THE APPLE. 139 



Devonshire, and was somewhat alarmed at hearing, very 

 late at night, the repeated discharge of fire-arms in the 

 immediate vicinity of the house. On my inquiring in the 

 morning as to what was the cause of the unseasonable 

 noise, I was told that the farm-men were firing at the 

 Apple-trees in the orchard, in order that the trees might 

 bear a good crop next season. 



If these observances tended in the least degree to confer 

 a benefit on the trees, they would not be mis-spent, for of 

 all the fruit-trees cultivated in this country, the Apple is 

 by far the most valuable, producing, with very little pains 

 on the part of the proprietor, abundance of excellent fruit, 

 fit either for the dessert, for dressing, or for making cider. 

 To prove in what estimation it is held among gardeners, 

 who resort to more sensible means for improving their 

 trees than those above mentioned, it is only necessary to 

 state that no less than 1,400 named sorts, all differing from 

 each other in shape, size, colour, flavour, or season of 

 ripening, are enumerated in the Horticultural Society's 

 Catalogue for 1831. All of these were cultivated in the 

 Society's gardens, and new varieties are constantly being 

 added. 



The fruit of the wild Apple is called a Crab, the sourness 

 of which has passed into a proverb. The juice of crabs, 

 called verjuice, is used to cure sprains and scalds, being 

 often kept by good housewives in the country for that pur- 

 pose. Isaac Walton, in his "Complete Angler," mentions 

 it as being an ingredient in the rustic delicacy, syllabub. 

 "When next you come this way, if you will but speak the 

 word, I will make you a good syllabub of new verjuice, 

 and then you may sit down in a hay-cock and eat it." 

 The old-fashioned ointment called pomatum was made 

 with the pulp of Apples (poma), lard, and rose-water. 



Though the Crab is the only Apple indigenous to Britain, 

 several of the best sorts were first raised in this country. 

 The Cornish Gilliflower is pronounced by Lindley the best 

 eating apple; the Golden Pippin, so called from the small 



