Malus domestica ‘St. Lawrence’

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘When well grown, St. Lawrence is a large, handsome apple. It is better for dessert than for culinary use but does not excel standard varieties of its season for either purpose. While it does very well in some portions of Western New York, generally speaking, it reaches a higher degree of perfection in favorable locations in the St. Lawrence valley and in the Lake Champlain region than in other portions of the state. The crop ripens somewhat unevenly and should have more than one picking in order to secure the fruit in prime condition and prevent great loss from dropping. It does not stand heat well before going into storage and goes down quickly. The fruit may not remain on the tree till it is well colored, and unless it is well colored it fades in the barrel so much as to render it almost valueless for market. It varies greatly in keeping qualities in different seasons but usually October is its commercial limit in ordinary storage. In cold storage it may be held until December.’ [Apples of New York vol.2, p.192/1905].

Stated to be an open-pollinated seedling of ‘Fameuse’, a Canadian apple, synonym ‘Femme de Neige’.  [various internet sources].

History at Camden Park

Listed as ‘St. Lawrence, apple no.78’ in a hand written list of apples in an 1850 catalogue held at Camden Park [CPA]. Most of the plants hand-written in this catalogue subsequently appeared in the 1857 catalogue. That the apples did not is probably an oversight.

Notes