Summer Queen
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Summer Queen
Origin / History
Summer Queen is an old variety of American origin, "supposed to have originated in this country" (Beach). Hedrick says it seems to have been first described in 1806. The earliest reference in Beach's list, M'Mahon's American Gardener's Calendar of 1806, gives it under the name Sweet's Harvest. Coxe described it in 1817.
Elliott calls it "popular and profitable in some sections of the Southwest." Downing calls it "a profitable sort for orchards and marketing over a large territory." In regions farther west, Beach says, it is "a very popular variety for home use and is also considered by some desirable for market." He notes that it is commonly listed by nurserymen in most parts of the country. In New York, however, it is not often grown and is now seldom planted. Hedrick says it was at one time rather largely grown in the eastern United States. He adds that it is now seldom planted except in the Pacific states, where several nurserymen still offer it.
Lowther's station table reports it from 4 stations in each of the Northern, Central, and Southern Divisions, marked as adapted to more than one division. At the Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz, B.C., it was planted in spring 1895.
Tree
Tree spreading, with somewhat pendent boughs, productive. Size and vigor are recorded from large and vigorous down to rather small and lacking in vigor. Warder and Downing give a large tree, and at Agassiz it was a strong grower. Beach calls it a moderate grower of rather spreading habit, and Hedrick calls it lacking in vigor and rather small.
Yields good crops almost annually (Beach), or bears annually (Hedrick).
Shoots light colored; leaves finely crenate. Good on warm, sandy soils, poor on cold clay; hardy far West (Thomas).
Fruit
Size: Medium to large, of good size; most authors call it large or rather large. Warder alone gives medium.
Form: Roundish conical, angular or somewhat angular, somewhat ribbed, broad at the crown and tapering to the eye. Lowther's table gives the form as "re."
Stem: Medium to long, slender. Downing calls it rather long, and Thomas gives it as an inch and a half long.
Cavity: Regular, narrow to wide, acute, rather deep to pretty deep. Thomas calls it small, and Downing says it is sometimes partially closed. Brown (Warder) or russeted (Budd and Hansen).
Calyx: Medium to large, open (Elliott) or closed (Warder, Budd and Hansen), but little sunk (Downing).
Basin: Shallow, very shallow, flat, or none; narrow or small, furrowed, folded, or plaited.
Skin: Ground yellow, fine deep yellow, or rich yellow. Mostly covered with clouded and mixed red, and well striped, streaked, splashed, and shaded with red. A striped red apple in general appearance. The stripes and splashes are bright red, scarlet (Warder), or purplish red (Elliott). Lowther's table gives yellow-red.
Dots: Minute or small, yellow.
Flesh and flavor: Yellow or yellowish, whitish-yellow by Beach's account, sometimes with a tinge of pink. Firm, breaking, crisp (Agassiz), juicy, aromatic to very aromatic, spicy, rich to very rich.
Subacid (Elliott), against acid (Warder) or rather acid (Thomas). Quality runs from good to first rate: Warder's "first rate," Elliott's "very good," Beach's "good to very good for culinary use," Downing's "of good flavor," and Lowther's "good."
Core and seeds: Core medium, regular, open, with cells open. Seeds numerous, pointed or acute, brown.
Season
Late summer, July through September. Most authors give August and September, while Warder gives July and August, and at Agassiz it ripened in August. Hedrick says the fruits ripen over a long season and do not keep well.
Uses
A kitchen apple, fine for cooking, called excellent for culinary use (Beach, Budd and Hansen). Lowther lists it for kitchen and market. Hedrick holds it of value only for home use and local markets, and says the fruits do not ship well.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 8 period pomological works
- Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)
- Beach, The Apples of New York Vol. 2 (1905)
- Budd & Hansen, Systematic Pomology (1914)
- Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)
- Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)
- Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)
- Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)
- Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 17 catalogs (1845–1921) from Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Virginia, Washington
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845
- St. Helena Nursery , Howell Prairie, Marion County, OR (Marion Co., Ogn.) — 1864
- The Vineland Nurseries (Kelsey & Co. , Proprietors), St. Joseph, Missouri (Office: 13th and Atchison Sts., 2 Blocks East of the Citizens St. Car Line) — 1894
- The Salem Nursery (John A. Francis , Proprietor), Salem , Virginia — 1897
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901
- Mountain Grove Nurseries (Tippin & Moore , Proprietors; Geo. T. Tippin, J. W. Tippin, J. C. Moore), Mountain Grove , Missouri — 1901
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- Carlton Nursery Co. , Carlton , Oregon — 1909
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- Galbraith Nursery Co. (DeWitt Hansen , Pres.-Mgr.), Fairbury , Nebraska — 1911
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913
- Union Nurseries , J.B. Weaver & Sons, Union , Oregon — 1915
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920
- Benedict Nursery Co. , Portland , Oregon — 1921
View original book sources (9)
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Summer Queen.
Sharpens Early, | Lancaster Queen, | Homony.
Popular and profitable in some sections of the Southwest. Fruit, medium to large, roundish conical, tapering to the eye, yellow, striped and splashed with purplish red; stem, medium; cavity, narrow; calyx, large, open; basin, furrowed; flesh, yellowish, sometimes a pink tinge, juicy, aromatic, sub-acid; "very good." August to September.
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Summer Queen.
American. Tree vigorous, large, spreading, productive. Fruit medium, round-conic, angular; Surface yellow,
covered mixed red, striped, splashed scarlet; Dots minute, yellow. Basin none or very shallow, folded or plaited; Eye medium, closed. Cavity wide, regular, brown; Stem long, slender. Core medium, regular, open; Seeds numerous, pointed, brown; Flesh firm, yellow, breaking; Flavor acid, very aromatic, spicy; Quality first rate; Use, kitchen; Season, July, August.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Summer Queen.
