Heirloom Apple Orchard

The JR Dawkins heirloom apple orchard at AIMS is home to 70 apple trees of over 50 varieties of heirloom apples, most of which are regionally adapted to Southern Appalachia.

Below, we have listed the 35 named varieties in the orchard, accompanied by information about the origin, history, characteristics, and visual appearance of the apple. This information draws directly from Lee Calhoun's Old Southern Apples: A Comprehensive History and Description of Varieties for Collectors, Growers, and Fruit Enthusiasts, as well as Daniel J. Bussey's seven-volume set of The Illustrated History of APPLES in the United States and Canada.

ARKANSAS BLACK

Originated in the orchard of Mr. John Braithwaite near Bentonville, Benton County, Arkansas; planted as a seedling apple in 1843, and one of 400 he grafted and sold in 1844 (Bussey).

Arkansas Black is a beautiful apple, a good keeper, and the fruit may have some resistance to the codling moth. Apples are rock-hard when first picked but soften and improve in flavor with storage. The tree is quite disease-resistant except to apple scab. A spur-type tree, which bears more heavily, is sold by several modern nurseries (Calhoun).

Fruit medium size, nearly perfectly round; skin covered with deep red, almost black; dots numerous, small, white; stem short to almost medium length in an acute, rather small, partly russeted, often lipped cavity; calyx closed; basin small, very shallow, slightly furrowed; flesh very firm (hard when picked), yellow, rather fine-grained, crisp, moderately juicy, sprightly subacid. Ripe October (Calhoun).

ARKANSAS PIPPIN

Also known as Mammoth Pippin or Mammoth Pippin of Arkansas. Arkansas origin; distributed by Stark Bros. Nursery in 1891 (Bussey).

Very large in size, roundish conical, flattened on ends. Skin light greenish yellow with scattered small dark green dots. Stem short, stout, not exert of cavity. Flesh is of acid flavor. Used for market (Bussey).

BELLFLOWER

Also goes by the synonym of Yellow Bellflower. There is conflicting information in old references whether Yellow Bellflower is widely adapted to the South. The Southern Apple and Peach Culturist (1872) says it is well adapted to Tidewater Virginia (where it is a fall apple) as well as the Shenandoah Valley (where it is a good-keeping winter apple). On the other hand, an 1880 Richmond catalog says Yellow Bellflower is not adapted to the Richmond area but is "very profitable in the Valley and Western Virginia." A Delaware grower reported in 1856 that the fruit dropped prematurely. The USDA found it growing in all parts of Virginia in 1908, but "there is nothing to recommend it in any of these situations." In any case it was listed by forty-six southern nurseries over a hundred-year period, so many southerners must have liked and grown Yellow Bellflower. The fruit is excellent for pies and cider and outstanding for applesauce.

Coxe (1817) describes Yellow Bellflower and says the original tree grew in Burlington, New Jersey. This variety does not get very high marks fro Beach (1905), who describes the tree as susceptible to apple scab, not very productive, and often bearing a high percentage of undersize fruit. According to several old references, Yellow Bellflower requires a light, well-drained soil to do well, and the trees are often slow to begin bearing.

Fruit variable in size, small to large, sometimes very large, oblong conical, but often barrel-shaped and ribbed with prominent knobs at the calyx end, sides usually unequal; skin smooth, pale lemon yellow, often blushed with brownish red or pinkish red; dots conspicuous, whitish or russet, small at the basin end but larger and more irregular at the stem end; stem usually medium to long and slender in an acute, deep, furrowed, sometimes compressed or lipped, usually russeted cavity; calyx usually closed, basin small, abrupt, narrow, ridged; flesh whitish tinged pale yellow, firm, crisp, rather tender, juicy, aromatic, acid when first picked but becoming less acid later. Ripe September (Calhoun).

CELO

A good cooking and eating apple that originated in Celo, North Carolina, around where AIMS is located.

CHEESE

Originated in Lewisburgh, York County, Pennsylvania, raised by John Wickersham, Fishing Creek Valley; known before 1812 and named Cheese by Mrs. Hannah Kirk. This variety was often given the name York County Cheese or Cheese of Pennsylvania to distinguish it from the other cheese apples that existed back then. Fortunately, this delightful apple still exists today (Bussey).

Medium to large in size, roundish, somewhat oblate. Skin is very smooth, greenish yellow, striped and mottled with bright red profusely sprinkled with small grayish dots. Stem very short, set in a small round cavity, seldom reaching the base. Calyx small, open, set in a small round basin. Core small, closed; seeds small, brown. Flesh is white, fine textured, very tender, juicy, spicy, sprightly subacid. Very good to best quality. Medium to late in season (Bussey).

CROW'S EGG

Crow's Egg is a strangely shaped apple found in several places in the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina. It receives high praise for its eating qualities from those who still grow it (Calhoun).

EARLY STRIPED JUNE

Any striped apple ripening in June has always been a candidate to be called Striped June, and there are a host of different apples out there so called (Calhoun).

Fruit small, round, slightly conical; skin smooth, greenish, mottled and striped with bright to purplish red; dots few, rather large, whitish; stem almost long in a shallow, cracked, and russeted cavity; calyx closed; basin shallow, corrugated; flesh fine-grained, soft, not very juicy, greenish, browns quickly, tart. Ripe June (Calhoun).

