FRUIT TREES. 165 



and in the hedge-rows, that produce a great deal 

 of fruit. The sour juice of the crab, previously to the 

 introduction of the modern methods of obtaining 

 vegetable acids, was in considerable request under 

 the name of verjuice. 



TIMBER OP TREES CULTIVATED PRINCIPALLY ON 

 ACCOUNT OF THEIR FRUIT. 



The varieties of trees of this description are almost 

 innumerable; and so much has been done by culti- 

 vation, grafting, inoculating, and mixing of sorts, 

 that the knowledge of these sorts has become almost 

 a science in itself. The original varieties and even 

 species are lost and confounded; and man contests 

 with nature in the production of the varied fruits that 

 appear in our markets, not only as respects the sorts, 

 but as regards the times at which they are brought 

 to market. 



Considered merely as timber-trees, they are much 

 more simple. They may be divided into two classes, 

 stone-fruits, or those that have a hard kernel enclosed 

 in a soft pulp; and fruits that have seeds or pips, 

 and the pulp of a firmer consistency. With the ex- 

 ception of the peach, the nectarine, and the almond, 

 which form the genus Jlmygdalus, the whole of the 

 stone-fruits are contained in the genus Prunus, and the 

 seeded fruits in the genus Pyrus or Mespilus. None 

 of the genus Amygdalus are reared as timber- trees 

 in any part of this country: it will, therefore, suffice 

 to confine the few observations that are to be made 

 to the others. 



The wood of these two genera is close and compact, 

 and takes a good polish; that of the wild sorts being 

 better than that of the cultivated, and the deteriora- 

 tion being in proportion to the highness of the culti- 

 vation. In this they follow the general law, that self- 

 planted trees yield the best timber; and, in addition to 



