46 THE WILD-FLOWERS OF SELBORNE 



as far north as the Shetland Isles, are doubtless the 

 origin of the cultivated varieties. 



In these days of advanced horticulture the fruit of 

 the wild apple (Pyrus malus), and of the wild pear 

 (P. communis), would hardly be regarded as "good 

 for food " ; but it is certain that in ancient times they 

 were both largely used. In the lake-dwellings of 

 Switzerland and Italy great quantities of wild apples 

 and a few wild pears have been found. "The in- 

 habitants of the terra-mare of Parma, and of the 

 palafittes of the lakes of Lombardy, Savoy, and 

 Switzerland," says De Candolle, "made great use of 

 apples. They always cut them lengthways, and pre- 

 served them dried as a provision for the winter. The 

 specimens are often carbonised by fire, but the internal 

 structure of the fruit is only the more clearly to be 

 distinguished." And from a scientific examination of 

 these carbonised specimens it seems to be established 

 that many of these ancient apples were almost identical 

 with the wild apple of to-day. But even in the six- 

 teenth century the crab-apple of our woods was held 

 in far higher esteem than it is now. " Roasted crabs " 

 served with hot ale was, as we learn from Shake- 

 speare, a favourite dish among our forefathers, especi- 

 ally at Christmas time. Another use of the crab-apple 

 was in the making of verjuice, of which mention is 

 made by Izaak Walton in his Compleat Angler: 

 " When next you come this way," says the honest 

 milk-woman, " if you will but speak the word I will 

 make you a good syllabub of new verjuce, and you 

 shall sit down in a haycock and eat it." But we don't 

 care for such rustic delicacies now. 



Like the strawberry, the cultivation of currants 

 and gooseberries was unknown among the Greeks and 



