Description
Probably originating from Bismarck, Tasmania around 1870, this is a lovely mid-to-late season variety with round greenish-yellow fruits heavily flushed with carmine red. The crisp and juicy fruit cooks to a well-flavoured greenish-yellow fluff. The tree is moderately vigorous and spreading, but the real attraction of this variety is that cropping is heavy and reliable, even in the coldest parts of the UK, and appears in the Backhouse catalogue in the early 1900s as a 'select keeper'.
"While it is certain that this apple was named for Prince Otto von Bismarck (1815—98), Chancellor of the new German Empire (1871—90), its origin is less clear cut, though given as Australia. It came either from the German settlement of Bismarck (now Collinsvale), Hobart, Tasmania, or from Carisbrooke, Victoria; the 1888 survey of Victoria attributes it to F. Fricke, a native of Hannover, who came to Carisbrooke in 1855. Both of these regions saw a great influx of German immigrants between 1855—70, and often by circuitous routes, and as Collinsvale historians have found, many of them became major food producers in their new country.
A large handsome apple of rich colour, a good brisk flavour, and high vitamin C content, Bismarck is an excellent keeper. It appears in the Backhouse Catalogue of 1910, as a Select Kitchen Apple suitable for market culture, but by the late 1930s, Taylor would comment that ' ... the fruits lack support in the markets and few growers now plant this variety'." © Lin Hawthorne - 'The Northern Pomona'.
For help with choosing the correct rootstock for your needs, please click here A Guide to Rootstocks
For help with choosing the correct size and shape, please click here A Guide to Fruit Tree Shapes
