New Year's Day Custom

I shall be glad if any of your readers can inform me of the origin and signification, of the custom of carrying about decorated apples on New Year's Day, and presenting them to the friends of the bearers. The apples have three skewers of wood stuck into them so as to form a tripod foundation, and their sides are ornamented with oat grains, while various evergreens and berries adorn the top. A raisin is occasionally fastened on each oat grain, but this is, I believe, and innovation.