植物学家们在老化的果园里，搜寻长期消失的苹果品种

植物学家们在老化的果园里，搜寻长期消失的苹果品种

The apple tree stands alone near the top of a steep hill, wind whipping through its branches as a perfect sunset paints its leaves a vibrant gold.

那棵苹果树孤零零地矗立在一座陡峭的山顶上，风从树枝间呼啸而过，完美的晚霞将它的叶子染成一片生机勃勃的金色。

It has been there for more than a century, and there is no hint that the tree or its apples are anything out of the ordinary. But this scraggly specimen produces the Arkansas Beauty, a so-called heritage fruit long believed to be extinct until amateur botanists in the Pacific Northwest tracked it down three years ago.

它在那里已经有一个多世纪了，没有任何迹象表明这棵树或它的苹果与众不同。但是这个杂乱的标本却产生了阿肯色州的美丽，一种所谓的传统水果，一直被认为已经灭绝了，直到三年前太平洋西北部的业余植物学家才发现它。

It’s one of 13 long-lost apple varieties rediscovered by a pair of retirees in the remote canyons, wind-swept fields and hidden ravines of what was once the Oregon Territory.

这是一对退休老人在遥远的峡谷、狂风扫过的田地和隐蔽的峡谷中重新发现的13个消失已久的苹果品种之一。

E.J. Brandt and David Benscoter, who together form the nonprofit Lost Apple Project, log countless hours and hundreds of miles in trucks, on all-terrain vehicles and on foot to find orchards planted by settlers as they pushed west more than a century ago.

e·j·勃兰特(E.J. Brandt)和戴维·本斯考特(David Benscoter)共同创立了非营利组织“消失的苹果项目”(Lost Apple Project)，他们开着卡车、越野车、步行数小时数百英里，寻找一个多世纪前定居者向西开拓时种植的果园。

The two are racing against time to preserve a slice of homesteader history: The apple trees are old, and many are dying. Others are being ripped out for more wheat fields or housing developments for a growing population.

这两棵树在争分夺秒地保护家园的历史:苹果树老了，很多都快死了。其他的则被用于更多的麦田或为不断增长的人口开发住房。

“To me, this area is a goldmine,” said Brandt, who has found two lost varieties in the Idaho panhandle. “I don’t want it lost in time. I want to give back to the people so that they can enjoy what our forefathers did.”

“对我来说，这个地区是个金矿，”勃兰特说，他在爱达荷州的狭长地带发现了两个丢失的品种。“我不想让它在时间里消失。我要回报人民，使他们能够享受我们的祖先所做的一切。”

Brandt and Benscoter scour old county fair records, newspaper clippings and nursery sales ledgers to figure out which varieties existed in the area. Then they hunt them down, matching written records with old property maps, land deeds and sometimes the memories of the pioneers’ great-grandchildren. They also get leads from people who live near old orchards.

勃兰特和本斯考特仔细查阅了老郡集市的记录、剪报和苗圃的销售分类账，以找出该地区存在的品种。然后，他们会将书面记录与旧的地图册、地契、有时还有先驱者的曾孙们的记忆匹配起来，进行搜寻。他们也从住在老果园附近的人那里得到线索。