Jefferis
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Origin & History
Originated with Isaac Jefferies, Newlin township, Chester County, Pennsylvania. It was named after the originator by the Committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which awarded this variety the premium for the best seedling apple exhibited in 1848. According to Warder, it was first described by the ad-interim committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, and also in the Farm Journal for 1853 by David Townsend of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Thomas gives the origin simply as West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Tree
Tree medium size, healthy, moderately vigorous, with an upright to roundish, open form. Productive, a reliable cropper yielding full crops biennially, coming into bearing moderately early. Warder describes it as an early bearer with shoots slender and foliage bright green. Elliott calls it a constant and abundant bearer with upright habit. Hardy; Thomas notes it is hardy far north.
Twigs: Short, straight, slender; internodes long (Beach). Young wood light reddish brown, smooth (Downing). Bark: Brown mingled with olive-green, lightly streaked with scarf-skin; slightly pubescent (Beach). Lenticels: Scattering, small, oblong, not raised (Beach). Buds: Small, plump, obtuse, free, pubescent (Beach).
Fruit
Size: Sources vary. Warder describes it as full medium. Downing and Lowther say medium. Beach says small to medium, very uniform in size and shape, noting the variety is apt to be deficient in size. Thomas says medium or rather large.
Form: Roundish oblate, often inclined to conic, regular or obscurely ribbed (Beach). Warder describes it as oblate, regular. Downing says oblate, inclining to conic. Elliott says roundish flattened. Thomas says round oblate.
Stem: Sources vary. Beach says medium length, thick to moderately slender. Downing says very short. Elliott says half inch, slender. Thomas says very short, slender. Warder says medium to long.
Cavity: Acute to acuminate, medium in depth to deep, medium to broad, symmetrical, russeted but slightly if at all (Beach). Warder says medium, regular, brown. Elliott says narrow, deep, with russet at the stem. Thomas says deep.
Calyx: Small to medium, closed or partly open; lobes short, rather broad, acute (Beach). Downing says closed. Elliott says nearly closed, woolly. Thomas does not specify beyond the basin.
Basin: Moderately shallow to rather deep, moderately wide, somewhat abrupt, smooth or nearly so, symmetrical (Beach). Downing describes it as a round open basin. Warder says wide, regular. Elliott says deep, regular. Thomas says deep.
Skin: Thin, tough, greenish-yellow or pale yellow, more or less blushed and mottled with moderately dull red overlaid with narrow splashes and stripes of carmine (Beach). Warder describes the surface as smooth, yellow, mixed and splashed crimson. Downing says yellow, shaded and splashed with crimson, and thickly covered with large whitish dots. Elliott says pale yellow, striped and stained with red, becoming dark in the sun, dotted with white spots and russet at stem. Thomas says yellow, red, and deep red, striped.
Dots: Beach says small, scattering, inconspicuous, submerged or russet. Warder says large, scattered, yellow. Downing describes large whitish dots thickly covering the surface. Elliott mentions white spots.
Calyx Tube: Narrow, conical to funnel-shape (Beach).
Stamens: Marginal to median (Beach).
Core: Small, axile or nearly so; cells slightly open; core lines somewhat clasping or meeting (Beach). Warder says small, closed, regular, clasping.
Carpels: Elliptical to somewhat obovate, emarginate, sometimes tufted (Beach).
Seeds: Numerous, medium to rather large, wide, long, flat, very irregular, obtuse (Beach). Warder says numerous, large, brown.
Flesh & Flavor: Yellowish-white, firm, fine, crisp, tender, very juicy, mild subacid, very good (Beach). Downing says white, tender, juicy, with a rich, mild, subacid flavor; very good. Warder says yellow, breaking, fine-grained, juicy; flavor sub-acid, aromatic, delicious; quality very good. Elliott says white, crisp, tender, juicy; best. Thomas says yellowish white, remarkably tender and juicy; flavor very pleasant. Lowther calls the flesh tender, mild, subacid, delicious.
Season
Begins to ripen in September and continues in season till early winter. Commercial limit October (Beach). Lowther specifies that as a commercial apple it is not good later than the last of October in the Northern states, and ripens earlier in the Middle and Southern states. Warder gives August, September, and October. Downing says in use all of September. Elliott says September and October. Thomas says first of autumn.
