St. Lawrence
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Origin & History
Origin uncertain, but generally credited to Canada. Elliott states "From Canada," and Thomas calls it "Canadian." Beach notes that its origin does not appear to be definitely known, but some credit it to America. In 1848, Thomas described it as a newly introduced variety cultivated in the vicinity of Rochester and originally from Lower Canada. As early as 1835, St. Lawrence was recommended as one of the American varieties worthy of cultivation in England. In 1862 it was entered in the catalogue of the American Pomological Society. It was frequently listed by nurserymen but by Beach's time (1905) was seldom planted in New York state.
Beach reports that while the variety does very well in some portions of Western New York, generally speaking it reaches a higher degree of perfection in favorable locations in the St. Lawrence valley and in the Lake Champlain region than in other portions of the state. Waugh remarks that in Grand Isle county, Vermont, "It is rather common but not highly prized. It precedes Fameuse in season and is of the same general character." Woolverton states that it is not planted in the commercial orchards of Ontario bordering Lakes Ontario, Erie or Huron, but it is valued in orchards along the St. Lawrence river and parts of the Province between latitudes 45 and 46. In the Niagara district it is considerably affected by scab and by codling moth.
Tree
Tree upright to upright spreading, hardy, productive, and a reliable cropper yielding good to rather heavy crops biennially. Downing describes the tree as vigorous, while Beach calls it medium size and moderately vigorous. Young shoots smooth, reddish-brown (Downing) to rather dark reddish-brown (Beach). Beach adds that the tree is generally pretty healthy, moderately long-lived, and not a very good grower in the nursery. Some growers hold that it is desirable to topwork it upon some more vigorous stock such as Northern Spy. Although many fruit growers regard it as a fairly profitable commercial apple, Beach states it cannot be recommended for general cultivation.
Fruit
Size: Large, or large to medium (Beach).
Form: Oblate inclined to conic varying to roundish oblate, faintly ribbed (Beach). Downing describes it as oblate, tapering towards the eye. Thomas says roundish, slightly oblate, and sometimes a little conical, obtuse, with the whole surface broadly and very distinctly striped. Elliott gives roundish flattened.
Stem: Short to medium in length, moderately slender (Beach). Downing says medium length. Thomas says rather short and slender. Elliott says short.
Cavity: Large, acute, deep, regular, greenish-russeted (Beach). Downing says large. Elliott says open, deep. Thomas says wide.
Calyx: Small, closed (Beach). Downing says firmly closed. Elliott says closed.
Basin: Rather small, narrow, moderately deep, abrupt, wrinkled (Beach). Downing says small and deep. Elliott says slightly furrowed. Thomas says round, deep, with a very obtuse rim.
Skin: Pale yellow washed and marbled with bright red, striped and splashed with bright dark carmine and overspread with thin white bloom (Beach). Dots numerous, rather obscure, fine, russet (Beach). Downing describes the ground as yellowish, striped and splashed with carmine. Elliott gives pale yellow, striped and splashed with red and deep crimson. Thomas describes the whole surface as broadly and very distinctly striped with very dark red, on light greenish yellow ground. Beach notes that the fruit may not remain on the tree till it is well colored, and unless it is well colored it fades in the barrel so much as to render it almost valueless for market.
Flesh & Flavor: Flesh white, sometimes slightly stained with red, tender, fine-grained, crisp, juicy. Sources diverge on flavor: Downing calls it "vinous"; Beach says "mild subacid, good to very good for dessert; rather mild for culinary uses"; Elliott describes it as "sharp, sub-acid" and rates it "very good"; Thomas says "rather acid, moderately rich, agreeable." Good to very good.
Core & Seeds: Core medium size, somewhat abaxile; cells partly open; core lines clasping (Beach). Elliott describes the core as large, with seeds small. Carpels obovate to elliptical, emarginate (Beach). Calyx tube narrow, cone-shape to funnel-form. Stamens median (Beach).
Season
September and October. The crop ripens somewhat unevenly and should have more than one picking in order to secure the fruit in prime condition and prevent great loss from dropping (Beach). It does not stand heat well before going into storage and goes down quickly. The fruit varies greatly in keeping qualities in different seasons but usually October is its commercial limit in ordinary storage. In cold storage it may be held until December (Beach). Thomas says it ripens about mid-autumn.
Uses
Better for dessert than for culinary use but does not excel standard varieties of its season for either purpose (Beach). Rather mild for culinary uses (Beach). Thomas calls it "a very handsome, hardy, and productive apple, of good flavor."
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Beach notes that when well grown, St. Lawrence is a large, handsome apple. He also observes that although many fruit growers regard it as a fairly profitable commercial apple, it cannot be recommended for general cultivation.
Book Sources
Described in 4 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 13 catalogs (1889–1920) from Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington
- Palouse Nursery and Pleasant Dale Fruit Farm , Colfax, Washington Territory (situated two miles northeast of Colfax) - undated (single-page broadside flyer; "Washington Territory" suggests pre — 1889
- William H. Moon Co. , Morrisville, Bucks County , Pennsylvania — 1890
- Rogers Nursery Co. , Moorestown , New Jersey — 1893
- Reading Nursery , Jacob W. Manning, Proprietor, Reading , Massachusetts — 1898
- Brown Brothers Co. , Continental Nurseries, Rochester, NY (also operated from Toronto, Canada) — 1899
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901
- Brown Brothers Co. , Continental Nurseries, Rochester, NY (also operated from Toronto, Canada) — 1901
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904
- Wm. J. Corse (successor to Robert Sinclair / Sinclair Nurseries) , Baltimore , Maryland — 1909
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920
View original book sources (4)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)St. Lawrence.
Origin uncertain. Tree vigorous, upright, productive. Young shoots smooth, reddish brown.
