Sops of Wine. Sops in Wine. | Sapson. | Bennington.

Foreign. Tree, vigorous early bearer; esteemed for its peculiar pink flesh, as a curiosity for dessert. Fruit, medium or small, roundish; light red, nearly covered with bright purplish red, in streaks, yellowish in shade with yellow specks, whitish bloom; stem, short, slender; calyx, with broad segments; basin, shallow, slightly furrowed; core and seeds, medium; flesh, yellowish, stained with pink, juicy, mild, sub-acid; "very good." August to September.

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

Fig. 233.—SOPS OF WINE.

Sops of Wine.

European. Tree vigorous, spreading, productive.

Fruit small to medium, round, slightly conic, regular; Surface smooth, mixed red, shaded dark red throughout; Dots small, scattered, yellow.

Basin shallow, plaited; Eye small, closed.

Cavity medium, wavy, somewhat browned; Stem long, red.

Core distinctly marked with a red line, wide, oval, closed, meeting the eye; Seeds numerous, pointed, brown; Flesh yellow, fine grained, tender, juicy; Flavor acid to sub-acid, agreeable; Quality good to very good; Use, dessert; Season, August and September.

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

Sapson. Sapsonvine. An old but very nice little dessert Apple. Tree an abundant bearer. Fruit small, roundish, crimson red, stained and striped with purplish crimson. Flesh white, stained with pink, crisp, juicy, pleasant subacid. Good. August to October.

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

Sops-of Wine, p. 302.

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

SOPS OF WINE.

REFERENCES,

1. Ray, 1688:No. 21. 2. Knoop, 8:45. 1758. 3. Kenrick, 1832:28. 4. Ib., 1835:98. 5. Floy-Lindley, 1833:25. 6. Downing, 1845:77. 7. Cole, 1849:103. 8. Thomas, 1849:141. 9. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:11, 33. 1851. 10. Barry, 1851:282. 11. Hovey, Mag. Hort., 18:545. 1852. fig. 12. Elliott, 1854:157. 13. Gregg, 1857:39. 14. Hooper, 1857:85. 15. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1862. 16. Warder, 1867:615. fig. 17. Downing, 1869:356. 18. Horticulturist, 27:309. 1872. fig. 19. Fitz, 1872:121, 174. 20. Downing, 1872:10 index, app. 21. Montreal Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1879:22. 22. Downing, 1881:11 index, app. 23. Ib., 1881:12 index, app. 24. Hogg, 1884:215. 25. Hoskins, Rural N. Y., 47:662. 1888. figs. 26. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:296. 27. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:249. 28. Hoskins, Rural N. Y., 53:248. 1894. 29. Burrill and McCluer, Ill. Sta. Bul., 45:325. 1896. 30. Waugh, Vt. Sta. An. Rpt., 14:309. 1901. 31. Budd-Hansen, 1903:177. fig.

SYNONYMS. Bell's Early? (17). Bell's Favorite (20). Bennington (17, 18). Dodge's Early Red (17). Early Washington (22). Hominy (17, 19). Horning (29). Pie Apple (10). Red Shropsavine† (17). RODE WYN APPEL (2). Rode Wyn Appel (5, 6, 9). SAPSON (3). Sapson (6, 9, 11, 12, 18). Sapsonvine (3). Shropshirevine (23). SOPS IN WINE (1, 24). Sops in Wine (5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 18). SOPS OF WINE (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31). Sops of Wine (24). Strawberry (30). Warden's Pie Apple (17, 18). Washington (17, 18).

A dark crimson apple; flesh fine, stained with red; in season in August and September. The tree is a good grower, comes into bearing rather young and is a biennial or nearly annual cropper. Of little value except as a dessert apple for family use.

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

Sops of Wine. — An ancient English variety; tree vigorous, upright, spreading, an early and abundant bearer.

Fruit medium, round, slightly conic, regular; surface smooth, unctuous at maturity, rich yellow, almost or wholly covered with rich dark red, mixed and shaded, with heavy darker stripes and splashes overlaid with thin white bloom, a handsome fruit; dots distinct, many, gray and yellow; cavity obtuse, wavy, slightly russeted; stem long; basin wide, smooth, shallow; calyx closed: segments long, broad, connivent. Core closed, meeting, core outline red; cells round, axile, slit; tube conical; stamens median or marginal; seeds large, pointed, few; flesh yellowish white, stained with red, fine-grained, moderately juicy, mild, pleasant subacid, good to very good. Late July, early August, in central Iowa.

— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)

Sops of Wine (23). Size: medium. Form: flat. Color: yellow-red. Quality: good. Use: both kitchen and market. Season: autumn. Reported by 9 stations in the Northern Division (also reported in more than one division), 13 stations in the Central Division (also reported in more than one division), and 9 stations in the Southern Division (also reported in more than one division).

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

SOPS IN WINE. Fl. and Pom., 1882, 105. (Sapson, Sapsovine.) Culinary, October to December, medium, 2¾ by 2, round, slightly flattened. Colour, greenish-yellow almost covered with dark crimson flush. Flesh, tender, white, much stained with red; flavourless. Eye, a little open in an even shallow basin. Stem, medium in a very deep cavity. Growth, vigorous; fertile. There are many red fleshed apples to which this name has been applied. This I believe to be the Old English apple so called. It is of no particular merit.

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

SOPS OF WINE. Bennington. Early Washington. Strawberry. This is an old English dessert, culinary, and cider apple, known in Europe since 1688, when it was described by Ray, and grown in America for nearly two centuries. The crimson apples are handsome, well-flavored, and have fine-grained flesh, which is white stained with red. It is grown only on the Atlantic seaboard and even there is rapidly passing from cultivation. Tree large, vigorous, upright, dense. Fruit medium to large, uniform in shape but not in size, round or round-conic, ribbed, sides unequal; stem short, slender; cavity acute, deep, narrow, sometimes furrowed, with thin radiating russet rays; calyx small, closed or slightly open; lobes short; basin shallow, narrow, furrowed, wrinkled; skin thin, tender, roughened, greenish-yellow overspread with purplish-red, mottled, irregularly splashed and sometimes indistinctly striped with dark carmine, overspread with thin bloom; dots small, few, light russet or yellow; calyx-tube short, wide, cone-shape; stamens marginal; core of medium size, abaxile; cells usually symmetrical but not uniformly developed, open; core-lines meeting; carpels broad-ovate, concave, mucronate, tufted; seeds large, wide, plump, obtuse; flesh yellow often stained with pink, soft, fine, juicy, aromatic, mild, pleasant subacid; good; August to October.

— U.P. Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)

Planted Spring 1894. Tree a vigorous grower. Fruit of medium size, conical. Skin green, nearly covered with dull red, and sprinkled with gray dots. Flesh white, crisp, not juicy, of pleasant flavour, quality good. Season last of August.

— Central Experimental Farm, Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz BC — Catalogue of Fruit Trees under Test (Bulletin No. 3, 1900) (1900)