From the Living Museum
Golden Russet
- Origin
- Multiple strains on both sides of the Atlantic from the 18th–19th centuries
- Era
- 18th–19th c. strains
- Type / use
- Dessert
History & Stories
Classic russet dessert apple with heavy golden-brown russet, crisp-to-dry aromatic flesh, and complex sweet, nutty flavor. Unique as one of the great dual-heritage russets (English and American forms) that still set the standard for russet quality and storage.
Folklore & Name
Classic russet with forms on both sides of the Atlantic. Name purely descriptive of the golden-russet skin. One of the great dual-heritage russets.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
"Golden Russet" has been attached to more than one apple, on both sides of the Atlantic. S.A. Beach's The Apples of New York (1905) says A.J. Downing considered the New York Golden Russet "identical with the old English variety described by Ronalds and Lindley as Golden Russet." Beach adds that it has been confused with English Russet, and distinguished from the Golden Russet of Massachusetts (the Hunt Russet) and "the various other apples which have been disseminated under the name Golden Russet" 1. In his day it ranked second only to Roxbury Russet among the russets grown commercially in central and western New York 1.
The UK National Fruit Collection lists a Golden Russet "known 1700s (mid century)," probably from England, with synonyms including Golden Russet of New York 2. It separately lists Hunt Russet, which originated on the old Hunt farm at Concord, Massachusetts, in the mid-1700s or earlier 3.
The competing accounts
- A.J. Downing, as reported by S.A. Beach 1: the New York Golden Russet is the same as the old English Golden Russet described by Ronalds and Lindley.
- Beach 1: it has been confused with English Russet and must be kept apart from the Massachusetts Golden Russet (Hunt Russet) and several other apples sold under the name.
- UK National Fruit Collection 2: a Golden Russet known by the mid-1700s, probably from England, with Golden Russet of New York as a synonym.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): an old English russet that crossed to New York and kept its name. Downing and the national collection agree on this. The many look-alikes Beach lists mean that any particular tree sold as Golden Russet still needs checking.
What we think: stories & traditions
English or American? (open question) Downing believed the New York apple was the old English one 1. If he was right, it crossed the Atlantic with colonists or nurserymen and kept its name. If not, it is an American seedling that borrowed an English name. The records don't settle it, and Beach's list of look-alikes shows how tangled russet names had become by 1905 1.
Sources
- S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 1 (Albany: J.B. Lyon, 1905), "Golden Russet," pp. 143–144. archive.org/details/applesofnewyork01beaciala/page/143
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Golden Russet." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=2372&fruit=apple
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Hunt Russet." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=2856&fruit=apple
Curious about Golden Russet?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.