56 THE APPLE. 



of encouraging birds, and to the thorn and arbor vitse hedges 

 growing here, and which are greatly resorted to by those of the 

 feathered tribe which are the greatest enemies of the insect race. 

 Among animals, the toad and the bat are great insect destroy- 

 ers. The common bat lives almost entirely upon them, and 

 in its evening sallies devours a great number of moths, beetles, 

 weevils, etc. ; and the toad quietly makes way with numberless 

 smaller insects. 





CHAPTER VIII. 

 THE APPLE. 



Pyrus Mcdus, L. Rosacete, of botanists. 



Pommier, of the French j Apfdbaum, German ; Apfel, Dutch ; Mdo porno, Italian ; 

 and Manzana, Spanish. 



THE Apple is the world-renowned fruit of temperate climates. 

 From the most remote periods it has been the subject of praise 

 among writers and poets, and the old mythologies all endow its 

 fruit with wonderful virtues. The allegorical tree of know- 

 ledge bore apples, and the celebrated golden fruit of the or- 

 chards of Hesperus, guarded by the sleepless dragon which it 

 was one of the triumphs of Hercules to slay, were also apples, 

 according to the old legends. Among the heathen gods of the 

 north, there were apples fabled to possess the power of confer- 

 ring immortality, which were carefully watched over by the 

 goddess Iduna, and kept for the especial dessert of the gods who 

 felt themselves growing old ! As the mistletoe grew chiefly on 

 the apple and the oak, the former tree was looked upon with 

 great respect and reverence by the ancient Druids of Britain, 

 and even to this day, in some parts of England, the antique cus- 

 tom of saluting the apple trees in the orchards, in the hope of 

 obtaining a good crop the next year, still lingers among the 

 farmers of portions of Devonshire and Herefordshire. This 

 odd ceremony consists of saluting the tree with a portion of the 

 contents of a wassail bowl of cider, with a toast in it, by pouring 

 a little of the cider about the roots, and even hanging a bit of the 

 toast on the branches of the most barren, the farmer and his 

 men dancing in a circle round the tree, and singing rude songs 

 like the following : 



" Here's to thee, old apple tree, 



Whence thou mayst bud, and whence thou mayst blow; 

 And whence thou mayst bear apples enow, 

 Hats full! caps full- 

 Bushels and sacksfull ! 

 Huz/.a !" 



