Sweet And Sour
Apple
Origin/History
Originally cultivated in the county of Middlesex, New Jersey, whence Coxe obtained it (Coxe, 1817). Beach (1905) quotes at length a description by the Rev. Peter Whitney, published in the Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Volume I:
"There is now growing, in an orchard lately belonging to my honoured father, the Reverend Aaron Whitney, of Petersham, 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 often of these different tastes; the one all sour, and the other all sweet. And, which is more remarkable, the same apple will frequently be sour one side, end, or part, and the other sweet, and that not in any order or uniformity; nor is there any difference in the appearance of one part from 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 every branch of the tree. The tree stands almost in the midst of a large orchard, in a rich and strong soil, and was transplanted there forty years ago. There is no appearance of the trunk or any of the branches having been engrafted or inoculated. 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 about twenty years, there has been, constantly, the same variety in the apples. For the truth of what I have asserted, I can appeal 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 that I can conceive is, that the corcula, or hearts of two seeds, the one from a sour, the other from a sweet apple, might so incorporate in the ground as to produce but one plant; or that farina from blossoms of those opposite qualities, might pass into and impregnate the same seed. If you should think the account I have given you of this singular apple tree will be acceptable to the American academy, please to communicate it."
Beach notes that at the time this account was first published it was customary in planting to set orchards with seedling trees from some local nursery, as was evidently done in this case, and if cultivated varieties were ever included they were later top-worked upon these seedling trees with which the orchard was first planted. From Whitney's account it is probable that the original tree originated in a seedling nursery from which it was transplanted into the orchard of his father where it first attracted attention because of the curious character of its fruit.
Downing (1900) gives origin as unknown. Warder (1867) notes it had been suggested the variety might be a sport, and that no educated nurseryman would believe the old story of its having been produced by the combination of the buds of two varieties, a sweet and a sour. Elliott (1865) attributes it to "a diseased propagation." When this variety is discussed by fruit growers it is not unusual to hear someone relate the legend that it was produced by joining two half buds, one of a sweet the other of a sour variety, and inserting them as one bud under the bark of the stock as is ordinarily done in budding. This legend is recognized in the name "Compound" by which this apple has been known to some in Western New York. The supposed split-bud origin was occasionally discussed pro and con in horticultural periodicals (Beach, 1905).
Scattering trees of this variety were found in various parts of New York state. All sources agree it was propagated and valued chiefly as a curiosity.
Tree
Vigorous, spreading, productive (Downing, 1900). Beach (1905) agrees: vigorous, spreading, and often quite productive.
Fruit
Size: Above medium to rather large (Beach, 1905). Large (Downing, 1900; Warder, 1867). Rather large (Thomas, 1903). Elliott (1865) describes it as medium.
Form: Oblate, ribbed, and rather unsymmetrical (Beach, 1905). Oblate, ribbed (Downing, 1900). Oblate, often unequal and lop-sided, ribbed, and deeply furrowed (Warder, 1867). Roundish flattened (Elliott, 1865). The surface is often uneven (Coxe, 1817). The fruit bears some resemblance to Rhode Island Greening in form, color, and occasionally to some degree in flavor; it is more marbled with green and yellow than Rhode Island Greening, more oblate, and more often the sides are noticeably unequal (Beach, 1905).
Stem: Not described in source.
Cavity: Rather shallow, broad, slightly furrowed (Beach, 1905).
Calyx: Large; lobes reflexed (Beach, 1905).
Basin: Shallow, broad, irregular (Beach, 1905).
Skin: Green, especially along the ribs, with a shade of yellow on the intervening surface and particularly on the exposed cheek (Beach, 1905). The ribs are green, and the intervening hollows light yellow (Downing, 1900). Yellow and green, the ribs being developed and ripening, the furrows not being developed (Warder, 1867). Green acid ribs and yellow hollows between them (Thomas, 1903). Greenish (Elliott, 1865).
Flesh/Flavor: The distinctive and defining characteristic of this apple is that the ribs and hollows possess different flavors. Under the yellow skin the flesh is very deeply tinged with yellow, mildly subacid or sweetish; but under the greenish skin, less yellow and more acid; quality remarkably variable, fair to good (Beach, 1905). The ribs bear the flavor of the fruit, which is acid; the intervening hollows are almost flavorless but sweetish, this portion not having its juice well elaborated (Downing, 1900). The ribs, being developed and ripening, have flavor, but the furrows, not being developed, are flavorless and called sweet (Warder, 1867). The prominences have one taste and the hollows another (Coxe, 1817). Thomas (1903) describes the ribs as acid and the hollows as insipid. Whitney's account notes that the part which is sour is not very tart, nor the other very sweet; that the same apple will frequently be sour one side, end, or part, and the other sweet, not in any order or uniformity, with no difference in appearance between the parts; and that two apples growing side by side on the same limb will often be of different tastes, one all sour and the other all sweet, found promiscuously on every branch of the tree (Beach, 1905).
Core/Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
Coxe (1817) describes it as an autumn fruit. Downing (1900) gives December to February.
Uses
All sources agree the variety is of no special value and was propagated chiefly as a curiosity. Warder (1867) calls it "interesting as a curiosity, rather than valuable for its good qualities." Thomas (1903) describes it as "a curiosity only."
