Apple Index - "J"
Jake's Seedling
Description: Fruit medium, roundish, slightly conical, flattened on the ends, often oblique; skin smooth, yellowish with a dark red or purplish red blush on the sunny side, many apples almost entirely red, with a white bloom; dots small, numerous, conspicuous, indented, white and dark green. Flesh white tinged greenish, crisp, juicy, fine-grained, subacid. Ripe late July/August.
History: Lee Calhoun received this apple from Herbert Childress of Kentucky. He said it originated in Russell County, Kentucky, on the farm of J. B. (Jake) Garner and won “Best Apple” at the county fair for many years.
Uses: Fresh Eating
Jason's Favorite
Description: Roundish to Roundish Conical; skin yellow, mostly covered with bright red, sometimes with darker stripes; cavity shallow, acute with russet sometimes spilling over the top, stem medium; dots whitish, numerous, raised; flesh white to yellowish almost always exhibiting water-core (clear patches that are full of sugars); flesh firm, breaking, very sweet, with good flavor. Excellent summer apple. Ripe mid-August.
History: This was an unknown old variety of apple found growing in the Southern Heritage Apple Orchard. The orchard horticulturalist, Jason Bowen, liked it so much that he kept it in the orchard. Another fan of this apple suggested it be named “Jason’s Favorite.”
Uses: Fresh Eating
Jefferis (Everbearing, Grantham, Illinois Imperial, Jefferis Red)
Description: Fruit medium or below, roundish; skin thin, clear waxen yellow, shaded and splashed with reddish orange, which is deeper on sunny side; dots numerous, large, white; stem short in a deep, acute, slightly russeted cavity; calyx closed; basin wide, medium in depth, smooth, abrupt; flesh yellowish white, very juicy, tender, crisp, subacid. Ripe August.
History: Originated on the farm of Isaac Jefferis in Chester County, PN, and was first exhibited by him in 1848. Although not of Southern origin, it is well adapted to the mountains and piedmont of the South. High-quality apple that ripens in August. Ripens over a period of several weeks.
Uses: Fresh Eating
Jenny Beauty
Description: Fruit medium to large, roundish oblate to oblate. Skin red with darker stripes, white dots conspicuous. Cavity russeted slightly spilling over the top with thick, short stem. Basin shallow, often slightly ribbed with open calyx. Ripe September.
History: Origin unknown. Discovered by Tom Brown of Clemmons, North Carolina.
Jersey Sweet (American, July Branch)
Description: Fruit medium, roundish or oblate, conical, sides often unequal; skin thin, greenish yellow becoming clear yellow, mottled and washed with brownish red with narrow red stripes; dots inconspicuous, greenish, submerged. Flesh yellowish, fine-grained, crisp, tender, juicy, sweet. Ripe August/September.
History: An old American apple considered valuable for dessert, cooking or feeding to farm animals. The tree is productive, an annual bearer, and ripens its fruit over several weeks.
Uses: Fresh Eating, Cooking, Does not store well
Jim Day (Day Apple)
Description: Fruit medium to large; skin yellow with red stripes on the sunny side; flesh juicy, crisp, mild subacid to almost sweet. Ripe late June to August.
History: This apple was considered extinct until Jack Herring of Brandon, Mississippi, found a single tree of Jim Day in 2004 at the Jim Ramsey homestead north of Kasciusko, Mississippi. Originated with J. W. Day of Crystal Springs, Simpson County, Mississippi, and listed in a 1915 Alabama nursery catalog. Said to be adapted to the Gulf coast, south Georgia, and north Florida.
Uses: Fresh Eating
Jim Kell Thinskin (Fort's Prize)
Description: Fruit above medium to large, round to slightly oblate; skin dark red; dots small to medium size, scattered, conspicuous, grayish, sometimes irregular. Flesh pale yellow. Ripe October and a good keeper.
History: The apple originated with a Mr. Kell in Rabun County, Georgia. In a booklet, John P. Fort wrote in part: “About sixteen years prior to 1908 [Mr. Kell] lived at Turkey Cove. At this time while on a visit to his uncle near the source of War Woman’s Creek in Rabun Co., he noticed an apple tree growing from behind the chimney of his uncle’s cabin, upon which was a beautiful red apple.”
Uses: Fresh Eating, Stores well
Jimbo (Jumbo)
Description: Fruit above medium to large, roundish or slightly oblate, lobed; skin yellow, often with a faint blush; dots large, whitish and russet. Ripe September/October.
History: Grown before 1900 in Carter County, Tennessee, and Alleghany, Mitchell, and Avery counties, North Carolina. Jimbo is still grown in Avery County, in the Mountain community, especially for making apple butter.
