I looked up ‘Hall’ on Pomiferous and it sounds VERY appealing.
origins: Grown from unknown seeds by Jonathan Hall on his farm in Franklin County, North Carolina (U.S.A.) during the late 1700s. Unfortunately, through the 1800s, the focus was on large apples and this diminutive cultivar, in spite of its excellent flavour and keeping qualities, almost disappeared. However, Tom Brown, a dedicated collector of heritage apples discovered a gnarled, old apple tree that matched the description of the Hall in the mountains of North Carolina in 2002 and propagated it with cuttings. Several nurseries in the southern United States now offer the Hall apple. Listed by John Ashton Warder in his “American Pomology: Apples” published in 1867. Also mentioned by A.J. Downing (Andrew Jackson) in “The Fruit and Fruit Trees of America” published in 1869. “The tree never attains a very large size; is very productive, and is considered in North Carolina the best long keeping dessert apple they cultivate.”
I think the name makes sense, since crab apples are generally considered different from “regular” apples. They bring a lot of different genes and qualities to the table, and it seems that size is one of those dominant traits in them that makes them distinguished from other types of apples. Bigger than a crab apple, smaller than a modern apple.
Because the crosses produce apples with a mix of the traits of both crab apples and regular apples, the name makes it clear that it is a mix of the two. what else would they call them? crab-apples? crab apple-apple F-1? Should they be left categorized and have their unique traits disregarded?
But yeah, the apples have not reached homeostasis, that is a wack statement. Even the apple crab apple crosses do not always result in something that would even be labeled as an applecrab.
Regardless of the name, which I generally think is appropriate, I am all for the new genetic material! That is how the PRI apples got scab resistance.
I grafted it here in California years ago from a BHCF scion, and it’s done very well. No signs of FB, and reliable cropping. They do have the vanilla flavor here.
Last one I had was just recently picked by a roadside stand seller near Traveller’s Rest , SC and it was still a bit cool. The Vanilla was a little light but there. Lord that had to be 27 years ago or so. But that was the last Hall I got to try.
I can understand ‘Hall’ going out of favor commercially because lots of great apples dropped from the market (when selling by weight, it’s probably a higher labor cost selling smaller apples too). I wonder though, why wouldn’t ‘Hall’ still be popular among home growers?
Well it is now. At least 4 large Heritage apple nurseries sell trees and scions now again. I am adding it as a possible cordon candidate with Little Benny, Mank’s Codlin and Pionier. I hear it is vigorous early but small statued. That should give 2 sweets{a fall and a winter apple} a sub acidic Summer apple and a classic cooker on a set of 4. That should be pollen compatible together.
That’s an interesting point. There’s also the part where language is meant to describe things, real things. The closer words are to the reality they are supposed to describe, the better they are as words. Someone abusing definitions of words or misapplying them it’s just rearraigning random signs that don’t mean anything–he’s rearraigning highway signs and speed limit signs. The sign itself just points to or indicates something, but man can you make a mess moving them around on just a whim.
Everybody knows that if you plant a seed from an apple you get a crabapple, but if you plant a seed from a crabapple you get an apple. Nature works in mysterious ways
