> Apples are more discovered than bred. Here is a nice 2013 article about a man who hunts old and abandoned orchards for old heirloom apple varieties. It also

> Apples are more discovered than bred. Here is a nice 2013 article about a man who hunts old and abandoned orchards for old heirloom apple varieties. It also explains about the genetics of apples. If you like the apples made by a particular tree, and you want to make more trees just like it, you have to clone it: Snip off a shoot from the original tree, graft it onto a living rootstock, and let it grow. This is how apple varieties come into existence. Every McIntosh is a graft of the original tree that John McIntosh discovered on his Ontario farm in 1811, or a graft of a graft. Every Granny Smith stems from the chance seedling spotted by Maria Ann Smith in her Australian compost pile in the mid-1800s. http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/04/heritage-apples-john-bunker-maine/ http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/04/heritage-appl...