You cannot walk around in Lausanne, Switzerland, on a market day without being pulled up short by the sight of the Henny family's stalls. The display of super willow baskets woven at the farm, spilling over with dozens of varieties of apples and pears with their vivid colour and quality, are a feast for the eyes. But what moves this farmer to cultivate more than 60 varieties of apples which need, each one of them, special attention and which mature at different times and need to be picked at different times? This question is put straight to Mr Henny by a reporter from the Swiss newspaper Le Temps. "A passion," is the farmer's reply. A passion, the reporter records, which drives this mild, friendly fortyish man to collect all the books , pamphlets and other information he can lay his hands on.
Then the desire to cross one kind of apple tree with another - and all about grafting. Some varieties are his alone and are given colourful appellations by him. But Jean-Robert Henny thinks of their appearance as being of secondary concern. Sometimes their looks are not up to standard in the beauty stakes, but their eating quality is fabulous, according to our reporter. So much so that you would think for a second that you were eating an apple for the first time. What are the secrets? Answer: Soil that is heavy on starting up, tending mostly to clay, so that the water is less easily drained away from the roots, as happens on sandy soils.
Next: interfere as little as possible with the tree: let it grow as it wants. Finally, thin out the fruit: no more than one every 15 to 20 cms. Tailpiece: this man of 60 appletrees throws out the remark at the end of the interview that his real passion has always, in fact, been for cherries.