Another write up from Thean on a good old crab which he growth, very rare, I tasted it at the show, have asked for wood, he said that his is diseased.. perhaps some of you might find another source.

Name:- B.F. #135 (Slide # 020110)

Parents:- Unknown

Origin:- Brooks Horticulture Research Station

Growth:- vigorous, rounded tree.

Flowers:- white fragrant...BF 135 has longer peduncle and petals then Kerr, resulting in a beautiful tree
when in full bloom. There are normally 5 to 6 flowers to a cluster.
Floral buds are red becoming white at the balloon stage.

Habit: tendency towards biennial unless heavily thinned

Size: large for a crab; 4.5 cm to 5 cm

Shape: truncate, some are obovate;

Cavity: - russetted, comparatively wide, shallow, acuminate.

Basin: - is very wide and shallow, most are beady at the bases of calyx.

Colour:
when exposed is very dark red; maybe russetted. Flesh is yellow with
pink or apricot between the peduncle and core and core line if
properly ripen.

Lenticels: small and few but fairly prominent at basin

Peduncle - short to long, mostly the latter

Core - median, closed, clasping

Calyx - upright, closed

Calyx tube - urn

Stamen - marginal

Maturity: early to mid-September

Texture: fine, tough but crisp

Taste: sweet with a hint of sour and slightly tart thereby masking its juiciness.

Uses: dessert, liqueur, juice (red) (One of the best for juicing.)

Storage: excellent (have stored till January without loss of texture and flavor.)

Other remarks:-

* One of the best crabapple or applecrab I have seen. It’s a terrible shame to lose this selection.

*
I believe there are only three plants left in Alberta. One is in CDCN,
the other is in Olds College. I won’t say my is a tree since I have a
branch that was grafted.

* I don’t why it’s labeled as crabapple when it is bigger than some applecrabs. I have seen fruits more than 5 cm.

* Skin becomes waxy with prolong storage. Very firm meat that does not break down when baked.

* Plant has what appears to be MLO infection. Wonder if fruit size will increase if MLO is eliminated.

Thean's B.F. #135

Does anybody know how to edit in first page...can't seem to see any edit button.

If Trailman is thinned the apples are a lovely size, this tree should be more widely grown. The fruit becomes exceptionally juicy and sweet as the temperature drops.

Interesting information on the Kerr crabapple. He lived in his later years up near us at the lake. My mother in law and some of the other farmers around here would get regular visits from Les Kerr and he would plant all sorts of apples, grapes etc. for them . He was always willing to plant and teach.

She also remembers that his small lake property was full of seedlings and plants that he was working on, and he used to show her his little apples and talk of how he was trying to create a red fleshed one. Her fondest memory is how he used to grow his rhubarb on rafts floating in the water. Not sure if this was because of lack of space, or to get better access to the sun.

Your search for the BF #135 makes me think that I maybe should visit some of these older farms and ask if he planted any fruit for them. I might find some varieties I didn't know still existed.

For
many years I've been looking for good applse and based on many experts on this gardenweb I
chose Norkent, Northland, Honeycrisp and Trailman. I got Trailman from Boughen
nursery, and for the last 3 years I got fruits exactly like the pictures Konrad
posted before, BUT it's very sour and prone to aphids. I keep scratch my head
whenever I see Konrad's picture about Trailman crabapple. The young fruits
color also turns from dark red to light yellow/pink, exactly like Konrad's
picture. The tree grows fast and it's big now. This spring I think I have to
graft some other apple to it as the fruits are too sour.

I
happened to have Kerr on my property. At first I thought it is too sour, but
around mid September the fruits turn sweet, juicy and aromatic. I’ve tasted many
apples, and so far Kerr has been the best apple I've tasted. To my surprise the
taste is far better than store bought apple.

Anybody
has experience about Mustang and Sapalta Cherry Chum? Are they hardy to zone 3
and disease resistant?

I’m
in zone 3a. Thank you all.

Well, ..not sure why your Trailman is sour, deffinatley a sweet apple, perhaps too much acid for your taste bud. Makes awesome juice.

Sapalta and Mustang cherry plum are hardy for your zone.

I used to think that my Trailman was sour, then I realized I picked them too early. They can hang on for a few cold snaps and then they are wonderfully sweet.

Thank you Konrad and ubro(2a) for your inputs.

Konrad and ubro(2a), I think you’re lucky to have sweet
Trailman, but mine, I guess there is some mutation by some chance. I let 14
people try mine Trailman apple and no one cannot finish one. To me, Goodland apple
is still much sweater than the "Trailman I have". I wish I live in your area so I could have some Trailman scions from you.

My Northland ripens in mid Aug when my friend’s
friend Nothland apple starts to fall at the beginning of Aug., and behind my
back ally there are 2 huge poplars, 1 sheds leaves in Oct, the other sheds
leaves in Nov. and I hate that because I have to clean the leaves 2 times, lol.

Another case: I propagate African Violet by
putting one leaf in water. The stem produces many tiny plants in water and their
flowers (from the stem of 1 leaf) have similar colors but in different patterns. So in
general they are very much the same but still have some differences.

Most propagation has not been done in an
absolute condition, except tissue culture, so there are some variations in the
process, and I think that’s why there are some small differences between each
plant.

About Sapalta and Mustang cherry plum, are they resistant to black knot?

Thank you.

I've never seen black knot on cherry plums...only got it in the choke cherries.

Konrad, thank you for your response.

Picked some Trailman...makes awesome juice!

I picked mine and turned most of them into apple relish, and awesome delight when served with ham.

I picked my Noret crabapples today. They are larger than they've ever been here, and fantastic flavor. I understand they're very similar in many respects to to Trailman, maybe don't keep quite as well? I think they'd make fantastic juice. Much better than Parkland; I think I might replace my Parkland tree with another Noret.

I also have a Kerr crabapple tree that is loaded this year. We like those a lot, too, especially after a few frosts. Keep well in the fridge, so the kids snack on them for months.

I had Noret many years ago...didn't think it was special, think it got soft fast, now I have another to get rid of is Norson, getting soft/mushy quickly.

The Noret may get soft fast, but they never last that long around here, so I wouldn't really know!

Could the quality of apples vary depending upon where they are grown? For instance, could the colder nights here (usually 1 C to 6 C in the summer) make the Noret taste better and the Norkent taste blander?