# 4727-34 - 2013 33c Apples 8v
U.S. #4727-34
2013 33¢ Apples
Set of 8
Issue Date: January 17, 2013
City: Yakima, WA
Quantity: 750,000,000
Printed By: Banknote Corporation of America for Sennett Security Products
Printing Method: Offset
Color: multicolored
Puritans brought the apple tree to North America, where William Blaxton first harvested what was called “winter bananas” or “melt-in-the-mouths.”
Known today as apples, the fruit is one of the most complex examples of Mother Nature’s work. Scientists recently discovered the Golden Delicious apple has 57,000 genes, the highest of any plant and nearly twice that of humans.
Mankind has played a role in developing more than 7,500 different apple varieties, something nature would not have done on its own. Apple trees are difficult to start from seed, most are not self-pollinators, and those that survive usually produce fruit that is not edible. Instead, growers rely on propagation, during which a branch or bud from a desired variety is grafted onto rootstock. The tree that grows produces fruit similar to the grafted variety.
Propagation allows for two promising scenarios. Modern varieties are developed through genetic mutation before grafting. And the chance discovery of heirloom trees in old orchards means our ancestors’ favorites can be resurrected through grafting.
But whether we bite into the same variety people of the Stone Age enjoyed or thrill to a newly created sensation, we’ll be savoring a tasty and healthy treat.
Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed
Johnny’s father went to fight in the Revolution, but returned home when his mother died after childbirth. His father remarried and had 10 more children. When Johnny was 18, he convinced his 11-year-old half brother embark on a journey west with him. The two boys lived off the land and wandered the west for 13 years before their father moved the family out to meet them in Ohio.
While his brother decided to stay and work on the family farm, Johnny began working as an apprentice at the apple orchard of Mr. Crawford. Some credit this as the beginning of his life-long association with the fruit, though other accounts claim he began working in apple nurseries as early as the late 1790s. According to those stories, Johnny collected apple seeds from the unused remnants at cider mills along the Potomac River.
In addition to planting nurseries, Johnny also served as a missionary of his religion. He shared his gospel with children and families and Native Americans. In fact, many Native Americans believed the Great Spirit touched him and even hostile tribes didn’t harm him. Part of his beliefs also included living a simple life, without hurting animals or any living things, including insects. He did in fact, as the stories told, walk barefoot and wear a tin hat. He also became a vegetarian in his later years.
Its also interesting to note that Johnny’s insistence on planting seeds (rather than grafting) aided in the creation of hardy American apples. According to one author, “It was the seeds, and the cider, that give the apple the opportunity to discover by trial and error the precise combination of traits required to prosper in the New World. From Chapman’s vast planting of nameless cider apple seeds came some of the great American cultivars of the 19th century.” Among the apples we can credit to Johnny Appleseed are the delicious and golden delicious.
Click here to see Disney’s take on Johnny Appleseed’s story.
U.S. #4727-34
2013 33¢ Apples
Set of 8
Issue Date: January 17, 2013
City: Yakima, WA
Quantity: 750,000,000
Printed By: Banknote Corporation of America for Sennett Security Products
Printing Method: Offset
Color: multicolored
Puritans brought the apple tree to North America, where William Blaxton first harvested what was called “winter bananas” or “melt-in-the-mouths.”
Known today as apples, the fruit is one of the most complex examples of Mother Nature’s work. Scientists recently discovered the Golden Delicious apple has 57,000 genes, the highest of any plant and nearly twice that of humans.
Mankind has played a role in developing more than 7,500 different apple varieties, something nature would not have done on its own. Apple trees are difficult to start from seed, most are not self-pollinators, and those that survive usually produce fruit that is not edible. Instead, growers rely on propagation, during which a branch or bud from a desired variety is grafted onto rootstock. The tree that grows produces fruit similar to the grafted variety.
Propagation allows for two promising scenarios. Modern varieties are developed through genetic mutation before grafting. And the chance discovery of heirloom trees in old orchards means our ancestors’ favorites can be resurrected through grafting.
But whether we bite into the same variety people of the Stone Age enjoyed or thrill to a newly created sensation, we’ll be savoring a tasty and healthy treat.
Happy Birthday Johnny Appleseed
Johnny’s father went to fight in the Revolution, but returned home when his mother died after childbirth. His father remarried and had 10 more children. When Johnny was 18, he convinced his 11-year-old half brother embark on a journey west with him. The two boys lived off the land and wandered the west for 13 years before their father moved the family out to meet them in Ohio.
While his brother decided to stay and work on the family farm, Johnny began working as an apprentice at the apple orchard of Mr. Crawford. Some credit this as the beginning of his life-long association with the fruit, though other accounts claim he began working in apple nurseries as early as the late 1790s. According to those stories, Johnny collected apple seeds from the unused remnants at cider mills along the Potomac River.
In addition to planting nurseries, Johnny also served as a missionary of his religion. He shared his gospel with children and families and Native Americans. In fact, many Native Americans believed the Great Spirit touched him and even hostile tribes didn’t harm him. Part of his beliefs also included living a simple life, without hurting animals or any living things, including insects. He did in fact, as the stories told, walk barefoot and wear a tin hat. He also became a vegetarian in his later years.
Its also interesting to note that Johnny’s insistence on planting seeds (rather than grafting) aided in the creation of hardy American apples. According to one author, “It was the seeds, and the cider, that give the apple the opportunity to discover by trial and error the precise combination of traits required to prosper in the New World. From Chapman’s vast planting of nameless cider apple seeds came some of the great American cultivars of the 19th century.” Among the apples we can credit to Johnny Appleseed are the delicious and golden delicious.
Click here to see Disney’s take on Johnny Appleseed’s story.