Long Before Apple's Macintosh, There Was McIntosh's Apple

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Stephen Messenger
Living / Green Food
October 30, 2011

To this day, no one is certain just how the apple seedlings came to be on McIntosh's farm in Canada, though some have theorized that they sprouted from an earlier settler's discarded apple core. But the occurrence of a particularly delicious apple in such wild conditions is made all the more remarkable when considering how apples reproduce. Seeds from an apple do not grow into the same variety as their parent. Rather, varieties are the result of cross-pollination, which are then preserved in agriculture not by planting, but by grafting part of the existing tree to grow anew.

The genetic origins of McIntosh's apple tree remain a mystery, but it is clear that it was one of a kind. Realizing that he'd found a revolutionary variety, the farmer set about to grafting more and more trees from the original in an attempt to keep up with local, then regional demand.

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