Spring has arrived officially, and while Taiwan does display
an increase in blossoms, I particularly miss the dramatic changeover typical
of more temperate zones. Starting with the maple sugaring season, the winter woods and
scenery come back to life with delicate spring flowers and new green leaves.
In my collection of nineteenth-century photographs is this
idyllic spring scene of an early American farm house in Worcester,
Massachusetts. We see the small wooden house located close to the road or
drive, with a large barn visible farther on. The house seems to be painted
white, but the corner boards and sills appear to be a darker, contrasting
color.
There is a wing of the house to the viewer's left, and on the right a white picket fence enclosing a side yard. Dimly seen is an elaborate front door with architrave and sidelights, but one wonders how much that classical entrance was used, for there is no path to the door, and the grass seems undisturbed.
Perhaps the most appealing element of the picture, and what establishes
the Spring season, is the row of blossoming apple trees in front of the house. While
we can't know for sure what kind they are, Baldwin, Roxbury Russet, and
Westfield Seek-No-Further are all famous varieties that originated in
Massachusetts, and that were well established by the time this photo was taken.
Baldwin, discovered in Wilmington, Massachusetts around 1740,
was one of the most important American apples in its day. As late as 1915, according
to the book North American Apples,
Baldwin was the leading commercial variety, with 13.4% of the crop. Southmeadow
Fruit Gardens more recently sold “this variety for those with childhood
memories of this large, red winter apple with its hard, crisp, juicy flesh so
long cherished for eating out of hand, and apple pie.”
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| The Baldwin apple from Beach’s Apples of New York (1905) |
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Baldwin was so important that the location of the original
tree was commemorated with this granite marker. (Photo from Wikipedia)
|
Roxbury Russet was one of those connoisseur's apples that
was grown for its consummate flavor, not for perfection of appearance. Roxbury
apples, often with patches of brown russeting over green-yellow skin,
illustrate the axiom that the worse fruit looks, the better it often tastes.
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| The Roxbury Russet, also from Apples of New York. |
Westfield Seek-No-Further was another old-time favorite with
a high eating quality. It also has the best name of any variety, taking you
back to an era when the art of naming apples was honed to a high skill.
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| Westfield Seek-No-Further, from Apples of New York. |
There also exists an old apple variety called Worcester
Pearmain, but it refers to the Worcester in England, not Massachusetts, and so is not a real
candidate for the trees in this photograph. However, these color plates of Worcester Pearmain were so
beautiful that I can't resist adding them:
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| Worcester Pearmain from Taylor’s Apples of England. |
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| Worcester Pearmain from Morgan and Richard's beautiful, The Book of Apples. |
This old cabinet photo of a Massachusetts farm vividly
brings to life a favorite daydream of having a house in the country with some
acreage. In the picture, at least, it is a beautiful day, everything on the
farm is in good shape and freshly painted, and the carriage is waiting to take us
out for a ride to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather.
(Photo of farm from author's collection, all other
illustrations as labeled.)
