Pumpkin Sweet

Origin / History

An old Connecticut fruit (Elliott). Downing received it from Mr. S. Lyman, of Manchester, Conn. Warder saw the fruit exhibited at the Ohio State Fair at Zanesville.

Downing called it "a very large sweet Apple." He judged it "perhaps, inferior to the Jersey Sweet or the Summer Sweet Paradise for the table, but … a very valuable apple for baking," one that "deserves a place on this account in every orchard." Warder wrote that it "has never commended itself very highly to my notice in the limited opportunities I have had for its examination, but it is esteemed in some parts of the country for baking and for stock-feeding."

Planted for trial at the Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz, B.C., in spring 1894. Lowther's station table records it from 6 stations in the Northern Division and 2 in the Central Division, each entry marked as also reported in another division.

Tree

Upright, spreading, with young wood brown (Downing). A vigorous grower at Agassiz. Bears regularly, the fruit evenly distributed; in wet soils or heavy clay, liable to be water-cored (Elliott).

Fruit

Size: Large to very large. Downing and the Agassiz report call it very large.

Form: Roundish, more or less furrowed or ribbed, especially at the base near the stalk (Elliott, Downing). Warder describes it as regular, roundish, conical. Lowther's table gives roundish (oblate).

Stem: Short (Elliott); long, slender (Warder).

Cavity: Deep. Greenish and russeted (Elliott); narrow and regular (Warder).

Calyx: Small (Elliott). Warder gives the eye as medium, closed.

Basin: Irregular (Elliott); medium, regular (Warder).

Skin: Green, pale green, or yellowish green, with whitish streaks (Elliott). Downing places the streaks, "obscure," near the stalk, and notes the fruit is sometimes becoming a little yellow next the sun. Warder describes the surface as dull green, covered with a rough coat of russet. Lowther's table gives the color as yellow-red.

Dots: White or whitish. Downing calls them numerous near the eye; the Agassiz report finds only a few.

Flesh and flavor: Flesh white or whitish, tender, crisp, sweet to very sweet, pleasant. Downing calls it not very juicy; the Agassiz report calls it juicy. Warder describes it as spongy, light.

Quality "good" in most accounts. Warder alone rates it "scarcely good."

Core and seeds: Core medium, regular; seeds numerous, small, plump (Warder).

Season

The recorded season runs from September into winter. Elliott and Downing give September to November or December, and Warder gives autumn. The Agassiz report gives December, and Lowther's table gives winter.

Uses

Chiefly a baking apple. Warder also gives it for stock, and Lowther's table lists it for both kitchen and market.

Subtypes / Variants

Downing describes another Pumpkin Sweet in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Tree a strong, upright grower, very productive; young wood reddish brown, slightly downy. Fruit large, roundish oblate, rich yellow, frequently with considerable russet. Flesh yellowish white, breaking, rich, sugary, sweet; ripening in September and October. Very valuable for baking or stock feeding.

Downing adds that there are several other apples under the name of Pumpkin Sweet, but he considered the two he described "the best we have known."

Other

Numbered 17 in Lowther's table.