THE SWEET AND SOUR APPLE. 
283 
THE SWEET AND SOUR APPLE. 
An apple of this variety has been frequently 
noticed in pomological works, together with 
sundry reflections upon its origin, and the cause 
of why one part of the same apple should be 
sweet and another part sour, with divers propo¬ 
sitions for the solution of the question. Some, 
indeed, consider the fact itself apocryphal. 
Still the apple exists. Thirty years ago, we 
saw a tree bearing such apples, and ate of the 
fruit, in Northborough, Massachusetts. It was a 
graft, and descended, by one or more rumors, 
according to family tradition, from the original 
tree of that variety, which originated in Peters¬ 
ham, in the county of Worcester, in that state. 
And as it may be interesting to pomologists, we 
give the history of the original tree, as recorded 
in a book, now out of print: The History of the 
County of Worcester, by Rev. Peter Whitney, 
of Northborough, printed in 1793. 
In his history of the town of Petersham, the 
historian remarks : “ The land in this place is 
exceedingly favorable to the growth of all kinds 
of fruit trees, being high and warm; and here 
are large and excellent orchards, and much 
cider is made here, beyond what the inhabitants 
consume ; but they find a ready market for the 
surplus in the newer settlements. Having men¬ 
tioned their fine orchards, I would duly notice 
one very remarkable natural curiosity relative 
to this subject. There is now growing in an 
orchard, lately belonging to my honored father, 
the Rev. Aaron Whitney, deceased, an apple 
tree, very singular with respect to its fruit. The 
apples are fair, and when fully ripe, of a yellow 
colour, but evidently of different tastes, sour and 
sweet. The part which is sour is not very tart ? 
nor the other very sweet. Two apples growing 
side by side, on the same limb, will be of these 
different tastes, the one all sour, and the other 
all sweet. And what is more remarkable, the 
same apple will be some sour on one side, end, 
or part, and the other sweet; and that not in 
any order nor uniformity; nor is there any dif¬ 
ference in the appearance of the one part nor the 
other. And as to the quantity, some have more of 
the acid, and less of the sweet, and so vice versa. 
Neither are the apples so different in their tastes, 
peculiar to any particular branches, but are 
found promiscuously on any and every branch 
of the tree. The tree stands almost in the 
midst of a large orchard, in rich and strong 
soil, and was transplanted there about fifty 
years ago.” [Petersham was first settled about 
the year 1735, and the Rev. Aaron Whitney, 
father to the historian, was installed as a cler¬ 
gyman, in 1738.—Eds.] 
“ There is no appearance of the trunk, nor any 
of the branches having been ingrafted, or inoc¬ 
ulated. It was a number of years after it had 
borne fruit, before these different tastes were 
noticed ; but since they were first discovered, 
which is upwards of 30 years, there has been 
constantly the same variety observed in the 
taste of the fruit of this tree. For the truth of 
the above account, an appeal may be made to 
many persons of distinction, and of nice tastes, 
who have travelled a great distance to view the 
tree and taste the fruit; but to investigate the 
cause of an effect so much out of the common 
course of nature, must, I think, be attended 
with difficulty. The only solution I can con¬ 
ceive is, that the corcula, or hearts of two seeds, 
the one from a sour, and the other from a sweet 
apple, might so incorporate in the ground, as to 
produce but one plant, or that farina from blos¬ 
soms of those opposite qualities, might pass into, 
and impregnate the same seed. But, leaving this 
to the discussion of naturalists, I proceed with 
a description of Petersham.” 
Thus, in the quaint, rich and distinct lan¬ 
guage of the reverend historian, is given the 
origin of probably the only tree of the sweet- 
and-sour apple, from which this singular variety 
has been disseminated. The tree, and several 
specimens of the fruit, which we examined, and 
tasted, was identical with the above description; 
and it appears that the cause of the peculiar 
qualities of the fruit was then as difficult of so¬ 
lution as now. The separate flavor of each was 
pleasant and palatable, but dashed in unequal 
proportions upon one part or other of the same 
fruit. One might as well have a cut from two 
different apples, sweet, and sour in his mouth, 
at the same time, so far as the enjoyment of 
flavor was concerned. Of course, the fruit of 
this remarkable tree was desirable only as a 
curiosity. Other trees of a similar character 
also exist in different parts of the country. 
-—-■ 
The Heaviest Wheat Produces the Best 
Flour. —It is well known among millers that 
the strength of flour and its fitness for making 
good bread is due to the gluten contained in it 
and corresponds to a considerable extent with 
the weight per bushel. Hence, in general, the 
greater the weight per bushel, the better the 
flour; yet, a low weight per bushel does not 
always prove a sample to be inferior; on the 
contrary, a specimen having a high weight per 
bushel, may frequently be inferior in actual 
weight; that is, contain less gluten than anoth¬ 
er kind of wheat of comparatively low weight 
per bushel. 
