LITMIR.BIZ

      BRITISH POMOLOGY.

      ETC. ETC. ETC.

THE APPLE.

       Table of Contents

      There is no fruit, in temperate climates, so universally esteemed, and so extensively cultivated, nor is there any which is so closely identified with the social habits of the human species as the apple. Apart from the many domestic purposes to which it is applicable, the facility of its cultivation, and its adaptation to almost every latitude, have rendered it, in all ages, an object of special attention and regard. There is no part of our island where one or other of its numerous varieties is not cultivated, and few localities where the finest cannot be brought to perfection.

      The apple is a native of this, as well as almost every other country in Europe. Its normal form is the Common Wild Crab, the Pyrus Malus of Linnæus, and the numerous varieties with which our gardens and orchards abound, are the result either of the natural tendency of that tree to variation, or by its varieties being hybridized with the original species, or with each other. It belongs to the natural order Rosaceæ, section Pomeæ, and is, by botanists, included in the same genus as the pear. The principal difference between apples and pears, when considered botanically, consists in their stamens and styles; the stamens of the apple have their filaments straight, united together at the base, and forming a bundle round the styles, of which they conceal the inferior part. All the filaments of the pear on the contrary are divergent, disposed almost like the radii of a wheel, and leave the bases of the styles entirely naked and exposed. The styles in the apple are united at their base into one body, and are generally villous in that part where they adhere to each other: in the pear, however, they are separate at their base. But although the apple and pear very much resemble each other in their botanical characters, they differ very materially in their form, cellular tissue, and specific gravity. Apples have always the base umbellicate, or hollowed with a deep cavity, in which the stalk is inserted, and are generally spherical. The pear, on the other hand, is elongated towards the stalk, and is generally of a pyramidal shape, or nearly so. The cellular tissue of the apple, according to the microscopical observations of Turpin, is composed of a great number of agglomerated, distinct vesicles, each existing independent of the other, varying in size in the same fruit, and, in general, larger, as the apple is large and light. These vesicles are colorless and transparent, and vary in their form according to the want of space requisite for their individual development. They contain in greater or less abundance, a sugary, acid, or bitter juice, which is perceivable in the different varieties. The cellular tissue of the apple possesses no stony concretions, and its specific gravity is greater than that of the pear; so much so, that by taking a cube of each, of equal size, and throwing them into a vessel of water, that of the apple will float, while that of the pear will sink. In its natural or wild state the apple tree is of a small size, attaining generally about twenty feet in height, of a crooked habit of growth, with small, harsh, and austere fruit, and small thin leaves. But when improved by cultivation, it loses much of its original form, assumes a more free and luxuriant growth, with larger, thicker, and more downy leaves, and produces fruit distinguished for its size, color, and richness of flavor.

Some authors have ascribed the introduction of the apple into this country to the Romans, and others to the Normans; in both cases, however, without any evidence or well grounded authority. Mr. Loudon says, “The apple was, in all probability, introduced into Britain by the Romans, as well as the pear; and like that fruit, perhaps, re-introduced by the heads of religious houses on their establishment, after the introduction of christianity.”[A] It is more probable that it has existed as an indigenous tree throughout all ages, and that the most ancient varieties were accidental variations of the original species, with which the forests abounded. These being cultivated, and subjected to the art and industry of man, would give rise to other varieties, and thus a gradual amelioration of the fruit would be obtained. The earliest records make mention of the apple in the most familiar terms. That it was known to the ancient Britons, before the arrival of the Romans is evident from their language. In Celtic, it is called Abhall, or Abhal; in Welch, Avall; in Armoric, Afall and Avall; in Cornish, Aval and Avel. The word is derived from the pure Celtic, ball, signifying any round body.[B] The ancient Glastonbury was called by the Britons Ynys Avallaç, and Ynys Avallon, which signify an apple orchard,[C] and from this its Roman name Avallonia was derived. The apple must therefore have been known in Britain before the arrival of the Romans; and that it continued to exist after they left the island, and before the Norman conquest, is certified

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