_Synonym_: Missouri Keeper.
It is said to have originated in the orchard of Brink Hornsby, Johnson
county, Missouri. Tree hardy, a strong, upright, rather spreading
grower, an early and abundant annual bearer. Fruit medium to large,
roundish oblate, slightly oblique, somewhat flattened at the ends; skin
pale, whitish yellow, shaded, striped and splashed with light and dark
red, often quite dark in the sun, having many large and small light and
gray dots; stalk short, small; cavity large, deep; calyx closed, or half
open; basin rather abrupt, deep, slightly corrugated; flesh whitish, a
little coarse, crisp or breaking, moderately juicy, subacid; good; core
small. January to April.
Remarks on the Missouri Pippin by members of the State Horticultural
Society:
C. C. Cook: I am a warm friend of the Missouri Pippin, and vote it
second. It is a short-lived tree, but brings paying returns for expense
and trouble. It has a fairly good flavor.
J. W. Robison: The Missouri Pippin is a young and profuse bearer, and
quite hardy with me. I should place it second on the list.
E. J. Holman: I have eliminated it from my family orchard, and give it
only standing-room as a commercial fruit, and there rate it second [in
quality]. There can be more money made from it in a few years than from
any apple we have. It is the youngest bearing tree we have. It grows to
a good size, and by some is preferred to Ben Davis. The great merit of
this apple is in its youthful productiveness, good color, and marketable
quality.
W. G. Gano: I do not approve of planting it thickly, intending to let it
remain. It is apt to overbear, break in pieces, and become almost
worthless. With proper care and thinning when too thick we can partially
overcome this.
W. J. Griffing: It is my second best apple. I consider the Winesap the
best, as it has paid me the best, and I am planting for winter profit
only these two. All apple trees die young with us.
F. W. Dixon: I can add nothing new, but place it second on the list.
James Sharp: It has been my most profitable variety. About four-fifths
have been marketable. As to dying young, I would rather grow new ones.
President Wellhouse: We will have to stick to it awhile yet in Kansas.
When of good size they command a price in advance of the Ben Davis.
G. P. Whiteker: It gives good satisfaction as a commercial apple. It
bears young; and you can get good returns for eight or ten years, and
then put out a new orchard.
Phillip Lux: I would place the Missouri Pippin second on the commercial
list.
William Cutter: It is the youngest to bear. It is a Western apple. Other
varieties gradually die out, but it sticks. The farther west you go the
better it is. It stands drought and wind best of all. While it breaks
off on the top, it is not a short-lived tree.
B. F. Smith: I would place it second on the commercial list.