Georgia Magazine - July 2021 - 22

Apple trees grafted in March 2020 were planted early
this year.
Heritage Orchard team members, from left, Josh Fuder, Stephen Mihm, Jacob
Williams, John Scaduto, Winston Cantrell, David Lockwood and Clare Johnston
survey the results of their grafting day in March 2020.
The team turned to historic and archival sources to track
down Georgia's forgotten apple varieties, researching nursery
catalogs from the late 1800s and early 1900s and agricultural
fair records.
The National Archives in College Park, Md., provided
information about farmers who grew apples in Georgia. Crossreferencing
property registries yielded owners and locations of
farmsteads that grew varieties with names like 'Black Warrior,'
'Etowah' and 'Poorhouse.'
" We also connected with a couple of nurseries, including
Lawson's Nursery in Ball Ground, which is now closed, " Fuder
says. " For more than 70 years, Jim Lawson shipped 20,000 heritage
apple trees annually across the nation. His catalog included
nearly 250 varieties like 'King David,' 'Arkansas Black' and
'Grimes Golden,' each one grafted from apple trees he hunted
down and grafted himself. "
Lawson is in his late 90s now but has provided a clear
history of Georgia's apples.
" Jim has been a tremendous help, and his knowledge is
invaluable, " Fuder says. " He's always been available to us
throughout the project. "
Georgia's older apple varieties have valuable genetic
advantages that modern apples lack: disease resistance,
potential for cider-making and the ability to thrive in hotter,
more humid climates.
" Our project will revitalize these 'lost' varieties to study
their genetics in hopes of identifying and preserving
desirable traits-such as heat-tolerance and flavor-that
can then be hybridized into varieties of modern
apples, " Mihm says.
How 'bout these apples?
The project goes beyond bringing back
these varieties for preservation's sake. Giving
future consumers a chance to enjoy these
varieties as well as providing more agritourism
outlets in the state will reap long-term benefits.
22 Georgia Magazine July 2021
" A century ago, Georgia's native apples won national
prizes, " Mihm says. " Yet today the only apples for sale in our
grocery stores are a handful of familiar varieties developed
and marketed by growers in other parts of the country, such as
'Granny Smith,' 'Red Delicious,' 'Gala' and others.
" We hope to give Georgia's consumers an opportunity to
taste something different-a delicious slice of the past that
deserves to return to its rightful place in our state's diet. Most
Georgians may not have sampled a 'Black Limbertwig,' 'Rabun
Bald' or 'Fort's Prize,' but these apples were part of our state's
agricultural past-and, we hope, its future. "
Covington concurs.
" These apples, with their long histories, can appeal to the
agritourism industry, " he says. " Apples named for a specific area
or connected to some sort of story in the region will be of interest
to consumers. Producers could market these connections
through value-added products like cider, pies, jellies and more.
This potential can only be realized after we have these fruits on
hand and in the hands of producers who are interested. "
There's also a historical component. Mihm calls it finding
the " generational links " -locating descendants who can
remember and tell the story of the apple variety their family
once grew.
" We have found some amazing stories, " Fuder says. " There's
a man in Lamar County who still has a variety
we think is called 'Family' on his farmstead.
He told us stories of picking apples from these
trees when he was a kid, and he remembers his
grandfather and father tending them. "
Some of these Georgia apples and the stories
If you have apple trees on
your property that you believe
may be heritage varieties or you
know someone who does, please
contact Ray Covington at the
Georgia Mountain
REC at (706) 745-2655.
of the people who grew them already are lost,
lingering only as vague memories of previous
generations. However, through the UGA
Heritage Orchard, others will come back to
life and benefit future generations.
Pamela A. Keene is a freelance writer living
in Flowery Branch.
RAY COVINGTON
RAY COVINGTON
Georgia Magazine - July 2021

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