FALLAWATER

Found everywhere in the mountains of West Virgina, Virginia, and North Carolina, often known by one of its many synonyms (Mountain Pippin, Green Mountain Pippin, Kelly, Fornwalder, Tulpehocken, Molly Whopper, Falder, Pound, Pim's Beauty of the West, Walldower, Waldour, Pharawalder, Fallenwalder, Brubacker, Winter Blush, Brubaker, Benjamite, Baltimore Pippin, Pfarver, Mountain Green). Beyond these states, Fallawater was grown in Pennsylvania, New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and even Kansas and Missouri. In the South it does best at elevations above 1,500 feet. Fruit grown in cooler areas ripens in late fall and is a good keeper. For these reasons, plus its resistance to bruising, Fallawater was once used for marketing and drying (Calhoun).

Fallawater trees tend to bear heavily on alternate years and become quite large when grafted on seedling rootstocks. A 1993 letter from Mrs. Vincent Shurtleff of Aikens, West Virginia, describes a "Waldour" tree of 12 feet 4 inches in circumference. If the Fallawater tree is well cared for, the fruit can be very large (Calhoun).

The exact origin of Fallawater and the meaning of its strange name are not known, but theories abound. We know for a fact that it is a Pennsylvania apple, from Bucks County, said to have grown up near Tulpehocken Creek before 1842. One theory concerning its name is quoted from Elliot (1858): "It grew up in the woods and was left standing after the other trees were cut down; hence the name Fallenwalder or apple of the cut-down or fallen woods." The Gardener's Monthly magazine, February 1870, has this to say: "The original name was Farawalder or Pharawalder, which signifies the Parish Minister; the tree having been found on the grounds of a German clergyman." A 1911 Pennsylvania agricultural experiment station bulletin says: "The tree was found growing on Tulpenhocken Creek. The first apple was picked up from the creek and called Fall-in-Water."

The tree is very vigorous, bears early, but is susceptible to cedar-apple rust. The fruit and leaves are large, meaning that Fallawater probably is a triploid with an extra set of chromosomes. Several old references say the tree is often attacked by root borers and tends to be short-lived, but there are many trees approaching a hundred years old scattered from North Carolina to West Virginia (Calhoun).

Fruit large, round, sometimes slightly oblate, usually symmetrical, uniform in size and shape; skin tough, usually dull or dirty green shaded with dull red or red stripes or bronze on the sunny side; dots conspicuous, whitish, often large, some areolar with russet centers; stem short in a deep, brown cavity, often furrowed; basin shallow to moderately deep, sometimes furrowed or wrinkled; flesh greenish white, tender, somewhat course, juicy, mild subacid. Ripe October at higher elevations, but September in warmer areas (Calhoun).

GALA

A cross of Kid's Orange Red x Golden Delicious developed at Greytown, Wairarapa, New Zealand; the cross was made by J. H. Kidd, selected in 1939, introduced in 1960 (U.S. Plant Patent 3637, October 15, 1974, assigned to Stark Bros. Nursery, Louisiana, Missouri).

Medium in size, 2.25" x 2.75" in diameter, oval, round in transverse outline, crowned to slightly crowned, uniform. Skin thin, glossy, pale yellow to golden yellow, heavily striped with red; does not bruise readily, completely free from blemish, no russet. Stem slender, very long, excellent for spray penetration. Cavity wide and deep. Flesh yellow, fine textured, firm, crisp, very juicy, very sweet; very good quality (Bussey).

GRANNY SMITH

Originated in Astralia; a chance seedling (thought to be from seeds of French Crab brought from Tasmania) that sprouted from seeds thrown out by Mrs. Thomas Smith, Eastwood, Ryde, Paramatta River, New South Wales; already fruiting in 1868.

Medium in size, roundish conic, ribbed at eye. Skin "grass" green to greenish yellow with some fine netted russet, sometimes with bright reddish blush and purple dots, often shiny surface as if from peened metal. Flesh greenish to yellowish white, hard, crisp, juicy, subacid to moderately sweet with citron-like flavor; god quality for eating and cooking. Late to very late in season; keeps well (180 days in cold storage) (Bussey).

GREY BELLFLOWER

GRIMES GOLDEN

Grimes Golden is one of the greatest American apples in its own right. It is one parent of Golden Delicious, which is grown all over the world. The best information we have is that the pioneer settler, Edward Cranford, planted apple seeds for an orchard about 1790 on his farm in what is now Brooks County, West Virginia. This information (from the son of Thomas P. Grimes) means that Grimes Golden could not have originated with Johnny Appleseed who visited the Wellsburg area briefly about 1796. In 1802 Edward Cranford sold his farm to Thomas P. Grimes, who found one of the seedling trees producing fruit of a golden color, fine quality, and good keeping ability. Mr. Grimes sold the fruit from this tree and other trees in his orchard to traders who took flatboats down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Thomas Grimes and a neighbor, James Lawhead, grafted from the single Grimes Golden tree, and eventually Mr. Grimes acquired an entire orchard of the delicious and beautiful golden apples (Calhoun).

Despite its excellence, for half a century Grimes Golden was little known outside of its local area. It was shown at the 1855 meeting of the Ohio Pomological Society by an Ohio nurseryman but failed to attract much public attention. It was not until it was highly praised in The American Agriculturist magazine in 1866 that Grimes Golden became widely popular (Calhoun).

