The 'Roxbury Russet' is an

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...

, believed to be the oldest

bred in the United States, having first been discovered and named in the mid-17th century in the former Town of Roxbury, part of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

southwest of (now part of)

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. It is known by several other names including 'Boston Russet', 'Putnam Russet', and 'Sylvan Russet'. It is a greyish-green

russet apple Russet apples are varieties and cultivars of apples that regularly exhibit russeting, partial or complete coverage with rough patches of greenish-brown to yellowish-brown colour. While russeting is generally an undesirable trait in modern cultivar ...

known for its good winter-keeping qualities, as well as its suitability for making

cider Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and the Republic of Ireland. The UK has the world's highest per capita consumption, ...

and juice. It is not widely grown or commercially available due to general commercial disfavor for russet varieties; the dull and heavily marked face makes it hard to sell now. The yellow-green flesh is firm and coarse-textured, suited for eating fresh and cooking. It is available from growers who specialize in heirloom plants. It ripens from September to October, and so is commonly available in autumn in farmers markets in the Northeast. Each apple contains 12.87% sugar that ferments to 6% alcohol in hard cider production. Propagation wood of 'Roxbury Russet' (it propagates by grafting) was taken to Connecticut soon after 1649. Thomas Jefferson planted a number of 'Roxbury Russet' trees in Monticello's South Orchard in 1778. The Roxbury Russet apple was one of the varieties grown by Major General Israel Putnam on his farm in Pomfret, Connecticut. His grandson, also named Israel Putnam, introduced this variety to the Ohio Valley in 1796. The grandson received a total of 23 varieties of apple from Connecticut in that year, most of which probably came from his grandfather's farm. The Putnam Russet (Roxbury Russet) was considered to be the best and most profitable winter apple of all the varieties received, and was regarded as a good "keeper" (an important characteristic in an age before refrigeration). And not only a good keeper, but if we are to believe

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associated with that t ...

, one that improves with age. For in

The House of the Seven Gables ''The House of the Seven Gables: A Romance'' is a Gothic novel written beginning in mid-1850 by American author Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in April 1851 by Ticknor and Fields of Boston. The novel follows a New England family and their anc ...

, Uncle Venner remarks, “But I suppose I am like a Roxbury russet, – a great deal the better, the longer I can be kept.”

Current cultivation

Scionwood

* Maple Valley Orchards and Nursery, Wisconsin * Trees of Antiquity, Paso Robles, CA

Fruit

The historic Shirley-Eustis House museum in Roxbury, Massachusetts, was planted in 1993 with five 'Roxbury Russet' apple trees.
Verellen Orchard in Romeo, Michigan grows Roxbury Russett apples, available at their road-side farm stand. Other orchards include the following: * Applebrook Farm, Broad Brook, CT * The Apple Farm—Bates & Schmitt, Philo, CA * Black Diamond Farm, Trumansburg NY * Clarkdale Fruit Farm, Deerfield, MA * Foggy Ridge Cider, Dugspur, VA * Greenmantle Nursery, Garberville CA * Greenwood Farm, Northfield, MA * Heirloom Orchards, Odell, OR * Lamb Abbey Orchards, Maine—120 varieties of apple * Liberty Farm, NJ * McLeod Brothers Orchard, Milford, NH * Magicland Farms, Fremont, MI * Meadowbrook Orchards, Sterling, MA * Nashoba Winery, Bolton, MA * Pavolka Fruit Farm, Michigan City, IN * Russell Orchards, Ipswich, MA * Shelburne Orchards, Shelburne, VT * Steiner Flat Orchard, Douglas City, CA—Trinity Heritage Orchard Project, University of California Cooperative Extension * Vintage Virginia Apples, North Garden, VA

References

{{Apples, state=collapsed Apple cultivars