TODAY IN THE ORCHARD

Old “Deane” tree, Franklin County, Maine

I gave a talk in Wilton at the Senior Plus Center focusied on the apples of the town of Wilton and Franklin County. Wilton was an important apple-center for many years, and several apples originated there or in the surrounding towns, including the Deane apple in Temple. Two of the attendees at the talk were members of the Cyrus Deane family. That led to a long discussion about the Deane apple, DNA profiling, and the questions that arise as we attempt to identify these old cultivars. The Deane tree in the Maine Heritage Orchard has tested as “Milwaukee”, an apple that was not documented to have been grown in Maine. How could that be? Was the apple simply missed 120 years ago? Was the reference tree to which our DNA was compared incorrectly identified ? Or was “Milwaukee” a synonym or re-naming in Wisconsin of the Maine apple, Deane? The mysteries are endless.