Uses: Cooking, Apple Butter, Does not store well
Joe Little
Description: Fruit small to medium, roundish or slightly oblate; skin partly to almost completely covered with splashes and stripes of bright red; dots scattered, small, white. Flesh white tinged yellow, fine-grained, rather soft, juicy, brisk subacid. Ripe July/August.
History: That great apple hunter, Dr. L. R. Littleton, found Joe Little in 1995 near Maysville, West Virginia, in an orchard of antique apples belonging to Harry Sulser.
John Apple
Description: Fruit medium, roundish oblate, lobed; skin yellow with a pinkish blush or reddish blotches and stripes on the sunny side; dots few, dark russet and whitish. Flesh firm, moderately juicy, mild subacid. Ripe August/September.
History: A local apple from the Lowgap area between Mount Airy, North Carolina, and Galax, Virginia. Joyce Cooke of Moneta, Virginia, said that her father was eighty-four years old, and John Apple had been on the farm as long as he could remember.
Johnson Keeper
Description: Fruit medium or above, roundish, sometimes oblique; skin covered with dark red; dots few, medium size, whitish. Flesh crisp, juicy, subacid. Ripe October.
History: An old Wilkes County, North Carolina, apple found by Tom Brown.
Uses: Multipurpose, Stores well
Jonalicious
Description: Fruit medium, round, often lobed; skin thick, tough, with a bright red, grainy blush covering most of the apple; dots scattered, whitish and russet. Flesh yellowish, crisp, juicy, fine-grained, aromatic, subacid. A very good eating apple. Ripe September.
History: A chance seedling found in 1933 by Anna Morris Daniels near Abilene, Texas. Stark Bro’s Nursery patented and named Jonalicious in 1958 and introduced it in their catalog in 1960. In spite of its name, it probably has no Jonathan in its parentage.
Uses: Fresh Eating, Stores well
Juicy Fruit
Description: Fruit medium size, roundish to oblong, conical; skin greenish to pale yellow with bronzing on the sunny side and heavy scarf skin over the apple; dots scattered, russet. Flesh cream-colored, crisp, moderately juicy, sweet. Ripe October.
History: An old apple from the Roan Mountain Tennessee area and excellent for fresh eating. Mr. C. M. Putman had the only surviving tree when found by Tom Brown.
Uses: Fresh Eating
July-August-Go-No-Further
Description: Fruit above medium to large, round or somewhat oblong, conical, often oblique and irregular; skin yellowish, partly to almost completely covered with purplish red; dots numerous, whitish. Ripe late August/ September.
History: An old West Virginia apple found in 1994 by the late Dr. L. R. Littleton.
Uses: Fresh Eating
July Delicious
Description: Fruit Medium or below, roundish conical; skin pale yellow, splashed with bright red on the sunny side with some darker red stripes; dots few; russet; stem almost long and thickened at the base in a shallow, bronzed cavity; calyx closed; flesh pale greenish, very tender, juicy, fine-grained, almost sweet. Ripe July/August.
History: This tree was bred in the 1930's by Russell Baker in Baileyton, Alabama by crossing Hackworth and Delicious.
Uses: Fresh Eating
July Sweet
History: Listed by the J. Van Lindley Nursery, Greensboro, NC in 1893. No description
Description: Fruit medium, roundish; skin greenish yellow sometimes faintly blushed on sunny side; dots brownish, scattered; stem medium in length in moderately deep and narrow cavity; calyx closed; basin somewhat shallow. Ripens July.
Junaluska
Description: Fruit medium, roundish to slightly oblate; skin greenish with some orangish red blotches, but the apple is mostly covered with tan russet with patches of green and red showing through the russet; dots irregular, russet. Flesh dense, fine-grained, not very juicy, subacid. Ripe October.
History: About 2001 apple hunter Tom Brown was led to an unidentified apple tree in Macon County, North Carolina, about eight miles from Silas McDowell’s original orchard of the 1840s and 1850s. The apples on the tree resemble the long-lost Junaluskee apple that Silas McDowell grew in his orchard in the mid-1800s.
Uses: Fresh Eating, Cooking, Stores well
June Sweet
Description: Fruit below medium size, roundish to slightly oblate, conical; skin smooth, light green with a reddish blush (sometimes dark red) mostly covering the apple; dots small, numerous, white. Flesh soft, pale greenish, fine-grained, sweet. Ripe July.
History: All over the Southern there are apples called June Sweet, June Sweeting, June Sweetener, Red June Sweet, and other variations on this theme. These are often not the same apple but share the characteristics of sweetness and ripening in June. Our apple came from Ruby Jefferson of Bath, North Carolina.
Uses: Fresh Eating