Colville: fixing a grower's typo

(Image: Mary Daisy Arnold/USDA

)  A vendor at Lexington's farmers market sold me a "Coville" apple back in 2009. ¶ 

Now I think the grower got the name wrong.

It's Colville, more likely.

I'm still not sure, and may never be. But two items are persuasive.

Visual

First, the watercolor of "Colville" from the U.S. Department of Agriculture reproduced above.

Despite some differences, it matches my apple in significant ways.

True, the watercolor specimen is wider than mine, and the image shows more prominent ribbing.

But the colors are dead on, and my original description of my "Coville" noted an "exaggerated ribbed and tapered profile."

Also the stem is a pretty good match (see the second panel of the watercolor).

Historical

Second, this little clip from the Western Fruit Jobber (what, you don't subscribe?), ca. 1923:

The description is a good match (though not a perfect one), and the first paragraph says the apple originates in France.

Of course that raises another question. Might "Colville" itself be a typo, this time for "Calville"?

That is a classic French cooking apple that I reviewed in 2011. 

It's a not at all like my "Coville," and is a good match visually with the "Colville" watercolor. It does "keep well in storage."

But I submit that the color is wrong, and the comparison with Grimes, even if just for color, is an odd choice for an apple with little appeal for eating rather than cooking. 

I would not describe Calville as "spicy," either, though that might be argued.

The dog that did not bark

There you have my reasoning, mostly. Make of it what you will.

There's enough room for doubt that I am not changing the title of my "Coville" review.

But it is also telling that in the years since tasting this apple, I have never been able to find any reference to "Coville."

At least there are a few scraps of "Colville" to be seen.

References

The watercolor painting of the apple is one of thousands included in  the USDA Watercolor Collection.

"The Colville Apple." Western Fruit Jobber 9:12(32), April 1923.