Ortley
Apple
USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection
Ortley
[NOTE: Source text may be incorrect — Coxe's 1817 entry supplied here ("No. 50. Seek No Further") and the additional entries headed Green Seek-No-Further / White Seek-no-farther in Elliott, Downing, Thomas, and Beach Vol. 2 describe the Green Seek-no-Further, a different variety (given by Elliott as from Long Island and by Downing as originating in the garden of William Prince, Flushing). Beach cites Coxe's account of Ortley under the name Woolman's Long Pippin at a different page (1817:169) and Coxe's Seek-no-further at 1817:131. These texts have been left out of the description below; nothing in them can be salvaged as evidence for Ortley.]
Origin / History
Ortley is an old New Jersey variety. It originated in the orchard of Michael Ortley, South Jersey (Downing; Budd and Hansen give New Jersey). Beach calls it "a pale yellow apple of the Yellow Bellflower type which has long been known in cultivation," and Stark Bros. (1910) likewise places it "of the Bellflower type." Hedrick thinks it probably a seedling of Yellow Bellflower, "surpassed in most respects by the better-known variety."
Coxe described it in 1817 under the name Woolman's Long Pippin (Beach). In 1825 Floy sent fruit of it to the Royal Horticultural Society, London, under the name of Ortley. In the Society's Transactions for that year Lindley described it under this name, giving Woolman's Long as a synonym. Kenrick, Manning, Thomas, Elliott, Charles Downing, and other American pomologists followed Floy rather than Coxe and described the variety as Ortley (Beach). Elliott, crediting Lindley with its first description as Ortley, adopts the name because it "is as well known by that as any other one of its names." Emmons gives Ortley as identical with Warren Pippin of Coxe, which Beach thinks "quite doubtful." In portions of the South and West it is an old favorite for planting in home orchards. There it has been known under many different names, prominent among them White Bellflower and White Detroit (Beach).
Elliott writes that "in strong rich soils, throughout the entire Western States, it proves one of the hardiest, most productive, profitable, as well as best varieties known." Warder calls it an "excellent New Jersey apple" that has been "cultivated very satisfactorily over a great extent of our country." He finds it still seen in some Western collections "exhibiting all its peculiar beauty." But in many places where it was a great favorite only a few years since, it has become so defective from scab and bitter-rot that it is rapidly disappearing from the nurseries and orchards. He judges "the threatened failure of this fine fruit" "much to be regretted." Thomas says "this fine fruit has had a high reputation in the Ohio Valley," but is becoming much affected with the black mildew or scab.
In New York scattering trees are found in some of the very oldest orchards of the state. There it has never been grown to any considerable extent and is now seldom or never planted, being less successful than Yellow Bellflower. It does better farther south and west (Beach). Hedrick calls it a favorite in the South, parts of the Middle West, and on the Pacific slope. Lowther's station table records it from 4 stations in the Northern Division and 14 in the Central Division, in each case also reported in another division.
Tree
Tree vigorous, healthy, upright, becoming large and spreading. Beach rates it moderately vigorous, medium in size or under favorable conditions large. Downing says it grows pretty strongly. Form at first upright with long slender shoots, becoming roundish or spreading when mature.
Shoots slender and upright in most accounts; Elliott gives them as brownish, yellow, long-jointed. Warder alone calls them stout and dark. Beach describes the twigs as below medium to above, rather slender, straight, quite pubescent, with internodes short. Bark dull reddish-brown, often overlaid with thick scarf-skin. Lenticels small and scattering but rather conspicuous, mostly roundish, raised. Buds below medium, moderately projecting, roundish, slightly pubescent, free (Beach).
Bearing limbs brittle and often broken by the weight of the fruit (Warder).
Bears abundantly; very productive. Hedrick finds the trees less productive than Yellow Bellflower. Quite subject to attacks of various insects and of the scab fungus, requiring thorough treatment against them (Beach). Warder names scab and bitter-rot, and Thomas black mildew or scab.
Elliott's high Western record is for strong rich soils. Stark Bros. finds it of excellent quality when grown on dry warm soil with good culture.
Fruit
Size: Large, or medium to large, not very uniform in size or shape. Elliott gives it large when grown on rich soils and much increased in size in the West over specimens grown North. Beach, citing Elliott, gives northern fruit as smaller. Lowther's table alone calls it medium.
