Fall Orange
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Fall Orange
Origin / History
Thomas described Fall Orange in 1848 as a new or newly introduced variety of unknown origin. Downing gave its origin as Holden, Mass., in 1857. Budd and Hansen and Hedrick repeat Holden, and Thomas gives Massachusetts. Hedrick gives the date as previous to 1848.
Beach says that since its introduction it had been sparingly disseminated in various parts of New York. It was still listed by some nurserymen but was by then seldom planted in that state. Hedrick writes that "its culture seems to be confined to New England and New York," and that "several rivals in season surpass it."
Lowther's station table reports it from 4 stations in the Northern Division, 6 in the Central Division, and 2 in the Southern Division. The asterisk on each figure marks the variety as reported in more than one division. It was planted in spring 1893 for trial at the Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz, British Columbia.
Tree
A very strong, erect grower (Downing), thrifty, vigorous, hardy, and long-lived; Thomas calls it very hardy, and Hedrick adds healthy. Young shoots smooth, dark brownish red (Downing); Thomas calls them very stout and dark colored. An early bearer (Budd and Hansen), bearing while very young (Thomas). Downing calls it a good bearer and the Agassiz farm a free bearer. Beach finds it a regular biennial cropper, often yielding pretty heavy crops. With heavy crops there is apt to be a comparatively large percentage of fruit that is undersized or otherwise unmarketable.
Fruit
Size: Large, or above medium to large; Budd and Hansen alone call it medium. Of good size when well grown (Beach). Fairly uniform in size but not in shape.
Form: Roundish to round, varying to roundish conic, roundish-ovate, or oval. The Agassiz farm calls it oblong, conical. Beach calls it irregular; Budd and Hansen call it regular.
Stem: Short to medium, half an inch long (Thomas), slender (Beach).
Cavity: Deep, acute to acuminate. Very narrow to medium in width, most authors calling it narrow; Beach alone gives medium width. Regular or slightly compressed. Very slightly surrounded by russet (Downing), or often russeted with outspreading, radiating russet rays.
Calyx: Medium to large; partially closed, half open, or open, sometimes nearly closed. Segments divergent (Budd and Hansen). Beach describes the calyx tube as rather large, usually long, and conical to funnel-form, with a fleshy pistil point projecting into the base. The lower part of the funnel cylinder is sometimes enlarged; Budd and Hansen also call the tube funnel-shaped. Stamens median or below.
Basin: Narrow to moderately wide, moderately deep to deep, abrupt. Beach describes it as uneven, one side projecting higher than the other, and furrowed. Against this, Thomas calls it even-rimmed and slightly plaited, and Budd and Hansen call it smooth and small.
Skin: Pale yellow or greenish, light greenish yellow becoming pale yellow (Thomas). Budd and Hansen describe a rich yellow with some thin russet net-veinings and patches. A cheek or blush appears sometimes or rarely. It is variously described as dull red (Downing), brown or brownish (Thomas, Beach), or a faint bronze (Budd and Hansen); Beach also notes an occasional shade of red. Fruit fair (Downing), "always fair" (Thomas).
Dots: Numerous, distinct, large and small, russet or brownish, sometimes reddish, areolar.
Flesh and flavor: Flesh white, moderately fine, crisp, rather tender to tender, and juicy. Flavor subacid, "agreeable subacid" and aromatic (Beach); the Agassiz farm calls it "sprightly, almost acid, but pleasant." Most sources rate it good; Beach rates it "very good."
Core and seeds: Core medium to rather small, axile (Beach); closed (Budd and Hansen). Cells symmetrical (Beach); round, slit (Budd and Hansen). Core lines meeting when the tube is short, clasping when it is long. Carpels elliptical to nearly cordate. Seeds not numerous, rather dark brown, medium to below in size, plump, obtuse.
Season
The recorded season runs from September into early winter, with a portion of the fruit sometimes kept till spring. Most authors give an autumn season, September or October through October or November; the Agassiz farm gives September alone. Beach gives late September to early winter. Thomas finds it "best when fresh from the tree."
