There is a story both wonderful and depressing at:

http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2004/10/30/fallen-fruit/

It's about the literally thousands of apple varieties in the UK around 120 years ago and the way
these have been whittled down to just a handful by supermarket chains' buying power and, most
lately, by European Community bureaucracy.

You can read about apple varieties that were bred for cider, about others that were edible only
after being kept, picked, over winter and about others with a variety of virtues (but many of them
too small in size to appeal to the supermarket giants).  You will read about the cosmetic criteria
set by the food chains so that the appearance of the fruit at the point of sale is the overriding
criteria for whether a variety, and the orchard on which it grows, survive.

Keith