burnham sweet (provisional)

This ancient, grafted tree in Cornwall, CT was brought to our attention by Peter del Tredici and Susan Klaw in 2020. After some research, I thought I’d found the Barnham Sweet, a cultivar introduced by T.S. Gold, West Cornwall, CT before 1869. More recent research suggests that it may be Burnham Sweet, introduced by Oliver Burnham about the same time, also in Cornwall. The only descriptions of the two cultivars (Bussey, 2016 vol I p 312 and 438) are brief and nearly identical. All that separates them is one vowel and that from a time when most documentation was in handwriting, not print. When does an “a” become a “u” or vice versa? In all likelihood the two apples are one and the same. A DNA profile (AMHO 311) found no match in the reference data set. The DNA results did show that the famous ancestor of many American apples, Reinette Franche, is likely a grandparent or a more distant relative. The fruit is yellow and ripens late in the fall. Our tree—grafted from wood sent to us by Peter—is doing well but has not yet fruited as of 2024. Currently growing at Super Chilly Farm.