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POME FRUIT NEW VARIETIES ‘Franklin’ hang on the original tree in Franklin, Vermont.

CHANCE SEEDLING NEW BITTERSHARP PATENTED Vermont apple grower finds a tree in his ; discovers it has a unique profile which makes it a good addition to sweet and hard cider blends.

BY CHRISTINA HERRICK, Such was the case with Mayo’s seedling ercially grown hard cider apples. Tannins MANAGING EDITOR apple, which Mayo calls the ‘Franklin’ are polyphenolic compounds that provide [email protected] . mouthfeel, dryness, and a slight bitterness desired in craft hard . HE STORY OF the ‘Franklin’ cider EVALUATING THE VARIETY “Out of 44 different varieties or samples, apple is one of happy accidents. Bradshaw ran juice samples in his lab, it ranked fifth for highest total poly- T Bill Mayo and wife Susan run and then compared it to 44 other dessert phenols. That’s behind the traditional the Franklin General store in Franklin, VT. and traditional hard cider apple cider apples, ‘,’ ‘,’ and His family has a small orchard of 400 trees, picked at multiple in multiple har- ‘Nehou,’” Bradshaw says. “It’s ahead of most of which are ‘.’ vests across several counties, to get a com- another sample of ‘Dabinett’ — the next 10 However, there is below it are traditional hard cider another tree in his orchard apples from Europe.” – a chance seedling, which Bradshaw also says he com- Mayo discovered in 2008. pared the ‘Franklin’ apple’s He began incorporating acidity to traditional European the apple into the Franklin hard cider varieties and dessert General Store’s sweet cider. apples used in hard ciders. He “You get this mystery dry- says it is a high acid apple, along ness that makes you want the lines of ‘’ and to more and more,” ‘’ and more acidic than he says. a ‘Macoun.’ He says the apple After the apple’s influence also ranks third highest for on Mayo’s sweet cider made among his 44 varieties it quite popular, Mayo set tested, and Mayo says the juice his sights on the burgeoning measures anywhere from a 17.5 hard cider industry. He sent to 19 Brix. The original ‘Franklin’ cider apple tree in bloom. samples of the apple out for Within the hard cider circle, testing to distributors, hard cider makers, prehensive look at how the ‘Franklin’ apple the variety ‘’ is known as and researchers. compared with other hard cider cultivars. a premiere bittersharp — having the right This is where Terence Bradshaw, tree fruit He sorted the apples by the three mix of acids, tannins, and sugars — but and viticulture specialist with the University parameters by which hard cider variet- difficult to grow. of Vermont, comes into the fold. Bradshaw, ies are evaluated — tannins, sugars, and When the ‘Franklin’ cider apple was com- also a hobby hard cider maker, says hard acids. Bradshaw says tannins are the most pared to the ‘Kingston Black’ in Bradshaw’s cider apples often find their way to him. difficult characteristic to get out of com- lab, the ‘Franklin’ apple was slightly lower

34 | AMERICAN FRUIT GROWER AND WESTERN FRUIT GROWER | April 2016

POME FRUIT

NEW VARIETIES than the ‘Kingston Black’ in acidity, four This year’s spots higher than the ‘Kingston Black’ in harvest netted 30 sugars, and five spots higher in tannins. bushels of apples off one tree. “If you consider ‘Kingston Black’ Photo credits: Bill Mayo somewhat in the rare category of bittersharp then it falls in that category seedling tree that has been around for in USDA Zone 3 and that winter was just and there really aren’t a lot of apples that approximately 60 years, it’s safe to say the warm, and then we had that cold snap in fall in that category,” Bradshaw says. tree has been exposed to disease and cold the spring, and everything was wiped out,” winters. But both Mayo and Bradshaw he says. “Bill’s tree came through.” GROWTH HABITS say they’ve seen no traces of or The tree produces apples approximately “The grafts growing at the nursery from cedar apple rust. 1.75 inches across, says Elmer Kidd, chief this chance seedling are very vigorous,” Bradshaw does acknowledge that fire production officer for Stark Bro’s Nurseries Mayo says. “Unlike the ‘Kingston Black,’ blight is not something the area has to deal & Orchard Co. in Louisiana, MO. it’s an annual producer. We picked 30 with. But, growers there are familiar with “It makes a nice apple, a pretty russet, bushels off that tree.” cold winters. it’s a small crab apple size,” says Steve Mayo says the tree was harvested in a “We live on the Canadian border,” Mayo Stata of Hall Home Place in Isle few hours by shaking, and the apples hang says. “This tree is 60-plus years old and has La Mott, VT. well on the tree, as opposed to dropping shown no winter damage. It was put to the Bradshaw says there were some differ- early as some hard cider varieties are prone test in several winters of -32°F to -35°F.” ences in apples that were shaded because to do. This holding quality, he says, will Tito Navarra of Cummins Nursery in of the heavy crop. make it a good candidate for mechanical Ithaca, NY, says what intrigued him was “We did notice just from tasting the fruit harvesting. As well as being a good pro- how the tree came through with a regular and visually, fruit size and color, there were ducer, Mayo says this past year’s harvest crop in 2012, when most other growers in differences,” he says. “Growing this in a yielded 2.74 gallons of juice per bushel. that region were hurting. system that allows better light penetration Since the ‘Franklin’ tree is a chance “Bill’s tree is interesting because it is such in a tall spindle, we could get some different numbers out there.”

THE FUTURE “I told Bill ‘You’ve got to get this propa- gated because one lightning strike and you could be out,’’’ Bradshaw said in the early testing. And that’s exactly what Mayo did. After sending samples to Stark Bro’s to be tested, they worked out an agreement to patent and release the tree. Stark Bro’s Nurseries & Orchards Co. is currently propagating trees for a 2017 release. Kidd says he’s budded 2,000 trees on B.118. GENTLE – Separates without damaging peaches, apples, mushrooms and fresh “There’s such a small amount of the bit- tomatoes tersweets and bittersharps in production in ACCURATE – Precisely grades grape tomatoes, cherries, nuts, and small berries, this country,” Stata says. “Having this bit- maintaining that accuracy for larger products including cantaloupes and pineapple tersharp come on the market is going to be FAST – Thirteen standard models custom-designed to meet your needs sort from 1000 a huge difference for the future of the cider lb/hr to 100,000 lb/hr making community.” SIMPLE – Effective but simple design provides a rugged, low cost, low maintenance Mayo, Bradshaw, and Stata say this machine at a high value to our customers. It can even be used in the field! apple is a good fit for sweet and hard cider VERSATILE – Specialized rollers allow for the accurate sizing of round products blends. Mayo is excited about what the (potatoes, onions, and citrus), long products (carrots, russets, and cucumbers), and future will hold for his tree. irregular products (bell peppers, jalapenos, and garlic) “I keep trying to find reasons not to like this apple and it continues to me,” KERIAN MACHINES, INC. he says. “This is an all-American apple 1709 Hwy 81 S, PO Box 311, Grafton ND 58237 discovered on U.S. soil, and a distinctive Phone: 701-352-0480 • Fax: 701-352-3776 bittersharp to be called our own.” ● Website: www.kerian.com • Email: [email protected]

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