302 PYUUS MALrs. 



beyond tlio " moinorv of man."* It is to he rcgrrttrd, liowcv^r, tliat the trrcs 

 boaritiir tins cxcrlltMil variety of fruit, in many paris of ilic coiuiiiy. bct^iii to 

 niaiiifost syiiiptoins of cU-cliiit'; and it is believed l)y many, tbat tlie period bas 

 arrived, in whii-b nature is tolerminatetbeirexistciice, and Hke tbeir parent stock, 

 are abont to pass into deerej)itiidc and fnial decay. 



.\s tlie lonLM'vily of the api)le-trco is comparatively limited, which is obvious 

 from the pcrishahie nature of its wood, there arc but few very ai^ed individuals 

 to he met with, either in lluropc; or in America. The oldest trees of which we 

 have received any account, arc said to be growing near l^lymoiiib, in iMassacliu- 

 setis. and are represented as being upwards of two centuries old. An aticient 

 tree of the ' PearmaiiT' variety also stands on the Charter Dak IMace, in Hart- 

 ford. Connecticut, which was brought from iMiglaud by Mr. CJeorge Wyllis, pre- 

 vious to the year U) 1.^, and conseciueutly must be more than two hundred years 

 of aire. Its trunk, thougli much decayed, still sends forth several thrifty boughs, 

 which annually produce from two to three pecks of excellent fruit. 



On the authority of Dr. James Mease, of Philadelphia, there is a mammoth apple- 

 tree at Ronmey, in Virginia, wliicli grew spontaneously from seed, and is esti- 

 mated to be fifty years old. It has attained a height of forty-five feet, with a 

 trunk more than a yard in diameter, and a spread of branches of fifty-five feet. 

 It is said to be in a flourishing condition, and continues to increase in size. In 

 1835, it produced one hundred and eighty busbels of large fruit, besides four or 

 five bushels left under its boughs as damaged, and several busbels, which, it 

 was calculated, had been taken by visitors, in the course of the season; so that 

 the total produce, in the opinion of Dr. Mease, amounted to nearly two hundred 

 busliels. 



The greatest quantity of fruit borne on a single tree, in England, in one year, 

 that we have heard of, is recorded in Dodsley's "Annual Register," for 1777. It 

 grew in the orchard of Mr. Hackman, of Littlefield, in Sussex, and produced sev- 

 enty-four bushels of fruit, which, on being weighed, was found to average four- 

 teen pounds to each peck, and consequently the total product of the tree was 

 nearly two tons. 



The largest recorded apple-tree in Britain, is at Herbert's farm, near Hereford, 

 which, in 1836, was forty-eight feet in height, with a trunk five feet in diameter, 

 and a spread of branches of forty-eight feet. 



Legendary and Mythological Alhisions. The apple-tree, so singularly connected 

 with the first transgression and fall of man, the fruit of which, as has long been 

 supposed was eaten by Eve in Paradise, is distinguished alike in the mytholo- 

 gies of the Greeks, Scandinavians, and the Druids. The golden fruits of the Hespe- 

 rides, which it was one of the labours of Hercules to procure, in spite of the sleepless 

 dragon which guarded them, were believed by the pagans to be apples. Hercu- 

 les was worshipped by the Thebans under the name of Melius; and apples were 

 offered at his altars. The origin of this custom was the circumstance of the river 

 Asopus having, on one occasion, overflowed its banks to such an extent, as to ren- 

 der it impossible to bring a sheep across it which was to be sacrificed to Hercules; 

 when some youths, recollecting that an apple bore the same name as a sheep in 

 Greek, {melon.) offered an apple, with four little sticks stuck in it, to resemble 

 legs, as a substitute for a sheep; and after that period, the pagans always consid- 

 ered the apple as especially devoted to Hercules. In the Scandinavian " Edda," 

 we are told that the goddess Idnna had the care of apples which had the power 

 of conferring immortality; and which were consequently reserved for the gods, 

 who ate of them when they began to feel themselves growing old. The evil 

 spirit Loke took away Idnna and her apple-tree, and hid them in a forest, 

 where they could not be fonnd by the gods. In consequence of this malicious 



* On the estate of Mr. Gardner G. Howland, at Flushing, there are several old trees of this description 

 which bear abundantly every other year, and are stipposiyl to be one hundred vears of ase. 



