Apples and Pears
Wild Crab Apple trees and Wild Pear trees grow naturally throughout Europe and South West Asia. From these wild trees countless varieties of apples and pears have developed, and continue to appear, through the processes of reproduction, genetic change and human intervention. For example, the Bramley cooking apple differs markedly from Cox’s Orange Pippin. These are different varieties of the single species of Apple.
The mention of apples in the Garden of Eden indicates that the fruit was known in Biblical times. Most probably both apples and pears and the drinks made from them were known and used in antiquity. Instructions for making cider were recorded in the 4th century A.D. and apples are known to have been grown in Britain in Roman times.
The wild apple or Crab is a small bushy tree that grows commonly in Southern Counties. The pinkish white flowers appear in May and are succeeded by small green or brown fruits. From these wild apples many local varieties of cider apples were developed in Herefordshire and other western counties. Many varieties were, and are, extremely local. Some were limited almost to individual farms. The names and characters of Herefordshire’ cider and perry trees have been recorded in books called Pomonas. (See Pomonas)
The Wild Pear is a larger tree than the Crab. It grows in woods and hedgerows but is less commonly found. The flowers are white and the fruit small and gritty. As with apples, some authorities believe that edible varieties came from the continent and then were further developed into English strains. Some varieties, growing in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire have long been used to make the drink perry. These pears may have been developed from continental stock but equally they may have arisen naturally in the two counties.
The rare wild pear looks very similar to the perry pear (on right) and can only be distinguished using a range of factors
Many apple varieties were developed in Europe during the Middle Ages, especially in monastery and chateau gardens and some were probably introduced into Britain. From from native stock, English growers also bred native apple varieties.
How do different varieties arise?
Apple and pear trees reproduce by cross pollination. In this way genetic information from both parent trees passes to the offspring. As with humans, the offspring may resemble the parents to some extent but there will always be some differences. This is why seedlings grown from apple and pear pips do not produce exact replicas of their parent trees. Put another way, apple and pear trees do not breed true to type.
Some of the offspring may have ‘better’ fruit than others. These varieties will have been noticed and encouraged by growers in past times. But because they will not breed true, such trees need to be propagated to preserve their character.
Sometimes genetic changes happen within an individual tree and a shoot arises with different characteristics to the rest of the tree. These are called sports. If they are ‘better’ than the rest of the tree, they may be propagated as a new variety.
Apple blossom appear mid April to mid May. It must compete with all the other flowers to attract insects. Crab apples and cider varieties may be able to self fertilise without insects.
Propagating apple and pear trees is done by grafting buds or shoots from the preferred variety onto virus-free rootstocks of known quality. See Propagation
Cider Apples and Perry Pears
In general the individual fruits of these varieties are small and unpleasant to eat. This is because fruit for making good cider and perry requires different qualities and properties to those found in culinary fruit. Because cider and perry fruit requires crushing to extract the juice, the size of the fruit is not important. Walter of Henley alludes to the use of orchards for the production of cider in the 12th and 13th centuries. This appears to coincide with a decline in English vineyards due to a deterioration in the climate.
The earliest reference to cider in England comes from Norfolk in 1205 where four hogsheads of ‘wine’ were made from pearmain apples. The earliest record of orcharding and cider production in West Gloucestershire is at Woolaston in 1262. Another early record is from Staunton, near Newent, in 1348. Given the nearness of Staunton and Newent to Herefordshire, it is likely that cider orchards also existed in the county at that time, though we cant be sure. Neither orchards nor cider feature in medieval manor accounts while beer often does. The earliest possible reference to cider is a 15th century reference to pressed fruit at Eton Tregoz, which might imply cider or perry (TNA C115-96-6933-35) . By the end of the 16th century manor court rolls show that many farms in Herefordshire had one or two acres of orchard attached to their holding (e.g. Fownhope, Hereford Record Office AS58 and Leominster The National Archives LR2/217/349-388).
This extract from a 1596 Fownhope court roll states that Margaret Griffithe widow held by free tenure a house and orchard (pomar) of one acre. She pays 23d a year, which includes one and a half acres of land sub let to Thomas Thatcher.
The earliest written work on the subject of cider appeared in France in the 1570s. Twenty years later, the herbalist John Gerard wrote;
“ Kent doth abound with apples of most sorts but I have seen in the pastures and hedgerows about the grounds of a worshipful gentleman, dwelling two miles from Hereford, so many trees of all sorts that the servants drink for the most part no other drinke but that which is made from apples”
Much more is known about Herefordshire cider after 1600. John Beale noted in 1656 that the cider of Bromyard and Ledbury did not equal that of Holme Lacy and Kings Caple and he agreed with the generally held opinion that Herefordshire cider was better than that of Kent, Somerset and Essex.