Cultivar 556: Bedford

## Overview

Bedford is a Malus crabapple/applecrab selection classified as a small-fruited type. It is linked to Brandon, Manitoba, and first appeared in records in 1916; one source says it first flowered and fruited then. The name is reported to honor S.A. Bedford, the first superintendent of the Brandon Experimental Farm. [S1] [S2] [S4]

## Fruit

Sources describe Bedford fruit as round-oblate, about 1 3/8 in (roughly 3 cm), yellow, and heavily washed dull red. The flesh is yellow, firm, crisp, juicy, and briskly sub-acid; the skin is thin and waxy. One source rates quality as fair, while another says it is good. The fruit is listed as maturing from mid-September into October. [S1] [S4]

## Tree and management

The tree is described as moderately vigorous, spreading, healthy, strongly crotched, and productive. In heavy fruiting years it may overbear, and heavy crops can reduce fruit size. Bedford was once used as a rootstock but is now largely replaced by Columbia for that role, while still remaining useful for topworking. [S1] [S4]

## Hardiness and geography

Prairie orchard sources place Bedford in hardiness-focused testing as a cold-adapted crabapple. It is marked H2 in one coded system and is described as very hardy in narrative text; it also has FB1 coding for fire blight, the least susceptible category. No direct orchard-zone label is provided, so the strongest reading is practical cold-climate adaptation from prairie institutional use rather than a stated zone. [S1] [S4]

## Lineage and breeding role

Bedford parentage is clear and narrow: it comes from Cluster. In breeding tables, Bedford appears later as a parent, including Snow × Bedford and parent-frequency tables where it is counted as a male contributor, not as a female. Those entries reflect later breeding use, not Bedford's own parentage. [S2] [S3]

## Featured notes

Bedford appears repeatedly in prairie fruit indexes, including edible-apple and crusted apple-crabapple directories, which matches its role as a longstanding prairie selection rather than a modern release. [S1] [S2] [S4]

Summary source basis

• S1: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S2: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S3: PrairieFruitBreedingDoc
• S4: TreeFruitsGrownInPrairieOrchards WRLeslie 1946 HQ

This summary currently draws chiefly from Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, with 3 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Brandon Research Station, Brandon, Manitoba.”
— ^[2]

“Table row 327 describes Bedford as medium, yellow with dull red, yellow flesh, marked 'R', and late.”
— ^[2]

“Hardiness/status code shown at right: CR.”
— ^[1]

“Good quality.”
— ^[1]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• Bedford (Cluster sdlg) Brandon (1916) ... Fruit 3cm, yellow, heavily washed dull red.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p17
• Bedford (Cluster sdlg) Brandon (1916) ... Fruit 3cm, yellow, heavily washed dull red.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p17
• Bedford (Cluster sdlg) Brandon (1916) ... Fruit 3cm, yellow, heavily washed dull red.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p17
• Bedford (Cluster sdlg) Brandon (1916) ... Fruit 3cm, yellow, heavily washed dull red.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p17

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context