58 Commercial Gardening 



It is said that the "Old English Pearmain" is the oldest known English 

 Apple on record, having been cultivated in Norfolk before the year 1200- 

 The "Costard Apple", which is said to have given the name of costard- 

 monger or costermonger to vendors of it, was known in the thirteenth 

 century; while other old English Apples, like the Catshead, the English 

 Codlin, Golden Pippin, Golden Reinette, the Joanetting, &c., were not 

 recorded until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 



It was not, however, until the end of the eighteenth and the beginning 

 of the nineteenth century that anything like a systematic attempt was 

 made in England to improve the different varieties of Apple. Thomas 

 Andrew Knight (born 10 October, 1758, died 11 May, 1838), paid special 

 attention to the Apple, and infused a spirit of higher methods of culti- 

 vation and selection into the pomologists of his day. Since his time still 

 greater advances have been made. Gardeners have a far better know- 

 ledge of the principles underlying hybridization and cross-fertilization, 

 and more scientific methods are adopted for raising new varieties of 

 excellence. Notwithstanding this, it must be admitted that many of the 

 older kinds of apples, about whose parentage little or nothing is known, 

 are still in the front rank. In private gardens a far larger variety of 

 kinds is to be found than in market gardens, for the simple reason that 

 once the latter are planted, from 50 to 100 years or more may elapse 

 before newer and better varieties may take their place. 



Area under Cultivation. From the statistics published by the Board 

 of Agriculture in England, and the Department of Agriculture and 

 Technical Instruction in Ireland, it appears that, out of a total of 

 77,836,769 ac., about 178,548 ac. of land in the United Kingdom 

 are planted with Apple trees. England, with an area of 32,527,070 ac., 

 is far and away ahead of either Scotland, Ireland, or Wales, having 

 about 168,762 ac. out of the whole. Ireland, with an area of 20,819,928 ac., 

 comes next with 5797 ac.; then Wales, with an area of 4,712,281 ac., has 

 3087 ac.; while Scotland, with an area of 19,777,490 ac., has only 901 ac. 

 under Apple cultivation. The latest returns (1911) show 166,522 ac. for 

 England, 2841 ac. for Wales, and 789 ac. for Scotland; so that there has 

 been a decrease in the area of Apple culture of about 2600 ac. in a couple 

 of years in Great Britain. It is easy to understand why Scotland should 

 have so small an acreage. The climate is more severe and the soil more un- 

 suitable in many parts; and the difficulty of transit to distant markets has 

 no doubt also had an influence in keeping Apple culture down. In Ireland, 

 where the climate is much more genial, and where Apples could be grown 

 in almost every part, there is probably a great future for the industry once 

 economic conditions begin to improve and emigration begins to subside. 



Considering its mountainous character, and the fact that it is only 

 about one-eighth the size of England, Wales has a very fair acreage 

 under Apples. 



Taking the counties of England, the following figures show centres 

 where Apples are most largely grown: 