Form: Oblong conic, flattened at the base or truncated, varying to roundish conic or roundish oblong conic, regular or obscurely ribbed. Thomas gives roundish, somewhat oblong-ovate. Elliott gives oblong oval, occasionally or often roundish conical, with angles or ribs often apparent; in the North the form is more oblong (Elliott, cited by Beach). Lowther's table alone calls it oblate.
Stem: Slender and long, of medium length (Downing), or about an inch long, sometimes short (Thomas). Beach calls it long, often slender. Elliott alone has it varying from short and stout to long and slender.
Cavity: Deep, acute or approaching acuminate, regular, often large, somewhat furrowed. Narrow (Elliott, Thomas); Beach gives it varying from moderately narrow to wide. Brown, lined with or surrounded by russet, or usually partly russeted.
Calyx: Small to medium, closed; Beach allows it closed or somewhat open. Warder calls the eye very long. Beach gives the lobes as long, acute, usually converging and reflexed; Budd and Hansen call the segments divergent. Calyx tube funnel-form approaching cylindrical, sometimes constricted at the base of the limb and enlarging below, often characteristically elongated and extending to the core (Beach); Budd and Hansen call the tube conical. Stamens median.
Basin: Small to medium, shallow to rather deep, narrow to moderately wide, usually abrupt. Plaited, wrinkled, corrugated, or slightly furrowed. Elliott ties the furrows or plaits to the surrounding angles or ribs, and Budd and Hansen note fine wrinkles. Thomas calls it nearly even or slightly plaited, and Warder regular.
Skin: Moderately thin, tough, smooth, waxy, clear. Pale whitish-yellow or greenish yellow, becoming fine yellow at maturity, varying to rich yellow in well-developed fruit. Hedrick finds it paler in color than Yellow Bellflower. Rarely or sometimes blushed on the sunny side: light carmine with red spots (Warder), slightly tinged with pink (Thomas), or a faint pinkish-red blush (Beach).
Elliott gives it pale yellowish white at the North. At the South it becomes a richer yellow, with specks of dark red and a vermilion tinge surrounding when exposed to the sun. The skin is whitish and tender, easily bruised or discolored in handling, and apt to be marred on the tree by the chafing of the limbs (Beach). Stark Bros. says it requires careful handling. Warder speaks of "all its peculiar beauty."
Dots: Minute, inconspicuous or obscure, indented. Beach calls them usually whitish and submerged. Warder says the white bases are seen only in the unripe fruit. Budd and Hansen call them russet.
Flesh and flavor: Yellowish white or whitish tinged with yellow; Downing calls it white. Fine-grained or moderately fine, tender, crisp, breaking, juicy; Budd and Hansen also call it firm. Warder finds the tissue very fine.
Flavor sprightly subacid, very pleasant, refreshing. Warder gives acid to sub-acid, and Elliott mild acid. Thomas calls it rich. It has less acidity than Yellow Bellflower and is more pleasant in flavor for dessert use (Beach). Elliott says northern fruit has a somewhat closer texture and a little enhanced sprightliness; Beach, citing him, gives coarser texture and sprightlier flavor.
Quality good to best, clustering at very good (Beach, Lowther). Warder rates it "best" and Budd and Hansen "very good to best," while Downing puts it at "good to very good." Stark Bros. calls it "of excellent quality" when grown on dry warm soil with good culture.
Core and seeds: Core large; Warder calls it medium, oval, regular, open, meeting the very long eye. Beach gives it widely abaxile, and Budd and Hansen distant. Cells usually symmetrical and wide open, sometimes closed; Budd and Hansen give them as abaxile, ovate, slit. Beach gives the core lines as clasping the funnel cylinder, and the carpels as roundish ovate, elongated, emarginate, mucronate.
Seeds abundant or numerous, characteristically small, short, pointed, roundish, plump. They are easily loosened, lying loose and rattling in the large open capsules. Beach gives them light to medium brown; Warder calls them dark.
Season
The recorded season runs from October into April. Most authors give a season opening in October or November and closing in January or February. Elliott alone carries it from January to April. Lowther's table gives winter.