Uses
Good for cooking (Downing), very good in quality for culinary use (Beach). Downing finds it "too acid for a dessert," and Hedrick "scarcely good enough for dessert." Beach says that when fully ripe, so that its acidity is subdued, it is an excellent dessert apple.
Lowther calls it suited for both kitchen and market. Beach writes that it is not generally regarded as a good commercial variety, because its color is yellow and the fruit is rather tender and a poor shipper. Heavy crops also run to undersized or unmarketable fruit. Hedrick says it is so readily bruised in handling that it is not suitable for market.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Beach says Fall Orange resembles Autumn Swaar considerably in general appearance, and refers the reader to his description of Autumn Swaar for a comparison of the two. Lowther's table codes the color "yf."
[NOTE: Source text may be incorrect — Downing's volume carries a separate entry, "Speckled" (also called Westbrook), which may describe a different variety; Beach's references list both names in connection with Fall Orange, citing Downing's 1872 index.] Downing describes Speckled as follows. Origin uncertain. Tree a rapid grower and annual bearer. Fruit large, roundish oblong, yellowish white, red in the sun, with small russet dots. Flesh white, tender, subacid. Good. October, January.
Book Sources
Described in 6 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 3 catalogs (1900–1904) from Illinois
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904
View original book sources (7)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Fall Orange.
Orange. Holden. Hogpen. White Graft of Virginia. Holden Pippin. Jones' Pippin. Red Cheek. Long Island.
Origin, Holden, Mass. A very strong, erect grower, good bearer, and hardy. Young shoots smooth, dark brownish red.
Fruit fair, large, roundish, pale yellow, sometimes with a dull red cheek and sprinkled with brownish dots. Stalk short, inserted in a deep, narrow cavity, very slightly surrounded by russet. Calyx large, partially closed, basin rather deep, narrow. Flesh white, tender, juicy, subacid. Too acid for a dessert, good for cooking. October, November.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Speckled", pp. 382–382]
Speckled.
Westbrook.
Origin uncertain. Tree a rapid grower and annual bearer.
Fruit large, roundish oblong, yellowish white, red in the sun, small russet dots. Flesh white, tender, subacid. Good. October, January.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Fall Orange.* (Holden Pippin.) Large, roundish-ovate, or oval; light greenish yellow, becoming pale yellow, rarely a brown cheek; stalk half an inch long, cavity narrow; basin even-rimmed, slightly plaited; sub-acid, tender, good, best when fresh from the tree. Shoots very stout, dark colored. Tree very hardy, bears while very young, fruit always fair. Massachusetts.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)FALL ORANGE.
REFERENCES. 1. Thomas, Cultivator, 5:246. 1848. 2. Ib., 1849:155. 3. Elliott, 1854:149. 4. Gregg, 1857:42. 5. Downing, 1857:143. 6. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1862. 7. Warder, 1867:718. 8. Downing, 1869:168. 9. Ib., 1872:10 index, app. 10. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:239. 11. Burrill and McCluer, Ill. Sta. Bul., 45:321. 1896. 12. Budd-Hansen, 1903:80. fig.
SYNONYMS. FALL ORANGE (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12). Fall Orange (3). Hogpen (8). Holden (5, 8). Holden Pippin (8). Hoypen (5). Jones' Pippin (5, 8). Long Island (8). Long Island Graft (9). N. Y. Bell-flower (9). ORANGE (3). Orange (8). Red Check (8). Speckled (9). Westbrook (9). White Graft of Wis. (8). White Newell (9).
When well grown Fall Orange is of good size, yellow or greenish, with occasionally a shade of red, agreeable subacid, and very good in quality for culinary use. When it becomes fully ripe so that its acidity is subdued it is an excellent dessert apple. The tree is thrifty, hardy, long-lived and a regular biennial cropper, often yielding pretty heavy crops. It is not generally regarded as a good commercial variety because its color is yellow, the fruit is rather tender and a poor shipper, and with heavy crops there is apt to be a comparatively large percentage of fruit that is undersized or otherwise unmarketable. It is in season from late September to early winter; sometimes a portion of the fruit is kept till spring.