Uses
An excellent variety for the home orchard. Not recommended for commercial planting because it ripens unevenly, is apt to be deficient in size, and is not especially attractive in color (Beach, Lowther). Warder recommends it for table and market.
Subtypes & Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Beach provides an extensive reference list citing 25 sources from 1849 to 1904, including Thomas (1849), Elliott (1854), Downing (1857), Warder (1867), and others. Beach also notes synonyms used in historical literature including Everbearing, Grantham, Jefferies, and Jeffries.
Book Sources
Described in 6 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 28 catalogs (1889–1947) from Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington
- Palouse Nursery and Pleasant Dale Fruit Farm , Colfax, Washington Territory (situated two miles northeast of Colfax) - undated (single-page broadside flyer; "Washington Territory" suggests pre — 1889
- William H. Moon Co. , Morrisville, Bucks County , Pennsylvania — 1890
- Rogers Nursery Co. , Moorestown , New Jersey — 1893
- The Vineland Nurseries (Kelsey & Co. , Proprietors), St. Joseph, Missouri (Office: 13th and Atchison Sts., 2 Blocks East of the Citizens St. Car Line) — 1894
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1896
- Reading Nursery , Jacob W. Manning, Proprietor, Reading , Massachusetts — 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
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1906
- Milton Nursery Co. (A. Miller & Sons , Proprietors), Milton , Oregon — 1909
- Wm. J. Corse (successor to Robert Sinclair / Sinclair Nurseries) , Baltimore , Maryland — 1909
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1910
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1910
- Island Nurseries & Fruit Farm , Vashon (Vashon Island) , Washington — 1911
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1911
- Ballygreen Nurseries , Hanford , Washington — 1912
- Pacific Nursery Company , Portland , Oregon — 1912
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1912
- Vineland Nurseries Company , Clarkston , Washington — 1912
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1912
- Van Holderbeke Nursery Co. , Incorporated, Spokane, Washington (nurseries at Otis Orchards WA, Pasadena WA, Kennewick WA) — 1913
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920
- Columbia & Okanogan Nursery Co. , Wenatchee , Washington — 1925
- Stark Bro's Nurseries , Louisiana , Missouri — 1932
- Milton Nursery Co. , Milton-Freewater , Oregon — 1947
- North-Western Nurseries , Walla Walla , Washington
View original book sources (6)
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Jefferies.
This delicious autumn apple originated in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and was first described by the ad-interim committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society; also in the Farm Journal, for 1853, by David Townsend, of Westchester, Pa.
Tree healthy, sufficiently vigorous, shoots slender, foliage bright green; productive, early bearer.
Fruit full medium, oblate, regular; Surface smooth, yellow, mixed and splashed crimson; Dots large, scattered, yellow.
Basin wide, regular; Eye small, closed.
Cavity medium, regular, brown; Stem medium to long.
Core small, closed, regular, clasping; Seeds numerous, large, brown; Flesh yellow, breaking, fine-grained, juicy; flavor sub-acid, aromatic, delicious; Quality very good, for table and market, during August, September and October.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Jefferis.
Origin, Chester Co., Pa. Growth moderate, very productive. A fair and handsome fruit of excellent quality, in use all of September. Young wood light reddish brown, smooth.
Fruit medium, oblate, inclining to conic, yellow, shaded and splashed with crimson, and thickly covered with large whitish dots. Stalk very short, inserted in a rather large cavity. Calyx closed, set in a round open basin. Flesh white, tender, juicy, with a rich, mild, subacid flavor. Very good. September.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)JEFFERIS.
References. 1. Thomas, 1849:149. 2. Mag. Hort., 18:491. 1852. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1854. 4. Elliott, 1854:139. 5. Mag. Hort., 21:62. 1855. 6. Gregg, 1857:44. 7. Downing, 1857:183. fig. 8. Hooper, 1857:479. 9. Mag. Hort., 24:109. 1858. 10. Hoffy, N. A. Pom., 1860. col. pl. 11. Horticulturist, 17:104, 150. 1862. 12. Warder, 1867:440. fig. 13. Barry, 1883:338. 14. Van Deman, U. S. Pom. Rpt., 1888:570. 15. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:292. 16. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:242. 17. Burrill and McCluer, Ill. Sta. Bul., 45:309, 323. 1896. 18. Powell, Del. Sta. Bul., 38:18. 1898. 19. Macoun, Can. Dept. Agr. Rpt., 1901:96. 20. Beach, Western N. Y. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1901:76. 21. Budd-Hansen, 1903:105. 22. Bruner, N. C. Sta. Bul., 182:21. 1903. 23. Farrand, Mich. Sta. Bul., 205:45. 1903. 24. Powell and Fulton, U. S. B. P. I. Bul., 48:145. 1903. 25. Beach and Clark, N. Y. Sta. Bul., 248:126. 1904.
