5 2 Fruits and Fruit- Trees. 



THE ROWAN, OR MOUNTAIN-ASH 



(Pyrus Attcuparia). 



THE Rowan claims a place among the fruit-trees because 

 of the excellent jelly which, as in the case of the medlar, 

 may be prepared from the so-called "berries" when 

 mellowed by autumn. Popularly this well-known fruit 

 is supposed to be poisonous. But it is eaten by birds, 

 field-fares in particular, with avidity ; the scientific appel- 

 lation, Aucuparia, signifies the fowlers' or bird-catchers' 

 tree; if thrown within their reach, the berries are 

 speedily gathered up by poultry ; and it is needful only 

 to visit Arran, to say nothing of northern continental 

 Europe, to discover how they are esteemed for the use 

 first named the preparation of jelly. That the jelly, 

 however sweetened, is somewhat bitter must be con- 

 fessed; nevertheless it is by far the nicest kind to eat 

 with venison. To make the jelly, boil the "berries" in 

 water (cold at first) till reduced to such a consistence that 

 the fluid can be strained through a canvas bag ; to every 

 quart of the fluid add two pounds of loaf sugar, then boil 

 again for ten minutes. 



That in elegance of profile the mountain-ash is almost 

 unrivalled scarcely needs mention. Attaining the stature 

 of twenty or thirty feet,* it is one of the few trees which 



* Mr. A. D. Webster, of Penrhyn, mentions one, a giant of its 

 kind, the girth of which, at a yard above the ground, is seven feet 

 eight inches, the spread of the branches covering a space of forty-two 

 feet in diameter. This is probably the very largest in the country. 



