Vintage Virginia Apples

WICKSON is a variety developed by Albert Etter, the California plant breeder, and named for his fellow pomologist and friend, E. J. Wickson. It is a cross of Newtown (Albemarle) Pippin and Esopus Spitzenburg, selected in 1944. Warren Manhart in his Apples for the 21st Century, argues that it is actually a cross of two offspring of these notable old apples.Whatever, it is a superb example of a class of apples that have superior taste and other characteristics, but have never "'made it" in the modern apple-growing universe. It is considered more a crab than an apple, but is very sweet, with sugar content up to 25%, which gives it the extraordinary sweet taste. The fruit will range in size from one to two inches in diameter and will bear heavily on first and second-year growth. The color is red and yellow and the fruit will hang in garlands on the tree. Wickson ripens in September. It is especially promising for cider.