English Russet

Origin/History

English Russet is an American apple, despite its name — no European variety has ever been identified with it. Elliott (1865) suggests it is probably an American seedling, and prefers the name Poughkeepsie Russet "as commemorative of the section whence it was first disseminated." Warder (1867) gives its origin as New York. Beach (1905) confirms that although long extensively grown under the name English Russet, it has not been identified with any European variety and its origin is unknown; it is much grown in Westchester and Putnam counties and found in old orchards throughout the State. Hedrick (1922) describes it as "an American apple from southeastern New York, first described in 1845." First appearance in the pomological literature was in Downing (1845).

Beach specifically distinguishes this variety from "the English Russet of Warder" and from that described by Burrill and McCluer as "the 'English Russet of England'" (Ill. Sta. Bul., 45:320, 1896). Downing (1900) similarly notes that "The English Russet described by Warder is entirely distinct, being, as he describes, large, globular, flattened, somewhat one-sided. Surface uneven, green. In season from December to January." Elliott mentions another apple called "Crow's Nest" sometimes sold under this name, of which the fruit is larger, does not keep as well, and the tree when grown makes a dense top.

Hedrick (1922) observes that "The day of English Russet passed with the advent of cold storage" — its principal virtue, extreme late keeping, was rendered less valuable by artificial storage.

Tree

Tree medium in size to rather large (Beach), large (Hedrick), moderately vigorous to vigorous. Warder describes the tree as "tender, vigorous, upright, productive"; Elliott gives growth as upright; Downing (1900) states "The trees grow very straight, and form upright heads, and the wood is smooth and of a reddish brown"; Budd-Hansen call it "upright, very productive"; Thomas gives "Growth upright, shoots lively brown. A profuse bearer."

Form: upright.

Twigs: erect, medium or above medium in length, moderately stout to rather slender, often with large terminal bud; internodes short (Beach). Elliott and Thomas describe the shoots as "lively brown"; Warder gives "brown, slender."

Bark: rather dark clear brownish-red or, on the shaded side, brownish-green, covered sparingly with gray scarf-skin; somewhat pubescent (Beach). The wood is smooth and of a reddish brown (Downing 1900).

Lenticels: moderately abundant, not particularly conspicuous but rather dull colored, often roundish, sometimes large (Beach). Beach distinguishes English Russet lenticels from those of Golden Russet: English Russet twigs of one season's growth have more of a clear reddish-brown color, and the lenticels, being comparatively dull in color and only moderately numerous, are not very conspicuous, although they are sometimes large. (By contrast, Golden Russet twigs are darker brown varying towards olive-green, finely mottled with grayish scarf-skin, with roundish, small but numerous and conspicuous lenticels having a clear, pale color; on second-season growth Golden Russet lenticels are elongated transversely.)

Buds: often short, plump, obtuse to acute, moderately pubescent, rather deeply set in the bark, free (Beach).

Foliage: healthy (Warder).

Bearing: a profuse bearer (Elliott, Thomas); very productive (Budd-Hansen); productive (Warder). Beach notes that "The trees commonly bear biennially and only moderately, heavy crops being rare." The fruit hangs well to the tree, but there is apt to be considerable loss because a relatively large percentage of the apples are too small for market; where insects are not controlled the fruit is often knotty.

Fruit

Size

Medium (Elliott, Warder, Downing 1900); medium or rather small (Thomas); medium to rather small, pretty uniform in size and shape (Beach); small, uniform in size and shape (Hedrick); medium or below (Budd-Hansen). Beach notes that fruit-dealers report the fruit from Southern and Southwestern New York is larger and has poorer keeping quality, while that from Northern and Western New York is smaller and keeps better.

Form

Roundish conical, or roundish ovate, regular (Elliott); conical or globular-conical, regular (Warder); roundish, slightly conical, and very regularly formed (Downing 1900); roundish conical, regular (Thomas); roundish, more or less inclined to conic, pretty regular and symmetrical, sometimes faintly ribbed, occasionally sides unequal (Beach); roundish, obscurely conical, very regular (Budd-Hansen); round, inclined to conic, regular and symmetrical, sometimes faintly ribbed (Hedrick). Beach notes that the tendency of the fruit to become narrow towards the eye is more marked in English Russet than in Golden Russet.

