Science dean hit by great idea:
Newton's apple trees to grow at York

by Cathy Carlyle

Professor Emeritus (biology) Michael Boyer, Vice-President (University Advancement) Gary J. Smith and Dean of Pure & Applied Science Robert Prince have the honour of planting trees stemming from Sir Isaac Newton's family estate.

York has beautified the York campus with many varieties of trees since it first took root. Now it has gained some famous ones. York staff and students will have the honour of watching grow three Flower of Kent apple trees traceable to the very tree from which Sir Isaac Newton saw an apple fall, a happening which reputedly inspired his theory of the law of gravity. The tree scions were grafted to semi-dwarf root stock and planted at a ceremony in November on green space beside the Petrie Science Building as part of York's 40th anniversary celebrations.

When Dean Robert Prince of York's Faculty of Pure and Applied Science was on an exchange visit to the University of York, England, in 1990, he was intrigued by Newton scholar Richard Keesing's success in providing genetic material from Newton's renowned tree to a site in the United States. He wondered then if such a plan could be realized at York. Similar cuttings had been sent to Ottawa, but the National Research Council's efforts to grow scions of the tree failed due to the frigid winter temperatures. However, with the planting of these new graftings, Prince is optimistic that York's trees will flourish in the milder climate and more protected setting.

"Sir Isaac Newton had an interesting background," said Prince. "His father was a yeoman who could neither read nor write, but Newton himself went to university and became famous around the world. We think it fitting that graftings from his tree are here at our University, especially to mark our 40th anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the former Faculty of Science. I expect these trees to survive and grow well here. If they do, they'll be the first ones accessible to the public to survive in Canada."

He told of the scions' adventurous journey beginning at Woolsthorpe Manor, Lincolnshire, England, where Newton was born. Upon his death, the new owners, recognizing the significance of the particular apple tree, transferred cuttings to Belton Park, Lincolnshire, and from there the scions were sent to the National Fruit Research Station in East Malling, Kent. The Agriculture Canada Quarantine Station in British Columbia then stepped in to obtain cuttings and put them under a four-year quarantine. From this B.C. source, the tiny scions were shipped to York and grafted to a nurse tree on campus until they were mature enough to be grafted to a permanent root stock for future final planting. This grafting took place in spring 1998 at Siloam Orchards, Uxbridge, Ontario, where experts specialize in heritage varieties of trees.

Now the year-old cuttings rest back at York in their new plots. Prince estimates they'll reach heights of 10 to 12 metres. They'll be cross-pollinated by two old orchard trees just to the north of the Petrie Building on land that was originally part of the historical Stong farm, now York University land.

"I want to thank Professor Emeritus Michael Boyer for his guidance. Without his help this would not have been possible," said Prince. "He was a significant contributor to the project and a tireless supporter of the enhancement of the York landscape."

Sir Isaac Newton, born in 1642, obtained his first degree from the University of Cambridge in 1665. He made momentous discoveries in mathematics, optics and mechanics, carrying out many of his experiments at his family home of Woolsthorpe. During one of his many ramblings in his orchard and while observing an apple fall, he mused that the power of gravity was not limited to a certain distance from the earth, but that this power must extend much further than was usually thought. He then made the hypothesis that gravity might extend to the moon and influence that object's motion and orbit around earth. He proceeded to make mathematical estimates as a test of his new idea. Later he developed the Universal Law of Gravitation and, though reticent about publishing his findings, eventually made them public in full by 1704.