Secretary's Budget. 281 



from Trebizonde to Gliilan as the most probable home of the 

 apple, although he thinks it quite possible, if indeed, not probable, 

 that the species originally existed also towards the eastern part of 

 Europe. There is little doubt but that the apple was widely known 

 throughout Europe previous to the records of the Greeks or Romans. 

 It was probably brought to Europe with the early Aryan migrations. 

 The name apple is itself a history of the fruit. The root of the 

 \yord is nearly the same in all the ancient oriental languages, and 

 from those languages, instead of the more modern Latin or other 

 Euroj^ean tongues, our word is evidently derived. 



Says Dr. Prior : "This was, apparently, tlie only fruit with 

 which our ancestors were acquainted before they came into Europe ; 

 for, with the exception of a few wild berries and the hazel nut, it is 

 the only one for which we have a name that is not derived from the 

 Latin or French. It seems to have accompanied them on a northern 

 route from the western spur of the Himalayan Mountains." Dried 

 and carbonized pieces of apples are found in the pre-historic lake 

 dwellings of Switzerland, and in some instances they appear to 

 belong to an age earlier than that in which metals were used. It is 

 possible that these pieces of apples were derived from wild crabs, 

 although collateral evidence points to a different origin. They 

 probably represent the earliest stages of apple culture in Europe. 

 Much later the Romans cultivated the fruit, and Pliny mentions 

 twenty-two varieties grown in his time. Many, and perhaps all, of 

 these varieties were inferior. Pliny asserts that some sorts were so 

 sour as to turn the edge of a knife. — Ex. 



LOCATION" OF ORCHAKDS. 



Orchards on high lands, or on slopes, or on slopes and ridges, 

 suffering for moisture, can not be removed to low lands, nor can 

 they be irrigated, except at an enormous expense. What then can 

 be done ? In the first place, the annual rainfall can be held to the 

 space it falls ujDon, under the tree, by the throwing up a furrow or 

 ridge around it, as far out as the limbs extend, where the ground is 

 level, and by a dam on the lower side, when the ground slopes. 

 The latter could also be made to stay a portion of the rain falling 

 on the higher ground above. Further : a general system of mulch- 

 ing ought to be adopted ; not for the purpose alone of keeping the 

 surface moist, but also for supplying food to the roots as the mulch 

 decays. If the orchard is in grass, clover, or weeds, they should 

 be mowed at least twice a year, the burden suffered to lie on the 

 ground and rot, or be thrown under the trees. After pruning, the 

 wood removed should either be left where it falls, or piled in heaps 



