THE MEDLAR 79 



which refers to Minshull in Cheshire, the Medlar has 

 been constantly since quoted as wild in that county. 

 It finds no mention, however, in the careful posthu- 

 mous " Flora of Cheshire " by the late Lord de Tabley. 



When, in 1828, Sir James Edward Smith pub- 

 lished his " English Flora," he seems to have had no 

 suspicion that the Medlar was not wild in this 

 country. He speaks of it as " thorny in a wild state," 

 quotes the Rev. J. Davies as having found it " about 

 Ashburnham, Sussex, truly wild," and adds, "The 

 thorns disappear by culture, and are not to be seen in 

 gardens, though I have noticed them on foreign wild 

 specimens, and my late friend, Mr. Davies, of Trinity 

 College, Cambridge, observed them in Sussex. See 

 also the wooden cuts of old authors." We venture to 

 surmise, however, that this statement about thorns 

 disappearing on cultivation is pure theory so far as 

 Sir J. E. Smith is concerned ; and we very much 

 ioubt whether anyone in modern times has subjected 

 t to the test of experiment. The occurrence of the 

 spinous variety in Sussex, Surrey (where it was 

 recorded many years ago), and Devon may, perhaps, 

 therefore, suggest that the bush is as truly wild in the 

 jouth of England as in the north of France. It has 

 lot, like the Crab-apple, been carefully preserved in 

 )ur ancient deer-forests, and is now certainly rare. On 

 lie other hand, it must be admitted that all hedge- 

 row localities are suspicious, and that birds and, 

 lerhaps even more probably, squirrels may have 

 contributed to its dissemination from gardens. 



It is more as an ornamental than as a fruit-bearing 

 ,ree that the Medlar is valued in our gardens to-day. 



