THE .APPLE. 



so much was said and written about it during that cen- 

 tury, that a modern author, leaving out of view evidently 

 the fatal gift of Paris and all that grew therefrom, ven- 

 tures the bold remark concerning it, that " perhaps there 

 is no apple which at any period created such a sensation." 

 Phillips, of Splendid Shilling celebrity, who wrote an en- 

 tire poem in Virgilian measure upon " Cyder," which had 

 also the honour of being translated into Italian, in this 

 very apotheosis of apples thus exalts this idol of the day : 



" Let every tree in every garden own 

 The Redstreak as supreme, whose pulpous frui 

 With gold irradiate and vermilion shines, 

 Tempting, not fatal, as the birth of that 

 Primeval interdicted plant that won 

 Fond Eve in hapless hour to taste and die. 

 This, of more bounteous influence, inspires 

 Poetic raptures, and the lowly muse 

 Kindles to loftier strains: even I perceive 

 Her sacred virtue. See ! the numbers flow 

 Easy, whilst cheered with her nectareous juice, 

 Hers and my country's praises I exalt." 



Alas for the power of fashion, even in the matter of 

 apples ! The Redstreak is now held but in slight esteem. 



After this period Pomology declined, until some years 

 ago a new impetus was given to it by the first President 

 of the London Horticultural Society, T. A. Knight, Esq., 

 who first practically and systematically applied the dis- 

 covery of the sexes of plants, and by hybridization, or 

 transferring the pollen of one kind of blossom to the 

 stigmas of another, succeeded in producing many new and 

 valuable varieties. It is a singular fact, however, that all 

 efforts have failed to fecundate an apple by a pear-tree, it 

 being found that they will not produce a hybrid. 



Many attempts have been made by pomologists to es- 

 tablish a regular classification of apples, the method-loving 

 and labour-despising Germans, in particular, having de- 

 voted very great attention to the subject. The system of 

 Diel, usually considered the best, has been almost univer- 

 sally adopted by his countrymen ; but in 1847 Dochnahl, 

 another eminent pornologist, published a modification of 

 it, superior in some respects, as being easier of applica- 

 tion. The fruits are mostly classed according to shape, 

 whether globular, oval, cylindric, conical, oblate, angular 