In 1869 the son of Thomas Grimes wrote in The Horticulturist magazine: "From my earliest recollection this tree has never been known to fail of producing a good crop, expecting in 1834, when a partial failure was occasioned by a severe late frost in spring. Our belief is that it has not failed to produce fruit each year for the past three quarters of a century." The original tree bore fruit for over a hundred years, and there are photographs of the old tree taken in 1895. It finally blew down in 1905, carrying nearly ripe apples as it met its end. Gavels were made from the wood of the old tree and given to prominent men in the area (Calhoun).

The praise of Grimes Golden is universal in old pomological texts and catalogs. It is listed in virtually every southern nursery catalog from 1870 on. There are, however, some drawbacks to Grimes Golden. The tree is very susceptible to collar rot, a fungal disease that enters the trunk at ground level and eventually kills the tree. The tree overbears and the fruit needs thinning to be sizable. Also, Grimes Golden ripens in the early fall in warmer areas of the South, which greatly decreases its keeping ability. These faults aside, Grimes Golden is suitable for most southern locations. The fruit makes outstanding applesauce, and it is excellent for cider, which ferments to 9 percent alcohol. The tree tends to bloom late (which may account for reliability) and it is resistant to apple scab and cedar-apple rust (Calhoun).

Fruit medium or above, usually roundish or slightly oblong, often flattened on the ends, sides often unequal; skin yellow, tough, rather rough with russet patches; dots moderate in number, small or medium size, russet; stem short in a broad, deep, often russeted cavity; calyx closed or open; basin very abrupt, deep, sometimes furrowed; flesh yellow or slightly orange, firm, tender, crisp, juicy, aromatic, sprightly subacid. Ripe apples often have a faint anise or licorice flavor. Ripe September/October (Calhoun).

HONEYCOMB SWEET

JONATHAN

An important commercial apple in the United States, but Jonathan territory lies north and west of the Mason-Dixon line. The major commercial Jonathan-growing states are Michigan, Washington, Illinois, Ohio, Colorado, and Pennsylvania, but there are a few commercial orchards of Jonathan in Virginia. Today, Jonathan apples represent about 4 percent of the U.S. apple crop. In 1908, a USDA observer traveling in the South noted that Jonathan "occurs only rarely" in the region, and the best southern Jonathans were from orchards at the highest elevations (Calhoun).

Jonathan has a legion of admirers who put its sprightly, vinous flavor and tender, juicy texture against any other apple. It seldom reaches these heights in the warmer regions of the South where the tree is very susceptible to fire blight, bitter rot, powdery mildew, and cedar-apple rust. Wherever it is grown, Jonathan requires soils in good tilth and fertility to produce acceptable fruit and tends to be a biennial bearer. Its foliage has a gray hue (Calhoun).

Jonathan originated as a seedling of Esopus Spitzenberg on the farm of Philip Rick of Woodstock, New York, and was first described in 1826. It was named for Jonathan Hasbrouck, who first noticed its quality. The superior quality of Jonathan has been recognized worldwide and many countries, from Romania to the Netherlands to Japan, have used Jonathan in apple-breeding programs. Over ninety cultivars have been bred with Jonathan as a parent including Akane, Holly, Idared, King David, Mutsu, Fyan, and Jonagold (Calhoun).

Fruit medium, roundish conical; skin smooth, thing, tough, almost completely covered with red, often dark red in the sun; dots small and inconspicuous; stem slender, medium to long in a deep, wide cavity; calyx closed; basin deep and abrupt; flesh white, crisp, tender, juicy, sprightly, vinous, subacid. Ripe September/October (Calhoun).

JUNE O'QUINN

LEWIS GREEN

Lewis Green was mentioned briefly at the 1877 meeting of the American Pomological Society, and in 1904 it was said to have originated in Watauga County, North Carolina. It is still grown near Mars Hill in Madison County, North Carolina (Calhoun).

Fruit almost large, oblate; skin greenish yellow, sometimes with a blush; dots numerous, dark and russet; stem long in a rather narrow and deep cavity; calyx closed; basin wide and even; flesh greenish white, tender, juicy, subacid. Ripe August/September or later (Calhoun).

LIBERTY

A cross of Macoun x Purdue 54-12 released in 1978 by the New York Experiment Station: "Medium to large, bright, shiny, McIntosh-type fruit with 90% red blush. Crisp, juicy, light yellow flesh. Sprightly flavor. Good for eating fresh, cooking, canning, or desserts. Stores until February. Flavor intensifies in storage. Hardy, spreading, vigorous, heavily spurred, productive tree; annual bearer. Sets heavy fruit loads, resulting in small fruit; requires thinning. Resistant to scab, fire blight, mildew and cedar-apple rust. No spraying needed." Described as the most disease-resistant apple ever developed at the time. Ripens early October" (Bussey).

LIMBERTWIG

Limbertwig is a very large family of apples. Most kinds of Limbertwigs have drooping branches as was pointed out in this comment at the 1899 meeting of the Georgia Horticultural Society: "I will say if you were to advertise for Limbertwig apples you would get as many different apples as there are letters in the name; almost any farmer who has a small orchard has Limbertwigs. Any variety with pendant branches will fit the bill." As with most rules there are exceptions, and there are some Limbertwig varieties that do not have drooping branches (Calhoun).