Uses
Table and kitchen (Warder); kitchen and market (Lowther's table). Beach finds it more pleasant for dessert than Yellow Bellflower. Warder holds its tissue "so fine as to suit even the invalid or convalescent, who could not safely partake of a more solid apple." Elliott counts it among the most profitable varieties in the Western States. Stark Bros. recommends it for the home orchard.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Stark Bros. (1910) marks its entry "NCS."
Book Sources
Described in 10 period pomological works
- Beach, The Apples of New York Vol. 1 (1905)
- Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)
- Beach, The Apples of New York Vol. 2 (1905) — listed as Green Seek-No-Further
- Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900) — listed as Green Seek-no-Further
- Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)
- Budd & Hansen, Systematic Pomology (1914)
- Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)
- Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)
- Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)
- Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817) — listed as Seek No Further
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 57 catalogs (1845–1926) from California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon, Washington
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845 — listed as Jersey Greening
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845 — listed as Ortley Pippin
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845 — listed as Seek No Further
- Azell Bowditch (Nursery / Fruit Catalog) , Boston , Massachusetts — 1850 — listed as Seek No Further
- Joseph Breck & Co. , Boston , Massachusetts — 1855 — listed as Seek No Further
- Hutchison Nursery , James Hutchison, Oakland , California — 1881
- Hutchison Nursery , James Hutchison, Oakland , California — 1881 — listed as Seek No Further
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1884
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1884 — listed as Seek No Further
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1888
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1888 — listed as Seek No Further
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1889
- 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
- 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 — listed as Seeknofurther
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1890
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1890 — listed as Seek No Further
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1891
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1891 — listed as Seek No Further
- Oregon Wholesale Nurseries , Salem , Oregon — 1893 — listed as Seek No Further
- Woodburn Nurseries , Woodburn, Marion Co. , Oregon — 1894
- Multnomah Nurseries , Russellville , Oregon — 1894 — listed as Seek No Further
- The Vineland Nurseries (Kelsey & Co. , Proprietors), St. Joseph, Missouri (Office: 13th and Atchison Sts., 2 Blocks East of the Citizens St. Car Line) — 1894 — listed as Seek No Further
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1895
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1895 — listed as Seek No Further
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1897
- Felix Gillet , Barren Hill Nursery, Nevada City , California — 1897 — listed as Seek No Further
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as Seek No Further
- Washington Nursery Co. , Toppenish , Washington — 1901
- S.L. Watkins , Grizzly Flats, El Dorado County , California — 1901
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- S.L. Watkins , Grizzly Flats, El Dorado County , California — 1901 — listed as Seek No Further
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901 — listed as Seek No Further
- Phoenix Nursery Company (W. E. Rossney , President; Sidney Tuttle, Vice-President), Bloomington , Illinois — 1904 — listed as Seek No Further
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1906
- J.B. Pilkington , Portland , Oregon — 1907
- Carlton Nursery Co. , Carlton , Oregon — 1909
- Washington Nursery Company , Toppenish , Washington — 1909
- C.F. Lansing , Salem , Oregon — 1910
- 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
- Ballygreen Nurseries , Hanford , Washington — 1912
- Vineland Nurseries Company , Clarkston , Washington — 1912
- J. B. Pilkington , Nurseryman, Portland, OR (nurseries near Newberg, forty miles from Portland) — 1913
- Van Holderbeke Nursery Co. , Incorporated, Spokane, Washington (nurseries at Otis Orchards WA, Pasadena WA, Kennewick WA) — 1913
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913 — listed as Seek No Further
- Fancher Creek Nurseries , George C. Roeding, Fresno , California — 1918
- Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co. , Louisiana , Missouri — 1918
- Oregon Nursery Co. , Orenco , Oregon — 1920
- Christopher Nurseries / John Stewart & Sons , Christopher , Washington — 1920
- Fresno Nursery Co. , Fresno , California — 1924
- Fresno Nursery Co. , Fresno , California — 1924 — listed as Seek No Further
- Hudson's Wholesale Nurseries , Tangent , Oregon — 1926
View original book sources (11)
— William Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817)NO. 50. SEEK NO FURTHER.
This apple is a native of one of the Eastern states; it is a large fruit, of a round but oblong form, the skin smooth, of a yellowish green colour; the flesh yellow, juicy, rich and tender; an agreeable early winter apple: the tree bears well, the trunk straight and tall, shooting its branches upwards in a handsome and regular form.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Ortley.
