Newtown Pippin

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The Newtown Pippin apple (also known as Albemarle Pippin) is the most famous colonial American apple. It was cultivated by both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, and was exported to Great Britain in large quantities, and is still grown today for its superior flavor.

Characteristics

The Newtown Pippin is typically light green, sometimes with a yellow tinge. It is often russeted around the stem. The flesh is yellow and crisp. The flavor is complex and somewhat tart, and requires storage to develop properly; some sources ascribe to it a piney aroma. Green and yellow varieties are sometimes distinguished but it is not clear that they are in fact distinct cultivars. It is one of the best keeping apples.

Originally grown as a dessert apple, it is now used commercially primarily for cider.

Origins

This variety originated as a chance seedling (a "pippin") on the Gershom Moore estate in the village of Newtown (now called "Elmhurst"; the Moore property stood in the vicinity of what is now Broadway and 45th Avenue) in Queens County on Long Island, New York in the early Eighteenth Century. It was widely grown and praised in colonial America. Thomas Jefferson, for example, wrote from Paris that "They have no apples here to compare with our Newtown pippin."^{[citation needed]}

It was widely cultivated in the Virginia piedmont, brought there by Col. Thomas Walker, who grew it on his estate, Castle Hill. Virginia growers included U.S. Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. There it acquired the alternate name "Albemarle Pippin" after Albemarle County, Virginia, however the two are the same. It came to the fore in 1838 when Andrew Stevenson, the American minister to Great Britain, presented Queen Victoria with a gift basket of the apples from his wife's Albemarle County, Virginia orchard. ^[1] In response Parliament lifted import duties on the variety, and it was an important export until World War I, when duties were reimposed.

Of late has been eclipsed by the Granny Smith apple, which is handsomer and not susceptible to russetting. It is still grown commercially in New York, where it is an important component in a major brand of cider. On a larger commercial scale, the California based company Martinelli's uses this variety still for its sparkling ciders. Newtown Pippin is still available in Virginia, New York, California, the Pacific Northwest, and a few other places in the East along roadside stands and at farmer's markets. It continues to attract attention as an heirloom variety, and was identified as one of the parents of the Ginger Gold variety.

A NYC City Council (2009-#2009: http://webdocs.nyccouncil.info/textfiles/Res%202009-2009.htm?CFID=297771&CFTOKEN=78112109) under consideration would designate the Newtown Pippin the official apple of that municipality. A partnership between the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, NY Restoration Project, Slow Food NYC, and Green Apple Cleaners is planting is providing hundreds of Newtown Pippin saplings (and pollinator saplings) to community gardens, schools, parks, and other public spaces throughout NYC.

References

• "Newtown Pippin: The Green Apple of NYC". http://www.newtownpippin.org. 
• "Newtown Pippin: "Prince of Apples"". http://www.twinleaf.org/articles/pippin.html. 
• "Vintage Virginia Apples: Albemarle Pippin". http://www.vintagevirginiaapples.com/apples/pippin.htm. 
• Karp, David (November 5, 2003). "It's Crunch Time for the Venerable Pippin". New York Times. 
• Thomas, John J. (1849). The American Fruit Culturist. Auburn: Derby, Miller and Company. pp. 182–183. http://books.google.com/books?id=2L9EAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA187&lpg=PA187&source=web&ots=zyj5edWPnq&sig=XtmvIKCCF9qAIiigkNaoyRnFJQ4&hl=en#PPA183,M1. 

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