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objects when covered with blossom, and the busy scenes of the 

 cider-making are not less interesting. The Apple is the most 

 useful of British fruits, and a merry business the gathering 

 generally is. Solomon had a great preference for this tree, as 

 he says, " As the Apple among the trees of the wood, so is my 

 Beloved among the sons ; " and again, " A word fitly spoken is 

 like Apples of gold in pictures of silver." 



The Wild Service tree (P. torminalis), is the next member 

 of the Apple group. It grows wild in the woods about Cleve- 

 don ; it has large leaves, with pointed lobes, and clusters of 

 white flowers. The fruit is a small berry, brown, and spotted. 



Here also nourishes the White Beam tree (Pyrus aria) ; 

 its simple leaves, lined with white cottony down, are very con- 

 spicuous. It has large showy bunches of white blossom, and 

 oval berries, red, and shading to brown. There is a group of 

 these trees of a great height in Longleat Park ; and, placed 

 as they are in front of a Fir-grove, the effect of the white 

 foliage is very striking. They grow also near a small lake on 

 Lord Bath's property, called Shearwater, and in other parts of 

 the same district. 



The True Service tree (P. domestica), I have a specimen of, 

 but not a wild one. It greatly resembles the Wild Service, 

 but has pinnate leaves, and whitish stalks. 



The Mountain Ash (P. aucuparia), is the glory of our hilly 

 woods, hanging its long branches and gay clusters of red 

 berries over rocks and cascades, and adding everywhere to 

 the beauty of the landscape. Its pinnate leaves and white 

 clusters of bloom are familiar as an ornament to the shrubbery. 

 Bird-catchers in France and Germany bait their traps with 

 these berries. This tree was highly esteemed by the Druids, 

 and it is always found growing about the places they fre- 

 quented. An old superstition existed that the Mountain Ash 

 preserved from evil spirits, and on this account it was planted 

 near houses, both in England and Scotland. In the Highlands 

 it is still deemed lucky to drive cattle with a branch of 



