P YR 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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433 



Nonpareil, but not so flat, and is a little longer; the side next 

 the sun is of a bright russet colour: the flesh is breaking, 

 and has an aromatic flavour. It ripens in October. 10. The 

 Hertfordshire Pearmain, sometimes called the Winter Pear- 

 main, is a good-sized fruit, rather long than round, of a fine 

 red next the sun, and striped with the same colour on the 

 other side ; the flesh is juicy, and stews well, but is not 

 esteemed for eating by any nice palates. This is fit for use 

 in November and December. 11. The Kentish Pippin, is a 

 large handsome fruit, of an oblong figure; the skin is of a 

 pale green colour: the flesh is breaking, and full of juice, 

 which is of a quick acid flavour. This is a very good kitchen 

 fruit, and will keep till February. 12. The Holland Pippin, 

 is larger than the former; the fruit is somewhat longer, the 

 skin of a darker green, and the flesh firm and juicy. This 

 is a very good kitchen fruit, and will keep late in the season. 



13. The Monstrous Rennet, is a very large apple, of an ob- 

 long shape, turning red towards the sun, but of a dark green 

 on the other side ; but, as the flesh is apt to be mealy, it is 

 generally preserved solely for the magnitude of the fruit. 



14. The Embroidered Apple, is a pretty large fruit, some- 

 what shaped like the Pearmain, but the stripes of red are 

 very broad, from whence the gardeners have given it this 

 title : it is a middling fruit, and is commonly used as a 

 kitchen apple, though there are many better. 15. The 

 Royal Russet, by some called the Leather Coat Russet, on 

 account of the deep russet colour of the skin, is a large fair 

 fruit, of an oblong figure, broad towards the base, with a flesh 

 inclinable to yellow. This is one of the best kitchen Apples 

 we have, and is a very great bearer: the trees grow large and 

 handsome; and the fruit, which is pleasant eating, is in season 

 from October to April. 16. Wheeler's Russet, is middling-sized, 

 flat, and round ; the stalk is slender; the side next the sun of a 

 light russet colour, and the other side inclining to a pale yellow 

 when ripe. The flesh is firm, and the juice has a very quick 

 acid flavour, but is an excellent fcitchen-fruit, and will keep 

 a long time. 17. Pile's Russet, is not quite so large as the 

 former, but is of an oval figure, of a russet colour to the sun, 

 and of a dark green on the other side; it is a very firm fruit, 

 of a sharp acid flavour, but much esteemed for baking, and 

 will keep sound till April or later, if they are well preserved. 

 18. The Nonpareil, is a fruit pretty generally known in Eng- 

 land, though there is another apple frequently sold in the 

 markets for it, which is what the French call Haute-bonne; 

 this is a larger fairer fruit than the Nonpareil, more inclining 

 to yellow, the russet colour brighter, and it is earlier ripe and 

 decays sooner : this is not so flat as the true Nonpareil, nor is 

 the juice so sharp, though it is a good apple in its season; but 

 the Nonpareil is seldom ripe before Christmas, and, if well 

 preserved, will keep perfectly sound till May. This therefore 

 is justly esteemed one of the best apples yet known. 19. 

 The Golden Pippin, is a fruit almost peculiar to England, 

 as there are few other countries where it succeeds well; nor 

 indeed does it, in some parts of England itself, produce such 

 good fruit as it might; which is in some measure owing to 

 their being grafted on free-stocks, which enlarge the fru.it, but 

 render it less valuable, because the flesh is not so firm, nor 

 the flavour so quick ; hence it is apt to be dry and mealy, 

 and should, to prevent that, be always grafted on a Crab- 

 stock, which will not canker like the others; and though the 

 fr.uit will lie less sightly, it will be better flavoured, and keep 

 longer. The above are the best sorts of Apples, so that 

 where they can be had, no person will prefer others. In Mr. 



