The World of Apples

Apple varieties, United States

Northern Spy

Raised from Connecticut seed at East Bloomfield, New York, about 1800; third among US apples in 1909–13

History

The Northern Spy came from a seedling orchard at East Bloomfield, New York, which Heman Chapin planted about 1800 with trees raised from seed brought from Salisbury, Connecticut1,4. The original tree died before it bore; Roswell Humphrey took up and planted sprouts from it and raised the first fruit1. The apple stayed local until about 18401,4. In 1847 it was selling in New York at twelve and a half cents apiece3, and in 1852 the American Pomological Society listed it as a new variety of promise1.

By 1905 it ranked third in commercial importance among New York apples, after the Baldwin and the Rhode Island Greening, and Beach placed it “among the very best winter apples of New York”1. In 1909–13 it was the third most important apple in the United States5. In 1928 American commercial orchards held 1,395,000 trees of it, 1.7 per cent of the total, and in 1941 it was still one of the leading varieties of the north-east5.

It resists woolly aphid, and breeders have used it as a parent of resistant rootstocks and varieties4. SNP data confirm it as a parent of the rootstock MM 106, and of the varieties Ontario and Brighton; they also show Wealthy to be the other parent of its seedlings Ascot, Emilia and Thurso6.

The fruit

The fruit is usually large or very large, unless it is seedless, and roundish-conical, often flattened at the base and ribbed1. The skin is thin, tender and smooth; in well-coloured fruit the pale yellow ground is almost hidden by bright pinkish red mottled and splashed with carmine, under a thin bloom1. The yellowish flesh is moderately fine-grained, very tender, crisp and very juicy, sprightly, aromatic and subacid1.

At Brogdale it flowers around 13 May and is picked in mid-October4. In New York cellars it usually kept until March or April, sometimes May, holding its crispness and flavour well1. Its thin skin and tender flesh need careful handling, and in store it is particularly prone to blue mould, especially if bruised1.

Growing

It blooms remarkably late, so its blossoms sometimes escape late frosts1,2. It often bears small apples that are seedless or nearly so, a sign of poor pollination1. The tree is very hardy and healthy, upright and strong-rooted, and was much used as a stock on which to top-work weaker varieties1. Its dense head needs regular pruning, and because the straight-grained wood may split under heavy crops, a grower quoted by Beach advised spacing the main branches along the trunk1. Once mature it crops reliably, every other year or nearly every year, and it does better in the cooler interior of New York than on the coastal plain1. It is diploid, a good polliniser and self-unfruitful5,6.

Uses

Beach found it excellent for both dessert and cooking, but too juicy and tender for drying1.

Where the sources disagree

  • Its origin. Beach and the National Fruit Collection place it in Heman Chapin’s seedling orchard at East Bloomfield about 18001,4, and Downing on Heman Chapin’s farm there2. Hogg says it arose about 1840 on the farm of Oliver Chapin of Bloomfield3, about when, according to Beach, it first drew attention1.
  • Age at first bearing. Beach found it rather slow to bear, though in good conditions it gave profitable crops within seven years of planting1; Magness put its first bearing very late, at 10 to 14 years5.

Family tree

Offspring in the atlas

33 varieties in the atlas descend from Northern Spy.

Northern Spy
Where Northern Spy came from.

Sources

  1. The Apples of New York, vol. I, pp. 229–233: Northern Spy, S. A. Beach, New York Agricultural Experiment Station, Internet Archive, 1905. Supports: the synonym Spy; third in commercial importance among New York apples after Baldwin and Rhode Island Greening, and "among the very best winter apples of New York"; most excellent for dessert or culinary uses but too juicy and tender for evaporating; retaining its crispness and flavour to the close of its season; careful handling needed because of its thin skin and tender flesh; particularly susceptible to blue mould in storage, especially if bruised (p. 229); cellar storage sometimes ending in February, more often extending to March or April, sometimes to May; remarkably late bloom, the blossoms sometimes escaping late frosts; many small apples seedless or nearly so, indicating improper fertilisation; rather slow to bear, though known to give profitable crops within seven years of planting, then usually reliable, biennially or almost annually; better in the cooler interior of the state than on the warm slopes south of the Fishkill mountains and the coastal plain (p. 230); very hardy and healthy, with a strong root system and upright habit, much favoured as a stock for top-working less vigorous, hardy or healthy varieties; the dense top to be pruned regularly; a correspondent's warning that the straight-grained wood splits under heavy loads and his advice to space the main branches along the stem (pp. 231–232); origin in a seedling orchard at East Bloomfield planted by Heman Chapin with seedlings from seed brought from Salisbury, Connecticut, about 1800; the original tree dying before it bore and Roswell Humphrey raising the first fruit from its sprouts; local until about 1840; listed by the American Pomological Society in 1852 as a new variety of promise (p. 232); the description of the fruit: usually large or very large unless seedless, roundish conical, often flattened at the base and ribbed, the thin, tender, smooth skin, and the yellowish, moderately fine-grained, very tender, crisp, very juicy, sprightly, aromatic, subacid flesh (pp. 232–233).
  2. The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America, pp. 289–290: Northern Spy, A. J. Downing, revised by Charles Downing, John Wiley & Sons, Internet Archive, 1900. Supports: originated on the farm of Heman Chapin of East Bloomfield, near Rochester, New York; the tree blooming late and often escaping spring frosts.
  3. The Fruit Manual, 5th ed., p. 161: Northern Spy, Robert Hogg, Journal of Horticulture Office, Internet Archive, 1884. Supports: originated "about the year 1840" on the farm of Oliver Chapin of Bloomfield, near Rochester; sold in New York in 1847 at twelve and a half cents each.
  4. Northern Spy (accession 1951-102), National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, Kent (Defra). Supports: first grown in the seedling orchard of Heman Chapin at East Bloomfield, New York, from seed brought from Salisbury, Connecticut, raised in about 1800 and introduced in 1840; resistant to woolly aphis and used as a parent in breeding resistant rootstocks and varieties; the synonyms Spy, King Apple and Spaeher des Nordens; 10% flowering on 13 May and picking in mid-October at the collection.
  5. Apple Varieties and Important Producing Sections of the United States (Farmers' Bulletin 1883), pp. 7, 21–23, 26, 28, J. R. Magness, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Internet Archive, 1941. Supports: one of the most important varieties of the north-eastern section (p. 7); 1,395,000 trees in commercial orchards in 1928, 1.7 per cent of the total (Table 1, p. 21); third of the ten leading United States varieties in 1909–13 (p. 22); age to first bearing "Very late (10 to 14 years)" (Table 2, p. 23); diploid, good polliniser, self-unfruitful (Table 4, p. 26); "Bright striped red" fruit (Table 5, p. 28).
  6. Using whole-genome SNP data to reconstruct a large multi-generation pedigree in apple germplasm, H. Muranty and others, BMC Plant Biology 20: 2, Additional files 1, 3 and 6, 2020. Supports: Northern Spy diploid (Table S1); trios confirming the recorded parentage of Ontario (Wagener × Northern Spy) and Brighton (Red Dougherty × Northern Spy), and identifying Wealthy as the other parent of Ascot, Emilia and Thurso (Table S3); a duo confirming Northern Spy as a parent of the rootstock MM 106, recorded as Northern Spy × M 1 (Table S5).

All 235 varieties from United States