The late, much lamented Henry Morton had his own idea of what holds together the Limbertwig family, and he did more than anyone else to save old Limbertwig varieties. Mr. Morton was a Baptist preacher and a part-time nurseryman living near Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This was important Limbertwig country at one time when there were commercial orchards around Gatlinburg and in the adjacent Smoky mountains. When the Great Smoky Mountain National Park was established in the 1920s and 1930s, many large and small orchards of Limbertwigs within the park were abandoned. It was in the scattered remnants of these orchards, and in other old mountain orchards, that Mr. Morton and others such as R.J. Howard tracked down the old Limbertwig varieties. Mr. Morton said "Limbertwigs vary in size, shape, color, quality and tree habit, but they all have one distinguishing characteristic and that is in their distinct Limbertwig flavor. No other apple that I have ever tasted has this particular flavor of Limbertwig. Once a person has tasted a Black Limbertwig or a Royal Limbertwig, one can then be able to determine if a variety is a Limbertwig."

If you search for the beginnings of the Limbertwig family, you search in vain. It is lost in the late 1700s when seedling orchards were common. Working backward from the present, one finds that all the different kinds of Limbertwigs have disappeared from southern nursery catalogs by 1860 and only one kind is listed--usually simply called Limbertwig, occasionally with the synonym James River...the old Limbertwig was widely grown in the South for its keeping qualities, usually keeping until March or April in root cellars, pits, or caves. Wherever southerners migrated, they refused to part with this apple (Calhoun).

The USDA reported in 1908 that Limbertwig was widely planted in the piedmont and mountains of the South. "In some localities, especially in North Carolina, it is the only variety grown in any considerable extent. It generally does well on clay loam soils of the piedmont region in North and South Carolina and northeast Georgia. It is considered a standard winter variety in these regions (Calhoun).

We grow two varieties of Limbertwig in the orchards at AIMS: Black Limbertwig and Royal Limbertwig.

Black Limbertwig: This apple was exhibited at the 1914 meeting of the Georgia Horticultural Society where the tree was described as being very resistant to fungus diseases. The apples were prized for cider and apple butter (Calhoun).

Fruit medium, roundish; skin mostly covered with bright red; dots scattered, whitish or russet; stem short to medium length in a wide, deep, russeted cavity; calyx closed; basin medium size, corrugated; flesh yellowish, juicy, crisp, subacid. Ripe September/October (Calhoun).

Royal Limbertwig: Royal Limbertwig was widely sold by southern nurseries. It seems to be better adapted to warmer areas of the South. As grown at the University of Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station in 1896, Royal Limbertwig was found to be of high quality and was recommended for orchards in Illinois. The apples make delicious and aromatic apple butter (Calhoun).

Fruit above medium to large, roundish, somewhat conical, often oblique; skin greenish yellow partly to mostly covered with light or dull red, sometimes with some indistinct red stripes; dots large, russet or white; stem short to medium in an acute, deep cavity with grayish or greenish russet; calyx open or closed; basin broad, often shallow, irregular; flesh yellowish, rather fine-grained, juicy, tender, mild subacid. Ripe early October (Calhoun).

LODI

A 1911 cross of Montgomery x Yellow Transparent raised by Richard Wellington at the Geneva, New York Agricultural Experiment Station...introduced in 1924. Lodi was named for the village of Lodi, Seneca County, New York. Medium to large in size, roundish conic, symmetric. Skin thin, tender, greenish white with occasional slight orange blush; dots are few, large, white, obscure; surface bruise marks are very conspicuous. Cavity is obtuse, shallow, medium in width, symmetrical, about half of the fruits are slightly russeted. Stem is long and thick. Basin is shallow, narrow, obtuse and furrowed. Flesh nearly white with slight greenish tinge, soft, coarse, tender, juicy, subacid, aromatic; good quality for kitchen use; does not grow mealy and soften at the center as quickly as Yellow Transparent but has tendency for skin to split open when overripe (Bussey).

Season is early August. Tree is very tender to cold early in the fall but becomes very hardy in early spring; somewhat to very susceptible to fire blight; tends to be a biennial bearer (Bussey).

MCINTOSH

For the past sixty years or so, this has been the most important commercial apple grown in New England, southern Canada, and parts of New York. McIntosh makes up about 6 percent of America's commercial apple production. It thrives in the northern climate where the apples can be kept for six months in ordinary cold storage. Southern grown, except at high elevations, it is a disappointment and was sold by few southern nurseries. In warmer climates McIntosh is softer, poorer in color, and often drops from the tree before maturity. The tree is very susceptible to scab (Calhoun).

In 1796 nineteen-year-old John McIntosh had a disagreement with his parents over a love affair and emigrated from New York state to Dundas County, Ontario, Canada. He exchanged his Canadian farm in 1811 for a nearby farm owned by his brother-in-law. Finding some seedling apple trees on overgrown land, Mr. McIntosh moved them near his house. By 1820 one of these was bearing excellent apples, and Mr. McIntosh sold seedlings of this tree to other settlers. Someone taught Mr. McIntosh how to graft about 1835, and he then began selling grafted trees of this favorite apple, locally known as McIntosh Red. John McIntosh's son, Allan, continued to sell apple trees after his father's death, but it was not until 1900 or so that McIntosh became popular in the norther United States. The original tree near the McIntosh house was badly damaged when the house burned in 1894 and it finally broke off in 1910 (Calhoun).

