16 NOVEMBER 1945, Page 16

An After - Christmas Apple

Several enthusiasts for the too rare D'Arcy Spice apple responded to a recent appeal ; and two agree that it is the very best of all the after- Christmas apples. There seems to be little doubt that it flourishes especially (like various seed crops) in the heavy clays of Essex and the small rainfall which is the marsh of a small area to the south of East Anglia. Again it will flourish only when grafted on certain strong stocks. The moral for those who have failed with it seem i to be to purchase only from an expert grower, to give the tree a heavy soil, and of course, as with most fruit from strawberries upwards, to avoid a dry valley, where there is small current or, as they now say, drainage of air.