Doctor Matthews

Is there many members here that grow this apple? Sounds like a good one but not a lot of info I can find on it here or on the web. If you grow it please tell. Thanks!

I grow it, and I like it. The texture is unusual - crisp but tender, and it seems to dissolve as you chew it. Flavor is cider-like. The apples are good-sized and and good-looking, and don’t seem to be much bothered by pests here. They keep for 2-3 months, and are quite good from storage.

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Seems to be in good agreement with what Calhoun wrote in his book about it. Is it a sweeter apple?

It is similar to Northern Spy which is a unique kind of apple … hard to describe. I really like the flavor a lot. Unfortunately all the Spy types I tried are bad rotters (skin diseases) so I have removed all of them (SpiGold, Wagener, Doctor Mathews).

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Thanks for the info Scott. At one point you mentioned Doctor Matthews was similar to Hubbardstons. I grow that one and really like it. You still have Hubbardstons?

Yes I still have Hubbardstons, it is another unique apple. I don’t think I had the right Doctor Mathews originally though and that comment was about the previous one I had. The more recent graft only fruited in the last year.

Hubbardstons is also a type like Spy, there are several apples with that rose-petal flavor, tinge of red under the skin, whiteness of flesh, etc. My favorite of that type is probably Abbondanza, and Worcester Pearmain and Steeles Red are also in that school. I just top worked my Wagener (Spy school rotter) to Abbondanza last year so I will have a large tree of it eventually.

The Spy school and the Hubbardston school are themselves adjacent, they have similar levels of sweet-sour and flesh texture and some common taste elements. But the rose-petal and red under flesh is only in the Hubbardston school.

Mildly sweet. Not a sugar bomb.

Thank you guys for the info. This site has been amazing. Found a source in Mississippi for trees and scion. Will be here next week and he also had a lot of other rare and obscure apple varieties he’s sending.

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