Sweet Russet
Apple
Editor's Note
Sweet Russet
Origin/History
Received from Parsons & Co. of Flushing, Long Island; origin otherwise unknown (Downing). S. B. Parsons of Flushing, Long Island, regarded Sweet Russet as the best baking apple (Warder). Downing's entry also records the name "Summer Russet" alongside the variety name. At least two additional distinct varieties circulate under the same name: one widely grown in Massachusetts, New York, and elsewhere, and one from Kentucky; these are described separately under Subtypes/Variants below.
Tree
Moderately vigorous, productive; young wood reddish olive (Downing).
Fruit
Size
Warder describes the fruit as medium. Downing describes it as small.
Form
Warder describes the fruit as conical and uneven. Downing describes it as roundish, inclining to conic, and sometimes oblate.
Stem
Short (Warder); slender (Downing).
Cavity
Wide and wavy (Warder).
Calyx
Small and closed (Warder); closed (Downing).
Basin
Shallow, folded (Warder).
Skin
Yellow with thin russet (Warder). Yellow, mostly covered with light russet, sprinkled with brown russet dots, with a tinge of red in the sun (Downing).
Flesh and Flavor
Flesh color: yellow (Warder); whitish (Downing). Tender and fine-grained (Warder); crisp and very tender (Downing). Juicy (both sources). Sweet (both sources); rich and aromatic (Downing). Quality good to very good (Warder); very good (Downing).
Core and Seeds
Core oval, open, clasping the eye; seeds plump (Warder).
Season
August (Warder); September (Downing).
Uses
Suited to baking; S. B. Parsons of Flushing, Long Island, considered it the best baking apple (Warder).
Subtypes/Variants
Sweet Russet of Massachusetts, New York, and elsewhere. A distinct variety grown widely in Massachusetts, New York, and elsewhere, noted as good for cooking. Tree an upright, spreading grower, productive. Fruit medium, oblate, yellow, mostly covered with nettings and patches of russet. Flesh whitish, half tender, rich, sweet. Quality good. Season November through March (Downing).
Sweet Russet of Kentucky. A distinct Kentucky variety described by Warder and cited by Downing. Fruit small, conical, truncated, rough, dark russet. Dots minute, white, prominent. Flesh yellowish white, fine-grained, not tender, sweet. Quality scarcely good. Season December through February (Downing, citing Warder).
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 3 catalogs (1901–1913) from Illinois
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913
View original book sources (2)
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Sweet Russet.
Fruit medium, conical, uneven; Surface yellow, thin russet; Dots numerous, small, prominent. Basin shallow, folded; Eye small, closed. Cavity wide, wavy; Stem short. Core oval, open, clasping the eye; Seeds plump; Flesh yellow, tender, fine grained, juicy; Flavor sweet; Quality good to very good; Use, baking; Season, August. S. B. Parsons of Flushing, Long Island, considers it the best baking apple.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Sweet Russet.
Summer Russet.
Received from Parsons & Co., Flushing, Long Island. Origin unknown. A nice Little Apple. Tree moderately vigorous, productive. Young wood reddish olive.
Fruit small, roundish, inclining to conic, sometimes oblate, yellow, mostly covered with light russet, and sprinkled with brown russet dots, tinge of red in the sun. Stalk slender. Calyx closed. Flesh whitish, crisp, very tender, juicy, rich, sweet, aromatic. Very good. September.
Another Sweet Russet is grown in Massachusetts, New York, and elsewhere. The tree an upright, spreading grower, productive. Good for cooking.
Fruit medium, oblate, yellow, mostly covered with nettings and patches of russet. Flesh whitish, half tender, rich, sweet. Good November, March.
Another Sweet Russet of Kentucky, is described by Warder as
Fruit small, conical, truncated, rough, dark russet. Dots minute, white, prominent. Flesh yellowish white, fine-grained, not tender, sweet. Scarcely good. December, February.