Franklin Cider Apple tree

[Appleman]

Just had a Dr appointment Bill. He said I might be able to go out the last week of season. Get on any birds yesterday?

Called in two jakes and saw 7 hens. No longbeards. A wish to you for a speedy recovery. Spoke with head of PR at Starks and she informed me they are budding all they can of the Franklin to meet the demand of the retail division for 2019. Also, reviewed and approved an immediate Starks news release of being awarded a bronze at the International Cider and Perry Competition (Glintcap 2017) for my Heritage Cider blended with the Franklin in the Non-commercial division. Wow, I'm still shaking from all the attention. I'm kind of over-whelmed by all this, but to be honest with you habitat folks my greatest joy about this tree is that it completes my life's ambition to produce the perfect apple tree plot on my property. What it comes down to is what motivates me the most is when a big whitetail buck walks into view giving me a feeling the years of hard work was worth all the effort.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Your whole story of the Franklin tree and all the attached stories & fanfare is really cool. 60 Minutes or CBS Sunday Morning ought to do a piece about the origin of that tree on your property and all the great things discovered about it's cider properties ( sugar and tannin levels ). It's really a remarkable story.

The habitat aspect of the tree is a double-barreled win for you and all the deer, beside the cider quality. I bought 2 Franklins for our camp to cap the varieties we have for deer. Looking forward to many great years of Franklin production.

Congrats on all the work you put into your orchards and the Franklin tree !! Thanks for bringing it to the public.

 

[Maya]

Called in two jakes and saw 7 hens. No longbeards. A wish to you for a speedy recovery. Spoke with head of PR at Starks and she informed me they are budding all they can of the Franklin to meet the demand of the retail division for 2019. Also, reviewed and approved an immediate Starks news release of being awarded a bronze at the International Cider and Perry Competition (Glintcap 2017) for my Heritage Cider blended with the Franklin in the Non-commercial division. Wow, I'm still shaking from all the attention. I'm kind of over-whelmed by all this, but to be honest with you habitat folks my greatest joy about this tree is that it completes my life's ambition to produce the perfect apple tree plot on my property. What it comes down to is what motivates me the most is when a big whitetail buck walks into view giving me a feeling the years of hard work was worth all the effort.

What rootstocks are they budding?

 

[Appleman]

Stark is ambitiously budding trees for 2019 to offer up to their retail division. This will mean trees will be available in smaller quantities to those seeking to purchase Franklin Trees. I do not have the list of rootstock available but I did request a good number be budded on B118 which is excellent for tree plots for wildlife.

I messaged today Allen Deese nurseries and sales manager for the "Wildlife Group" and he replied their company will have the Franklin available for spring 2018. They can be reached at 1-800-221-9703.

Really enjoyed getting out the past couple of days planting 16 Franklin and 5 honeycrisp trees at two of my tree plot locations. I have been saying for years "I don't need any more trees" along with a growing challenge finding favorable sites and soil types suited for growing apple trees. The funny thing is, I usually managed to find just one more spot.

I know I have provided a lot of hype about the Franklin and it will be interesting to learn as time passes on how well it performs in different regions. Many of the trees went to cidermakers and wildlife managers. I should be able to provide in good time a fair overview as to production and growth performance. View attachment 13046

 

[James P. Bipps]

How does this tree stack up against Liberty and Enterprise as deer apple trees? Is it as disease resistant? As easy to grow? Drop times? Or is that what we are going to find out.

 

[Appleman]

It measures up to all aspects as to what you would desire in a top choice for wildlife. Like enterprise and liberty it has been field proven here in Vermont and at Stark nursery to be both scab and cedar rust resistant. Elmer Kidd chief production officer at Stark says it is one of the best growers he has seen in his over 40 years of growing experience. All of my 800 trees I purchased this year were 3/4 inch to 7/8 inch diameter with lots of branches. I have marveled over the years how much the fruit from this tree is favored by deer. I did a short video towards the end of February to document frequent visits by deer to eat fallen apples at a time when no other trees had any. Fruit starts to fall slowly late September to early October and will continue until late February. It has been well documented the Franklin has produced a good crop sine it was first stated to be monitored since 2008. With a Brix reading at the time of ripening of 19 Brix it is easy to understand the value it has as an addition to ones food plot.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I planted the 2 Franklins I got from Cummins at camp on 4-30-17. Can't wait to see how they grow this summer. Camp is zone 5-6 border.

 

[SmallChunk]

I'm sorry but I have to ask.....if you knew the deer liked this tree so much, why didn't you graft a bunch years ago and plant it around your place for the deer? Seems odd to buy trees when you have the source in your backyard?

 

[Appleman]

I'm sorry but I have to ask.....if you knew the deer liked this tree so much, why didn't you graft a bunch years ago and plant it around your place for the deer? Seems odd to buy trees when you have the source in your backyard?