Ortley Pippin Woolman's Long, White Bellefleur, White Bellflower, Green Bellflower, Willow Leaf Pippin, Ohio Favorite, Detroit, White Detroit, Van Dyne, Jersey Greening, Davis, erroneously. Hollow Core Pippin, Greasy Pippin, Melting Pippin, Crane's Pippin, Warren Pippin, White Pippin, erroneously. Yellow Pippin, Golden Pippin, of some., Woodward's Pippin, Tom Woodward Pippin, Inman, White Seek-no-farther, of some., erroneously.
American. Native of New Jersey. First described by Lindley as Ortley, and we therefore follow, as it is as well known by that as any other one of its names. In strong rich soils, throughout the entire Western States, it proves one of the hardiest, most productive, profitable, as well as best varieties known. In size, it is also largely increased over specimens grown North, where the form is more oblong, the texture somewhat closer, and sprightliness a little enhanced. Shoots, slender, brownish, yellow, upright, long jointed.
Fruit, large, when grown on rich soils ; skin, smooth ; form, oblong oval, occasionally or often roundish conical ; color, pale yellowish white, at the North—South it becomes a richer yellow, with specks of dark red, and a vermillion tinge surrounding when exposed to sun; stem, varying from short and stout to long and slender; cavity, deep, narrow; calyx, small, closed ; basin, furrowed or plaited, from the surrounding angles or ribs that are often apparent in the fruit ; flesh, yellowish white, tender, crisp, sprightly, mild acid; core, large, open; seeds, abundant, loose in the capsules. January to April.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Green Seek-No-Further", pp. 121–121]
White Seek-no-farther.
Green Seek-no-farther, Pomme Royal, of some. Flushing Seek-no-farther, Pound Royal, Seek-no-farther of Coxe, Bracy's Seek-no-farther.
From Long Island. Tree healthy, not strong grower ; abundant, not regular bearer. Fruit, medium to large, roundish oblong, conical, uneven or waived surface ; yellowish green, rarely a faint brownish blush, small brownish dots, light shade of green suffused around underneath skin ; stem, slender ; cavity, irregular, acuminate : basin, broad, abrupt, furrowed ; core, open : flesh, fine-grained, very juicy, tender, sub-acid : "best." November to February.
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Ortley. WHITE BELLFLOWER, And Many Others. This excellent New Jersey apple has been cultivated very satisfactorily over a great extent of our country, and is still seen in some Western collections, exhibiting all its peculiar beauty, but in many places where it was a great favorite but a few years since, it has become so defective from scab and bitter-rot that it is rapidly disappearing from the nurseries and orchards. Tree vigorous, healthy, upright, becoming large and spreading, very productive; Shoots stout, dark, bearing limbs brittle, and often broken by the fruit. Fruit large, oblong, conic, truncated, regular; Surface smooth, pale yellow, rarely blushed light carmine, and red spots; Dots minute, indented, white bases seen only in the unripe fruit. Basin medium, regular, plaited; Eye small, very long, closed. Cavity deep, acute, regular, brown; Stem long, slender. Core medium, oval, regular, open, meeting the very long eye; Seeds numerous, short, plump, pointed, dark, easily loosened, when they rattle in the large open capsules; Flesh yellowish, tender, breaking, juicy; Flavor acid to sub-acid, sprightly, refreshing; Quality best; Use, table, kitchen; Season, November to January. The threatened failure of this fine fruit is much to be regretted. Its tissue is so fine as to suit even the invalid or convalescent, who could not safely partake of a more solid apple.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Green Seek-no-Further.
White Seek-no-Further. Flushing Seek-no-Further. Seek-no-Further of Coxe.
Origin in the garden of the late Wm. Prince, Flushing, L. I.
Tree while young very slow in its growth, but makes a compact, well-formed head in the orchard.
Fruit apt to be knotty and unfair. Rather large, roundish conical, yellowish green, sprinkled with green and brown dots. Stalk short, in a moderate cavity. Calyx closed, in a rather deep basin. Flesh white, crisp, tender, juicy, pleasant, mild subacid. Very good. October, January.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Ortley", pp. 321–321]
Ortley Pippin. Woolman's Long. Greasy Pippin. White Bellefleur. Van Dyne. Melting Pippin. Yellow Pippin. Woodward's Pippin. Davis White Bellflower. Ortley. White Bellflower. White Detroit. Hollow Cored Pippin. Green Bellflower. Jersey Greening. Crane's Pippin. Inman. Tom Woodward Pippin. Marrow Pippin. Ohio Favorite. Willow Leaf Pippin. White Pippin. Detroit. Davis. Warren Pippin. Golden Pippin. White Seek-no-Further. Tod's Golden Pippin.
