Agricultural
colleges played a prominent role in the planting and assessment of apple and pear varieties at various sites
in the north of England from early Edwardian times. We have well- documented
evidence of the activities carried out by Newton Rigg College at chosen
experimental sites at Brampton, Abbeytown and Wiggonby - enough material for a
future article!
However, I wanted
to discover more about Mr A.G.Sowman who introduced Sowman’s Seedling apple at
Hutton near Preston in 1914. This was difficult, as Hutton Agricultural College
closed in the 1990’s and much archive material appears to have been lost in the
transfer of activities to Myerscough. Fortunately, old articles in the Preston Guardian weekly
newspaper have revealed some valuable
information, not only about the man himself, but also about fruit varieties
grown and recommended during a period from 1900-1923.
Records show
that Alexander Sowman was born in
Suffolk in 1860. He was appointed horticulture instructor at the County Council
Farm at Hutton in 1911. During the war years the department was instrumental in
teaching village children in 100 school gardens to grow vital foodstuffs , with
emphasis on “the stern necessity of intensive cultivation”. Sowman was in great
demand for expert advice from fruit growers and in this role he was “constantly
peregrinating the county”. At Hutton, planting beds were laid out for fruit
trees and various experiments conducted and observations made concerning the use of Paradise and Crab rootstock,
pruning techniques; the efficacy of manures and artificial fertilizer . Thirty-
three varieties of apples were grafted
on to both rootstocks, many of which fruits
are well-known to N.F.G. members, but some “ less familiar” ones were planted, including Domino,
Betty Geeson, Schoolmaster, Hambling’s Seedling and Gloria Mundi. Sowman noted
that the last named was carrying magnificent clusters of apples on both
Paradise and Crab stock; Winter Greening , Schoolmaster and Wealthy were also
performing well in 1916. Two years later Sowman could say that Worcester
Pearmain, Lane’s Prince Albert and Manks Codlin justified their inclusion in
the orchard and that pear variety Dr. Jules Guyot was
well- suited to the climate of Lancashire.
In 1918, another
three acres of adjoining land were commissioned for the testing of several
Canadian apple varieties, but sadly, no names are available. Sowman had
approval from the County Agricultural Sub-committee to approach landowners with
the aim of establishing stations of about half an acre at different altitudes
to ascertain the suitability of varieties in various districts. On the trial
grounds Bramley’s Seedling, Lane’s Prince Albert, Grenadier, Worcester Pearmain
and Allington Pippin would form the basis of a permanent orchard and other
varieties planted to test for adaptability. Some of these others were Scottish,
but again no variety details are known. It was intended that these experimental
sites should be in North and South Londsdale, Grimsargh, Chipping and at Read,
on Sir John Thursby’s estate near Burnley .I have not been able to find out
whether the above locations were ever
used with the exception of Chipping. At
a site long since abandoned close to the Trough of Bowland, Proctor’s Seedling
, a local apple , was grown amongst the “standard” varieties.
In 1923 Sowman
delivered a lecture, the” Story of Some Lancashire Apples”( and others)with
details about Scotch Bridget, Proctor’s Seedling, Lord Suffield , Minchall Crab
and a missing variety, Livsey’s Codlin.” The trees of this last named apple
were chiefly found in the Leyland and Ulnes Walton district…” In his travels
Sowman had found “two remarkable trees of Bess Pool growing within twenty yards
of the rise and fall of the tide on the north-west Lancashire coast”. He had
high praise for the qualities of Ribston Pippin. A bizarrely named local
Lancashire apple variety, “Bang all Europe” is mentioned in the talk, but it
lacked quality as a cooker or eater!
Other
interesting variety information emerged
from newspaper research during the period between 1900 and 1923, including the
planting of apple Northern Dumpling which appears to have Belgian origins ; a
recommendation for Yat pear which was
first raised in Holland in the 1760’s; written confirmation of the existence of
local pear Walton Weeper and an
intriguing mystery concerning a culinary apple called Livsey’s Imperial,
“raised by the late Mr Livsey of Golden Hill, Leyland.” Livsey’s Imperial is a
synonym for both Lord Suffield and Hollandbury, but Mr Livsey’s apple is
neither of these. The article states that this apple was so greasy that it had
to be grown outside Leyland as sooty deposits from nearby works “rendered it unsaleable.” Coincidentally , I
have a “mystery” apple called Jenny Lind (named after the Swedish singer from
Victorian times), described by a farmer from the Leyland area as being “ so
greasy that dust stuck to it”. The sole surviving tree was in an orchard west
of Preston. Simon Clark can testify to the fragility of the tree when we
visited the orchard three or four years ago!
I am sure that much more material will emerge from the
archives; I have yet to discover information about Alexander Sowman’s later
life.
Article for Northern Fruit Group magazine.
