Newtown Pippin

This variety originated as a chance seedling in Queens County on Long Island, New York in the early eighteenth century and was the most famous colonial American apple. It was widely grown by George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who wrote from Paris that “they have no apples here to compare with our Newtown Pippin.” In 1838 the American minister to Great Britain presented Queen Victoria with a gift basket of these apples and in response Parliament lifted the import duties, making it the only food commodity to be exempt from the tax. It is one of the best keeping apples and a favorite for cider.

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