McIntosh has been used frequently in apple breeding, and some of its offspring may be better adapted to southern growing conditions. Cortland, Empire, and Jerseymac have been recommended for growing in Zone 7, which covers most of the southern piedmont (Calhoun).

Fruit above medium, uniform in shape, roundish to somewhat oblate; skin thin, smooth, whitish yellow or greenish, deeply blushed with red with some darker stripes, the red is obliterated where a leaf has shaded the skin; stem short and stout in a large, acute, wide, broadly furrowed cavity; often partly russeted; basin rather small, narrow, abrupt; flesh white, sometimes veined with red, firm, crisp, very juicy, aromatic, sprightly subacid. Ripe September (Calhoun).

NEWTOWN PIPPIN

The original Newtown Pippin tree stood on the farm of the Moore family near Newtown Village, Long Island, New York. It is family tradition that this tree was brought from England and planted about 1666 by the first member of the Moore family in America, but whether as a seed or graft or scion or young tree is unknown. The original tree stood until 1805. Thomas Sorsby's nursery in Surry County, Virginia, advertised Newtown Pippin trees for sale in 1761 (Calhoun).

Some Newtown Pippin apples were sent to Benjamin Franklin while he was in London in 1759. The quality of these apples so astonished the British that a demand for their import quickly developed. Considerable numbers of Newtown Pippins were being exported to England by the 1770s, most of them from orchards in New York and Pennsylvania. By 1800 southern-grown Yellow Newtown Pippins, known as Albemarle Pippins, became important in the export trade (Calhoun).

The United States ambassador to England in 1837 was Andrew Stevenson from Albemarle County, Virginia. He presented Queen Victoria with several barrels of Albemarle Pippins, which so delighted the queen that she removed from this single variety a small crown import tax. The British willingly paid premium prices for these American apples. Souther orchardists were getting up to seven dollars a barrel for Albemarle Pippins in 1851, which sold for a phenomenal twenty dollars per barrel in London. This was over three times the selling price of other apples at that time. In 1898 Albemarle Pippins sold for thirty-six cents a pound in England. Overseas demand for Albemarle Pippins made it one of the leading commercial apples in the South throughout the nineteenth century, along with Winesap, Ben Davis, an dYork Imperial. The British tried to grow their own Newton Pippins but failed for lack of proper climate and soils (Calhoun).

Virginians long considered Albemarle Pippin a Virginia apple and thought it originated as a seedling near North Garden, Virginia. In 1857, Franklin Davis, the prominent Virginia pomologist and nurseryman, proved Albemarle Pippin to be identical to Yellow Newtown Pippin. Subsequent investigations established a historical connection between Albemarle Pippin and Newtown Pippin as follows: In 1755, Dr. Thomas Walker of Castle Hill, Albemarle County, Virginia, accompanied Virginia troops serving with British General Braddock's army during the French and Indian War. General Braddock suffered a disastrous defeat in his attack on Fort Duquesne, and the remnants of his army retreated back to Philadelphia. Dr. Walker then left the army and returned to Virginia, bringing some apple scions with him in his saddlebags. The land on which the supposed original Albemarle Pippin tree grew, near North Garden, Virginia, belonged to Dr. Walker's stepdaughter, Mildred Meriwether. It is most probable that this original Albemarle Pippin tree was, in fact, a graft using a scion of Yellow Newtown Pippin brought home by Dr Walker from Pennsylvania (Calhoun).

More so than any other apple, the quality of Newtown Pippin fruit is influenced by the soil. It has been grown successfully in only a few areas, notably in the lower Hudson River Valley; the upper piedmont and mountains of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia; and portions of California, Oregon, and Washington. In the South, certain soils were known to favor the growth of Albemarle Pippin apples. Chief among these soils was Porter's Black Loam, a soil found in limited areas of the South and that came to be known as "pippin soil." Other soils can also grow the Albemarle Pippin if they are of high fertility and of a loose, friable texture. Excellent soil and air drainage have always been recognized as necessary to grow top-quality Albemarle Pippins. In the South, except in those few favored areas, Albemarle Pippin fruit is smaller, of lower quality, more subject to disease, and may drop prematurely (Calhoun).

Albemarle Pippin steadily decreased in commercial importance in the South after 1900. It has some real drawbacks to commercial production. Trees on seedling rootstock seldom bear crops for ten or twelve years or even longer, and the trees are often biennial bearers. The variety is susceptible to fire blight and bitter rot and requires good cultural practices to grow well. Today the main commercial area for this variety is northern California where four million bushels were produced in 1990 about 2 percent of American apple production. The eating quality of Newtown Pippin improves with storage (Calhoun).

NORTHERN SPY

Mountain grown or northern grown, the Northern Spy is truly a great apple. Grown in warmer areas it lacks crispness and flavor and often rots on the tree. Northern Spy has many admirable qualities. Very important to those who live in a frosty location in the mountains is the fact that it is a late bloomer, often two weeks later than most others. The fruit is a good keeper, even in ordinary cellar storage, and is excellent for cooking (but too juicy for drying). The roots of the tree are quite resistant to the woolly apple aphid and, for this reason, Northern Spy has been used in breeding several important dwarfing apple rootstocks (Calhoun).

On the negative side, Northern Spy is notorious for being tardy in coming into bearing, often taking ten years or longer when grafted on seedling rootstock. Best fruit color and flavor develop only when the dense foliage of the tree is carefully pruned to let sunlight into the interior of the tree. Finally, Northern Spy trees are very susceptible to apple scab and fire blight, and the fruit bruises easily (Calhoun).

