From the Living Museum
Morgan's Sweet
- Origin
- Uncertain; the only recorded Morgan's Sweet is a Somerset apple, exhibited in 1883
- Type / use
- Dessert · Culinary (Sweet type)
Portrait to be revealed
History & Stories
Belongs to the old low-acid ‘sweet’ class of apples. Historic dual-purpose type.
Folklore & Name
Old low-acid ‘sweet’ type. Name descriptive. Represents the historic sweet-apple class.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
Records are scarce. The UK National Apple Register, as summarised by the National Fruit Collection, lists a "Morgan's Sweet" that was exhibited in 1883 and described briefly in 1886. The register gives its home as "a favourite apple in Somerset, England (presumably)," and records a large, conical, sweet apple with dry flesh 1. The collection doesn't hold it 1.
What we think: stories & traditions
Which Morgan's Sweet? The register also lists an unrelated American "Morgan," recorded in 1817 1. We can't yet say which apple the tree in our orchard is; its fruit will be the best evidence.
Sources
- UK National Fruit Collection, "Morgan's Sweet (2)." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=4076&fruit=apple ; UK National Fruit Collection, "Morgan." www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?id=4072&fruit=apple
Curious about Morgan's Sweet?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.