Fall Pippin
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Origin and History
The origin of the Fall Pippin is unknown. Downing held the opinion that it is "decidedly an American variety," very probably a seedling raised in this country from the White Spanish Reinette or the Holland Pippin, both of which it closely resembles, differing from them most strongly in its season of maturity. Warder likewise considered it a "noble and delicious American apple," lamenting the longstanding confusion with "the inferior foreign kitchen variety: the Holland Pippin" — a confounding that dated back to Coxe's time (1817). Beach, writing in 1905, could not determine how long the variety had been in cultivation, but noted that in some New York orchards trees of it were found that were more than one hundred years old. It had been widely disseminated from the Atlantic to the Pacific across most of the important apple-growing regions of the continent and was still listed by many nurserymen, though by Beach's time it was quite generally grown for home use throughout New York and only to a limited extent for market, and was seldom being newly planted.
Holland Pippin distinguished: The Holland Pippin much resembles the Fall Pippin but differs in being in season from mid-August to mid-autumn (roughly a month earlier), in being more roundish and less flattened, and in having a short, thick stem which is not exserted. The Fall Pippin's stalk, by contrast, projects considerably beyond the fruit — Downing specifically noted this as the distinguishing character.
Tree
The tree is a strong grower, hardy, and very long-lived, eventually becoming large or very large. Warder described it as "exceedingly vigorous" with a large, wide-branching, open head; Downing called it a "very vigorous, strong grower, upright spreading"; Beach described it as large, moderately vigorous to very vigorous, with large, long branches that eventually become somewhat drooping, the form spreading or roundish and "rather dense" — contrasting with Warder's characterization of an open head. Warder noted it is not an early bearer but becomes moderately productive when old. Both the foliage and fruit are quite subject to the attacks of the apple-scab fungus, and thorough preventive treatment for this disease is necessary to grow Fall Pippin successfully for commercial purposes (Beach).
Twigs: Moderately long, curved, stout, with large terminal buds; internodes medium. Warder described the shoots as stout and dark; Downing noted young shoots are reddish-brown.
Bark: Dark reddish-brown, somewhat tinged with green, heavily coated with gray scarf-skin; much pubescent (Beach).
Lenticels: Scattering, medium size, oval, raised (Beach).
Buds: Medium size, broad, plump, obtuse, free, pubescent (Beach).
Leaves: Large and broad (Warder).
Fruit
Size: Large to very large, pretty uniform in size and shape.
Form: Roundish to roundish oblate, sometimes a little inclined to conic, sometimes slightly oblong and truncate, often with obscure ribs at the eye, generally pretty regular. Warder described the form as "globular, truncated, making it cylindrical, regular."
Stem: Medium to rather long, thick. Downing specified three-fourths of an inch, projecting considerably beyond the fruit. Warder simply described it as long.
Cavity: Beach described it as acute or approaching acuminate, moderately deep, moderately narrow to rather wide, symmetrical or sometimes compressed, russeted. Downing described it as rather small, shallow, and round. Warder described it as wide, regular or narrow, and deep.
Calyx: Medium to large, open. Lobes separated at the base, moderately long, rather narrow, acuminate (Beach). Warder described the segments as short. Downing noted the calyx is open and not very large.
Basin: Medium in depth to deep, moderately narrow to rather wide, abrupt, wavy, slightly wrinkled (Beach). Warder described it as deep, abrupt, regular, and marked with concentric rings which often crack open in large southern specimens. Downing described it as round and narrow, with the calyx rather deeply sunk.
Calyx tube: Large, wide, long, conical to nearly funnel-form. Stamens median to basal (Beach).
Skin: Thin, smooth, at first greenish-yellow but becoming a fine clear yellow. Sometimes faintly blushed. Warder noted the blush is rare in southern specimens but frequent in the North; the Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture observed that in the arid regions of bright sunshine the blush becomes a considerable red; Downing described it as "often a tinge of brownish blush on one side."
Dots: Sources disagree on number and character. Warder described the dots as minute and gray. Downing noted "a few scattered dots." Beach described them as numerous, small, pale and submerged or russet.
Flesh: Whitish or tinged with yellow (Beach, Downing, Encyclopedia); Warder described it as yellow. Moderately firm, rather fine, tender, very juicy (Beach, Encyclopedia). Warder described the texture as "breaking, compact, very fine-grained." Downing described it as "very tender and mellow." The flavor is agreeable subacid, somewhat aromatic — Warder specified "acid, becoming sub-acid, aromatic, delicious" and Downing called it "a rich, aromatic flavor." Rated very good (Beach) to "very good to best" (Downing); Warder rated the quality simply as "best."
