38 GARDEN FLOWEES. 



Among the most abundant and the brightest 

 in tint, are the apple-blossoms, which thicken 

 and redden until by the close of the month their 

 redness turns to paleness. The apple which 

 they produce is among the most valuable of 

 British fruits ; and as the tree may be grown in 

 any soil or climate, and will bear its bright 

 blossoms and its ruddy store for many years, it 

 is not surprising that it should be so generally 

 cultivated. Though only twenty-two kinds of 

 apple were known to the Eomans, several 

 hundred varieties are now reared in this land. 

 The blossoms of none are more beautiful than 

 those of the Siberian crab, {^Pyrus pnuufolia) 

 Avhich is now in flower, and the small cherry- 

 like fruits of which, though harsh to the taste, 

 are the most deeply coloured and ornamental of 

 any of the species. 



That this tree was cultivated by the ancient 

 Britons in the earlier days of this country, 

 there is little doubt. Our Enghsh name for the 

 fruit seems to have been derived from the 

 Saxon aeppel, while the cider made from its 

 juice is a slight abbreviation of the name of 

 seider, given by the early Britons to some 

 beverage which they had in common use. In 

 later days the apple juice has been used as a 

 cosmetic, and the old physicians estimated its 

 odour so highly that they often directed their 

 patients to hold in their hand " a sweet apple," 

 as a remedy in some of those alarming infec- 

 tions, which, like the plague, once preyed upon 

 the inhabitants of this land. 



