Kidd's Orange Red

J. H. Kidd's first success at Greytown, from Cox's Orange Pippin and Delicious, and a parent of Gala

History

Kidd’s Orange Red was raised by J. H. Kidd at Greytown, in the Wairarapa, New Zealand¹. Kidd was one of the pioneers of New Zealand apple breeding in the 1920s and 1930s³; a heritage education website gives his full name as James Hutton Kidd and his birth as 1877, in Northumberland⁵. He wanted apples that cropped as heavily and looked as well as American ones but tasted like English ones, so he made his crosses by hand and grew on the seedlings³. This apple, from Cox’s Orange Pippin and Delicious, was his first success, and it was sold as Kidd’s Orange^1,3. The National Fruit Collection dates it to 1924 and says it reached the United Kingdom about 1932¹. SNP data published in 2020 confirm both parents².

Kidd later crossed it with Golden Delicious to produce Gala³, a parentage the same SNP data confirm². The National Fruit Collection also records it as the mother of Imperial Gala and the father of Telstar, and lists one sport, Captain Kidd¹. In 1966 it was among New Zealand’s main apples, its harvest beginning in February⁴.

The fruit

The fruit is of medium size and truncate-conical, about 67 mm wide and 54 mm high, with medium ribbing¹. The yellow skin is striped with orange and carries very little russet¹. The cream flesh is firm, fine, crisp and juicy, and sweet, with what the National Fruit Collection calls “a rich aromatic flavour”¹.

At Brogdale, Kent, it begins to flower around 6 May and is picked in mid-October¹. It is diploid².

Growing

A 2011 guide for organic growers, compiling published disease ratings, rates it resistant to fire blight⁶.

Where the sources disagree

Date. The National Fruit Collection and the 2020 DNA study date it to 1924^1,2. The same heritage website gives 1912 for its origin and 1931 for its arrival on the market⁵.
Which parent bore the seed. The National Fruit Collection writes Cox’s Orange Pippin × Delicious¹ and Te Ara a cross “of Delicious with Cox’s Orange Pippin”³. The SNP data confirm both parents but do not show which was the mother².

Family tree

Parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, as the entries in the atlas record them.

Kidd's Orange Red New Zealand, 1924
- Parent Cox's Orange Pippin United Kingdom, about 1825
  - Parent Margil France, probably by 1608
  - Parent Rosemary Russet United Kingdom, by 1831
    - Parent Nonpareil France, by the mid 1500s
- Parent Delicious United States, 1872
  - Parent Winesap United States, by 1817

Offspring in the atlas

Captain Kidd New Zealand, 1962
Gala × Golden Delicious; New Zealand, about 1934
Telstar × Golden Delicious; New Zealand, 1934

13 varieties in the atlas descend from Kidd's Orange Red.

Where Kidd's Orange Red came from. The lines lead to its parents: Cox's Orange Pippin (United Kingdom) and Delicious (United States).

Sources

Kidd's Orange Red (accession 1973-158), National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, Kent (Defra). Supports: "Raised in 1924 at Greytown, Wairarapa, New Zealand by J.H.Kidd. It was introduced to the UK in about 1932"; firm, crisp, juicy, sweet flesh "with a rich aromatic flavour"; the synonyms Delco, Kidd's Orange and Kidd's Oranje Roode; parentage "Cox's Orange Pippin x Delicious"; mother of Gala and Imperial Gala and father of Telstar; the sport Captain Kidd; a dessert apple of medium size, truncate conical, 54 mm high and 67 mm wide, with medium ribbing, a yellow ground and striped orange over-colour, very low russet, and firm, fine, cream flesh; 10% flowering on 6 May and picking in mid October at the collection.
Using whole-genome SNP data to reconstruct a large multi-generation pedigree in apple germplasm, Hélène Muranty and others, BMC Plant Biology 20:2, with Additional files 1 and 3, 2020. Supports: Additional file 3 (Table S3): Kidd's Orange Red inferred as the offspring of Cox's Orange Pippin and Delicious (11 Mendelian errors), both documented parents confirmed, and Gala as the offspring of Kidd's Orange Red and Golden Delicious (8 Mendelian errors), both documented parents confirmed; Additional file 1 (Table S1): Kidd's Orange Red diploid, dated 1924.
Apples and pears, John Palmer, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand (Ministry for Culture and Heritage); archived copy, Internet Archive, 2008-11-24. Supports: J. H. Kidd "one of the pioneers of apple breeding in New Zealand in the 1920s and 1930s", who hand-pollinated varieties and raised the seedlings, hoping to combine the heavy cropping and attractive look of American apples with the flavour of English ones; his first success "from a cross of Delicious with Cox's Orange Pippin, sold as Kidd's Orange"; his later cross of Kidd's Orange with Golden Delicious, which produced Gala.
Fruit farming: pome fruits, C. E. Woodhead, in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, ed. A. H. McLintock; Te Ara (Ministry for Culture and Heritage); archived copy, Internet Archive, 1966. Supports: the main apple varieties of New Zealand listed "with months in which harvesting begins", with Kidd's Orange Red among those for February.
Of Apples and Men – world-class apples, Apples & People (The Brightspace Foundation), 2021-08-12. Supports: James Hutton Kidd, "born 1877 in Northumberland, UK", who set out to breed apples that improved on the taste of the then-dominant American Delicious varieties; Kidd's Orange Red "born 1912 in Greytown, New Zealand", a cross of Red Delicious and Cox's Orange Pippin, "introduced to market in 1931". A heritage education project, cited for the breeder's full name and for its dates, which differ from the National Fruit Collection's.
Apples: Organic Production Guide, Tammy Howard and Guy Ames, National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT), ATTRA, 2011-03. Supports: the table "Disease Resistant Apple Varieties", whose ratings come from numbered published sources or growers' observations converted to one scale: Kidd's Orange Red rated "r" (resistant) for fire blight, citing a published source.