Somerset of Maine |
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 Late Summer-Early
Fall. Unknown parentage. Mercer, Somerset County, ME, before 1850. Also known as
Somerset. I thought this apple was the discovery of early Mercer settler John
Thompson, but now believe it to have originated on the farm of AJ Downs, another early
resident. A large oblate excellent-flavored eating and cooking apple. Tender, juicy
and subacid. Buttery yellow skin covered with stripes and wash of rusty red. In the
1907 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Report, WM Munson wrote, "It is an
excellent apple and, when known, is highly prized as an early market variety."
The late Edward Bobalek, fruit collector and Orono professor, described it as a summer
apple with the flesh and flavor of a winter fruit. Will keep into late fall. Very
vigorous, spreading tree. When I was up in Abbot this past spring a number of older
people wanted to know about this apple. Apparently Somerset was brought there over 100
years ago from Mercer and has been a local favorite ever since. Our scionwood came
from Glen Harris's tree in Mercer via our friend Bill Reid's New Sharon orchard.
The name Somerset of Maine has been often attached to another very different, distinctly conical-shaped Maine summer apple called Thompson. Thompson also originated in the same town (see below) and has in turn been regularly confused with the Massachusetts apple, Williams which it closely resembles. The result is a confusion that dates back to the 19th century and persists today even in Mercer itself. You can see a rather obvious example of the confusion in the description of Somerset in George Stilphen's recent book, The Apples of Maine. There he includes both contradictory descriptions under the same apple. I believe the problem arose in about 1849 when the Kennebec Agricultural Society first used the name Somerset of Maine to describe what must be Thompson because they compare it to Williams and Porter in shape. The Somerset described in Downing's Fruits and Fruit Trees of America and in Thomas' The American Fruit Culturist is not at all like Porter or Williams. This confusion was probably further aggravated by the existence of another apple called simply Somerset that originated in New York that does resemble Porter and Williams. What Thomas and Downing as well as W.M. Munson of Maine were describing is most certainly this apple that originated on A.J. Downs' farm. The Mercer orchardist and collector Francis Fenton of Mercer, has both apples in his orchard. He attributes the name Somerset to Downs' oblate apple and the name Thompson to the conic summer apple. I believe Fenton is correct, but others in town still disagree. |
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