Sharpe's Early. Lancaster Queen. Polecat.
This variety forms a large tree with somewhat pendent boughs, and is a profitable sort for orchards and marketing over a large territory.
The fruit is large and broad at the crown, tapering towards the eye. The stalk is rather long, and is planted in a pretty deep cavity, sometimes partially closed. Calyx but little sunk, in a narrow plaited basin. Skin fine deep yellow in its ground, though well striped and clouded with red. Flesh aromatic, yellow, rich, and of good flavor. August and September.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Summer Queen. Rather large, roundish-conical, somewhat ribbed; striped with bright red on rich yellow ground; stalk an inch and a half long; cavity small, acute; basin small, furrowed; flesh yellowish, rather acid, spicy, very rich. Fine for cooking. Late summer. Good on warm, sandy soils, poor on cold clay. Shoots light colored, leaves finely crenate. Hardy far West.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)SUMMER QUEEN.
REFERENCES. 1. M'Mahon, Amer. Gard. Cat., 1806:584. 2. Coxe, 1817:102. 3. Thacher, 1822:133. 4. Buel, N. Y. Bd. Agr. Mem., 1826:476. 5. Wilson, 1828:136. 6. Kenrick, 1832:28. 7. Manning, 1838:46. 8. Downing, 1845:77. 9. Hovey, Mag. Hort., 14:489. 1848. fig. 10. Thomas, 1849:141. 11. Cole, 1849:103. 12. Barry, 1851:282. 13. Waring, 1851:28. 14. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:14. 1851. 15. Elliott, 1854:158. 16. Hooper, 1857:88, 107. 17. Gregg, 1857:39. 18. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1860:240. 19. Warder, 1867:545. fig. 20. Downing, 1869:370. fig. 21. Fitz, 1872:143, 161. 22. Ill. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1874:295. 23. Wickson, 1889:243. 24. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:298. 25. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:250. 26. Budd-Hansen, 1903:183. fig.
SYNONYMS. Lancaster Queen (15, 20). Polecat (20). QUEEN (3, 13). Queen (6). Sharpe's Early (20). SUMMER QUEEN (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26). Summer Queen (3, 13). SWEET'S HARVEST (1). Sweet's Harvest (3, 4, 6). Swell's Harvest (2).
A striped red apple of good size and excellent quality for culinary use, in season during late summer. In regions farther west it is a very popular variety for home use and is also considered by some desirable for market. The tree is a moderate grower with rather spreading habit and productive, yielding good crops almost annually.
Historical. This is an old variety which is supposed to have originated in this country (4, 19, 26). It is commonly listed by nurserymen in most parts¹
¹ Ragan, U. S. B. P. I. Bul., 66:300. 1905.
of the country (25). So far as we have been able to learn it is not often grown in New York and is now seldom planted in this state.
FRUIT (10, 12, 15, 19). Fruit medium to large. Form roundish conical, somewhat angular. Stem medium to long, slender. Cavity narrow to rather wide, regular, pretty deep. Calyx medium to large, open or closed. Basin shallow or none, furrowed. Skin yellow, striped, splashed and shaded with mixed red. Dots minute, yellow. Core medium size; cells open. Seeds numerous, acute, brown. Flesh whitish-yellow, sometimes with tinge of pink, firm, aromatic, juicy, subacid, good to very good for culinary use. Season August and September.
— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)Summer Queen.—Of American origin; tree vigorous, large, spreading, with somewhat pendent boughs, productive.
Summer Queen.
Fruit large, roundish conical, somewhat angular and ribbed; surface fine deep yellow, mostly covered with clouded and mixed red, with bright red splashes and stripes; dots minute, yellow; cavity, acute, regular, rather deep, russeted; stem long, slender; basin narrow, flat, or very shallow, plaited; calyx medium, closed. Core medium, open; seeds many, pointed; flesh yellow, firm, very aromatic, rich, rather acid, excellent for cooking. August, September.
— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)Summer Queen is a large apple with form "re", yellow-red skin, good quality, suited for both kitchen and market use, ripening in summer. It was reported by 4 stations in the Northern Division, 4 stations in the Central Division, and 4 stations in the Southern Division; the asterisk on each division count indicates the variety is reported as adapted to more than one division.
— U.P. Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)SUMMER QUEEN. Sweet Harvest. Queen. Summer Queen is an old variety, at one time rather largely grown in eastern United States, but now seldom planted except in the Pacific states, where it is still offered by several nurserymen. It is of value only for home use and local markets; the fruits ripen over a long season and do not ship or keep well. The variety seems to have been first described in 1806.
Tree lacking in vigor, rather small, spreading, productive, bearing annually. Fruit medium to large, round-conic, somewhat angular; stem medium to long, slender; cavity narrow to wide, regular, deep; calyx large, open, or closed; basin shallow or none, furrowed; skin yellow, striped, splashed and shaded with mixed red; dots small, yellow; core medium in size with cells open; seeds numerous, acute, brown; flesh whitish-yellow, sometimes with a tinge of pink, firm, aromatic, juicy, subacid; quality good to very good for culinary purposes; August and September.
— Central Experimental Farm, Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz BC — Catalogue of Fruit Trees under Test (Bulletin No. 3, 1900) (1900)Planted Spring 1895. Tree a strong grower. Fruit large, broad and tapering to the eye. Skin yellow with red streaks. Flesh yellow, crisp, juicy, aromatic. Season August.