Origin, orchard of Michael Ortley, South Jersey. It grows pretty strongly, with upright slender shoots, and bears abundantly.
Fruit medium to large, roundish oblong conic, greenish yellow, becoming fine yellow at maturity, sometimes with a sunny cheek. Stalk slender, of medium length, inserted in a deep, acute cavity, surrounded by russet. Calyx closed, set in an abrupt, somewhat corrugated basin. Flesh white, fine-grained, tender, juicy subacid, very pleasant. Good to very good. Core large. November to February.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Ortley.* (White Detroit, Ortley Pippin, Warren Pippin, White Bellflower, Woolman's Long, Detroit, Jersey Greening, Detroit of the West.) Large, roundish, somewhat oblong-ovate; pale yellow, slightly tinged with pink in the sun; stalk about an inch long; sometimes short, but always slender; cavity deep and narrow; basin rather deep, nearly even or slightly plaited; flesh sub-acid, crisp, sprightly, rich, fine. Shoots slender. This fine fruit has had a high reputation in the Ohio Valley, but it is becoming much affected with the black mildew or scab. Fig. 476. New Jersey.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Green Seek-no-further", pp. 365–365]
Green Seek-no-further. Large, often quite large, roundish, slightly approaching oblong obtuse conical; greenish yellow becoming yellow, specks large and conspicuous; stalk very short; calyx large, basin slightly ribbed, deep; flesh rather coarse, sub-acid, of good flavor.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 1 (1905)ORTLEY.
REFERENCES. 1. Coxe, 1817:169. 2. Lindley, Trans. Royal Hort. Soc. London, 6:415. 1825. (cited by 4, 5). 3. Cat. Hort. Soc. London, 1831:39. 4. Kenrick, 1832:49. 5. Floy-Lindley, 1833:57. 6. Mag. Hort., 1:364. 1835. 7. Manning, 1838:57. 8. Downing, 1845:142. 9. Floy-Lindley, 1846:412 app. 10. Kirtland, Horticulturist, 2:545. 1848. 11. Downing and Ernst, Horticulturist, 4:74. 1849. fig. 12. Horticulturist, 4:144. 1849. 13. Thomas, 1849:183, 188. fig. 14. Cole, 1849:130. 15. Phoenix, Horticulturist, 4:472. 1850. 16. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 378. 1851. col. pl. 17. Elliott, 1854:95. fig. 18. Downing, 1857:90. 19. Hooper, 1857:67. 20. Hovey, Mag. Hort., 27:60. 1861. 21. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1862. 22. Warder, 1867:673. fig. 23. Fitz, 1872:150. 24. Barry, 1883:351. 25. Hogg, 1884:249. 26. Wickson, 1889:246. 27. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:296. 28. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:245. 29. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:252. 30. Burrill and McCluer, Ill. Sta. Bul., 45:334. 1896. 31. Budd-Hansen, 1903:144.
SYNONYMS. Crane's Pippin (11, 17). Detroit (11, 13, 17, 19). Detroit of the West (13, 14). Golden Pippin (11, 19, of some 17). Greasy Pippin (11, 17, 18). Green Bellflower (11, 15, 17). Hollow Core Pippin (11, 17, 19). Hollow Cored Pippin (18). Inman (17). Jersey Greening (13, 17, but not of Coxe 11). Melting Pippin (11, 17). Ohio Favorite (11, 17, 18). Ortley (16, 25). ORTLEY APPLE (5). Ortley Apple (8, 11, 14). ORTLEY PIPPIN (7, 19). Ortley Pippin (8, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18). Tom Woodward Pippin (17). Van Dyme (16). Van Dyne (11, 17, 25, of some 8). WARREN PIPPIN (16). Warren Pippin (11, 13, 17). WHITE BELLEFLEUR (10, 11, 12). White Bellefleur (17, 23). WHITE BELLFLOWER (15, 29). White Bellflower (11, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26). White Detroit (11, 13, 17, 18, 27). White Pippin (11, 18, erroneously 17). Willow Leaf Pippin (17, 18). Woodman's Song (18). Woodward's Pippin (11, 17). WOOLMAN'S LONG (8, 14, 23, 25). Woolman's Long (10, 11, 13, 17, 24). WOOLMAN'S LONG PIPPIN (1). Woolman's Long (6). Yellow Pippin (11, 17).
