144 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ Aagust 13, 1874. 



it was only as a cider Apple: for he says, " At Lord Claren- 

 don's Beat at Swallowfield, Berks, there is an orchard of one 

 thousand (lolden and other cider Pippins." In his " Treatise 

 on Cider," he frequently notices it as a cider Apple ; but never 

 in any place that I can recollect of as a dessert fruit. In the 

 " Pomona " he says, " About London and the southern tracts, 

 the Pippin, and especially the Golden, is esteemed for making 

 the most delicious cider, most wholesome, and most resto- 

 rative." Worlidge merely notices it as smaller than the Orange 

 Apple, else much like it in colour, taste, and long keeping." 

 Ray seems the first who fully appreciated it, for after minutely 

 and correctly describing it, he says, " Ad omnes culinte nsus 

 prffistantissimum habetur, et Pomaceo conficiendo cgregium." 

 De Quintinye remarks it has altogether the character of the 

 Paradise or some other wild Apple ; it is extremely yellow and 

 round, little juice, which is pretty rich, and without bad 

 flavour. But the " Jardinier Solitaire," more impartial, or 

 with better judgment, says, " Son eau est tres sucree ; elle a 

 le gout plus relevC- yue la Reynette ; c'est ce que luy donne le 

 mCrite d'i-tre reconnue pour une tres excellente pomme." The 

 opinion of Angran de Ilueneuve is also worth recording. " La 

 Pomme d'Or est venuO d'Angleterre ; on I'y apelle Goule-Pepin. 

 J'estime qu'elle doit itre la Reyne des Pommes, et que la 

 Reynette ne doit marche qu' aprijs elle ; car elle est d'un plus 

 fin relief que toutes les autres Pommes." Switzer calls it " the 

 most antient, as well as the most excellent Apple that is." 

 But it is not my intention to record all that has been written 

 in praise of the Golden Pippin, for that of itself would occupy 

 too much space, my object in making these extracts being 

 simply to show the gradual progress of its popularity. 



-^1\ y 



Fig. 43 —The Golden Pippin Apple. 



The late President of the London Horticultural Society, 

 T. A. Knight, Esq., considered that the Golden Pippin, and 

 all the old varieties of English Apples, were in the last stage 

 of decay, and that a few years would witness their total ex- 

 tinction. This belief he founded upon the degenerate state of 

 these varieties in the Herefordshire orchards, and also upon 

 his theory that no variety of Apple will continue to exist more 

 than two hundred years. It would be needless to enter into 

 any discussion upon a subject concerning which so much has 

 already been said and written, as there is sufficient evidence 

 to confute that theory. The Pearmaiu, which is the oldest 

 English Apple on record, shows no symptoms of decay, neither 

 does the Catshead, London Pippin, Winter Quoining, or any 

 other variety ; those only having been allowed to disappear 

 from our orchards which were not worth perpetuating, and 

 their places supplied by others infinitely superior. 



It is now considerably upwards of half a century since this 

 doctrine was first promulgated, and though the old, exhausted, 

 and diseased trees of the Herefordshire orchards, of which Mr. 

 Knight spoke, together with their diseased progeny, may ere 

 this have passed away, we have the Golden I'ippin still, in all 

 the luxuriance of early youth, where it is found in a soil con- 

 genial to its growth ; and exhibiting as little symptom of 

 decay as any of the varieties which Mr. Knight raised to 

 supply the vacancy he expected it to create. 



In old nurseries like those at Sawbridgeworth, where the 

 same Golden Pippin has been cultivated for centuries, and 

 continued from year to year by grafts taken from young trees 

 in the nursery quarters, I never saw the least disposition to 



disease, canker, or decay of any kind ; but, on the contrary, 

 a free, vigorous, and healthy growth. 



