SAVING 'LOST' APPLES

... in the Pacific Northwest and Maine

Today we are sending postcards to two individuals who are both inspired apple hunters that locate and save unique species, which will protect apples of all sorts from the threat of extinction. David Benscoter in the Pacific Northwest and John Bunker in Maine.

The retired FBI officer, David Benscoter became obsessed with apple trees on the verge of extinction in the Pacific Northwest. He scoured nature studies, family recipes, and county fair newspapers to track down “lost apples.” Then, he teamed up with Joanie Cooper and Sean Shepherd of the Temperate Orchard Conservancy in Oregon — two old friends with unique careers as “apple identification experts,” so that they could analyze their DNA.

Apples are under threat. When small numbers of varieties are planted very widely, the crop becomes more vulnerable to diseases such as fire blight, powdery mildew and scab. Having near-monocultures in the field means disease organisms don’t have to rely on the evolution of new mechanisms to overcome the diverse genetic protections collectively carried by many apple varieties; once they settle genetically on a strategy, they can attack. And they do, very successfully. A U.S.-wide estimate made more than 20 years ago put the annual cost of fire blight, a bacterial disease, in excess of $100 million. Since then, outbreaks in various parts of the country have cost producers $16 million to $42 million at a time.

Together with his friend, E.J. Brandt, Benscoter created the Lost Apple Project. Through their nonprofit, Brandt and Benscoter hunt down rare apple varieties, collect apple specimens in the fall for identification, and then return to the same orchards in the winter to graft branches and grow “heritage” varieties. Brandt and Benscoter rely on old county fair records, newspaper clippings, and nursery sales ledgers, as well as tips from people, to find likely places to search for old trees. They collect apple specimens in the fall, then return in the winter to gather wood cuttings (scions) for grafting. The project's searches focus on eastern Washington, western Idaho, and northern Oregon and is affiliated with the Whitman County Historical Society.

Benscoter and co-author Linda Hackbarth published Lost Apples: The Search for Rare and Heritage Apples in the Pacific Northwest in September 2024, documenting the project's story of locating lost apple varieties.

John Bunker was following a similar path in Maine and has a very interesting story in the article below.  Bunker started working for Fedco Seeds in the third year of its existence. Shortly afterwards, in 1984, he founded Fedco Trees. “One of my goals was to create a business that would provide inexpensive, hardy trees for northern people. Another was to track down varieties other people were not offering and to propagate them ourselves. The first one was Black Oxford. We’ve sold two to three thousand Black Oxford trees by now.” John describes Black Oxford in the Fedco catalog as: “Beautiful medium-sized round fruit, deep purple with a blackish bloom.” It won a fruit-tasting event at the fall Maine Tree Crop Alliance gathering, is excellent for cooking, superb for late cider, best eating late December to March.

Article about Benscoter: https://tinyurl.com/yw8d695e

Article about Bunker: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-apple-detectives-solved-the-mystery-of-an-ancient-tree-and-rewrote-the-history-of-fruit/

John Bunker Bio: https://www.mofga.org/stories/community/john-bunker/

David Benscoter
Lost Apple Project c/o Whitman County Historical Society
623 N Perkins Ave
Colfax, WA 99111

John Bunker
167 Turner Mill Pond Rd
Palermo, ME 04354