Must be obscure, I can't find much either.

There is an Internet reference to an Atchison, Kansas newspaper want ad from Sept 1965 for Globe apple pickers.

I wonder if it is an antique variety of apple?

Wild guess here. The ripe fruit of a Mayapple? I know the plant is an understory plant in wild areas. It is poisonous till fully ripe but I believe preserves was a common use for it. Timing seems to be off if they needed pickers in Sept tho. And it's not common enuf to require many pickers anyway, but they might need to hike quite a bit to find enuf to process.

Pam in cinti

Found a source that states globe apples are just describing the apple shape, since shape varies from variety to variety.

BTW donnaz5 were you reading about Husbandry from the time of Pliney when you found the reference? That's the only other reference I could find. It clearly states you need to wipe off the "down" before processing the apple.

http://books.google.com/books?id=qcNbAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA550&lpg=PA550&dq=%22globe+apples%22&source=bl&ots=NplC5n7g0M&sig=fTaE0xTf6u-ePuw3L5qfdEojkqs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=h76XUYGoOejCyAGSlYDICQ&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=%22globe%20apples%22&f=false

Can you tell it's raining too hard for me to care for my trees today?

Pam in cinti

Here is a link that might be useful: Read Size shape & color portion of text

Thanks for the info...
No...I am reading Pioneer Women voices from the Kansas Frontier by Joanna L. Stratton
I can't imagine what "down" would be on an apple....that's strange.....The only fruit I can think of with "down" might be peach fuzz? But I am sure they knew what peaches were?
My neighbor has elderly relatives that were born and raised in Kansas, so he's going to ask around his family.
September would be about the right time to start hiring for harvesting apples..but why not just say "apples"...it just seems odd that they would advertise for pickers for "red delicious apples"...not just say apples...that's why I am leaning toward it being another fruit...sure woyuld like to know what it is!!!

The newspaper ad specifically asked for "Globe" apple pickers. Could even be an orchardist's name, or a very local expression for a roundish apple.

A 19th-century British publication pictured and mentioned a Spicy Globe apple. In modern times, Globe exists as an orchard and as a brand name for apple products.

It is amazing how early apple orchards were present in pioneer days. Apple seeds were planted near Fort Vancouver, Washington in 1826; apples were being picked in 1830. Prairie weather later in the century may have been conducive to orchard planting.

The Stratton writing referred to above mentioned a list of native fruits and nuts and then said "...but on the prairie...the globe apple was scarce". Not sure what to make of that.

.but on the prairie...the globe apple was scarce".

That goes exactly from the writing in the diary...saying that it was scarce.....I really doubt that a specific variety of apple could be recognized in the 1860's, and that it was "scarce"...if an apple tree bore fruit..it would certainly bear more than 1 jar of preserves...that is why I am thinking it was some other fruit, and that globe apple was regional, or nickname for the fruit...the curiosity on this is killing me !!!

This book mentions the Spicy Globe Apple:

Here is a link that might be useful: The botanic garden; representations of hardy ornamental flowering plants

The 1860's saw some of the first orchards on the plains, by the 1870's they were common, varieties would have been well-known, but fruit for sale would have still been considered scarce.

"Globe apple" could even refer to a quince. But it would be more interesting if it referred to a native fruit.

Posted by larry_gene USDA8b-OregonPDX (My Page) on
Sat, May 18, 13 at 23:26

It is amazing how early apple orchards were present in pioneer days. Apple seeds were planted near Fort Vancouver, Washington in 1826; apples were being picked in 1830. Prairie weather later in the century may have been conducive to orchard planting.

You have to remember that one did not drink the water back then. And tea, was taxed, assuming you could get it. Barley water, (beer) and cider however, were safe to drink, and easy to make. Johnny Appleseed takes on a whole new meaning.

There's an interesting book, Early American Beverages, that somewhat covers these facts/notions. I always laugh at the idea of lobster, being a 'trash fish'. (Apparently you couldn't force your bondsman to eat lobster more than three times a week.)

Here is a link that might be useful: Early American Beverages

Quince have down which can be wiped off, unlike peach fuzz.

I gotta give another vote for quince... They are kinda 'downy'... Ripe mayapple had me thinking, but they are surely a forest understory plant and i would venture a guess they would be pretty rare on the wild, windy plains...

Quince ripens too late on Colorado. Is there an early ripening variety that could have produced in Kansas?

Just guessing that the lower Kansas elevations and earlier springs would work. The main problem in Kansas in the 1870's was grasshoppers, even for orchardists.

According to the book I'm reading, the grasshoppers only hit them hard in 1874,.....for 20 years before that the grasshoppers were there in sporadic(and much, much smaller) numbers, but in 1874 really hit hard, but the trees recovered for the most part. In 1875, the eggs laid hatched out and the grasshoppers were a bigger problem than in years before 1874, but nothing like 1874.

I believe medlar is a european fruit but is there a native fruit similar to medlar?

I am thinking maybe a hedge apple and a globe apple might be the same thing. I did google images and one picture I found when I googled globe apple matched what mom used to call hedge apples. So I googled hedge apples and they were the same. A lady about a block from where I grew up in "very" NW Kansas had a tree and there were always hedge apples all over the street and her yard every year. I didn't even know they were edible!!

I actually googled globe apples used by Kansas Pioneer women to make preserves. Otherwise with just globe apples I didn't get anything close.

Beth, the fruit in your picture is Maclura pomifera aka Osage Orange. They were originally sparse on the prairies until widely planted as boundaries before the advent of barbed wire. I cant find any reference to their being used for preserves, being tough and dry, but they were supposed to have insect repellent properties.

I have serious doubts about anything remotely edible being made from the fruits of M.pomifera(Osage Orange)... but its close relative, Che/Mandarin melon berry - Maclura(formerly Cudrania) tricuspidata, does produce an edible berry that resembles the OO fruit... only smaller.

Che fruit

Hi Im reading ”Pioneer Women” it sounds like the same book, no one really knows what a globe apple is?