Some things you may not know about
Apples!
Source: hdra.org.uk
People have been eating apples for over 8,500 years and growing apple trees for
at least 4000 years.
Apples were taken to Tasmania and planted there by Captain
Bligh in 1788.
The Duke of Milan had an orchard in full fruit carried into his dining room “in
little carts” for a special dinner in 1560.
 Settlers
in 1780s Ohio were legally obliged to plant at least 50 apple
or pear trees within three years of making a settlement – before
they erected a permanent dwelling!
The Roman goddess of apples was called Pomona. She has a
cooking apple named after her – Cox’s Pomona,
raised by Mr Richard Cox who bred the renowned Cox’s
Orange Pippin.
In the 18th Century the cider allowance, part of the farm
worker’s wage, was 2 quarts a day for a man, and one
for a boy, but at harvest time a double allowance was given
to the mowers.
In 1740 Samuel Thompson discovered an excellent eating apple
when he was excavating the Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts,
USA. The apple, called Baldwin, is widely grown throughout
America and the site of the original tree is marked by a
stone apple on a pillar.
Red Admiral, Comma and Peacock butterflies love to sip the
fermenting juice from rotting apples on a sunny autumn afternoon.
Wasps do too!
Hedgehogs were reputed to carry ripe apples back to their
nests for winter storage by rolling on the ground under the
trees. When the hedgehog uncurled and wandered off, it would
have fruit embedded on its spines to take home.
Apple varieties that have large flowers with thick petals
curling inwards, are said to be more frost resistant.
It has been calculated that a large apple tree will contain
in its leaves 248gm of nitrogen, 248gm of potassium and nearly
85gm of phosphates every year.
Apple juice is the most popular non-alcoholic drink after
water in Eastern Europe.
Claybrooke Water Mill, still working to date, has cogs made
from apple wood. Cherry wood has been used for these at other
sites. Apple timber is hard, dense and shock resistant so
it is ideal for this purpose.
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