The McIntosh apple, possibly the most ubiquitous apple in the world, had its roots in a chance discovery on small farm in Dundela, Ontario in 1811. As the story goes, while clearing his land near Prescott, John McIntosh stumbled across several apple seedlings, which he transplanted. One flourished and produced what we know today as the McIntosh Red Apple – or the simply, the ‘Mac’ John’s son Allen reproduced the tree through grafting and spread it throughout the region. Although damaged by a fire, the original tree produced fruit until 1906. The more than 300,000 McIntosh apple trees now growing in North America, and all the others in the world, are descendants of this single tree. (This info was drawn from the following link http://www.canadacool.com/location/dundela-mcintosh-apple/)
Two monuments commemorating John McIntosh and his apple now stand in Dundela. At the nearby Smyth’s Apple Orchard, which has 30,000 trees, visitors can taste a ‘Mac’ grown in its birthplace. I was at Smyth's apple orchard today and am somewhat embarrassed to say that I did not buy any Macs. However I did buy some Spy and Cortland apples, which in my view are better for pie-making, cheddar cheese, cider, and a great big ol' tub of cinnamon honey butter.
