Apple Selections from Dr Don McKenzie
From Journal 3-2
Vernon Harrison
It was a sunny afternoon at harvest time in the apple trial area of the Havelock North Research Station. Over one thousand varieties of apple trees were standing in their neat rows making tempting and colourful display laden with fruit of all shapes, sizes and colours. Among them is one that has survived from Roman times, and another reputed to have given Isaac Newton his theories of gravity.
Dr. Don McKenzie, Director of the Station is a connoisseur of apples and has made valuable contributions to our apple export industry,told me that the collection of apple varieties came from all over the world, as well as a number of very promising varieties raised In New Zealand. Many of these are really outstanding but contain certain commercial disadvantages. For instance varieties must have a tough skin to minimise damage in handling commercially, while this no disadvantage to the home gardener. In fact a thinner skin is much preferred for eating. Home gardeners have tended to grow the varieties they are familiar with in the green—grocers, whereas they would have a much more exciting range if they planted some of these superior varieties unobtainable at the fruiterers, according to Dr. McKenzie. I asked him which, out of the huge collection on trial would be the three best — unique in flavour, easy to grow yet consistent and heavy bearing.
My first choice would be EGREMONT RUSSETT said Dr. McKenzie. This is the best of the old English russett apples and one of the healthiest varieties for use in home gardens. The flavour is very sweet and rich with a vanilla taste and the flesh texture is compact and nutty. The apples ripen towards the end of February, following Cox's Orange.Pippin, and heavy crops of rather small apples are produced each season. The clear golden russett skins are most attractive in appearance. Ideally, tree—ripened Egremont Russet apples should be eaten with sherry, cheese and nuts to complete a summer meal, when the full piquant flavour can be savoured at its best.
His second choice for the home gardener would be LOBO. This very large Canadian apple is an ideal baking apple and is also excellent for general culinary use and For the production of apple juice. Nowadays it is almost impossible to buy really good old—fashioned cooking apples from commercial orchards, so the gourmet who desires really high quality culinary apples must now grow his own. Lobo is ideal for this purpose said Dr. McKenzie. The large,smooth, flat—round apples are produced in heavy crops every season, harvested in the first week of February to follow the Gravenstein season. Lobo apples also keep very well in storage and can provide the household with a good supply of cooking apples for several months.
For sheer delight in flavour TELSTAR is one of the best eating apples;a New Zealand hybrid from Golden Delicious and Kidds Orange. This medium sized, round smooth apple is pale yellow heavily overlaid with dark crimson stripes and starred with fine cinnamon russet dots. The skin is thin with a dry matt finish. The flesh is very fine, yellow,very juicy and crisp, very sweet with a rich aromatic flavour. It ripens at the same time as Kidds Orange and would follow Gala. It is not too strong growing, producing heavy crops every year with little effort. It is well suited to dwarfing rootstocks when it remains small and very fruitful.
Dr. McKenzie who has done so much for commercial growers also has done much to satisfy the urge for growing something different and really flavoursome on the part of the home gardener and is delighted that these varieties are now being released. It has been my privilege to be the first in the propagation and distribution of these excellent releases.
Last but not least, they are all grown on dwarfing stock which means that we can accommodate so many more in a small space. Planted at 2 metres apart you can get a nice little row in the vegetable garden, or better still, espalier them against a fence.