A pale yellow apple of the Yellow Bellflower type which has long been known in cultivation. Scattering trees of it are found in some of the very oldest orchards of the state, but it has never been grown to any considerable extent in New York and is now seldom or never planted, being less successful here than the Yellow Bellflower. It does better farther south and west. As grown in the North the fruit tends to be more oblong, smaller and of a paler yellowish-white color, coarser texture and sprightlier flavor than when grown farther south (17). The fruit has less acidity than Yellow Bellflower and is more pleasant in flavor for dessert use. The skin being whitish and tender, is easily bruised or discolored in handling. It is also apt to be marred on the tree by the chafing of the limbs. The wood is brittle and the bearing limbs are often broken by the weight of the fruit (22). Ortley is quite subject to attacks of various insects and of the scab fungus, and requires thorough treatment to protect it from these troubles.
Historical. This is an old New Jersey variety which Coxe described under the name Woolman's Long Pippin (1). In 1825 Floy sent fruit of it to the Royal Horticultural Society, London, under the name of Ortley and in the Transactions of the Society for that year Lindley described it under this name giving Woolman's Long as a synonym. Kenrick (4), Manning (7), Thomas (13), Elliott (17), Charles Downing (18), and other American pomologists have followed Floy instead of Coxe and describe the variety under the name Ortley. Emmons (16) gives Ortley as identical with Warren Pippin of Coxe but it is quite doubtful whether he was correct in this case. In portions of the South and West Ortley is an old favorite for planting in home orchards and has there been known under many different names prominent among which are White Bellflower and White Detroit.
TREE.
Tree moderately vigorous and medium in size or under favorable conditions large. Form at first upright with long slender shoots but when mature the tree becomes roundish or spreading. Twigs below medium to above, rather slender, straight, quite pubescent; internodes short. Bark dull reddish-brown often overlaid with thick scarf-skin. Lenticels small and scattering but rather conspicuous, mostly roundish, raised. Buds below medium, moderately projecting, roundish, slightly pubescent, free.
FRUIT.
Fruit large or medium, not very uniform in size or shape. Form oblong conic and flattened at the base, varying to somewhat roundish conic, regular or obscurely ribbed. Stem long, often slender. Cavity often large, acute or approaching acuminate, deep, varying from moderately narrow to wide, usually partly russeted, somewhat furrowed. Calyx rather small to medium, closed or somewhat open; lobes long, acute, usually converging and reflexed. Basin small to medium, shallow to moderately deep, narrow to moderately wide, usually abrupt and wrinkled or slightly furrowed. Skin moderately thin, tough, smooth, waxy, pale whitish-yellow varying to rich yellow in well developed fruit, rarely with a faint pinkish-red blush. Dots inconspicuous, usually whitish and submerged.
Calyx tube funnel-form approaching cylindrical, sometimes constricted at the base of the limb and enlarging below, often characteristically elongated and extending to the core. Stamens median. Core large, widely abaxile; cells usually symmetrical and wide open, sometimes closed; core lines clasping the funnel cylinder. Carpels roundish ovate, elongated, emarginate, mucronate. Seeds numerous, characteristically small and pointed, roundish, plump, light to medium brown. Flesh whitish tinged with yellow, moderately fine, crisp, tender, juicy, sprightly subacid, very good. Season October to February.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)GREEN SEEK-NO-FURTHER.
REFERENCES. 1. Coxe, 1817:131. fig. 2. Kenrick, 1832:53. 3. Thomas, 1849:181. fig. 4. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:38. 1851. fig. 5. Elliott, 1854:137. 6. Warder, 1867:720. 7. Downing, 1869:202.
