72 THOREAU. 



their teeth by which they carried them, some con 

 taining a cricket or two silently feeding within, and 

 some, especially in damp days, a shell-less snail. The 

 very sticks and stones lodged in the tree-top might 

 have convinced you of the savoriness of the fruit 

 which has been so eagerly sought after in past years. 



I have seen no account of these among the &quot; Fruits 

 and Fruit-Trees of America,&quot; though they are more 

 memorable to my taste than the grafted kinds ; more 

 racy and wild American flavors do they possess, when 

 October and November, when December and January, 

 and perhaps February and March even, have assuaged 

 them somewhat. An old farmer in my neighborhood, 

 who always selects the right word, says that &quot; they 

 have a kind of bow-arrow tang.&quot; 



Apples for grafting appear to have been selected 

 commonly, not so much for their spirited flavor, as 

 for their mildness, their size, and bearing qualities, 

 not so much for their beauty, as for their fairness and 

 soundness. Indeed, I have no faith in the selected 

 lists of pomological gentlemen. Their &quot; Favorites &quot; 

 and &quot; Non-suches &quot; and &quot; Seek-no-farthers,&quot; when I 

 have fruited them, commonly turn out very tame and 

 forgetable. They are eaten with comparatively little 

 zest, and have no real tang nor smack to them. 



What if some of these wildings are acrid and puck- 

 ery, genuine vei juice, do they not still belong to the 

 Pomacece, which are uniformly innocent and kind to 

 our race? I still begrudge them to the cider-mill. 

 Perhaps they are not fairly ripe yet. 



No wonder that these small and high-colored apples 

 are thought to make the best cider. Loudon quotes 

 from the &quot; Herefordshire Report.&quot; that &quot; apples of a 

 small size are always, if equal in quality, to be pre- 