Stem

Rather short (Elliott); long (Warder); rather small, projecting even with the base, and pretty deeply inserted (Downing 1900); one-half to three-fourths of an inch long (Thomas); moderately thick to rather slender, medium in length to short, often streaked on one side with brownish-red, usually not exserted (Beach); medium (Budd-Hansen); slender, medium in length, often streaked on one side with brownish-red, usually not exserted (Hedrick). Beach notes that the English Russet stem often has a brownish-red streak not found on the Golden Russet.

Cavity

Round (Elliott); pointed, wavy (Warder); narrow, smooth (Downing 1900); moderate, round (Thomas); acute to somewhat acuminate, rather narrow to medium in width, moderately deep to deep, symmetrical or slightly compressed, occasionally lipped, furrowed obscurely if at all (Beach); narrow, medium, regular (Budd-Hansen); acute to acuminate, narrow, deep, symmetrical or compressed, occasionally lipped (Hedrick). Beach observes that the cavity is not marked with grayish dots (as it often is on Golden Russet), and that on average English Russet's cavity is somewhat narrower and deeper than Golden Russet's.

Calyx

Small, close (Elliott); large, closed (Warder); small, closed (Downing 1900, Budd-Hansen); small to medium, usually open, sometimes closed; segments often long, acute and reflexed (Beach); small, usually open; segments long, acute and reflexed (Hedrick). Beach notes that the calyx is more often open in English Russet than in Golden Russet, with the lobes reflexed. Calyx tube rather narrow, cone-shape, sometimes funnel-form (Beach); calyx-tube narrow, cone-shape (Hedrick). Stamens basal to median (Beach); basal (Hedrick).

Basin

Abrupt, regular, round (Elliott); shallow, regular (Warder); even, round, of moderate depth (Downing 1900); smooth (Thomas); rather abrupt, moderately deep, moderately wide to rather narrow, symmetrical (Beach); smooth, medium, regular (Budd-Hansen); abrupt, deep, narrow, symmetrical (Hedrick). Compared with Golden Russet, whose basin is often wider and markedly saucer-shaped with the calyx set in a narrow green or yellowish circle contrasting sharply with the surrounding russet, English Russet's basin is narrower.

Skin

Light greenish yellow, mostly overspread with brownish russet; when well matured, becomes yellowish (Elliott). Surface smooth, almost polished, dull yellowish-green, often bronzed near the base, more or less covered with fine russet (Warder). Pale greenish yellow, about two-thirds covered with russet, which is thickest near the stalk (Downing 1900). More or less overspread with brownish russet on light greenish yellow ground; in large exposed specimens, wholly russeted (Thomas). Pale greenish yellow, more or less covered with bronze russet, sometimes wholly russeted (Budd-Hansen). Beach: skin tough, takes a good polish, varies from pale green to yellow more or less covered with russet, the base often being entirely russeted; highly colored specimens become clear golden russet but have no perceptible shade of red. Hedrick: skin tough, varies from pale green to yellow more or less covered with russet, the base often entirely russeted.

The skin shows no sign of a blush and takes a good polish — Beach emphasizes this in contrast to Golden Russet, whose skin varies from dull greenish russet to golden russet, sometimes has a bronze blush under favorable conditions, but does not take a polish.

Dots: inconspicuous, round or irregular, dark russet (Beach, Hedrick).

Flesh and Flavor

Yellowish white, fine texture, rather firm, aromatic (Elliott). Greenish, firm, inclined to be tough; flavor acid, poor; quality third rate (Warder). Yellowish white, firm, crisp, with a pleasant, mild, slightly subacid flavor; good (Downing 1900). Greenish or yellowish white, texture fine, rather firm, with an aromatic, sub-acid flavor (Thomas). Yellowish-white, firm, rather crisp, moderately tender, fine-grained, not very juicy, somewhat aromatic, pleasant, rather mild subacid, good (Beach). Yellowish white, firm, crisp, mild subacid, aromatic, fair to good (Budd-Hansen). Yellow, firm, crisp, tender, fine-grained, aromatic, pleasant, mild, subacid; good (Hedrick).