Core: Beach described it as medium size, somewhat abaxile, with cells symmetrical, closed or partly open, and core lines meeting or clasping. Warder described the core as large, regular, closed, meeting the eye.
Carpels: Roundish, emarginate, tufted (Beach).
Seeds: Rather dark brown, medium size, somewhat acute, plump (Beach). Warder described them as pointed, often imperfect.
Season
The crop does not ripen uniformly. Some fruit is ripe, well colored, and ready for immediate use in September, while at the same time a considerable portion of the crop is still hard and green (Beach). Warder gave the season as September to December; Downing as October to December; Beach as late September to January. The Encyclopedia noted ripening from mid-September to about the first of November, with fruit in northern latitudes and higher altitudes keeping nicely until January. When grown under favorable conditions and properly handled, some portion of the crop may keep till midwinter or later, but even carefully selected fruit cannot be relied upon to hold in common storage till December 1st without considerable loss. In cold storage it may be held till January or February (Beach).
Uses
Excellent for both dessert and culinary purposes, and considered one of the most desirable varieties of its season for the home orchard (Beach). Warder rated it best for dessert, kitchen, market, and drying. Downing praised its "delicious flavor for the table or for cooking" and called it "the first of autumn apples in the Middle States." Beach noted it is especially desirable for culinary uses and was in pretty good demand in local markets, with limited use in portions of Eastern New York for the early export trade.
Book Sources
Described in 4 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 48 catalogs (1845–1936) from Arkansas, California, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845
- Hovey & Co. , Cambridge , Massachusetts — 1849
- Azell Bowditch (Nursery / Fruit Catalog) , Boston , Massachusetts — 1850
- Azell Bowditch (Nursery / Fruit Catalog) , Boston , Massachusetts — 1850
- Joseph Breck & Co. , Boston , Massachusetts — 1855
- St. Helena Nursery , Howell's Prairie, Marion County , Oregon — 1864
- Hutchison Nursery , James Hutchison, Oakland , California — 1881
- Fancher Creek Nursery , Fresno , California — 1886
- California Nursery Co. , Niles , California — 1889
- William H. Moon Co. , Morrisville, Bucks County , Pennsylvania — 1890
- Puyallup & Yakima Nurseries , Puyallup, Washington (Lock Box 191) and North Yakima , Washington — 1892
- Rogers Nursery Co. , Moorestown , New Jersey — 1893
- Milwaukie-Canby Nurseries , Canby, OR (and Milwaukie, OR) — 1893
- Sherwood Hall Nursery Co. , Timothy Hopkins (Menlo Park Nurseries), San Francisco / Menlo Park , California — 1893
- Multnomah Nurseries , Russellville , Oregon — 1894
- Woodburn Nurseries , Woodburn, Marion Co. , Oregon — 1894
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1896
- The Lovett Company , Little Silver , New Jersey — 1896
- The Salem Nursery (John A. Francis , Proprietor), Salem , Virginia — 1897
- Reading Nursery , Jacob W. Manning, Proprietor, Reading , Massachusetts — 1898
- Arthur J. Collins & Sons , Moorestown , New Jersey — 1898
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1898
- Brown Brothers Co. , Continental Nurseries, Rochester, NY (also operated from Toronto, Canada) — 1899
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901
- Brown Brothers Co. , Continental Nurseries, Rochester, NY (also operated from Toronto, Canada) — 1901
- Mountain Grove Nurseries (Tippin & Moore , Proprietors; Geo. T. Tippin, J. W. Tippin, J. C. Moore), Mountain Grove , Missouri — 1901
- S.L. Watkins , Grizzly Flats, El Dorado County , California — 1901
- Yarbrough Bros. , Stephens , Arkansas — 1901
- Pacific Nursery Company (W. O. Hudson & A. D. Hudson) , Tangent , Oregon — 1903
- Russellville Nursery Co. , Russellville, OR (three miles east of Portland, one mile from Montavilla car line) — 1903
- Henderson Luelling / Traveling Nursery (historical recall) , Oregon — 1904
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904
- The Dalles Nurseries , The Dalles , Oregon — 1906
- Russellville Nursery Co. , Montavilla Station, Portland, OR (three miles east of Portland, one mile from Montavilla car line) — 1907
- Carlton Nursery Co. , Carlton , Oregon — 1909
- Wm. J. Corse (successor to Robert Sinclair / Sinclair Nurseries) , Baltimore , Maryland — 1909
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1910
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1911
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1912
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912
- Union Nurseries , J.B. Weaver & Sons, Union , Oregon — 1915
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1918
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920
- Benedict Nursery Co. , Portland , Oregon — 1921
- Fresno Nursery Co. , Fresno , California — 1924
- Hudson's Wholesale Nurseries , Tangent , Oregon — 1936
View original book sources (4)
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Fall Pippin.
