The Fascinating Journey of the Apple Tree - From Historical Roots to Modern Orchards

The Fascinating Journey of the Apple Tree - From Historical Roots to Modern Orchards

The history of apple trees traces back to colonial America, signposting a captivating scenario where they were the most widely cultivated fruit trees. Virtually every farm settlement and backyard gardener endeavored to fill their gardens with easily grown apple trees or even simpler, plant the seed of the apple to establish an everlasting food supply. The products from these apple trees were ripe for consumption fresh from the branches, or could be preserved through drying for later indulgence.

The existence of apple trees is meticulously documented in folklore, legends, stone carvings, petrified apple slices discovered in tombs, and the substantial literary accounts found in Hebrew Bible scriptures. The apple tree's history weaves through poetry, songs, literary works, and countless accounts of civilizations in the ancient world. Archeological evidence supporting the existence of apple tree fruit can be traced back as far as 6500 BC, with the remains unearthed from excavations in Jericho, Jordan, offering remarkable insights assessed through radiochemical analysis of carbon atoms.

The intrigue of apples extends beyond folklore and historical texts, captivating the minds of Greek and Roman philosophers, poets, historians, and literary maestros as well. This intrigue prevailed across epochs, with Renaissance painters and Royal chefs to the Tsars of Russia all finding inspiration in the humble apple.

Fast forward to colonial America, where visionary William Blackstone astutely employed apple seeds to grow these trees in Massachusetts orchards in the 1600s. Early documents housed in the National Library in Washington, DC provide insights into how every landowner in Massachusetts had embraced apple tree cultivation as early as the 1640s.

The famous explorer and botanist, William Bartram, who penned the book 'Travels', observed "two or three large apple trees in a very thriving condition" in 1773 near Mobile, Alabama. It bears mentioning that these thriving apple trees could very likely have emerged from seeds planted by Creek Indians. These seeds may have been sourced from American colonists on the Eastern coast of the United States at an earlier period or from French farmers who had settled north of Mobile.

Many modern-day botanists concur that the improved apple as we know it today descended from the crabapple, which is often grown intermingled with apple trees for cross-pollination. Historical documents affirm this fact, claiming "cultivated apples descended from crab-tree or wild apple-Pyrus malus". Seeds from the wild crabapple tree appear on the collected seeds list in the Plant List of 1783 by William Bartram and his father, John Bartram.

The first operating nursery in the American colonies was established by Robert Prince in Flushing, New York, in the 1700s. This nursery offered apple trees for sale and hosted notable visitors like General George Washington, who would later become the first President of the United States. Later, President Thomas Jefferson was known for planting and growing apple trees at his fruit tree orchard in Monticello, Virginia, in the early 1800s.

Johnny Appleseed, a name synonymous with apple trees in America, was largely responsible for their rapid proliferation when he established a Midwest nursery in the 1800s that sold both apple trees and seeds for planting. Today, we have over 2000 cultivars of apple trees being grown, thanks to Johnny Appleseed's profuse dispersion of apple seeds and his memorable ambition to cover America's landscape with apple trees.

Apple trees, with time, did succumb to multiple disease problems, notably fire blight. However, Dr. C.S. Crandall from the University of Illinois achieved breakthroughs in combating these disease problems. He performed several backcrosses that involved modern cultivars and the apple tree ancestor known as 'crabapple', Malus floribunda. The wild crabapple provided an immunity factor within its genetic composition, aiding in overcoming all major bacterial and fungal diseases plaguing apple trees.

Flowering and fruiting in apple trees often present challenges to orchardists and backyard fruit tree gardeners, primarily due to the requirement of most apple tree cultivars for cross-pollination of two different varieties to bear fruit. The easiest solution to this conundrum has been the use of the modern-day apple cultivar's ancestor, the crabapple tree, which shed its pollen over an extended period and easily overlapped with the apple tree cultivar's flowering period.

Apple trees are remarkably easy to grow, and if a gardener purchases a large tree, they may witness fruit development even in the first year of planting and growth. The selection of the proper cultivar of grafted apple trees is exceedingly significant, because although the apple fruit can be grown in most areas of the United States, the trees require varying amounts of chilling temperatures to flower. The introduction of low chill cultivars from Israel now makes it possible to experience apple growing and planting as far south as Florida.

Through the centuries, apples have demonstrated an enigmatic quality that preserves them from deterioration for centuries, even when dried. This alchemical characteristic harks back to the origins of man, to the Biblical story of Eve and Adam picking apples from a tree in paradise for their eternal pleasure, planting by God and described as the tree of life in the fabled Garden of Eden. This mythical fruit of paradise recurs in the history of many other ancient civilizations, underlining its universal appeal. This enduring attribute could be the reason why apples are considered beneficial to health, immortalized in the age-old proverb, "an apple a day keeps the doctor away". Recent studies by researchers in California have indicated that the humble apple is very rich in antioxidants, a biological compound that combats stroke, heart disease, and several other health problems.