Francis Peabody Sharp

Francis Peabody Sharp

Francis Peabody Sharp, orchardist, horticulturalist (b at Northampton, NB 1823; d at Upper Woodstock, NB 1903). When Sharp moved to Upper Woodstock in 1844, he established the first of many family orchards that developed into the major New Brunswick fruit industry. Apples and plums were exported widely to other parts of Canada and the United States. At his first orchard, he imported fruit and nursery stock from England and the United States. He was one of the first 2 people in North America to hybridize apple and pear varieties scientifically and was the first horticulturalist in Canada. He developed his first new apple variety, "New Brunswick," in 1853, and several followed, most notably "Early Scarlet," later known as "Crimson Beauty," produced about 1880.