Fruit large, oblate, tapering towards the eye, yellowish, striped and splashed with carmine. Stalk of medium length, inserted in a large cavity. Calyx firmly closed. Basin small and deep. Flesh white, lightly stained, crisp, juicy, tender, and vinous. Good to very good. September, October.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)ST. LAWRENCE.
REFERENCES. 1. London Hort. Soc. Cat., 1831:No. 1187. 2. Kenrick, 1832:28. 3. Mag. Hort., 1:149. 1835. 4. Hovey, Ib., 13:539. 1847. fig. 5. Mag. Hort., 14:531, 539. 1848. 6. Thomas, Cultivator, 5:246. 1848. 7. Cole, 1849:104. 8. Thomas, 1849:152. 9. Barry, 1851:286. 10. Waring, 1851:30. 11. Elliott, 1854:158. 12. Downing, 1857:193. 13. Hooper, 1857:90. 14. Gregg, 1857:47. 15. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1862. 16. Warder, 1867:731. 17. Downing, 1872:10 index, app. 18. Leroy, 1873:799. fig. 19. Montreal Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1876:11. 20. Ib., 15:19, 27. 1890. 21. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:298. 22. Taylor, Me. Pom. Soc. Rpt., 1892:57. 23. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:249. 24. Woolverton, Ont. Fr. Stas. An. Rpt., 6:9. 1899. figs. 25. Waugh, Vt. Sta. An. Rpt., 14:307. 1901. 26. Hansen, S. D. Sta. Bui, 76:96. 1902. 27. Farrand, Mich. Sta. Bui., 205:46. 1903. 28. Budd-Hansen, 1903:171. fig. 29. Can. Hort., 27:51. 1904. fig. 30. Beach and Clark, N. Y. Sta. Bui, 248:143. 1904. 31. Scriver, Can. Hort., 28:277. 1905.
SYNONYMS. Corse's St. Lawrence (8). Montreal (4, 11, 18). SAINTLAURENT (18). ST. LAWRENCE (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31). Saint-Lawrence (18). York and Lancaster (17).
When well grown, St. Lawrence is a large, handsome apple. It is better for dessert than for culinary use but does not excel standard varieties of its season for either purpose. While it does very well in some portions of Western New York, generally speaking, it reaches a higher degree of perfection in favorable locations in the St. Lawrence valley and in the Lake Champlain region than in other portions of the state. The crop ripens somewhat unevenly and should have more than one picking in order to secure the fruit in prime condition and prevent great loss from dropping. It does not stand heat well before going into storage and goes down quickly. The fruit may not remain on the tree till it is well colored, and unless it is well colored it fades in the barrel so much as to render it almost valueless for market. It varies greatly in keeping qualities in different seasons but usually October is its commercial limit in ordinary storage. In cold storage it may be held until December (30).
The tree is a moderately strong grower, hardy, generally pretty healthy, moderately long-lived and a reliable cropper yielding good to rather heavy crops biennially. It is not a very good grower in the nursery. Some growers hold that it is desirable to topwork it upon some more vigorous stock as Northern Spy. Although many fruit growers regard it as a fairly profitable commercial apple it cannot be recommended for general cultivation.
Waugh remarks, that in Grand Isle county, Vermont, "It is rather common but not highly prized. It precedes Fameuse in season and is of the same general character" (25).
Woolverton (29) states that it is not planted in the commercial orchards of Ontario bordering Lakes Ontario, Erie or Huron, but it is valued in orchards along the St. Lawrence river and parts of the Province between the latitudes 45 and 46. In the Niagara district it is considerably affected by scab and by codling moth.
Historical. As early as 1835 St. Lawrence was recommended as one of the American varieties which was worthy of cultivation in England (3). Its origin does not appear to be definitely known but some credit it to this country (12, 17, 26, 28, 29). In 1848 Thomas (6) described it as a newly introduced variety cultivated in the vicinity of Rochester and originally from Lower Canada. In 1862 it was entered in the catalogue of the American Pomological Society (15). It is frequently listed by nurserymen (23) but is now seldom planted in New York state.
TREE.
Tree medium size, moderately vigorous. Form upright spreading. Twigs smooth, rather dark reddish-brown.
FRUIT.
Fruit large to medium. Form oblate inclined to conic varying to roundish oblate, faintly ribbed. Stem short to medium in length, moderately slender. Cavity large, acute, deep, regular, greenish-russeted. Calyx small, closed. Basin rather small, narrow, moderately deep, abrupt, wrinkled. Skin pale yellow washed and marbled with bright red striped and splashed with bright dark carmine and overspread with thin white bloom. Dots numerous, rather obscure, fine, russet. Calyx tube narrow, cone-shape to funnel-form. Stamens median. Core medium size, somewhat abaxile; cells partly open; core lines clasping. Carpels obovate to elliptical, emarginate. Flesh white, sometimes slightly stained with red, tender, fine-grained, crisp, juicy, mild subacid, good to very good for dessert; rather mild for culinary uses. Season September and October.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)St. Lawrence.
Montreal.
From Canada. Fruit, large, roundish flattened, pale yellow, striped and splashed with red and deep crimson; stem, short; cavity, open, deep; calyx, closed; basin, slightly furrowed; core, large; seeds, small; flesh, white, fine-grained, tender, juicy, sharp, sub-acid; "very good." September to October.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)St. Lawrence. (Corse's St. Lawrence.) Large, roundish, slightly oblate, and sometimes a little conical, obtuse; whole surface broadly and very distinctly striped with very dark red, on light greenish yellow ground; stem rather short and slender, cavity wide; basin round, deep, with a very obtuse rim; flavor rather acid, moderately rich, agreeable. A very handsome, hardy, and productive apple, of good flavor, ripening about mid-autumn. Canadian.