August 2024

If it’s true that an apple a day keeps the doctor away, we should be grateful to East Malling Horticultural Research Station.This pioneering Kent-based institution that celebrated its centenary in 2013 has developed many new varieties of apple and also strawberry. Now part of NIAB – National Institute of Agricultural Botany – it was the subject of a fascinating illustrated talk by Pete and Carol Batty in the Museum Friends’ Shop, Fremlin Walk, Maidstone, on August 8, 2024. They engaged the audience by asking for their experiences with fruit and showing paintings of fruit by illustrious artists such as Cezanne and Monet.

An audience of 20 learned that there are 7,500 varieties of apple worldwide; the science of apple growing is pomology; and that the heaviest apple weighed four pounds. For every pound invested in East Malling, £7 is returned to the UK economy. Malling Centenary and Falstaff are among several varieties developed at East Malling. Its scientists now travel the world advising growers, including the Rift Valley in Kenya where they helped with rose growing. East Malling Trust now owns Brogdale, the unique National Fruit Collection at Faversham. East Malling is now involved in research into a response to climate change by seeking out fruit varieties that best withstand the extremes of waterlogged soil and drought.