Warder's assessment is markedly harsher than the others, describing the flavor as "acid, poor" and the quality as "third rate"; the mainstream description across Downing, Thomas, Beach, Budd-Hansen, and Hedrick is a pleasant, mild, aromatic subacid of good (or fair to good) quality. Beach notes the flesh of Golden Russet is richer in flavor, more tender, and of higher quality than that of English Russet.

Core and Seeds

Core small (Elliott); closed, not meeting the eye; seeds imperfect (Warder); rather small, abaxile; cells pretty symmetrical, open, sometimes closed; core lines usually meeting, but with a funnel-form calyx tube they are clasping (Beach); small, abaxile; cells symmetrical, open, sometimes closed; core-lines meeting (Hedrick).

Carpels: rather flat, roundish to broadly ovate, slightly tufted, but slightly emarginate if at all (Beach); flat, round to broad-ovate, tufted (Hedrick).

Seeds: ovate, reddish brown (Elliott); numerous, medium in size, plump, rather narrow, acute to acuminate, rather light brown, sometimes slightly tufted (Beach); numerous, plump, narrow, acute to acuminate, light brown, sometimes tufted (Hedrick).

Beach's Golden Russet comparison: Golden Russet's seeds have a more marked red tinge, its core is more distinctly abaxile, its cells are more often unsymmetrical, its carpels are more concave, and its seeds are broader, more irregular in form and size, less acute and more distinctly tufted.

Season

All Winter and Spring (Elliott); December until June (Warder); January to May (Downing 1900); keeps through spring, and often through summer for twelve months (Thomas); January to May or later (Beach); February to July and may be kept through the summer (Budd-Hansen); January to May (Hedrick).

Downing notes it is "not fit for use until February, and may be kept till July." Beach emphasizes it is "one of the best keeping apples known. In ordinary cellar storage it has often been kept till the next crop has ripened. Late in the season it is apt to shrivel some." Hedrick calls it "preëminent among apples because its fruits keep latest of all—often from one season until the next."

Uses

A profitable market variety (Thomas, Budd-Hansen), particularly valued for its exceptional keeping quality despite only moderate eating quality. Warder classes its use as "market and cooking only, and valued because it keeps soundly for a long time." Beach reports it "is not very good for cooking, but has the reputation of making exceptionally good cider. It is acceptable for dessert following the season of Esopus Spitzenburg and Baldwin." Beach also notes that within recent years (as of 1905) it has been in good demand for export trade, bringing relatively better prices in Europe than in America. Elliott stresses that "although only of medium size, its quality of keeping over year renders it very profitable." Downing calls it "a very valuable market fruit" due to its productiveness, keeping quality, and good flavor.

Subtypes/Variants

Elliott describes a related apple: "There is cultivated in Central Ohio, a Golden Russet (see our figure) which resembles this, but is larger, and with an open calyx, and often beautifully bronzed with russet yellow. We think they may prove identical, and the soil and location make the apparent difference." Elliott also mentions "Crow's Nest," sometimes sold under the English Russet name, of which the fruit is larger, does not keep as well, and the tree when grown makes a dense top.

Note that the "English Russet" described by Warder (1867) and the "English Russet of England" described by Burrill and McCluer (Ill. Sta. Bul., 45:320, 1896) are, according to Beach and Downing (1900), entirely distinct varieties from this one — not subtypes but genuinely different apples sharing the name.

Other

Beach provides an extended comparison between English Russet and Golden Russet (the details of which are integrated into the sections above under Twigs, Lenticels, Form, Stem, Cavity, Calyx, Basin, Skin, Flesh, and Seeds). Summarizing Beach's key distinguishing points: English Russet has a straight-growing habit with erect shoots forming an upright or round top, while Golden Russet trees are more vigorous, spreading, irregular and bushy. English Russet skin takes a good polish and shows no blush; Golden Russet does not take a polish but may show a bronze blush under favorable conditions. English Russet's flesh is less rich, less tender, and of lower quality than Golden Russet's.