Mere de Menage
AppleMere de Menage
Origin/History
Most probably of Continental origin, though Bunyard notes it is not the Mère de Ménage of France. It is grown in Belgium under the name Queen Emma and under other names. Much grown in East Anglia.
Tree
Growth vigorous; makes a large, spreading tree. Fertility moderate. Leaf very large, curved serrate, little undulating, flat, grey-green.
Fruit
Size and Form: Very large — Bunyard gives dimensions of 3½ inches by 2½ inches. Shape flat conical and very irregular.
Stem: Very short and stout, set in a wide, irregular, much russeted cavity.
Cavity: Wide, irregular, much russeted.
Calyx: Closed.
Basin: Broad, much ribbed and channeled.
Skin: Downing describes the ground color as yellow, overspread, shaded, and striped with red. Bunyard gives a more detailed account: yellowish-green ground, almost covered with dull brown crimson and darker broad stripes, with conspicuous white dots widely spaced.
Flesh and Flavor: Firm. Bunyard describes the flesh as greenish and acid; Downing describes it as crisp, brisk, juicy, and subacid — a slightly less sharp characterization than Bunyard's.
Season
Downing gives October to December. Bunyard rates it as a culinary fruit keeping till March. The two accounts together suggest a harvest in autumn with good keeping quality into late winter or early spring.
Uses
A useful kitchen (culinary) fruit. Downing also notes it as a very showy market apple and good for cooking. Keeps well.
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 5 catalogs (1900–1913) from England, Illinois
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913
View original book sources (2)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Mere de Menage. Fruit very large, conical, yellow, overspread, shaded, and striped with red. Flesh firm, crisp, brisk, juicy, subacid. October, December. A very showy market Apple, and good for cooking.
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)MÈRE DE MÉNAGE. Culinary, till March, very large, 3½ by 2½, flat conical, very irregular. Colour, yellowish-green almost covered with dull brown crimson and darker broad stripes, and conspicuous white dots widely spaced. Flesh, firm, greenish, acid. Eye, closed in a broad much ribbed, and chanelled basin. Stem, very short and stout, in a wide, irregular, much russeted cavity. Growth vigorous, makes a large spreading tree; fertility moderate. Leaf, very large, curved serrate, little undulating, flat, grey-green. Origin, most probably Continental, but not the Mère de Ménage of France. It is grown in Belgium as Queen Emma and under other names. Much grown in East Anglia. A useful kitchen fruit, keeping well.