It is unfortunate that since the days of Coxe there should have been a confounding of this noble and delicious American apple with the inferior foreign kitchen variety: the Holland Pippin.
Tree exceedingly vigorous, large, wide-branching, open head, not early bearer, moderately productive when old; Shoots stout, dark; Leaves large, broad.
Fruit large to very large, handsome, globular, truncated, making it cylindrical, regular; Surface smooth, rich yellow, rarely blushed South, frequently so North, with skin liner; Dots minute, gray.
Basin deep, abrupt, regular, marked with concentric rings which often crack open in large southern specimens; Eye large, open; Segments short.
Cavity wide, regular, or narrow, deep; Stem long.
Core large, regular, closed, meeting the eye; Seeds pointed, often imperfect; Flesh yellow, breaking, compact, very fine-grained; Flavor acid, becoming sub-acid, aromatic, delicious; Quality best for dessert, kitchen, market and drying; Season September to December.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Fall Pippin. York Pippin. Episcopal. Philadelphia Pippin. Pound Pippin. Golden Pippin, erroneously. Pound Royal of some. Cathead, incorrectly. The Fall Pippin is, we think, decidedly an American variety. It is very probably a seedling raised in this country from the White Spanish Reinette, or the Holland pippin, both of which it so much resembles, and from which it, in fact, differs most strongly in the season of maturity. The Fall Pippin is a noble fruit, and is considered the first of autumn apples in the Middle States, where its beauty, large size, and its delicious flavor for the table or for cooking, render it very popular. The tree is a very vigorous, strong grower, upright spreading. Young shoots reddish brown. Fruit very large, roundish, generally a little flattened, pretty regular, sometimes with obscure ribs at the eye. Stalk rather long, three-fourths of an inch, projecting considerably beyond the fruit (which distinguishes it from the Holland Pippin), set in a rather small, shallow, round cavity. Calyx open, not very large, rather deeply sunk in a round, narrow basin. Skin smooth, yellowish green, becoming a fine yellow, with often a tinge of brownish blush on one side, and with a few scattered dots. Flesh white, very tender and mellow, with a rich, aromatic flavor. Very good to best. October to December.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)FALL PIPPIN.
REFERENCES. 1. Amer. Gard. Cal., 1806:585. 2. Coxe, 1817:109. fig. 3. Cobbett, 1821:par. 300. 4. Thacher, 1822:120. 5. Buel, N. Y. Bd. Agr. Mem., 1826:476. 6. Fessenden, 1828:131. 7. Kenrick, 1832:32. 8. Floy-Lindley, 1833:85. 9. Mag. Hort., 1:326, 364. 1835. 10. Downing, 1845:84. 11. Floy-Lindley, 1846:412 app. 12. Phoenix, Horticulturist, 1:361. 1847. 13. Downing, Ib., 3:345. 1849. 14. Cole, 1849:117. fig. 15. Thomas, 1849:155. fig. 16. Phoenix, Horticulturist, 4:472. 1850. 17. Barry, 1851:283. 18. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:44. 1851. fig., col. pl. No. 18. 19. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1852. 20. Elliott, 1854:78. fig. 21. Gregg, 1857:42. 22. Hooper, 1857:34, 106, 110. 23. Warder, 1867:571. fig. 24. Downing, 1869:169. fig. 25. Todd, 1871:311. fig. 26. Fitz, 1872:143, 149, 162. 27. Hogg, 1884:74. 28. Wickson, 1889:244. 29. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:290. 30. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:239. 31. Woolverton, Ont. Fr. Stas. An. Rpt., 8:7. 1901. figs. 32. Budd-Hansen, 1903:80. fig. 33. Beach and Clark, N. Y. Sta. Bul., 248:119. 1904.
SYNONYMS. American Fall (7). AUTUMN PIPPIN (4). Cathead incorrectly (24). Cat Head (25). Cobbett's Fall (7). Cobbett's Fall Pippin (27). Concombre Ancien (7). De Rateau (7). D'Espagne (7). Episcopal (24, 25). FALL PIPPIN (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33). Fall Pippin (4). Golden Pippin (22, 25, erroneously 2, 24). Holland Pippin (2, 5, err. 15). Philadelphia Pippin (20, 24, 25). Pound Pippin (24, 25). Pound Royal (25, of some 24). Prince's large Pippin of N. Y. (2). Reinette Blanche d'Espagne (7). Summer Pippin (2). Van Duym's Pippin (2). Van Dyn's Pippin (5). York Pippin (24, 25).
