On March 21 (“Ira’s Columbian Pippin”), I explained that many heirloom apple varieties were biennial bearers. That is, they don’t fruit heavily every year, but tend to alternate years. If the Heirloom Orchardist could figure out a way to trick half of his trees to produce on the odd years, and half on the even years, he could plan his production (and cash flow) a lot better. Here’s an observation from a Mr. Converse, published in 1851:
New England Farmer and Boston Rambler
Boston, Saturday, April 5, 1851
Vol. VI, Number 14
Grafting in Odd and Even Years.
Mr. Cole: In looking over the 2nd vol. of the N.E. Farmer, I noticed at page 30th, a call for facts in relation to the year of grafting having an influence on the year of bearing of apple-trees, and as I have a little practice in point, it is at your service.
In the spring of 1845, I took scions from a Baldwin apple tree that bore invariably in odd years and inserted them into a standard. The next year I took scions from the same tree as before, and inserted them into another standard. The result is as follows: The tree first grafted bore fruit in 1848, '50.
On the second tree about one-half the scions bore fruit in 1849, the other half in 1850. The trees grafted were natural fruit of the same variety, and great bearers every year.
Yours, P. L. CONVERSE.
Woburn, MA, March 21, 1851.
So, what’s the conclusion? Mr. Converse seems to imply that by grafting the odd-year bearing Baldwin on its bearing year (1845), he’d managed to switch the Baldwin’s timing to that of an even bearing tree. Then, when he grafted Baldwin scions on the even (non-bearing) year, he produced both even and odd bearing trees. Got it? My slow brain had to think about it a couple times. In the end, I think P.L. Converse needs to give this more time. He should've reported back every year.
Grafting and budding are at the heart of growing heirloom apples, since no apple comes "true to seed." That is, if you grow an apple seed that comes from a Baldwin Apple, you're not going to get a tree producing Baldwins. To get that, you need to graft a piece of a tree (a scion or a bud) that you know produces Baldwins, onto another apple tree. Grafting is a fun craft, and it's easily done...with practice. Here's a link.
