Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Empire (apple)
Apple cultivar From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Empire is a clonally propagated cultivar of apple derived from a seed grown in 1945 by Lester C. Anderson, a Cornell University fruit nutritionist who conducted open pollination research on his various orchards.[1] In 1945, under the direction of A. J. Heinicke, scientists from the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station of Cornell University in Geneva, New York, harvested the Empire seed together with thousands of its siblings.[1] The goal of this program was to develop a disease-resistant apple variety with good flavor and texture. The Geneva teams grew and tested ever dwindling sub-populations of the sibling group until 1966, when the final selection, the Empire, was released to the public at the New York Fruit Testing Association meetings in Geneva.[1] The Empire was named after its home state, New York (the "Empire State").[2]
According to the U.S. Apple Association, it is one of the nine most popular apple cultivars in that country.[3] As of 1996, about half of American-harvested Empire apples came from New York State.[1] Indeed, in the United States, the majority of Empire apples are grown in the Northeast.[4] They are also grown on a smaller scale in Canada and the United Kingdom.[2]
Remove ads
Description
Empire apples are harvested after the McIntosh and before the Red Delicious.[1] Though not as easy to grow as the McIntosh,[5] the Empire is a low-maintenance and high-yield variety.[4] Pre-harvest drop rarely occurs.[5]
The original seed was a cross between the McIntosh and Red Delicious varieties. The Empire has bright white fresh.[6] Crisp, sweet, tart, vinous, juicy,[4][7] and slower to brown than most,[8] Empire apples are excellent for snacking and salads, and good for sauce, baking, pies, freezing,[6][9] candies,[10] and savory dishes.[8] Being resistant to bruising, they are also suitable for lunch boxes.[4][7] In controlled-atmosphere storage, the Empire can last for up to ten months.[2]
Remove ads
Sports patented in the US
By the year 2001, three mutant cultivars (sports) of Empire had received US plant patents. None of them were mutants of mutants:
| Date | "Inventor" | Marketed as | Assignee | Earlier | Color | Plant patent number |
| Mar 10, 1992 | Harold F. Teeple, Russel H. Teeple, John B. Teeple | Teeple Red Empire, Royal Empire | Cornell | No | redder | US plant patent 7820 |
| Oct 20, 1992 | Harold Thome | TF808 | Inter-Plant Patent Marketing | 5—7 days | redder | US plant patent 8010 |
| Feb 1, 2000 | Jeffrey D. Crist | CB515, Crown Empire | Adams County Nursery | 2.5 weeks | redder | US plant patent 11201 |
Remove ads
Disease susceptibility
See also
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads