THE APPLE. 17 



duly assigned to their respective places in Ms system ; 

 lamenting even then that though for many years past he 

 had been trying to gain a knowledge of all apples, and 

 though his collection of examples was now immense, yet 

 he feared he had still fallen short of the aim he had pro- 

 posed to himself, viz., to describe every apple, and with 

 unerring certainty ; since he felt it was probable several 

 kinds might now be found incorrectly classed, and even 

 some not included at all in the list. He consoles himself, 

 however, with the maxim, "Veritas temporis Jilia" All 

 agree that the finest apple of Fatherland, known and 

 admired throughout the country, is the noble Winter 

 Borsdorjfer, called by Dochnahl the " Pride of Germany," 

 and marked in his catalogue with three notes of admira- 

 tion, as of super-excellent quality. Though one of the 

 earliest varieties on record in Germany, it only became 

 known here about the close of the last century, probably 

 on account of its having been a special favourite with the 

 late Queen Charlotte, who had quantities of this fruit 

 annually imported from Germany for her own use, whence, 

 too, it is here sometimes known by the name of the 

 " Queen," or " George the Third." It is a dessert apple 

 of rich vinous flavour and pleasant perfume, about 3 in. 

 broad and 2^- high, having a short calyx set in a shallow 

 basin, and in colour most usually a golden yellow with a 

 blood-red cheek, but is sometimes pale yellow, sometimes 

 brownish or greyish, the appearance varying in some mea- 

 sure with the soils and situation. 



Another notable German apple, which does not seem 

 yet to have attracted the attention of English growers, is 

 the Mutter Apfel, a yellow, carmine-cheeked dessert apple, 

 of fine wine-sour flavour and very juicy, which has the 

 remarkable peculiarity of keeping in good preservation 

 for the unwonted period of three years. The tree is 

 healthy and very fruitful, and inclined too to grow tall, 

 especially when planted by road-sides. 



The prevalence of that mode of planting on the Con- 

 tinent greatly extends the culture of fruit-trees, vast 

 numbers being thus grown on ground which would other- 

 wise be left quite unoccupied and useless, to the great 



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