Northern Spy originated from seeds planted about 1800 in East Bloomfield, New York, in the same seedling orchard of Heman Chapin that produced the Early Joe and Melon apples. Root sprouts of the original tree were dug up and replanted by Chapin's brother-in-law, Humphrey Roswell, which turned out to be a fortuitous action because the original tree was killed by mice or rabbits before bearing. The value of this variety became apparent about 1840, and within a few years it was being sold by nurseries all over the United States (Calhoun).

The unusual name of this apple has caused speculation over the years. A letter to a gardening magazine in 1853 from Rochester, New York, had this to say: "To the Editor: In reply to Mrs. B. who inquired about the naming of the Northern Spy apple, everybody here knows it was named for the hero of the notorious dime novel The Northern Spy, but no one will come out and admit it (Calhoun).

According to the late Conrad Gemmer, an apple hunter and collector in Pennsylvania, "The Northern Spy was written anonymously, published sub-rosa, and circulated among radical hard-core abolitionists circa 1830." The hero of the novel set up safe houses and helped runaway slaves escape to Canada (Calhoun).

Fruit large, roundish, sometimes oblong, flattened at the stem end, conical, often ribbed; skin thin, smooth, mostly greenish or yellowish in the shade but fruit exposed to the sun is nearly covered with light and dark red stripes, often overspread with a thin white bloom; stem medium to long in a very wide, acute, deep, usually russeted cavity; calyx closed; basin narrow, abrupt, usually furrowed; flesh yellowish, rather fine-grained, tender, juicy, crisp, aromatic, spicy subacid. Ripe October and an excellent keeper (Calhoun).

RED GOLD

ROSE BANANA

SMOKEHOUSE

If you like a dense, chewy, tasty apple, Smokehouse is for you. A bonus to southerners is the fact that Smokehouse is adapted to much of the South and grows well on clay soils in the piedmont as well as on more porous soils in the mountains. Smokehouse is an excellent cooking apple, too, and can be used for baking from July until it is fully ripe. The tree has a crooked growth habit, tends to be a biennial bearer, and is susceptible to cedar-apple rust and fire blight. The fruit closely resembles and often is confused with Vandevere (Calhoun).

The original tree grew up beside the smokehouse on the farm of William Gibbons near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and was brought to public notice about 1836. In Pennsylvania it ripens late enough to be kept until late winter, but souther-grown Smokehouse apples ripen much earlier and require refrigeration to keep for any length of time (Calhoun).

Fruit above medium, oblate; skin greenish yellow shaded and striped with red; dots few, large, gray and russet; stem almost short in an acute, narrow to wide cavity; calyx closed; basin wide, rather shallow, slightly corrugated; flesh yellowish, firm, crisp, juicy, aromatic, subacid. Ripe August/September (Calhoun).

SOPS OF WINE

An old English apple variety that does quite well in the South, where it was grown mostly under the names Hominy or Homony. Sops of Wine was said to be an excellent summer market apple as grown in Illinois in 1871, but the USDA described Sops of Wine in 1908 as inferior to several other early apples. The tree is productive and an annual bearer (Calhoun).

Fruit medium or larger, roundish conical; skin mostly covered with dark red, sometimes obscurely striped, sometimes with a thin white bloom; dots few, small, light or russet; stem short and slender in an acute, narrow, usually russeted cavity; calyx closed; basin shallow and furrowed; flesh yellowish, stained pink, tender, not very juicy, aromatic, mild subacid. Ripe late June/July (Calhoun).

SUMMER RAMBO

An old French apple very popular in Maryland and Virginia and states further north and west until World War I. It reportedly originated in the early 1600s in the French village of Rembures in Picardy and was being grown in England in 1665. It has probably been in this country since colonial times. The apples can be picked while still green, beginning in early to mid-July, for frying, pies, and outstanding applesauce.

The tree of Summer Rambo is vigorous and healthy (although susceptible to fire blight), often attaining a large size when grown on seedling root-stock. It is a dependable, annual bearer of lovely fruit.

Fruit above medium to sometimes large, roundish oblate to oblate, ribbed, sides often unequal; skin thick, sooth, washed and mottled with pinkish red and striped with carmine, particularly on the sunny side; dots numerous, usually small and submerged, but some large, brown or russet; stem short to medium length, rather thick, in a broad, rather deep, sometimes lipped, russeted cavity; basin usually deep, abrupt, smooth; flesh greenish yellow, tender, breaking, somewhat coarse, very juicy, mild subacid. Ripe August/September (Calhoun).

TART YELLOW

SPI GOLD

A 1943 cross of Red Spy x Golden Delicious from Dr. John Einset and Leo Klein of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Geneva, New York...introduced in 1962. This variety was selected largely as it has had a triploid chromosome number, which is considered desirable for commercial production. Very large in size, roundish, ribbed, somewhat irregular in shape and tend to be five-sided. Specific gravity of this fruit is high: 5 lbs./bushel (The average weight of a bushel of apples is about 40-44 lbs. Spigold is said to average nearly 55 which denotes an apple of much higher density). Skin thin, tender, sooth, dull, susceptible to limb-rub blemishes, 70% of skin is distinctively striped, attractive, similar to that of Norther Spy; dots few, small, russet color or green, obscure. Flesh yellowish cream, semi-firm, medium textured, crisp, very juicy, sub-acid, aromatic, sprightly; superb eating quality and also good for processing; stores well (Bussey).

