Northern Spy© Denzil Green
The Northern Spy has smooth, thin skin that is a bright, dark red with yellow striping.
Inside, the finely-grained flesh is crisp, juicy and fragrant. It is white, or sometimes yellowish.
It is an all-purpose apple, though it is mostly used commercially for processing into apple products because it bruises easily in shipping.
The tree needs 3 to 4 years (10 years on standard rootstock) before it starts producing fruit. The tree blooms late, but still fruits by early October.
Grown in North America, New Zealand and Australia.
Cooking Tips
These are good cooking apples that hold their shape well in pies. The high sugar content (13.77%) makes it popular for hard cider, producing over 6% alcohol.
Storage Hints
Stores well.
History Notes
Found growing about 1800 by Heman Chapin in an orchard in East Bloomfield, Ontario County, New York (south of Rochester) from a seedling brought from Connecticut. The seedling had died, but resprouted. Possibly descended from the Wagener Apple.
Chapin also developed the Early Joe and Melon apples.