I was wondering if any of the forum members are growing Skinner’s Seedling or otherwise have experience with it that they can share. All info. welcome.
Thanks
Here is an old 1910 newspaper article about the apple. The article discusses many great characteristics and also recommends caution when picking the fruit so as not to damage the fruit spurs http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=PRP19100820.2.6.2
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Thanks, Clark. The spur caution is about the only negative feature that I’ve seen from sources contemporaneous with it’s former popularity. Wickson actually rates it as of “best” quality. Tough to know how to compare it with modern cultivars from the older accounts.
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Delayed response … this apple is liked by Seed Savers Exchange (Iowa) - unlike most other descriptions they make their own observations and don’t just parrot others’ opinions. My current favorite apple, Hoople’s Antique Gold, I got interested in by their description of it. Skinner’s is too early for me to be interested myself, its late Aug or early Sept.
Here is a bit from their description:
… Flesh yellowish white, very tender, moderately juicy with sweet/sprightly mild subacid, aromatic flavor; very good to best for dessert and kitchen use.
Thanks for the follow up post! It’s good to know of scion source for this variety as well as a comparison relative to modern varieties. I had it on my scion exchange list with no luck and concluded that it’s not being grown by forum members and, therefore, not widely grown or available. The GRIN record for it reports that it ripens 2 weeks before Delicious, FWIW.
With luck, I’ll reply again with info. on that and a tasting report in a few years . . .
I have a Skinners Seedling on P-22. It’s a great desert apple but prone to scab here in Western WA. Ripe for me in my frost pocket Sept 24. Probably one of my favorite earlys apples…right up there with Red Grav.
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Thanks for the response and information, Douglas. I am still hoping to graft some Skinner’s Seeding this coming winter and having first-hand experience with the variety is much appreciated.
I’m growing this one from a Greenmantle bench graft on MM111. It’s vigorous and healthy, but I won’t have fruit to sample for another year or two.
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Most of you are likely aware of the serious drought that we’re experiencing in western North America. In my little orchard, many early apple varieties are unusually small and/or dropping prematurely this year. However, a few others have behaved in a counterintuitive fashion. I’m having my first banner years for Ashmead’s Kernel and Karmijn de Sonneville, for example. The most notable exception, however, is Skinner’s Seedling (AKA Santa Clara King). These are usually large apples, though not the largest that I grow. That distinction is typically held by Hanners Best, a sport of Spokane Beauty. While Hanners ripens later and still has some time to grow larger, my current largest example has a 14-inch circumference:
However, for the first time, the Skinner’s have been larger. There are half a dozen apples on my little tree that are as big as that Hanners, and the largest one dropped (a bit early) today. It’s nearly 16 inches in circumerence:
and weighs about two pounds:
Pretty impressive size, especially given the drought. All of my apples are dry-farmed, too. Not sure where these guys are finding the water, but my hat is off to their MM111 rootstock.
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OMG, that is a big apple!
I just grafted Skinner’s Seedling onto my Frankentree earlier this year, and it has already put on two feet of growth. Looking forward to when it starts to bear.
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