Fair question. Time and Material, let me explain. As owner of both a General Store and Orchard time is precious. In the past, I have topworked trees for a few orchards, having converted upper tiers from Liberty to the more profitable honeycrisp. I have done the same converting wild seedlings to some new disease resistant varieties. A fair number of varieties were done using grafting methods such as bench grafting, field grafting, and t-budding. Because I order and sell trees annually, it is much easier and
affordable to let the nurseries do the grafting for me. I simply and honestly just don't have the time to graft my own.

The Franklin was challenging to graft as budwood was just not available in size that could easily match up to a rootstock. The Franklin Cider tree is estimated to be over 60 years old, a prolific apple producer, and generates few water sprouts. Because the tree is healthy and wood hardened over the decades, it is stubborn to produce usable scion.

When Stark started to take an interest in the Franklin Cider they knew grafting material would be very limited, if not almost impossible to work with. It was the 40 years of
experience of Elmer Kidd, head production officer at Starks who "skeletonize" these very small thin scions which was the start of many trees to come:

(E-Mail from Elmer)

"Mr. Mayo - I wouldn’t book any orders at this point for 2017. We should have this conversation about August 15th.
Here’s the recap of where we are:
We took the scion wood you sent and utilized it two ways:
1. The large wood we skeletonized and scaffold-grafted five 3 year old trees in the orchard this spring. See attached pictures of developed growth. Grafts are growing fine, appears the growth habit of the crab is spiny. Twenty-three of the 25 grafts made it and are vigorously growing."

Stark brothers has since reported the Franklin to be one of the best growers at the nursery.

 

[sandbur]

What does "the growth habit of the crab is spiny" mean?

 

[Appleman]

Finally, Bloom has arrived with the warmer weather. Honeycrisp has just started to open up with the Franklin about one day ahead. The Franklin has had a heavy bloom 11 years in a row without fail.

 

[Maya]

Very nice Bill! You're hitting it good. I had real sketchy weather the last couple weeks for pollination, but I think we had just enough decent weather for the bees to do their magic.

 

[Corey Peterson]

All the apple trees around my way are blooming now should be good pollinating weather this week! Glad they didn't pop before last weeks cold rainy weather.

 

[Appleman]

Franklin at full bloom. King blossoms now open on Honeycrisp. Plenty bee activity.

 

[Appleman]

For all growing or interested in the Franklin Cider here is an update. I am getting very positive feedback from individuals who now are growing the Franklin Cider tree. The trees growing at different sites report vigorous growth and excellent disease resistance. On my own property, I added the Franklin to my tree plots for wildlife. Having only used two cover sprays, my report is much the same. No disease or insect damage found. Here is a photo of a Franklin (others in the background) I planted this spring that now measures over 7 feet tall.
This fall my goal is to place game cameras around the mother tree to document its attraction to whitetails. I harvested 24 to 30 bushels per year for 11 years running, of which the juice was used in a blend for my sweet cider sold at my store and in the develop of the Franklin Cider for the cider industry. With advice from my Uncle Keith who reminded me how often deer would visit this single tree before most of the crop was removed for processing, I thought it would be fun to document and show first hand just how well we witnessed in the past the Franklins strong attraction for hungry whitetails. , wildlife.

 

[sandbur]

Appleman-Have you seen any difference in the taste of apples or cider from the same variety of tree, but when it is on different soils? (I won't ask about different climates, as I know how Honey Crisp does not taste the same from southern areas)

The second part of my thoughts are that deer attractiveness might vary with soil types or pH if the apples taste differently. Not too mention does training their young to go to a certain tree.

 

[sandbur]

I have chestnut crabs on two different (unknown) rootstocks and on different soils. They taste differently to me.

 

[Appleman]

At this time we are cautiously optimistic that the "terroir" the environmental conditions of soil and climate will not alter the raw component profile such that it would compromise its usefulness for making cider and use as a wildlife attraction. Given that the sugar content measured in our northern climate ranges between 17.5 and 19.5 brix, expectations are the much higher sugar and tannin levels as compared to other varieties will have a positive attraction for wildlife. Growing and tree observation so far to date has been limited to trees grown at the Stark Bro's Nursery in Missouri and here in Vermont. Trees have been distributed across the country this spring and will have a better answer for you in the future once trees start fruiting at these locations.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I was just at my camp yesterday and was spraying the trees for Japs ( our main problem ). The Franklin trees I planted this spring are growing well and show no signs of disease. I didn't really notice any bugs on them, but gave them a shot of Sevin as a precaution. Anxious to see how they progress over the next 2 or 3 years.

 

[chummer]

In the midst of a very bad Fire Blight year I was very disappointed to find two of my Franklins with it. This was the first year they had a few blossoms each and they got hit hard. I have a bad outbreak about evey third year so this removes Franklin from my list. It sucks you have to wait till trees are older to find this out.

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