EMPIRE
| Origin | New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, New York, 1966. |
| Parentage | McIntosh x unknown (Probably Red Delicious). |
| Availability | Mid October to April or later. |
| Source | Available from most commercial nurseries. |
| Quality | Sprightly tang, nice sweet to acid balance. Very crisp, firm, juicy, fairly distinctive. |
| Fruit: |
| Size | Medium to small, very uniform. Needs a combination of good nutrition, proper pruning and adequate spray thinning followed by hand culling if a high proportion are to be over 2½" diameter. Pruning should assure good light penetration with removal of weak spurs and/or entire coverage limbs; thinning to singles is a must. |
| Surface | Smooth, has a waxy bloom, will take a high polish. |
| Ground Colour | Greenish yellow. |
| Over Colour | Well coloured, somewhat striped to full dark red on the exposed cheek. |
| Flesh Colour | Creamy white, may have a greenish tinge. |
| Harvest Season | Late September to early October. |
| Storage | October to December in cold, to June or later in Controlled Atmosphere. |
| Strains | Several are known - Crown, Royal, Thome. |
| Tree: |
| Vigour | Moderate. |
| Habit | Rather spreading, fairly spurry, somewhat dense. |
| Precocity | Bears early. |
| Fruit Placement | On spurs and shoots. |
| Bloom Period | Mid season. |
| Pollination | By other mid season diploids. Somewhat sensitive to blossom frosts. |
| Nutrition | Requires good nutrition. Heavy cropping may induce potassium deficiency. |
| Crop | Bears well and not too difficult to keep from becoming biennial. |
| Synchrony | Spot picking does not appear necessary unless to adjust fruit sizes. |
| Adaptation | It does well in New York State and in Ontario which have longer and warmer summers than Nova Scotia. |
| Disease Reaction | Susceptible to scab, slightly susceptible to powdery mildew, juniper rust: high storage CO2 may induce scald-like surface browning. |
| Insect Reaction | Nothing of note. |
| Rootstock | Intensive culture with selected dwarf/semi-dwarf rootstocks is a distinct possibility; this would improve fruit size and the tree type is suitable. |
| Comments: |
| Empire and Spartan fit into the same market niche but will require more management skill to produce a high percentage of export sized fruit. |
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