Apples have a powerful influence on human appetite, culture, psyche and history.

Consider Eve and her husband. Or Johnny Appleseed. Or Dan Bussey.

Dan Bussey?

The Edgerton-area businessman is an accomplished amateur apple scholar whose hobby-turned-passion is bearing some remarkable fruit.

Last spring, participants at a national symposium on heirloom fruits held in Madison were dazzled by Bussey's four-acre orchard featuring more than 250 apple varieties.

And in 2010, Bussey's exhaustive book on 14,000 named varieties of apples - including about 7,000 life-size, watercolor illustrations of apples commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the beginning of the 20th century - is scheduled for publication.

"I like research, and I couldn't find enough information on apples so I decided I'd have to track it down myself," Bussey said with a grin during a recent interview.

He said the librarians at UW-Madison's agriculture college library got to know him well over during a couple of decades of study.

Bussey anticipates his massive book will be published in two volumes. It has the backing of an enthusiastic patron undaunted by the high cost of production. The book will become the definitive guide to apples in North America, a unique resource and the first comprehensive guide to apples in more than 100 years.

Names, flavors of the past

Researching and growing apples - with a special focus on heirloom varieties - began as a hobby for Bussey more than 25 years ago, shortly after he and his wife, Connie, were married and purchased land near where he grew up in rural Rock County.

The couple began developing an orchard with a broad range of unusual apples even before they worked on their house.

"I just love the names of some of the old apples," he said. "There's Sheepsnose, Chenango Strawberry, Cow Snout. It's part of what makes them so interesting.

Besides the intriguing names, Bussey said there's a rich spectrum of flavor in the variety of heirloom apples. Each apple variety had a specific use, too, he noted, which is why it was common for home orchards years ago to have a large number of different kinds of apple trees.

Some were prized for baking, others for sauce, some for eating fresh and some for making cider, including hard cider. Still other varieties were particularly valued because they would store well through the winter.

Few varieties dominate shelves

Today, about 90 percent of the apple market is dominated by fewer than a dozen varieties sold in supermarkets all over the country. Large commercial growers particularly appreciate apples that ship well, have a long shelf life and look beautiful, which consumers have come to expect.

Casual shoppers aren't much drawn to some of the older varieties that have superb flavor but not much eye appeal, said Michelle Miller, associate director at the UW's Center for Integrated Agricultural Studies.

But it's important for people like Bussey and other growers with an interest in apple history to try to identify and understand the unique characteristics of some of the old varieties before they die out, she said.

"It's enormously valuable," she said.

"He's helping maintain and draw attention to a wider genetic variety, which is helpful for many reasons, including learning more about apples that are specifically suited to growing in this area," Miller explained.

In addition, a broad genetic base provides a source for plants that may resist diseases or pests naturally, or have a unique flavor profile that may be especially suited to producing a particular food or beverage.

She said even some unusual characteristics can be surprisingly valuable.

"There are some rather small apples that are especially good to eat," Miller said. "They're perfectly suited for young children, and make a great addition to lunch that's easy to serve and healthy."

More than just collecting seeds

Saving unique varieties of apples is more complicated than simply collecting apple seeds from a tree that produces good fruit.

That's because apples don't grow "true" from their seeds. Each seed is the result of pollination, and the genetic mix means that the resulting tree will include characteristics from both parents.

When apple growers want to preserve the characteristics of an apple type they like, often they graft a shoot from the desirable tree and attach it permanently to the root stock of another. As the grafted shoot grows, it will produce apples that are true in flavor and type to the original tree.

Bussey said that there are apple varieties that can be traced back to the Middle Ages, with a continuing series of grafts over hundreds of years.

"When it comes to apples, and creating apple orchards, there's a great deal of history tied into the settlement of the frontier," Bussey said.

He said it wasn't his original intention to write the definitive book about apple varieties in North America.

"I guess I got a little carried away," he said.

And he cheerfully admits that apples are more than just an academic interest for him.

"I make a mean apple pie, too," he laughed.

The secret? Use more than one variety.

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