This is a twig for grafting.Fall-Winter. ( Ben Davis × McIntosh) NY Stn, 1915.
Although never as important as McIntosh, Cortland remains very popular throughout northern New England even in this era of many new introductions.
Medium-large slightly ribbed dull red fruit with a purple blush. Excellent eating and cooking. Slow-oxidizing white fine-grained crisp tender juicy flesh: very good in salads. Produces a surprisingly delightful cider, fresh or fermented, in a mix or even on its own. Stores for a month or so.
Vigorous tall upright spreading tree. Annual producer of heavy crops. A recent U Mass study showed Cortland’s resistance to apple maggot fly. Cortland bears young, so remove fruit for the first year or two to avoid stunting growth. Susceptible to scab. Blooms midseason. Z4.
Scionwood and early rootstock orders ship around March 10.
Scions are twigs, not trees. They have no roots and will not grow if you plant them. They are cuttings from dormant branch tips, intended for spring grafting.
We do our best to provide ¼" caliper stock. Because of factors beyond our control (such as weather!) stock may be 3⁄16–3⁄8".
We sell scionwood in two ways:
By the stick: One 8" stick will graft 3-4 trees.
By the foot:Minimum order of 10 feet per variety. For orchardists grafting large numbers of trees of a particular variety. In our own nursery work, we are usually able to graft 6-8 trees from one foot of scionwood.
You can graft right away or store scionwood for later use. It will keep quite well for several weeks stored in sealed ziplock bags in the refrigerator.
The deadline for ordering scionwood is February 21, 2025, for shipment around March 10. (Please note: we ship scionwood only in mid-March. If you would like to order rootstock to arrive in the same shipment, select mid-March shipping when adding the rootstock to your cart.)
