${vImageAlt}
Originally published in the Saskatoon Daily Star, October 13, 1923

Adolph Heyer (1875 – 1954)

Plant breeder

Heyer No.12 is an odd name for an apple, but it has an interesting story. Hardy to zone 1, this apple bears profuse quantities of small, yellow, thin-skinned summer apples good for cooking and canning. It starts to bear fruit at three years and is highly recommended for the far north. Many can be found growing in yards and farms across the prairies and is still available in the nursery trade. Introduced in 1940 by Adolph Heyer, a self-taught amateur breeder, he bred this apple from seeds (likely of Russian heritage) obtained from A.P. Stevenson at Morden.

Heyer was born in Norway and took a homestead near Neville, Saskatchewan in 1905. Eager to plant trees on his bald prairie landscape, Heyer began experimenting with spruce and native trees. He went on to breed apple, crab apple, pears and plums. He used open pollinated fruits and selected from the best adapted specimens. Each of his fruit trees were named Heyer, followed by a number. He is best known for his Heyer No.12 and Heyer No.20 apples, but he maintained that “No.2 and No.18 are my best apples”. He also loved peonies and grew acres of them on his land. His shelterbelt techniques included planting only the hardiest trees, maintaining cultivation to prevent competition from grass and spacing trees properly to ensure maximum access to moisture. He was known throughout the prairies for his innovations and received a number of awards and accolades. Heyer Bay in the LaRonge area was named in his honour.

Heyer was so taken with fruit breeding that later in life, he turned over much of his land to his brother, leaving 25 acres of forest garden to continue the painstaking work of plant breeding and enjoying the fruits of his labour.

Share this story