We have Kazakhstan to thank for apples
Kazakhstan? Yes, because every apple we eat is descended from apples that grew in the steep valleys of southern Kazakhstan, where the hills climb toward the immense heights of the Tien Shan Mountains, whose peaks are nearly the peer of the Himalayas, Times&Transcript writes.
Kazakhstan is a satellite state of Russia and was once a member of the Soviet Union. It is quite literally half way round the world. It is perhaps best known today as the area where Russian cosmonauts land their space craft. Their landing sites are on the flat steppes, immense grasslands where horses and cattle are still herded by nomads living in yurts.
The apples grew on the hills between the steppes and the mountains. Before man began clearing the hills for agriculture and firewood, there grew immense forests of apple, mixed with birch, maple and spruce. In some ways it was not very different from our Acadian forests, with the apples being the major difference.
Through this area passed long caravans of Bactrian camels laden with goods from the Middle East, India and the great empire of China. One of the goods picked up in this area was apple. No doubt most of the apple fruit that found its way east and west was dried into fruit leather that could travel without spoiling. But seed was also carried in both directions. As a result the apple travelled east to China and west to Persia and eventually to Europe, where it quickly became a treasured food.
Because of the immense distances and lack of communication, the origin of the apple was lost for centuries. Most European writers believed it came from Persia or the Caucasus Mountains. It wasn't until the 20th Century that that all changed.
A Russian botanist working in Kazakhstan was incredulous with what he found around the city of Almaty. Here were remnants of vast apple forests. Apples of every description were found in the markets and the fruit floated by the city in the rivers during fall, drops from the many trees in the hills above.
Convinced that he had discovered the true birthplace of Malus domestica, the species of apple used around the world, he tried to communicate his excitement. Few listened, but those few eventually realized the magnitude of his find.
By the end of the century several expeditions were mounted, the most influential being those of researchers at Cornell University in New York, an important centre of breeding and research in apples. What they discovered astounded them.
In the forests of Kazakhstan were apples of every size, shape and colour. Many wild apples were as good as any apple to be found in a North American supermarket. Enthused by these visits, they began collecting seeds and cuttings. One of the traits the scientists were most excited about was the resistance of many seedlings to disease.
Quality was of prime importance as well. Not only did they discover superb tasting apples, but many had flavours much different from the small gene pool that we have been working with for centuries.
This new genetic diversity is one of the most exciting developments in apple breeding in centuries. This material has the potential to completely change the future of apples: how they look, taste and grow.
There is not much left of the original apple forests. Most have been cut, plowed, burned or otherwise destroyed in the endless deforestation that seems to accompany civilization. There are attempts to try to save what does remain.
One can only imagine what treasures have grown through the centuries in those forests, perhaps apples whose tastes would be beyond our imagination. It can only be hoped that enough has been saved that we can experience a renaissance of the apple.
* Bob Osborne is the owner of Corn Hill Nursery Ltd., a member of Landscape New Brunswick, an author, farmer and gardener.
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