Huntsman’s Favorite

Good Apple Info Snapshot:

Tons of potential. A featured Start Main Bloom Season tree.

Good Apple Info Difficulty Rating:

No info. Suspect Easy.

Tree Habit:

Upright spreading tree with long, slender branches. Slow to start producing fruit, but good annual cropper when it gets going.

Apple Color:

A yellow apple, occasionally with an orangish blush and/or some russet..

Size:

Large, sometimes very large, round tending to oblong and irregular.

Flavor:

Subacid – yellowish, tender, coarse-grained. Juicy and aromatic.

Bloom:

Main Season Start

Ripe:

October

History:

Fayette, Missouri, USA, about 1850.

It must have been exciting back in the day to plant an apple orchard from seed, having no idea whether any of your trees — each bringing a new variety to the world — would produce apples palatable for fresh eating.

Of course, it would be a slow-paced excitement, as it could take a decade or more before you’d eat your first apple from this new orchard.

After the wait, it’d be extra exciting when one or more varieties turned out to be of good quality.

That’s what happened to John Hunstman of Missouri, who grew this apple, which didn’t just prove to have good eating qualities; it also grew on a highly productive tree. A huge bonus, to be sure.

Never having gained fame beyond Missouri and Kansas, Huntsman’s Favorite disappeared from widespread planting sometime before 1900.

Storage:

Good, 2-3 months.

Uses:

Fresh Eating.