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Empire
type: Culinary, Cider, Dessert, Pie, Sauce
identification: Medium size, round but sometimes round conic. Base colour is light green over which is a deep red blush—almost maroon—with some broken stripes near the stem. Scattered small, beige lenticels. The skin tends to be tough with a waxy bloom. The stem is medium length and slender.
characteristics: Bright white flesh. Crisp and fragrant with hints of melon, pineapple and sometimes elderflower, sweet with a distinct tang.
uses: Fresh eating apple but also popular for making cider. Also tasty in pies but the slices tend to fall apart.
origins: Late spring frosts in 1945 forced the State Agriculture Experiment Station at Geneva, New York (U.S.A.) to select naturally cross-pollinated seeds from late blooming commercial orchards in the Hudson River Valley. Among these were 4,035 seeds collected from the orchard of Asrow Miller Claverack, New York. Since the orchard was devoted to Stark Delicious and McIntosh apples, there was a high likelihood that the seeds were indeed the result of pollination between the two cultivars. In 1954, when the surviving seedlings from this selection first fruited, one was selected for having the desired qualities and was labelled NY45500-5. In September 1966, the cultivar was released to the apple industry as Empire.
cultivation: Upright spreading tree of medium vigour. Spur bearer. Fruit keeps well and not prone to bruising. It tends to set heavy crops annually and thinning is essential to produce fruit of adequate size.
cold storage: Keeps up to three months.
vulnerabilities: Moderately prone to scab, somewhat susceptible to mildew but resistant to blight and rust.
harvest: Ripens in first half of the fourth period (140 to 160 days after petal fall).
notes: The variety was called the Empire apple because it was developed in New York State, nicknamed “The Empire State.” Over 220 milllion pounds of Empires are grown annually in the United States.
pollination group: C
pollination peak: 9
ploidism: Diploid. Self fertile but produces best with a suitable pollinizer.
cold storage weeks: 12
brix: 12
harvest period: 4
hardiness: 4
sg: 1.0483
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