K Miller's time, the apples in most esteem for cider-making, 

 vere the Red Streak, which is still in being, but on the de- 

 fine. The Devonshire Royal Wilding ; the Whitsour ; the 



Herefordshire Under-Leaf; the John Apple; the Everlast- 

 ing Hanger; the Gennet Moyle. These have been since 

 gradually yielding toother varieties, which will be supplanted 

 in their turn by others; and it is now generally allowed, that 

 applet;, which are the produce of art and cultivation, cannot 

 be continued beyond a certain period. The law of nature, 

 Mr. Marshal observes, though it suffer man to improve the 

 fruits which are presented to him, appears to have set bounds 

 to his art, and to have determined the years of his creations. 

 Artificial propagation cannot preserve the varieties in perpe- 

 tuity; a time arrives, when they can be no longer propagated 

 with success; hence all the old Cider fruits are lost, or are 

 so far on the decline as to be deemed irrecoverable. The 

 popular idea among the orchard-men of Herefordshire is, 

 that the decline of the old fruits is owing to a want of fresh 

 grafts from abroad, under a notion that the highest flavoured 

 apples grow there in a state of nature, as the Crab does in 

 this island. It hardly needs to be observed, that this is a 

 gross error. Propagation and Culture. All the sorts of 

 Apples are propagated by grafting or budding upon the 

 stocks of the same kind, for they will not take upon any other 

 sort of fruit-tree. In the nursericsi there are three sorts of 

 stocks generally used to graft Apples upon; the first are 

 called free-stocks; these are raised from the kernels of all 

 sorts of Apples indiscriminately, and sometimes they are all 

 called Crab-stocks; for all those trees which are produced 

 from the seeds before they are grafted, are termed Crabs, 

 without any distinction : but 1, says the judicious Philip 

 Miller, should always prefer such stocks as are raised from 

 the kernels of Crabs, where they are pressed for verjuice, and 

 I find several of the old writers of the same mind. Austen, 

 who wrote above a hundred years ago, says, the stock which 

 he accounts best for Apple-grafts, is the Crab, which is better 

 than sweeter Apple-trees to graft on, because they are usually 

 free from canker, and will become very large trees, and, I 

 conceive, will last longer than stocks of sweeter Apples, and 

 will make the fruit more strong and hardy' to endure frost : 

 it is in fuct very certain, that by frequently grafting some 

 sorts of Apples upon freer-stocks, the fruits have been 

 rendered less firm and poignant, and of shorter duration. 

 The second sort of stock is the Dutch Paradise Apple, or 

 Creeper; these are designed to stint the growth of the trees, 

 and to keep thern in compass for dwarfs or espaliers. The 

 third sort is the Paradise Apple, which is a very low shrnh, 

 and the only proper trees which are kept in pots by way of 

 curiosity, for they do not continue long. Some persons have 

 made use of Codlin-stocks for grafting- Apples, in order to 

 stint their growth ; but as these are eommoiily propagated 

 by suckers, I would by no means, says Mr. Miller, advise the 

 using them; nor would 1 chuse to raise the Codlin-tiees from 

 suckers, but to graft them upon Crab-stocks, which will cause 

 tho fruit to be firmer, last longer, and have a sharper flavour; 

 and such trees will last much longer sound, and never put 

 out suckers, as the Codlins always do, which if not constantly 

 taken off, will weaken Uie tnees, causing fhem to canker: it 

 is not only from the roots, but from the knots of the-ir stems, that 

 there are generally a great number of strong shoots produced, 

 which fill the trees with useless wood, and render than un- 

 sightly, and the fruit small and crumpled. The method of 

 raising stocks from the kernels of Crabs or Apples, is to 

 procure them where they are pressed for verjuice or cider, 

 and after they are cleared of the pulp, they may be sown 

 upon a bed of Ii-ht earth, covering them over about half an 

 inch thick with the same light earth : these may be sown in 

 November and December, where the ground is dry ; but in 

 wet ground, it will be better to defer it till February, but then 