It resembles Autumn Swaar considerably in general appearance; for a comparison of the two varieties the reader is referred to the description of Autumn Swaar, pages 11, 12.
Historical. Fall Orange was described by Thomas in 1848 as a new or newly-introduced variety of unknown origin (1). In 1857 Downing gave its origin as Holden, Mass. (5). Since its introduction it has been sparingly disseminated in various parts of the state. Although it is still listed by some nurserymen (10) it is now seldom planted in New York.
FRUIT. Fruit above medium to large; fairly uniform in size but not in shape. Form roundish conic, irregular. Stem medium to rather short, slender. Cavity acute to acuminate, deep, medium in width, regular or slightly compressed, often russeted and with outspreading russet rays. Calyx medium to large, open or sometimes nearly closed. Basin uneven, one side projecting higher than the other, moderately deep to deep, narrow to moderately wide, abrupt, furrowed. Skin pale yellow or greenish, sometimes with brownish blush. Dots numerous, large and small, russet or sometimes reddish, areolar. Calyx tube rather large, usually long, conical to funnel-form with fleshy pistil point projecting into the base; the lower part of the funnel cylinder is sometimes enlarged. Stamens median or below. Core medium to rather small, axile; cells symmetrical; core lines meeting when the tube is short, clasping when it is long. Carpels elliptical to nearly cordate. Seeds not numerous, rather dark brown, medium to below, plump, obtuse. Flesh white, moderately fine, crisp, rather tender, juicy, subacid, aromatic, very good. Season late September to early winter.
— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)Fall Orange. — Origin, Holden, Massachusetts; tree a strong grower and early bearer.
Fruit medium, roundish, regular; surface a rich yellow with some thin russet net-veinings and patches, sometimes a faint bronze blush; dots distinct, numerous, russet; cavity regular, very narrow, acute, with radiating russet; stem short; basin narrow, abrupt, smooth, small; calyx half open; segments divergent. Core closed; cells round, slit; tube funnel-shaped; stamens median; seeds plump; flesh white, tender, juicy, subacid, good. September, October.
— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)Fall Orange is large in size, round in form, and color yf. Its quality is good, and it is suited for both kitchen and market use. It ripens in early autumn. It is reported by 4 stations in the Northern Division, 6 stations in the Central Division, and 2 stations in the Southern Division; the asterisk on each figure indicates the variety is reported in more than one division.
— U.P. Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)FALL ORANGE. New York Bellflower. The fruits of Fall Orange are scarcely good enough for dessert and are so readily bruised in handling that they are not suitable for market. Several rivals in season surpass it. The origin of the variety is given as Holden, Massachusetts, and the date as previous to 1848. Its culture seems to be confined to New England and New York.
Tree vigorous, hardy, healthy, long-lived, productive biennially. Fruit large, uniform in size but not in shape, round-conic, irregular; stem short, slender; cavity acute, deep, regular or compressed, often russeted and with outspreading russet rays; calyx large, open or closed; basin uneven, one side projecting higher than the other, deep, wide, abrupt, furrowed; skin pale yellow sometimes with brownish blush; dots numerous, large and small, russet or red, areolar; calyx-tube large, long, conical with fleshy point projecting into the base, the lower part of the funnel cylinder sometimes enlarged; stamens median; core small, axile; cells symmetrical; core-lines meeting when the tube is short, clasping when it is long; carpels elliptical to cordate; seeds not numerous, dark brown, plump, obtuse; flesh white, fine, crisp, tender, juicy, subacid, aromatic; very good; late September to early winter.
— Central Experimental Farm, Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz BC — Catalogue of Fruit Trees under Test (Bulletin No. 3, 1900) (1900)Planted Spring 1893. Tree a strong grower and a free bearer. Fruit above medium size, oblong, conical. Skin yellow. Flesh white, tender, juicy, sprightly, almost acid, but pleasant, quality good. Season September.