This Day in History February 16, 1932

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Ready for this earth-shattering bit of information today?  On this date in 1932, James Markham was given the first ever patent for his peach tree.  You see, he crossed two peach trees, and the resulting peaches were large--no small peaches at all.  It took five years to perfect this particular peach tree.

Once Markham was able to create a peach with very small seeds, he sent it off to a nursery in St. Louis, Missouri with a penciled note of explanation.  Within a few years of studying it, an executive of the nursery bought the peach tree for $2500.  (not bad for 1932!)

So are you a peach fan?  I love peaches, but I go for the canned variety because I hate cutting up peaches!  I think I could go for some peach cobbler about now, could you?

Check out these sites for more info:
http://www.todayinsci.com/Events/Agriculture/PeachMarkham.htm
http://www.todayinsci.com/2/2_16.htm
http://www.sanjeev.net/trivia/in-1932-james-markham-obtained-the-1st-patent.html