Synonyms. Everbearing (20). Grantham (17). Jefferies (10, 12, 14, 17, 20). Jefferis (3, 4, 7, 13, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25). Jeffries (1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11).
Fruit of medium size, yellow, blushed and splashed with red; flesh tender, mild subacid, delicious. It begins to ripen in September and continues in season till early winter. Commercial limit October (25). It is an excellent variety for the home orchard but not for commercial planting because it ripens unevenly, is apt to be deficient in size and is not especially attractive in color. The tree is a moderately vigorous grower, hardy, healthy, comes into bearing moderately early and is a reliable cropper yielding full crops biennially.
Historical. Originated with Isaac Jefferies, Newlin township, Chester county, Pa. It was named after the originator by the Committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society which awarded this variety the premium for the best seedling apple exhibited in 1848 (10).
Tree.
Tree medium size, moderately vigorous. Form upright to roundish, open. Twigs short, straight, slender; internodes long. Bark brown mingled with olive-green, lightly streaked with scarf-skin; slightly pubescent. Lenticels scattering, small, oblong, not raised. Buds small, plump, obtuse, free, pubescent.
Fruit.
Fruit small to medium, very uniform in size and shape. Form roundish oblate often inclined to conic, regular or obscurely ribbed. Stem medium length, thick to moderately slender. Cavity acute to acuminate, medium in depth to deep, medium to broad, symmetrical, russeted but slightly if at all. Calyx small to medium, closed or partly open; lobes short, rather broad, acute. Basin moderately shallow to rather deep, moderately wide, somewhat abrupt, smooth or nearly so, symmetrical. Skin thin, tough, greenish-yellow or pale yellow more or less blushed and mottled with moderately dull red overlaid with narrow splashes and stripes of carmine. Dots small, scattering, inconspicuous, submerged or russet. Calyx tube narrow, conical to funnel-shape. Stamens marginal to median. Core small, axile, or nearly so; cells slightly open; core lines somewhat clasping or meeting. Carpels elliptical to somewhat obovate, emarginate, sometimes tufted. Seeds numerous, medium to rather large, wide, long, flat, very irregular, obtuse. Flesh yellowish-white, firm, fine, crisp, tender, very juicy, mild subacid, very good. Season September to January.
— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)Jefferis
Fruit of medium size, yellow, blushed and splashed with red. Flesh tender, mild, subacid, delicious. It begins to ripen in September and continues in season till early winter. As a commercial apple, it is not good later than the last of October, in the Northern states, and it ripens earlier in the Middle and Southern states. It is a good variety for the home orchard, but not for commercial planting, because it ripens unevenly, is likely to be deficient in size, and is not specially attractive in color. The tree is rather a vigorous grower, hardy, healthy, comes into bearing moderately early and is a reliable cropper.
Historical. This variety originated with Isaac Jefferis, Newlin township, Chester county, Pennsylvania. It was named after the originator by the committee of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society which awarded this variety the premium for the best seedling apple exhibited in 1848.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Jefferis. From Chester Co., Pa. Tree, moderate grower, upright habit, constant and abundant bearer. Fruit, roundish flattened, pale yellow, striped and stained with red, becoming dark in the sun, dotted with white spots and russet at stem ; stem, half inch, slender ; cavity, narrow, deep ; calyx, nearly closed, woolly ; basin, deep, regular ; flesh, white, crisp, tender, juicy ; best." September and October.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Jefferis. Medium or rather large, round oblate; yellow, red, and deep red, striped; stalk very short, slender; cavity and basin deep; flesh yellowish white, remarkably tender and juicy; flavor very pleasant. Ripens first of autumn. Fig. 390. Origin, West Chester, Pa. Hardy far north.