SYNONYMS. Autumn Secknofurther (4). Bracy's Seck-no-further (5). Flushing Seek-no-further (7). GREEN SEEK-NO-FURTHER (3, 5, 6, 7). SEEKNOFURTHER (4). Secknofurther (5, 7, of Coxe 3). SEEK-NO-FURTHER (1). White Seek-no-further (7). WINTER SEEK-NO-FURTHER (2).
A large yellowish-green apple with faint blush of orange-red, very good in quality; season early winter. The tree is a rather slow grower, but eventually forms a regular, compact head and is quite productive. Desirable for the home orchard (1, 7.)
Historical. The earliest description of this variety which we find is that given by Coxe (1) who remarks that it is a native of one of the eastern states. Downing states that it originated in the garden of William Prince, Flushing, N. Y. (7). It is now seldom found in cultivation in New York.
FRUIT.
Fruit large. Form roundish conic or a little inclined to oblate conic, ribbed. Stem short to medium, thick. Cavity large, acute to somewhat acuminate, deep, broad, more or less marked with faint greenish-russet. Calyx moderately large, closed or slightly open. Basin deep, rather wide, abrupt, furrowed and wrinkled.
Skin moderately thick, tough, greenish-yellow or yellow with faint orange-red blush. Dots variable, large and small, often irregular, areolar with russet center or whitish and submerged.
Calyx tube large, moderately long, wide, conical. Stamens median. Core small, axile; cells symmetrical, closed; core lines meeting or slightly clasping. Carpels roundish to broadly ovate, tufted. Seeds rather numerous, above medium, narrow, long, acute to acuminate, tufted. Flesh yellowish-white, moderately coarse, crisp, tender, very juicy, sprightly, rich subacid, very good. Season October to January.
— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)Ortley.—Origin, orchard of Michael Ortley, New Jersey; tree vigorous, large, spreading, very productive.
Fruit large, oblong conic; surface smooth, clear, pale yellow, rarely with light blush and red spots; dots minute, obscure, indented, russet; cavity deep, acute, regular, lined with russet; stem long, slender; basin narrow, shallow, with corrugations and fine wrinkles; calyx small, closed; segments divergent. Core large, oval, open, distant, meeting; cells abaxile, ovate, slit; tube conical; stamens median; seeds numerous, short, plump, pointed, easily loosened, so that they rattle in the large cells; flesh yellowish white, firm, tender, fine-grained, juicy, sprightly, very pleasant subacid, very good to best. November to January.
— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)Ortley (16) is medium in size, oblate in form, and yellow in color. Quality is very good. Primary use is both kitchen and market. Season is winter. Reported by 4 stations in the Northern Division (also reported in another division) and 14 stations in the Central Division (also reported in another division).
— U.P. Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)ORTLEY. Golden Pippin. Greasy Pippin. Green Bellflower. Yellow Pippin. Ortley is probably a seedling of Yellow Bellflower, surpassed in most respects by the better-known variety. The essential differences between the two are: the fruits of Ortley are paler in color and have less acidity than those of Yellow Bellflower, and the trees are less productive. Ortley is an old variety first described by Coxe in 1817. It is a favorite in the South, parts of the Middle West, and on the Pacific slope. Tree vigorous, medium in size or large, with long slender shoots, when mature spreading. Fruit large, non-uniform in size and shape, oblong-conic and flattened at the base or round-conic, regular or obscurely ribbed; stem long, slender; cavity large, acute, deep, narrow, partly russeted, furrowed; calyx small, closed or open; lobes long, acute, usually converging and reflexed; basin small, shallow, narrow, abrupt and wrinkled or furrowed; skin thin, tough, smooth, waxy, yellow, rarely with a faint blush; dots inconspicuous, white and submerged; calyx-tube funnel-form, sometimes constricted at the base of the limb and enlarging below, often elongated and extending to the core; stamens median; core large, widely abaxile; cells symmetrical and wide open, sometimes closed; core-lines clasping the funnel-like cylinder; carpels round-ovate, elongated, emarginate, mucronate; seeds numerous, small and pointed, round, plump, light brown; flesh yellow, fine, crisp, tender, juicy, sprightly; very good; October to January.
— Stark Bros. Nurseries & Orchards Co., Stark Bros. Year Book (1910) (1910)Pale yellow, of the Bellflower type, but with less acidity and more pleasant for dessert. Requires careful handling. Of excellent quality when grown on dry warm soil with good culture. Recommended for home orchard. NCS