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 6 period pomological works
USDA Nomenclature (1905)
From W.H. Ragan, Nomenclature of the Apple, USDA Bulletin No. 56
Singular, but of no value.
View original book sources (6)
— William Coxe, A View of the Cultivation of Fruit Trees (1817)NO. 133. SWEET AND SOUR.
This apple derives its name from the peculiar property of possessing these different qualities in the same fruit: the surface is often uneven, the prominences having one taste, and the hollows another; it is not otherwise deserving of much notice. It was originally cultivated in the county of Middlesex, N. Jersey, whence I obtained it; it is an Autumn fruit.
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Sweet and Sour.
This variety is interesting as a curiosity, rather than valuable for its good qualities. It has been suggested that it might be a sport; no educated nurseryman will now believe the old story of its having been produced by the combination of the buds of two varieties, a sweet and a sour.
Fruit large, oblate, often unequal and lop-sided, ribbed, and deeply furrowed.
Surface yellow and green, the ribs being developed and ripening have flavor, but the furrows not being developed are flavorless and called sweet.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Sweet and Sour.
Origin unknown. Tree vigorous, spreading, productive.
Fruit large, oblate, ribbed, the ribs being green, and the intervening hollows light yellow ; the ribs bearing the flavor of the fruit, which is acid, the intervening hollows being almost flavorless, but sweetish ; this portion not having its juice well elaborated. December, February.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 1 (1905)SWEET AND SOUR.
References. 1. Coxe, 1817:172. 2. Thacher, 1822:22. 3. Floy-Lindley, 1833:87. 4. Cultivator, 1:390. 1844. 5. Ib., 2:20, 102, 106, 153. 1845. 6. Ib., 3:130. 1846. 7. Thomas, 1849:186. 8. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:90. 1851. 9. Mag. Hort., 18:153. 1852. 10. Elliott, 1854:178. 11. Horticulturist, 11:46. 1856. 12. Warder, 1867:475. fig. 13. Downing, 1869:374. 14. Rural N. Y., 56:176, 412, 436, 551, 567, 770. 1897. 15. Van Deman, Ib., 59:143. 1900.
Synonyms. Bower's Apple (9). Compound (14).
Scattering trees of this variety are found in various parts of the state. It is of no special value but is propagated as a curiosity.
Thacher (2) quotes the following very interesting description of the variety and account of its origin by the Rev. Peter Whitney in the Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Volume I.
"There is now growing, in an orchard lately belonging to my honoured father, the Reverend Aaron Whitney, of Petersham, 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 often of these different tastes; the one all sour, and the other all sweet. And, which is more remarkable, the same apple will frequently be sour one side, end, or part, and the other sweet, and that not in any order or uniformity; nor is there any difference in the appearance of one part from 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 every branch of the tree. The tree stands almost in the midst of a large orchard, in a rich and strong soil, and was transplanted there forty years ago. There is no appearance of the trunk or any of the branches having been engrafted or inoculated. 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 about twenty years, there has been, constantly, the same variety in the apples. For the truth of what I have asserted, I can appeal 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 that I can conceive is, that the corcula, or hearts of two seeds, the one from a sour, the other from a sweet apple, might so incorporate in the ground as to produce but one plant; or that farina from blossoms of those opposite qualities, might pass into and impregnate the same seed. If you should think the account I have given you of this singular apple tree will be acceptable to the American academy, please to communicate it."
At the time when this account was first published it was customary in planting to set orchards with seedling trees from some local nursery, as was evidently done in this case, and if cultivated varieties were ever included they were later top-worked upon these seedling trees with which the orchard was first planted. From the account given by Whitney it is probable that the original tree of the Sweet and Sour apple originated in a seedling nursery from which it was transplanted into the orchard of his father where it first attracted attention because of the curious character of its fruit.
When this variety is discussed by fruit growers it is not unusual to hear some one relate the legend that it was produced by joining two half buds, one of a sweet the other of a sour variety, and inserting them as one bud under the bark of the stock as is ordinarily done in budding. This legend is recognized in the name "Compound" by which this apple has been known to some in Western New York (14). The supposed split-bud origin of Sweet and Sour is occasionally discussed pro and con in horticultural periodicals. An early discussion of this kind is found in the Cultivator from 1844 to 1846 (4, 5, 6) and a more recent one in the Rural New Yorker (14, 15).
The tree is vigorous, spreading and often quite productive. The fruit bears some resemblance to Rhode Island Greening in form, color, and occasionally to some degree in flavor. It is more marbled with green and yellow than Rhode Island Greening, more oblate and more often the sides are noticeably unequal.
Fruit.
Fruit above medium to rather large. Form oblate, ribbed and rather unsymmetrical. Cavity rather shallow, broad, slightly furrowed. Calyx large; lobes reflexed. Basin shallow, broad, irregular.
Skin green, especially along the ribs, with a shade of yellow on the intervening surface and particularly on the exposed cheek.
Flesh under the yellow skin very deeply tinged with yellow, mildly subacid or sweetish; but under the greenish skin, less yellow and more acid; quality remarkably variable, fair to good.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Sweet and Sour.
Medium, roundish flattened, greenish; only valued as a curiosity. From a diseased propagation.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Sweet and Sour. Rather large, with green acid ribs, and yellow insipid hollows between them—a curiosity only.