SUGAR SWEET

Russia; imported in 1870 by the USDA: "Tree with the best foliage and an upright grower." A sweet summer apple, much prized for home use (Bussey).

VIRGINIA BEAUTY

Virginia Beauty is now a rare variety. Its mild flavor and glossy, dark red color make it a fine eating apple, and it keeps well enough to be successfully marketed in the late fall and early winter (Calhoun).

Virginia Beauty is adapted to much of the South. A 1908 North Carolina agricultural bulletin recommends it for growing in the mountains, piedmont, and coastal plains. Also in 1908, a USDA observer noted Virginia Beauty growing well on clay soils in the piedmont. The tree is moderately productive and stocky with limbs that grow at wide angles from the trunk, a very desirable growth trait. It seems to be resistant to fire blight (Calhoun).

Virginia Beauty is a good example of an apple grown for many years in a local area before its qualities became widely recognized and larger nurseries began selling it. The original tree grew from a seed planted about 1810 in Zach Safewright's yard in the Piper's Gap District of Carroll County, Virginia. This original tree began bearing apples about 1820. A man named Martin Stoneman, who did grafting for local people, took scions from the tree and grafted it throughout Carroll, Grayson, Wythe, and Pulaski counties. It was first called Zach or Zach's Red, but about 1850 it became known as Virginia Beauty. It was not until 1869 that a major nursery, the Franklin Davis Nursery of Richmond, began selling Virginia Beauty ad extolling its many good qualities. The original tree stood until 1914 (Calhoun).

The following tribute to this wonderful apple was written to the USDA in 1914 by F.H. LaBaume, a Virginia farmer and and fruit grower: "The Virginia Beauty seems the very acme of deliciousness among eating apples. Others, as rich in flavor, do not have its sprightly juiciness. No other apple that I know combines in the same degree its rich, red beauty and delicious eating quality. It has a distinctive flavor all of its own that clings to the palate and lingers in the memory for a lifetime."

Fruit medium to large, variable in shape, but usually roundish conical, often lopsided; skin smooth, entirely covered with purplish or bronzish red, rarely showing dim, darker red stripes; dots numerous, variable in size, light-colored and russet, some indented; stem short to medium and rather thick in a greenish tan, russeted cavity with the russet spilling out over the top of the apple, calyx closed or partly open; basin shallow, slightly furrowed and lumpy; fresh pale yellow, fine grained, tender, juicy, mild subacid to almost sweet. Ripe September/October (Calhoun).

VIRGINIA GOLD

Developed around 1976 by George Oberle at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia. It is a cross of Newtown Pippin and Golden Delicious, with a flavor characteristic of Newtown Pippin. It reaches its peak flavor after storage for several months. The smooth, clear skin is bright yellow with an attractive pink blush. The clean, white flesh is crisp and juicy with a pleasant, distinctive flavor. An outstanding dessert apple, but also well-suited for culinary uses. Ripens in early October and is a fine keeper (Big Horse Creek Farm).

WINTER BANANA

Winter Banana is a fine eating apple, aromatic, and mild-flavored, with some people discerning a banana perfume. It is generally considered too mild in flavor to be useful for cooking. The tree blooms late, alternates large and small crops, and often bears fruit the second or third year after planting. The fruit bruises easily, and the tree is susceptible to fire blight and cedar-apple rust (Calhoun).

Winter Banana originated about 1876 on the farm of David Flory, Cass County, Indiana, and was introduced in 1890 (Calhoun).

Fruit usually above medium to large but not uniform in size or shape roundish to oblong but sometimes oblate, conical, often ribbed and oblique, often with a suture line; skin smooth, tough, waxy, bright pale yellow, usually with a blush that is sometimes dark pinkish red on well-colored apples; dots numerous, whitish or with russet points; cavity rather large, acute, broad, furrowed; basin often oblique, usually narrow, furrowed; flesh whitish, crisp, tender, juicy, aromatic, fine-grained, subacid. Ripe September (Calhoun).

WOLF RIVER

The fruit of Wolf River is very large, often enormous. It was (and still is to some extent) very popular in western North Carolina and Virginia, where old trees can still be found. The fresh eating quality of Wolf River is only fair at best, but it is a good cooking and drying apple. It is prized for making apple butter, and the flesh cooks to a smooth applesauce (Calhoun).

Wolf River originated with William A. Springer, a Quebec lumberman. About 1856 Mr. Springer moved his family by wagon from Canada to Wisconsin. On the way, on the shore of Lake Erie, he bought a bushel of large apples, probably Alexander. Mr. Springer saved some seeds and planted them when he reached his new farm, which was located on a little stream called Wolf River near Fremont, Wisconsin. The Wolf River apple originated from one of these seeds. Mr. Springer is reported to have sold the tree (and probably his farm) to a man named Henry Riflen before it fruited. Wolf River resembles Alexander but is usually larger and flatter. The tree is a vigorous grower, does not bear early, and is productive biennially or almost annually. As grown in much of the South, it is an early autumn apple and does not keep well. If allowed to get overripe on the tree, the fruit becomes mealy and tends to rot quickly. Wolf River is susceptible to fire blight but resistant to scab and mildew (Calhoun).

