Great Small Farm Story

[Maine Writer]

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[ccaissie]

Originally Posted by BrokenTap

Come on down, I got plenty of apple trees so you can grab all you want. I will say though, someone told me that older trees do not produce good apples and it may be true. These are probably 200 years old since that was when the Apple market was huge in Maine. I know in 1945 my Grandfather cleared this place (where my house is) of apple trees. Some were left though from that land clearing operation.

In fact I recently cleared a new section of land and when I got to the dozen apple trees that lay within the proposed field...I left them alone. Typically I don't cut apple trees as they are good for the deer, but in leaving them, it will mess up my nice big field I want to have.

Apple firewood pays pretty good money right now, so I supposed I could cut them and not feel too guilty, but then again they are quite old, kind of sad to see Johnny Johnson Apple Seed of the day's hard work be undone two centuries later. I'd be curious to see if they could produce good apples again. They are certainly hardy, heritage varieties and non-hybrid in any way, but they are pretty tall too, and like I said, someone said after 100 years old apple trees stop producing a good apple. (I have no idea if that is true or not).

The picture explains my dilemma quite well.

Hi:
New on forum. Interesting. Do you know the varieties of the old trees? If it's rare or unknown, John Bunker at Fedco might like to hear.

Colin

[BrokenTap]

Originally Posted by ccaissie

Hi:
New on forum. Interesting. Do you know the varieties of the old trees? If it's rare or unknown, John Bunker at Fedco might like to hear.

Colin

No idea. I know there was a really good market for apples in Boston and New York around 1840 or so. That was when a lot of old apple orchards were planted around here.

I have a written diary from a Great Uncle who makes a light hearted claim that he might be the first person to bring apples to CA. He took a ship around the Horn on his way to the Gold Rush and brought with him several bushels of apples. They were so rare at the time in SF, that people bought them for a buck apiece...in 1849 terms!

My grandfather cleared the field I now live in in 1944 and I know from his first hand accounts that the trees were so well established that he had to blast the stumps out with dynamite. He did not get all of them though, and for the ones he missed many of these trees have fallen down, and then resprouted new trunks and these trunks are 16-18 inches thick.

I have a soft-spot for old things and so when an apple tree was in my way, I cut it down but had the good sense to saw the tree into boards. That was a mistake, the sawblade got so hot from sawing the hard wood that it broke on my last cut. I did manage to do something really special with the wood though...I built this Stainless Steel Presentation Dovetail Saw. It took me a whole year to complete (in my spare time and as a farmer my spare time is very limited and was all done by hand). Still the handle is of apple and overall the rather rose colored wood goes well with the stainless steel. I felt making a tool from the wood of such an old tree was in good taste.

Who is John Bunker if you can excuse my ignorance? Is he the person that is really interested in old fruit trees I read something about in a MOFGA Newletter or something? It escapes me now but if that is the guy, I forgot about him. I know these apple trees produce a very tasty, but rather unique yellow apple.

[Submariner]

There are two guys at Fedco that hike through the woods in search of the perfect wild apple. I have heard some of their tales of searchs. They are very good at ID'ing hundreds of apple varieties, and they invite folks to try and stump them.

[BrokenTap]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

There are two guys at Fedco that hike through the woods in search of the perfect wild apple. I have heard some of their tales of searchs. They are very good at ID'ing hundreds of apple varieties, and they invite folks to try and stump them.

I can't stump them because I don't know what these apple trees are. I suspect they are nothing great as it was a plantation and I assume that whoever planted them knew the Boston/New York market well and had the varieties that these people were looking for.

I am not sure why the market died, but I suspect that the new love for beer out paced the love of cider. Before 1900 cider was the preferred drink here, but beer changed that.

Myself I still like cider and got the original recipe from my Great-Grandfather² though I am not a drinking man

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by BrokenTap

I can't stump them because I don't know what these apple trees are. I suspect they are nothing great as it was a plantation and I assume that whoever planted them knew the Boston/New York market well and had the varieties that these people were looking for.

I am not sure why the market died, but I suspect that the new love for beer out paced the love of cider. Before 1900 cider was the preferred drink here, but beer changed that.

Myself I still like cider and got the original recipe from my Great-Grandfather² though I am not a drinking man

In my reading about cider, I have gotten the impression that cider was the big popular drink from the colonial days right up to the prohibition era.

After prohibition beer was the favorite drink.

Prohibition was also the time when the word 'cider' changed it's meaning. Before prohibition 'cider' only meant fermented apple juice. After prohibition 'cider' is now commonly used for non-alcoholic apple juice, in America.

In the UK and other English speaking nations the meaning never changed.

I once read a story that claimed that one wine and champagne manufacturer began putting 'sparkling' apple juice in their champagne bottles and marketed it as 'cider' so they could continue in operation through the prohibition era, and by doing so they were able to get the American public to stick to using 'cider' to mean juice.

[BrokenTap]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

In my reading about cider, I have gotten the impression that cider was the big popular drink from the colonial days right up to the prohibition era.

After prohibition beer was the favorite drink.

Prohibition was also the time when the word 'cider' changed it's meaning. Before prohibition 'cider' only meant fermented apple juice. After prohibition 'cider' is now commonly used for non-alcoholic apple juice, in America.

In the UK and other English speaking nations the meaning never changed.

I once read a story that claimed that one wine and champagne manufacturer began putting 'sparkling' apple juice in their champagne bottles and marketed it as 'cider' so they could continue in operation through the prohibition era, and by doing so they were able to get the American public to stick to using 'cider' to mean juice.

That is probably all true. I got a lot of family documents from the old days and there are a lot of references to cider. I would definately say as far as this family's history goes, it was the drink of choice. The making of cider was mentioned a lot.

But here is where it gets kind of confusing. I have heard my Grandfather refer to drinking and making "cider" but he described using potatoes and the drink being clear with "a kick like a mule". That did not sound like cider to me at all, but Vodka. Considering that from the 1870's to the 1988 we were potato farmers, that would be understandable. Why go through the trouble of harvesting apples when you got a potato house full of potatoes just right for distilling! Court documents show during the Prohibition Era that must have been done quite a bit because there are 5 arrests and convictions for a Great Uncle².

But at some time beer in Maine must have been a pretty big drink as well. In 1830 or so, a Great Uncles' diary describes the issue of raising hops on the family farm. The way he describes it, raising hops was the largest profitable commodity on the farm and yet his Grandfather and his Father got into a fight over the deal. The Grandfather wanted to keep the profitable Hops, but his father wanted it plowed up because he was a very religious man and felt raising hops caused "men to consume alcohol and sin." It tore the father/son apart, but eventually the hops were plowed up and thrown over the rockwall. Those hops still grow there today.

Whether it was apples, potatoes or hops...one thing is known, they knew how to ferment the mash!

[BrokenTap]

As as side note, I emailed Fedco Seeds but they have not got back to me unfortunately. I read their website on apples and it intrigued me. I have no idea if these trees are a unique variety or not, but they definately could be just because of their age and because the apple orchard was over 10 acres in size. Someone definately invested a lot of time and money into them at the onset.

That is a shame because this place is in the midst of an expansion and I've cleared a lot of land lately. The apple trees are the only thing left and I got a bulldozer coming in a few weeks. It would be nice to know if these things are unique before they are gone forever.