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<\/a><\/p>\nWith the help of that organization and DNA testing at Washington State University, locals discovered four unknown apple trees at the Britt property.<\/p>\n
Lewis said identifying the apples will preserve part of the past.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like communing with history. You\u2019re tasting the same apples they tasted,\u201d Knapp added.<\/p>\n
The Lost Apple Project<\/a> is one of a handful of Pacific Northwest organizations searching for forgotten varieties to ensure they survive.<\/p>\n The groups aim to save history as well as genetics that could help the apple industry\u2019s future.<\/p>\n Work includes promoting tree health, establishing rare varieties in orchards, providing scionwood to growers and posting a wealth of information online.<\/p>\n Apple preservation efforts also are catching on in other unexpected ways.<\/p>\n In the fall, WSU ag student Tayettin Brodzinski took a study break and strolled through Lawson Gardens, a park in Pullman, Wash.<\/p>\n She needed a leaf from an apple tree she didn\u2019t know the variety of for a genetics class and noticed an apple tree in a nearby lawn.<\/p>\n Her sample matched those found in other states and turned out to be the lost but once renowned Walbridge variety.<\/p>\n \u201cWe assumed that, due to its historical popularity, it must still exist, waiting to be rediscovered,\u201d said Professor Cameron Peace, who helps search efforts with DNA testing.<\/p>\n Retired investigator creates the Lost Apple Project<\/p>\n North America once had more than 17,000 named apples, but only about 5,000 remain, said David Benscoter of Spokane, Wash., the Lost Apple Project\u2019s founder. <\/p>\n Benscoter, retired from federal law enforcement, discovered the East Coast was filled with apple hunters, but no one was looking for \u201cextinct\u201d fruit in the Northwest.<\/p>\n So he became an apple detective, scouring for clues in nursery pamphlets, old USDA paintings, plat maps and other documents.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very comfortable looking for evidence in old records and just gathering evidence in general,\u201d Benscoter said.<\/p>\n In 2013, while searching for lost apples near Colfax, Wash., Benscoter spotted a lonely tree leaning over a water pump station.<\/p>\n He had rediscovered the Fall Jeneting, an apple with odd, sharp ridges that was considered great for cooking and canning but disappeared in the early 1900s.<\/p>\n Benscoter stressed apples were extremely valuable to pioneers who grew their own food.<\/p>\n With different varieties, homesteaders could eat fresh apples off the tree from July through October and cellar fruit until April or May.<\/p>\n Settlers also could dry and preserve apples.<\/p>\n By the end of this year, the Lost Apple Project will have recovered more than 30 varieties. <\/p>\n It works closely with the Temperate Orchard Conservancy, which grows rare apples near Molalla, Ore.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we don\u2019t find these varieties, nobody will and that\u2019s history lost,\u201d said Benscoter, co-author of \u201cLost Apples: The search for rare and heritage apples in the Pacific Northwest.\u201d<\/p>\n Central Oregon\u2019s Heritage Apple Corps<\/p>\n Besides historical sleuthing, apple preservation groups thrive on tips.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople will email us and say, \u2018I saw this old orchard when I was out hunting north of La Grande,\u2019\u201d said Peter LoVerso, project lead for the Heritage Apple Corps<\/a> near Bend, Ore.<\/p>\n That organization formed to improve the health of old orchards and fruit trees through pruning and education.<\/p>\n In recent years, its focus shifted to include finding forgotten apples east of the Oregon Cascades.<\/p>\n LoVerso said apples have experienced a loss of genetic diversity.<\/p>\n Commercial growers gradually concentrated on fewer varieties for eating that look great, have firm texture, high production and store well.<\/p>\n Older varieties that fell out of favor and in some cases disappeared might be ugly, small, have low yields, unappealing texture or not store well.<\/p>\n Rediscovered historic apples likely won\u2019t go back into wider production, but their traits can bring advantages for breeding programs, especially if they reduce the cost of interventions, said Jon DeVaney, Washington State Tree Fruit Association president.<\/p>\n Historic apples might possess characteristics modern fruit lacks, including drought tolerance, or resistance to specific diseases or pests.<\/p>\n The increased interest in saving heirloom apples comes as advancements such as rapid cycle breeding<\/a> have made it possible to introduce traits in fruit much more quickly.<\/p>\n Not every unknown apple is noteworthy, however.<\/p>\n Apples don\u2019t seed true \u2014 that\u2019s why orchards are full of grafted clones.<\/p>\n Fruit that tests unique could be from a common apple that fell to the ground and seeded, so preservation groups must concentrate on top candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cIf two genetically identical unknown trees exist, one on San Juan Island, one in Central Oregon, it\u2019s highly likely someone planted those intentionally,\u201d LoVerso said.<\/p>\n That connection actually occurred.<\/p>\n Kwi\u00e1ht preserves apple trees in the San Juan Islands<\/p>\n