WINTER MEETING. 171 



History of the Apple. 



Dan. Carpenter, Barry, Mo. 



PREFACE. 



The subject Is the most difficult and the most barren of materials I have ever at- 

 tempted. If I have failed to meet the expectations of the Society, 'tis no less so with my 

 desires, bnt Is not for lack of effort, but of means and facilities. The positive dearth of ma- 

 terials from which to write a correct and standard paper Is surprising. 



I acknowledge Indebtedness to the following works : 



Appleton's Am. Encyclopedia; 



New American Encyclopedia; 



Encyclopedia Americana; 



Encyclopedia Britannlca and Supplement; 



Johnson's, Chambers' and Reese's Encyclopedias; 



Encyclopedia of Rel. Knowledge and Brande's Encyclopedia; 



Encyclopaedic Dictionary; 



Penn. Encyclopedia; 



Downing and Barry; 



The Holy Scriptures and comments. 



I am grateful to Prof. Green, of the Experiment station of the Minnesota State Univer- 

 sity, for copious extracts from Darwin and De Condole, and to C. W. Murdfeldt for suggest- 

 ing the correspondence. Also to David W. May, of Columbia, for extracts from "Diet, of 

 Popular Names of Economic Plants," "Henderson's Hand-book of Plants," and the "Cen- 

 tury Dictionary, ' ' and for valuable thoughts of his own. 



I would also thank Hon. D C. Allen and Maj. Hardwlck for valuable suggestions and 

 quotations, and Maj. Jno. Dougherty, Attorney Lawson and William Jewell college for 

 courtesies extended. 



The work is done— good, bad or indifferent. It Is probably the last, if not the best effort. 

 I will ever make for the Society. 



A History of the Apple— Its Origin, Estimation, Uses, etc. 



In all ages, by all people, in every land and clime, wherever it has 

 been introduced, the apple has been held in highest esteem by all 

 classes of society. It is pre-eminently the fruit of the temperate zone^ 

 and cosmopolitan in its uses. Unlike all tropical fruits, it requires no 

 cultivation of taste to like "it. To the wild savage of America, the 

 rude barbarian of Africa, the half-civilized hordes of the jungles of 

 India, the blubber-eating Eskimo of Lapland, the seal-loving Aleut of 

 Siberia, the "heathen Chinee," the voluptuous pilgrim to Mecca, the 

 civilized white elephant worshiper of Siam, the enlightened European^ 

 the cultivated Anglo-Saxon, and the exalted descendants of the Puri- 

 tans, Quakers and Huguenots of our own happy land — to all alike it is 

 equally palatable and desirable, without previous cultivation of taste^ 

 The king in his palace, the wealthy in his mansion, the poor man in his 

 cottage, the barbarian in his hut and the savage in his wigwam, all hold 

 it in high esteem as a food and relish it as a dessert. There is no place 

 where praise of its beauty and excellence is not heard or its glory 

 unsung. 



