Rhode Island Greening

History

Where the Rhode Island Greening began is not known for certain, but Beach had little doubt that it came from Rhode Island, probably from near Newport at the place called Green’s End^1,4. An account of 1901 that he quoted tells how a Mr Green, who kept a tavern there, raised apple trees from seed; one bore a large green apple, and his guests took so many grafts that the tree died of the cutting¹. The same account records a tree of the variety planted at Fruit Hill in 1748 and felled in 1889, and has the apple carried to Ohio in 1796¹.

It spread widely through the older parts of New York during the eighteenth century¹, and reached England through the Horticultural Society of London². In 1905 New York grew it more than any apple except the Baldwin¹. In 1909–13 it ranked fifth among the apples of the United States, and in 1928 American commercial orchards held 1,451,000 trees, 1.8 per cent of the total⁵; in 1941 it was still one of the leading varieties of the north-east⁵. In 1991 Rhode Island made it the official state fruit⁶.

The fruit

The fruit is above medium to very large, roundish and somewhat flattened¹; at Brogdale it measures about 83 mm across and 66 mm high⁴. The tough, smooth, waxy skin is deep grass-green in autumn and turns yellowish as it ripens; it may have a dull blush, rarely a bright red cheek, but is never striped¹. The yellowish flesh is firm, moderately fine-grained, crisp, tender and juicy, rich and sprightly subacid¹. Hovey wrote that “As a cooking apple, the Greening is unsurpassed”, while allowing that to some tastes it is rather acid¹.

At Brogdale it flowers around 4 May and is picked in early October⁴. In New York its commercial limit was January or early February in ordinary storage, and March or April in cold storage¹. It ripens fast in warm autumn weather and scalds badly in store, turning yellow and mealy^1,5.

Growing

The tree is hardy, vigorous and long-lived, eventually large, with long, spreading branches that droop, so Beach advised heading young trees high¹. It is slow to begin bearing and often biennial, though in good conditions it crops almost every year; the fruit drops readily as it ripens, especially in high winds¹. It suffers more than the Baldwin from scab, and in some places from canker¹. Farther south it ripens earlier and keeps less well¹. It is a triploid⁴, a poor polliniser and self-unfruitful⁵.

Uses

Beach counted it one of the very best cooking apples, almost the equal of the Esopus Spitzenburg and better than the Baldwin, and very good for dessert as well¹. In England Hogg found it first-rate for every kind of cooking and excellent at table from November to April².

Where the sources disagree

• Age. The National Fruit Collection says it was already known by 1650⁴. The earliest date in the account Beach quoted is the planting of a tree at Fruit Hill in 1748¹, and Bunyard in 1920 thought the variety probably more than 150 years old³.
• The first tree. An old tree on the Drowne farm at Foster, said to be nearly 200 years old, was thought by some to be the original, but trees Beach raised from its top and from a sprout at its base differed, showing it to be grafted¹.
• Another name. Hogg and the National Fruit Collection give Green Newtown Pippin as a synonym^2,4; Beach records that earlier writers applied the name to it in error¹.