It’s probably out there somewhere in Androscoggin County – lost for many years, maybe on the verge of extinction.

The search is on for the Briggs Auburn, and maybe you can help find it.

The Briggs Auburn is a variety of apple known as a heritage apple. Members of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association hope a tree or two may still be producing fruit.

MOFGA’s pomological proponents, in an appeal to area residents, said, “You may have unknowingly seen it in your travels, perhaps not giving it much thought – but you should.”

MOFGA says old trees should still exist. It has located one in Waldo County, but never one near Auburn.

The Briggs Auburn (also called “Briggs”) is a classic old apple that originated in Minot, according to MOFGA. It’s one of many rare local varieties that played a key role in Maine’s small-scale diversified agriculture for nearly 300 years.

Briggs Auburn is said to have originated on the farm of Thomas Record in Minot, then part of Auburn. It was popularized in the mid-1800s by John C. Briggs.

The fruit is described as “large, oblate (slightly flattened), mostly yellow and blushed with red.” It ripened at this time of the year and would keep well into the winter months.

I took a quick survey of old apple trees on our farm in Auburn, but it looks like the Briggs Auburn wasn’t growing here. Nevertheless, it brought back some good memories.

Very close to the north wall of our farmhouse, there was an apple tree with branches above the roof. I remember, when I was a young boy, hearing apples bounce off the roof, and it’s no wonder they made such a solid “thunk.”

My grandmother called them her “two-pie apples.” That tree, now gone, was the variety named “Twenty Ounce.”

Across the road, there’s another old tree that produces poorly now. It’s the Wolf River apple, which also grew large and kept into the winter. They were not what we considered “eating apples.” They were for pies, mincemeat and applesauce.

Storage was the important thing many years ago. Today, sweeter and better-tasting apples are grown and modern methods make it possible to preserve them for market.

I asked Peter Wallingford, owner of Wallingford’s Fruit House on Perkins Ridge in Auburn, about heritage apples. He said his expertise is in growing apples, not their history, but he had some interesting thoughts about the Briggs and other varieties.

Wallingford’s family owned property in Minot known as the Briggs farm. He suspects that’s where the variety originated. He also said a nearby farm is the location of an original Ben Davis apple tree, and it may still be alive and producing there.

“The Ben Davis stored well. It was packed in barrels and shipped on sailing vessels to England, and they said it had a great flavor when it got there after weeks or months at sea. I don’t know if it was the salty air or what,” Wallingford said.

Today, flavor determines top sellers. Most of Wallingford’s trees are McIntosh and Macoun, which are in demand by today’s buyers.

Wallingford said Honey Crisp is a new and up-and-coming variety.

“We can’t plant them fast enough,” he said.

Although Wallingford doesn’t grow heritage apples, he does have two or three old Tolman Sweet trees that he says are popular with a few customers because their particular sugar content is thought to be favorable for people with diabetes. They are yellow with a slim green streak down the side.

“The porcupines love ’em, and most years they get most of mine,” Wallingford said – and the trails made by the animals through the grass were clearly evident.

He also said he has some Northern Spies that some people continue to seek out.

This subject of heritage apples has caught my attention and I began looking for Internet information. There’s a ton of it out there, and like most things that interest me, I found that the more I learn, the more I find I don’t know. And there’s much contradictory and confusing information.

I found references to Ben Davis apples originating in Virginia, not Maine. I learned that the Wolf River is often called “a teacher’s desk apple” and it came from an area near Wolf River, Wis., about the time of the Civil War.

I learned that the Twenty Ounce has a greenish background overlaid with wide red stripes and it originated in upstate New York in 1840.

If you locate an apple on an ancient tree that might be Briggs Auburn, it’s not likely to bring you widespread fame or fortune. Nevertheless, bring it with you to the sixth annual Great Maine Apple Day, Saturday, Oct. 14, at the MOFGA Education Center in Unity. Your apple will get you in free.

MOFGA will assemble all the candidates on a table and a panel of experts will attempt to determine correct submissions.

The Great Maine Apple Day, with events from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., features a wide assortment of apples for sale, as well as apple products and cheese.

There will be a kids’ program and you can explore the Maine Heritage Orchard with many apple trees that originated in Maine. It includes a Briggs Auburn tree. For more information, call MOFGA at 568-4142 or visit www.mofga.org.

Dave Sargent is a freelance writer and an Auburn native. You can e-mail him at [email protected].