But this alarm of Mr. Knight for the safety of the Golden 

 Pippin, and his tear of its extinction, were based upon no new 

 doctrine, for we find Mortimer a hundred years before, equally 

 lamenting the Kentish Pippin. After speaking of manures, 

 etc., for the regeneration of fruit trees, he says, "I shall be 

 glad if this account may put any upon the trial of raising that, 

 excellent fruit the Kentish Pippin, which else, I fear, will be- 

 lost. For I find in several orchards, both in Kent, Esses, and 

 Hertfordshire, old trees of that sort, but I can find no young 

 ones to prosper. A friend of mine tried a great many experi- 

 ments in Hertfordshire about raising them and could never 

 get them to thrive, though he had old trees in the same 

 orchard that grew and bore very well. I likewise tried several 

 experiments myself, and have had young trees thrive so well 

 as to make many shoots of a yard long in a year, but these 

 young shoots were always blasted the next year, or cankered ; 

 which makes me think that the ancients had some particular 

 way of raising them, that we have lost the knowledge of." 

 Although this was written 150 years ago, we have the Kentisb 

 Pippin still, which though not so much cultivated, or so well 

 known now as then, is, nevertheless, where it does exist, as 

 vigorous and healthy as ever it was. 



The fruit (/<7.43) is small; roundish, inclining to oblong, regu- 

 larly and handsomely shaped, without inequalities or angles ou 

 the sides. Skin rich yellow, assuming a deep gulden tinge when 

 perfectly ripe, with a deeper tinge where it has been exposed 

 to the sun ; the whole surface is strewed with russety dots, 

 which are largest on the sunny side, and intermixed with these 

 are numerous embedded pearly specks. Eye small and open, 

 with long segments, placed in a shallow, smooth, and even 

 basin. Stalk from half an inch to an inch in length, inserted 

 in a pretty deep cavity. Flesh yellow, firm, crisp, very juicy 

 and sugary, with a brisk, vinous, and particularly fine flavour. 



One of the oldest and by far the most highly esteemed of 

 our dessert Apples. It is also an excellent cider Apple. The 

 specific gravity of its juice is 1078. 



It is in season from November to April. The tree is a free 

 and vigorous grower, but does not attain a great size. It is 

 also an excellent bearer. — H. 



FEKNS AS WINDOW PLANTS. 

 Theke are few plants which require less attention and yet. 

 give more satisfaction to dwellers in towns than do the hardier 

 description of Ferns. From the fact that many of them are 

 greenest and best in winter when other plants are out of bloom, 

 their culture ought to be patronised by the poorer classes who 

 cannot afford more expensive plants. Amongst the limestone 

 formations of North Lancashire the Fern commonly known as 

 Stag's-head is very numerous and luxuriant. The beautiful 

 green fronds grow to a length of 12 inches to 18 inches, and 

 many of them, when cultivated in pots, fork so as to be rare 

 and beautiful Ferns, the tips of the fronds forming into a 

 bunch. I should like to call the attention of city horticul- 

 turists to the fact that these Ferns might be gathered at a very 

 trifling expense and sent to town by waggonloads, seeing that 

 the hedges are full of them in the district named. Arrived in 

 cities they might be potted, and a good profit realised from the 

 sale at from 'id. to Is. per pot. They wiU live tor many years,, 

 and would form "a thing of joy" in many humble homes, to the 

 dwellers in which the sight of a green leaf is a pleasure. The 

 beautiful little Maiden-hair, Royal, Parsley, and other Ferns, 

 are equally common in the district. — Beta. 



PLEASLEY VALE, 



THE BESIDENCE OF W. HOLLKS, Esa. 



Derbyshire is noted for its romantic dales, but though 

 many of these are far more renowned, yet few will better 

 repay a visit on a quiet summer's day than Pleasley Vale. 

 Ktx hour's ride by rail from Nottingham brings us to Mans- 

 field, a moderate-sized and pleasantly-situated market and 

 manufacturing town, a place of great antiquity, and well 

 known by name to the admirers of Robin Hood and his ex- 

 ploits. Leaving Mansfield by the road, we thread the village 

 of Mansfield Woodhouse, where there is a picturesque church, 

 and passing quarries, corn fields, and meadows, after a mile 

 and a half we reach the scene of the present paper. Descend- 

 ing by a steep path which winds between crags that in places 

 tower high overhead, and from whose summits hang as it were 



