+10F at dawn. The nighttime temperatures are creeping up. Today was another beautiful day on the farm. I resisted the temptation to spend the entire day outdoors and opted instead to sit and stare at apples until afternoon.
Today we celebrate the birthdays of two of our most beloved presidents: George Washington (February 22, 1732) and Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809). Within a half hour drive of the farm we have the towns of Lincolnville and Washington. Lincolnville was named in 1802, seven years before “Honest Abe” was born, but Washington got its name in 1825, 26 years after the death of the man who was purported to say, “I can not tell a lie.”
A battered President found at a cocktail party, 2011
Since it’s President’s day, I will continue to glance at the President apple. Bussey lists four potentially distinct cultivars with that name. Actually he lists five, one being the apple Todd Little Siebold found after eavesdropping at a Hancock County cocktail party in 2011. If that one is a true President, it is likely the Essex County, MA President or the Salem, NH President. Of course those two might be one and the same. There’s also a President originating in Michigan and another in Tennessee. It’s unlikely those ever made it to Maine.
Although the historical record does indicate that a “President” apple was grown in Hancock County, as I’ve noted so many times in these orchard reports, the written descriptions of old cultivars are often sketchy at best. To accurately identify many of these requires resorting to the circumstantial evidence found in old books and newspapers, letters, maps and journals and, of course, at cocktail parties.
This past fall, Todd and I collected fruit from another potential candidate for President, one we provisionally call, Sunnyside Yellow Netted. It is big and bright and shiny and looks oh so presidential. The leaves are in the lab now as I write, and we await any obscure clues that may emerge from the DNA results.
The only President I ever saw in person was Jimmy Carter on his inauguration day. That would have been January 20, 1977. It was a beautiful, clear, cold day in DC. I was standing on the cement base of a streetlight pole so that I could see over the crowd that lined Pennsylvania Avenue. I got to watch the President climb out of the car and walk down the street to the cheers of everyone. Amazing.