252 [ TV* APPLE-TREE 



THE APPLE TREE. 

 Pirus (Pyrus] Mahis Lin. ROSACEAE-POMEAE. 



Maltese tuffieha* Italian porno. French =pommier. 



The Wild Apple (Crab or Crab Apple) grows all 

 over Europe and the Caucasus, but is not indigenous in 

 Malta. It grows much further north than the pear and 

 stands the cold better than this tree, although its large 

 blossoms are easily affected by frost. The apple does 

 not thrive well in tropical or subtropical regions except at 

 a considerable elevation above the sea level. Therefore 

 the tree prefers a temperate or cold climate, but a fairly 

 hot summer is always necessary for the proper develop- 

 ment of the fruit. 



The apple tree was cultivated by the ancient Greeks 

 and Romans, these last having in Pliny's time 22 varieties 

 under cultivation, but it was not known to the ancient 

 Phoenicians, or at least was considered by them as a 

 foreign tree. The Maltese name tuffieha is a generic 

 term for any roundish fruit of some size, and is not 

 peculiar to the apple. The ancient name was probably 

 app or epp, and the term still survives in the local name 

 of the medlar (omm il-epp or omm il-app}, the medlar 

 being supposed by old gardeners to be the mother plant 

 of the apple. 



At present the cultivation of the apple has spread to 

 all temperate and cold regions of the world, and there 

 are now under cultivation close upon 3,000 varieties of 

 dessert, kitchen and cider apples, and new sorts are 

 raised almost every year. The English apples have long 

 held and still hold very deservedly the first place for 

 quality, and there are also excellent Canadian, American 

 and Australian sorts, as well as many really valuable 

 sorts raised in Continental Europe. Of course many 

 ancient varieties are next to worthless, and are now 

 entirely replaced by more recent creations, but the 

 number of varieties which are extensively cultivated is a 



