"They have given us the nicest juice we have ever tried," he said. The farm will plant a further 2,200 Cheerful Gold trees at 1.3m spacing on top of 500 it has already.
But speaking at a British Independent Fruit Growers Association (BIFGA)/Hadlow College open day, Corfield said he is concerned about the possible loss to the industry of creosote-treated stakes. "Without creosote, I don't know what we'd do."
BIFGA chairman John Breach, who led the introduction of Cheerful Gold to the UK, said: "It's a very sweet apple but acidic too, so it has a strong, tangy flavour."
Cheerful Gold is among varieties being trialled under different growing formats at the Hadlow site. "But it will be next year before we know what sort of yield and quality we can expect from these," Breach added.
At the event, grower Peter Kedge said Galmac, which he grows on land adjacent to the trial site, shows promise as an early-season variety. "The only others are Discovery and Zari, though Galmac is earlier than Zari," he said.
The name derives from its parents, Gala and McIntosh. Kedge added: "It is really nice tasting for an early."
