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.

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

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.

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

St. Lawrence—Of American origin; tree vigorous, upright, productive, valuable, but ripens when there is an abundance of fruit—Fruit large, oblate, somewhat conical, slightly angular; surface smooth, yellowish green, mostly covered with sharply defined carmine splashes and stripes, the sharp contrast between the red and green is a marked characteristic; dots gray, minute, obscure; cavity wide, deep, regular, with faint trace of russet; stem medium; basin deep, narrow, abrupt, smooth or slightly wrinkled; calyx closed, segments long, erect convergent. Core partially open, clasping; cells obovate, widely slit; tube conical; stamens median; flesh white, often slightly stained with pink, crisp, tender, juicy, vinous subacid, good to very good. September to October.

— N.E. Hansen, A Study of Northwestern Apples (1902)

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.

[Additional entry in this volume: "Corse's St. Lawrence", pp. 721–721]

Corse's St. Lawrence. See St. Lawrence.

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

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.

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

Saint Lawrence. — Of American origin; tree vigorous, upright, productive; valuable, but ripens when there is an abundance of other fruit.

Saint Lawrence.

Fruit large, oblate, somewhat conical, slightly angular; surface smooth, yellowish green, mostly covered with sharply defined carmine splashes and stripes, the sharp contrast between the red and green is a marked characteristic; dots gray, minute, obscure; cavity wide, deep, regular, with faint trace of russet; stem medium; basin deep, narrow, abrupt, smooth or slightly wrinkled; calyx closed; segments long, erect convergent. Core partially open, clasping; cells obovate, widely slit; tube conical; stamens median; flesh white, often slightly stained with pink, crisp, tender, juicy, vinous subacid, good to very good. September to October.

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

Saint Lawrence is a large apple with skin color yellow-red. Quality is very good. Primary use is market. Season is autumn. Reported by 12 stations in the Northern Division (cross-division reporting indicated) and 5 stations in the Central Division (cross-division reporting indicated); no stations reported in the Southern Division. Form code: 'ja'.

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

ST. LAWRENCE. Montreal. St. Lawrence is an apple of the Fameuse type; the fruits greatly resemble those of Fameuse, but seldom equal them except in size, being usually much larger. It thrives in New England and parts of Canada and is especially prized along the St. Lawrence River. Its origin is not known, but it is probably a seedling of Fameuse grown in lower Canada early in the nineteenth century.

Tree of medium size, vigorous, upright-spreading. Fruit large, oblate-conic or round-oblate, faintly ribbed; stem short, slender; cavity large, acute, deep, regular, greenish-russeted; calyx small, closed; basin small, narrow, deep, abrupt, wrinkled; skin pale yellow washed and marbled with red, striped and splashed with dark carmine and overspread with thin bloom; dots numerous, obscure, fine, russet; calyx-tube narrow, cone-shape; stamens median; core medium in size, abaxile; cells partly open; core-lines clasping; carpels obovate, emarginate; flesh white, stained with red, tender, fine-grained, crisp, juicy, mild subacid; good to very good; September and October.

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

Planted Spring 1890. Tree a vigorous grower, and regular bearer. Fruit large, oblate tapering to the eye. Skin yellowish, striped and splashed with carmine. Flesh white, juicy, crisp, tender and vinous, quality very good. Season September.

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