Fruit large to very large, roundish oblate to oblate, flattened on the ends, often irregular, angular, ribbed; skin mostly covered with bright red with splashes and broad stripes of carmine, often with a thin whitish bloom; dots large, whitish and russet; stem usually very short and rather thick in a deep acute, medium-width, russeted cavity; calyx open; basin medium to deep, narrow, abrupt, wavy; flesh whitish, coarse-grained, soft, tender, moderately juicy, subacid. Ripe September (Calhoun).

YELLOW HORSE

Also known just as "Horse." The Horse apple was certainly the most popular apple grown for home use in the South before 1930. Warder (1867) describes it is as "another southern favorite, especially as a useful family apple."

In flavor, Horse Apples may not please those people seduced by the sweetness of almost all modern apples. Horse Apples are decidedly tart until fully ripe, at which point their tartness is subdued and the fruit develops a flavor unlike any other apple. Many old catalogs extol its suitability for cooking, drying, cider, and vinegar, and these uses undoubtedly contributed to its popularity in the rural South. The tree is also renowned for health and productivity. It usually has immense crops of large apples that ripen in the heat of summer, making the fruit particularly suitable for drying. Horse seems to do well all over the South, even in the warmer areas. The tree blooms late, grows rapidly, and bears early (Calhoun).

Horse is a very old variety, and its origin is not known with certainty. Its origin was attributed to Nash County, North Carolina, by a USDA report written in 1869, but this is suspect as it was a very old apple even then. "Horse Apples" were listed in a November 4, 1763, advertisement in the Virginia Gazette newspaper published in Williamsburg, Virginia. A note in the USDA files, written in 1902 by W. H. Ragan, says the Horse Apple was introduced into Indiana from Tennessee about 1830. Mammoth Horse, Trippe's Horse, and Improved Horse are listed in one or two southern nursery catalogs and may be seedlings of Horse (Calhoun).

Fruit medium to almost large, roundish, often lopsided and oblique, ribbed; skin thick, green becoming yellow when ripe, sometimes with a slight reddish tinge or blush on the sunny side, with irregular russet blotches or freckles all over the apple; dots small, uneven, greenish, often areole; stem short to almost medium, in a deep, acute, russeted cavity; calyx closed; basin medium size, corrugated; flesh yellow, firm, rather juicy, briskly subacid until fully ripe. Ripe late July/August (Calhoun).

YELLOW SWEET

YORK

Commonly known by one of its synonyms, York Imperial. If you use store-bought apple sauce, canned apple slices, or cider vinegar, the chances are good that they have been made from York Imperial apples grown in Virginia or Pennsylvania. York Imperial has been an important commercial processing apple in Virginia, as well as in Pennsylvania, for many years. While considered mainly a processing apple, York Imperial apples can sometimes be found in supermarkets in the winter and are excellent eating apples. These fresh apples are mostly one of several redder sports or mutations developed from the original York Imperial. About five million bushels of York are grown in this country each year, 2 percent of American commercial apple production (Calhoun).

Until 1930 York Imperial was grown mostly for export to England, but import restrictions were imposed by Great Britain and huge quantities of these apples could not be sold. Seeing this, the apple-processing industry opened factories in Pennsylvania and Virginia to utilize surplus apples. The demand has now increased to the point that new orchards are being planted to provide apples for processing. York Imperial is particularly good for processing as it makes a desirable yellow sauce, the slices keep their shape when canned, and the core is small, thus yielding more usable flesh per apple (Calhoun).

York Imperial originated as a chance seedling that grew up by a turnpike near York, Pennsylvania, on the farm of a Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson was an invalid and spent time at his window watching people on the road. He noticed that school-boys would stop at the seedling tree in early spring to gather apples under the leaves on the ground. Fascinated with this keeping ability, Mr. Johnson notified a local nurseryman named Jonathan Jessup, ,who began grafting and selling trees about 1820 under the name of Johnson's Fine Winter. There were few buyers for this new fruit the first year, so Mr. Jessup discarded surplus trees near a road on his place. Farmers scavenged up the discarded trees and soon realized the many good qualities of this apple. About 1850 Johnson's Fine Winter was brought to the attention of the famous pomologist Charles Downing, who pronounced it "the Imperial of Keepers" and suggested it be named York Imperial. In 1871 the American Pomological Society publicized the merits of York Imperial, and it began being sold by many nurseries, becoming the leading variety in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia by 1895. It was grown as a high-quality, good-keeping apple to compete with Ben Davis, then flooding eastern markets from the Midwest and Arkansas (Calhoun).

York Imperial is easily recognized by its shape. The apples are usually noticeable oblate and oblique or lopsided, but apples of different shapes are found on the same tree. The tree is quite susceptible to cedar-apple rust, fire blight, and cork-spot. Serious rotting and premature dropping of York Imperial apples occur in the South below elevations of about 1,000 feet. The tree often is a biennial bearer unless the fruit is thinned each year (Calhoun).

Fruit medium to large, usually oblate and oblique, but maybe oval or oblong and flattened on the ends; skin heavily splashed and striped with two shades of brownish red, sometimes with russet patches; dots few, gray, often areolar; stem short in a deep, wavy, narrow, russeted cavity; calyx nearly closed; basin wide, shallow, furrowed, abrupt; flesh yellow, firm, juicy, slightly coarse, crisp, sprightly subacid. Ripe September/October (Calhoun).