3i2 THE FRUIT GROWER'S GUIDE, 



hoped the time is not far distant when, under favourable seasons, our populations will be 

 afforded an adequate supply of apples as the produce of home industry, or, in other words, 

 have a full and satisfactory provision of British fruit grown in British soil. 



Relative to the uses of apples ; they have been concisely enumerated by Dr. Hogg in 

 his Vegetable Kingdom. He sajs : " The apple is the most useful of all British fruits. 

 It is an important article of food in the form of pies and puddings, and in some countries 

 a necessary beverage is made from its juice, and called cider. It also affords several 

 delicacies, as sauces, marmalades, and jellies, and is highly esteemed as a dessert fruit. 

 When baked in ovens and flattened in the form of round cakes, apples are called 'Beef- 

 ings,' and large quantities are dried in Normandy and America for use during the 

 winter, when they are stewed and used in pies. Eoasted apples are remarkably whole- 

 some. They have a laxative effect and strengthen a weak stomach, and they are equally 

 efficacious in putrid and malignant fevers, with the juice of lemons and currants. There 

 is an old English beverage called ' Lamb's Wool,' or more properly, Limasool, composed 

 of ale and the pulp of roasted apples with sugar and spice. It is so called from La macs 

 abhal, which, in ancient British, signifies the day of apple fruit, from being drunk on the 

 apple feast in autumn. In France, a sort of rob, called by the Parisians ' Raisine'e,' is 

 made by boiling any given quantity of new wine, skimming it as often as fresh scum 

 rises, and when it is boiled to half its bulk, straining it. To this, apples, pared and cut 

 into quarters, are added. The whole is allowed to simmer gently, stirring it all the 

 time with a wooden spoon, till the apples arc; thoroughly mixed with the liquor, and 

 the whole forms a species of marmalade which is extremely agreea,ble to the taste, 

 being sweet, with a slight flavour of acidity, like lemon mixed with honey. In this 

 country, where new wine in sufficient quantity and at a reasonable price, cannot be 

 obtained, cider may be substituted. From the juice of the wild crab, Verjuice is 

 obtained, which is good against strains, spasms, and cramps. ' Pomatum ' receives its 

 name from being originally made of the pulp of apples mixed with lard. The wood of 

 the apple tree is very fine-grained, hard, and compact, and when green weighs from 

 48 Ibs. to 56 Ibs. per cubic foot ; when dried it loses about a tenth. It is used for turning 

 and various purposes where hardness and variegation of colour are objects. The small 

 cherry apple, or scarlet Siberian Crab as it is sometimes called, is Pyrus baccata, a 

 native of Siberia, where it is used for making 'quasar punch.' It is a highly orna- 

 mental tree in this country, and its fruit makes an excellent preserve." 



The relative proportions of the constituents of apples differ somewhat with the 



