rich, and finely flavored (Hovey). Elliott gives "delicious, sprightly, agreeably perfumed flavor"; Warder and Thomas call it agreeable, and Thomas fine. Hovey finds it has "not the rich sweet of the Broadwell."

Elliott finds it, varying with soil, "often not more than second-rate quality." Warder rates it "only good (to my taste)."

Core and seeds: Core large and open (Hovey); medium, round, closed or open, clasping (Warder). Seeds large, very long, sharply pointed (Hovey); numerous (16), angular (Warder).

Season

Winter. The recorded season runs from December into May. Hovey has it ripe in January and keeping well into April and May. It keeps without the loss of juiciness and flavor "so general with most of our sweet apples." Elliott says it keeps "without shelving, or losing its flavor, till May." Warder alone gives December.

Uses

Table, baking, and stock feeding. Elliott calls it profitable for marketing or stock feeding.

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Figured as Fig. 403 in Thomas.