Fruit large, and, when fully ripe, of an attractive yellow color. The flesh is tender, rich and very good in quality, being excellent for dessert but especially desirable for culinary uses. The tree is a strong grower, hardy and very long-lived, eventually becoming large or very large. Since the foliage and fruit are both quite subject to the attacks of the apple-scab fungus, thorough preventive treatment for this disease is necessary in order to grow Fall Pippin successfully for commercial purposes.¹ The crop does not ripen uniformly, some of the fruit being ripe, well colored and ready for immediate use in September, while at the same time a considerable portion of the crop is still hard and green. When grown under favorable conditions and properly handled some portion of the crop may keep till midwinter or later, but even carefully selected fruit cannot be relied upon to hold in common storage till December 1st without considerable loss. In cold storage it may be held till January or February (33). Fall Pippin is generally in pretty good demand in local markets, and in portions of Eastern New York it is being used to a limited extent for the early export trade. It is one of the most desirable varieties of its season for the home orchard.
HOLLAND PIPPIN AND FALL PIPPIN COMPARED.
From the time of Coxe (2), Fall Pippin has by some been called Holland Pippin. The Holland Pippin indeed much resembles Fall Pippin, but it differs from it in being in season from mid-August to midautumn and in being more roundish and less flattened, and in having a short, thick stem which is not exserted.
Historical. Origin unknown. Downing (10) held the opinion that Fall Pippin is an American variety and probably a seedling raised in this country from either the White Spanish Reinette or the Holland Pippin, both of which it resembles. It has been widely disseminated from the Atlantic to the Pacific in most of the important apple-growing regions of the continent and is still listed by many nurserymen (30). We are unable to determine how long this variety has been in cultivation. In some New York orchards trees of it are found which are more than one hundred years old. It is quite generally grown for home use throughout New York, and also to a limited extent for market, but it is now seldom planted.
TREE.
Tree large, moderately vigorous to very vigorous, with large, long branches which eventually become somewhat drooping. Form spreading or roundish and rather dense. Twigs moderately long, curved, stout and with large terminal buds; internodes medium. Bark dark reddish-brown, somewhat tinged with green, heavily coated with gray scarf-skin; much pubescent. Lenticels scattering, medium size, oval, raised. Buds medium size, broad, plump, obtuse, free, pubescent.
FRUIT.
Fruit large or very large, pretty uniform in size and shape. Form roundish to roundish oblate, sometimes a little inclined to conic, or sometimes slightly oblong and truncate, often obscurely ribbed. Stem medium to rather long, thick. Cavity acute or approaching acuminate, moderately deep, moderately narrow to rather wide, symmetrical or sometimes compressed, russeted. Calyx medium to large, open; lobes separated at the base, moderately long, rather narrow, acuminate. Basin medium in depth to deep, moderately narrow to rather wide, abrupt, wavy, slightly wrinkled. Skin thin, smooth, at first greenish-yellow but becoming clear yellow, sometimes faintly blushed. Dots numerous, small, pale and submerged or russet. Calyx tube large, wide, long, conical to nearly funnel-form. Stamens median to basal. Core medium size, somewhat abaxile; cells symmetrical, closed or partly open; core lines meeting or clasping. Carpels roundish, emarginate, tufted. Seeds rather dark brown, medium size, somewhat acute, plump. Flesh whitish or tinged with yellow, moderately firm, rather fine, tender, very juicy, agreeable subacid, somewhat aromatic, very good. Season late September to January.
¹ Directions for treating apple scab are given in the reports of this Station for 1899:399-418, and for 1903:321-386.
— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)Fall Pippin
The Fall Pippin has, by a considerable number of persons, been called the Holland Pippin, which it very much resembles, but from which it differs mainly in the fact that its fruit ripens from the middle of September until about the first of November, while the fruit of the Holland Pippin ripens almost a month earlier.
The fruit of the Fall Pippin is large, tender, rich, very good in quality desirable for culinary purposes, and when fully ripe is an attractive yellow color.
The tree is a strong grower, hardy and long lived, eventually becoming very large. It is spreading or roundish, with long branches, twigs moderately long, curved, stout and with large terminal buds. Bark dark reddish brown, somewhat tinged with green, heavily coated with gray scarf skin.
The flesh of the fruit is whitish, tinged with yellow, moderately firm, rather fine, tender, very juicy, agreeable subacid, somewhat aromatic, very good. The skin is thin, smooth, at first greenish yellow but becoming a clear yellow, and in the arid regions of bright sunshine, having a considerable blush of red.
In the northern latitudes, especially in the higher altitudes, the fruit will keep nicely until January.