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CIDER APPLES. 



KINGSTON BLACK. 



[Syn : Black Kingston; Tayiiton Black ; Taunton Black.\ 



This valuable variety is believed to be a Somersetshire apple, 

 and is said by tradition to have been raised at Kingstone, near 

 Taunton. There is, however, no authentic record of its origin. 



Description. — Fruit : of medium size, somewhat irregular in 

 shape, two and a quarter inches broad, by two inches high, forming 

 a short cone, broad and flat at the base ; obscurely angular, and 

 generally higher on one side of the apex than the other. Skin : of 

 a dark mahogany or deep crimson colour, which extends over 

 nearly the whole surface ; where the colour is paler, it is splashed 

 with broken streaks of dark crimson, and where shaded from the 

 sun, the ground colour is deep yellow, approaching orange, and this 

 is also marked with crimson streaks ; the whole surface is strewed 

 with fine cinnamon russet dots, and the base is generally covered 

 with ashy grey russet, which often runs in streaks up the sides of 

 the fruit. Eye : rather small, with erect segments, which are 

 reflexed at the tips ; stamens median ; tube funnel shaped. Stalk : 

 about a quarter of an inch long, inserted in a deep, russety cavity. 

 Flesh : yellowish, with a pink tint near the skin, and fine-grained. 

 Juice : plentiful, of a rich tawny red colour, with an agreeable 



