SACRED AND CLASSICAL PLANTING. 



rods wliich the princes of Israel bore. The tree has an interesting history in Greek my 

 thology. Demophoon, the son of Theseus and Phaedra, on his return from the Trojan 

 war, visited Thrace, where he was tenderly received and treated by Phyllis, a beautiful 

 queen, whose charms were not unappreciated by him. He retired to Athens, of which he 

 was king, promising to return to Thrace at the end of a month. At the expiration of the 

 time, the queen wandered daily on the sea-shore looking out for her lover, and when at 

 last winter came and he returned not, in an agony of despair, she fell dead by the sea-side, 

 and was immediately changed by the pitying gods into an almond tree. Her lover soon 

 after returned, and hearing what had taken place, flew to the tree and clasped it in his 

 arms, when the love of Phyllus, unable even then to restrain itself, caused the tree, though 

 in winter, to burst forth into blossoms. The beauty of this tree when in flower, at a time 

 when others have not begun to bud, renders it a most desirable object near to residences. 

 It is the first to interrupt the reign of winter, and consequently the earliest forerunner of 

 the coming spring. 



The Apple tree is mentioned in Holy Writ; but I am inclined to believe that our apple, 

 {Pyrus malus,) is not the tree alluded to in the Sacred text. In Canaan, and the sur- 

 rounding country, it is almost worthless, and is by no means entitled to the praise bestow- 

 ed on that tree by the Spirit of inspiration. The inhabitants of Egypt and Palestine im- 

 port their apples from Damascus, their own orchards producing no fruit fit for use. It is 

 inipossibh;, therefore, that a tree whose fruit was represented to be most delicious and 

 comforting, could be found in the " crab, or wilding," whose fruit, according to Plin}', 

 liad "many a foul word and shrewd curse given it," on account of its sourness. Besides, 

 the apple of the Scripture is classed with the vine and fig, palm and pomegranate, as fur- 

 nishing a grateful repast, and the failure of which was reckoned a serious calamity, — an 

 unquestionable proof, that we must look elsewhere for the real apple of the Holy Land. 

 In Patrick's Commentary, it is thought that the word Thepucheem, translated apples, de- 

 notes any species of fruit emitting a fragrant odor; but this definition is too vague to be 

 useful. The term occurs in six passages of Scripture, and in them all it is given as an 

 appropriate title to one of the noblest trees in the garden of Nature. " As the apple tree 

 among the trees of the wood, so is my Beloved among the sons; Isat down under hissha- 

 dow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste." Again : — " Stay me with 

 flagons, comfort me with apples, for lam sick of love." "A word fitly spoken, is like 

 apples of gold in pictures of silver." Now, when it is known that trees of the citrus fam- 

 ily flourished in Judea several centuries before the birth of Christ, and when it is recol- 

 lected how appropriate the passages quoted become, when applied to the citron or orange, 

 there is little doubt of their referring to the genus just mentioned. Flouishing under ori- 

 ental skies, the citron becomes a large and beautiful tree, having a perennial verdure, and 

 perfuming the air with exquisite odor. It is with peculiar propriety, therefore, that the 

 spou.se exclaimed : — "As the citron or orange tree among the trees of the wood, so is my 

 Beloved among the sons. I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit 

 was sweet to my taste." Those who are desirous of trying orange and citron trees in 

 England, may take courage from the fact that they grow to a large size, with a slight 

 protection during severe winters, at Salcombe, near Kingsbridge, in Devonshire; and at 

 Dartmouth, Luscombe, and Kitley. I am inclined to think that if spaces were cleaied in 

 plantations, with an open space to the south, these trees might be planted in such places 

 with every prospect of success. In severe weather, the tops and stems might be thatched 

 dead branches, and their roots covered with dry litter, and also thatched. Tl 

 uit which King Juba desci'ibes as the apple of the Ilesperides, by which name 



