XXVI. roha'ceje: py'rus. -^ 429 



colour; and that of the cultivated apple tree is said to be of a still finer and closer 

 grain, which is a result of cultivation contrary to what is usual. The weight 

 of the wood of the apple tree varies much according to the locality in which 

 it is grown. In a green state, it weighs from 48 lb. to 66 lb. per cubic foot ; 

 and it loses from an eighth to a twelfth of its bulk in drying, and about a tenth 

 of its weight. The wood of the cultivated tree weighs heavier than that of 

 the wild tree, in the proportion of about 66 to 45. The tree, as an object in 

 landscipe scenery, cannot be recommended as harmonising well with other 

 forms ; but, as it has a character of its own, and as the fruit is of the greatest 

 use to the poor, as well as to the rich, it deserves introduction into every 

 hedgerow and every orchard. For hedgerows, it is more especially desirable, 

 as, tliough not so fastiiriate as the pear, it does very little injury to the cro[)s 

 by its shade; and it may be added, that, in nurseries and market-gardens, the 

 former more especially, young trees of almost every kind thrive under the 

 shade both of the apple and the pear. The crab is used as a stock for the cul- 

 tivated apple, and for all the other species and varieties of this division of the 

 genus ; but, as we have before observed, it will not serve as a stock for the 

 pear, or any of the plants included in that or the other divisions of Pyrus. 

 In f ranee, and also in some parts of Germany, the thorny wild apple, or crab, 

 is formed into live hedges, the branches of which, according to Agricola, are 

 inarched into each other, in order to give them more strength to resist cattle. 

 The fruit of the crab, in the forests of France, is a great resource for the 

 wild boar; and it is also given in that country to swine and cows. A drink 

 of it, called boisson, is made in some parts of France, as well as in England ; 

 and verjuice is a well-known description of vinegar produced from the most 

 austere of the fruit. The bark affords a yellow dye ; and the leaves are eaten 

 by horses, cows, sheep, and goats. Pomatum, according to Gerard, was so 

 called from its being anciently made of the pulp of apples beaten up with 

 " swine's grease" (lard) and rose-water. The uses of the apple as an eatable 

 fruit are very numerous, and well known. The apple, as a fruit tree, will do 

 no good, except in a fertile soil and a sheltered situation. All the best ap|)le 

 orchards of England, and more especially those of the cider districts, it has 

 been observed by geologists, follow the tract of red sandstone, which stretches 

 across the island from Dorsetshire to Yorkshire. It has been observed in 

 Ireland (see Dub/in Soc. Trans.), that the best orchards there are on lime- 

 stone gravel ; and, in Scotland, that the few orchards which are to be found 

 in that country are on soils more or less calcareous. On the Continent, the 

 two districts most famous for apple trees are Normandy and the Vale of 

 Stuttgard ; and the subsoil, in both countries, is well known to be limestone. 

 In short, every kind of fruit, to be brought to perfection, requires a soil more 

 or less calcareous. 



The propagation and culture of the apple are the same as those of the 

 pear tree. Wild crabs, like wild pears, are gathered when they are fully ripe, 

 and either laid in a heap to rot, or passed between fluted rollers, and the 

 crushed fruit pressed for the juice, which is made into an inferior kind of cider 

 or perry, and the seeds are afterwards separated from the pomace by macer- 

 ation in water and sifting. The apple, like the pear, may be grafted on the 

 common thorn ; but it does not form nearly so desirable a tree on that stock 

 as the pear does, and therefore crab stocks are always to be preferred. As 

 a fruit tree, where it is intended to be grown as a dwarf, the paradise stock 

 effects for it what the quince does for the pear, and the C'crasus Mahdleb for 

 the cherry. (See E7ici)c. of Gard., edit. 1835.) 



i i 18. P. coRONA^RiA L. The garland^oz<;mng Apple Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., G87. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 635. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 647. 

 ^ynonymes. A/alus coroniria Mill. ; Crab Apple, the sweet-scented Crab, Ainer. 

 Engravings. N. Du Ham., 6. pi. 44. f. 1. ; Bot. Mag., t. 2009. ; Michx. Arb., 2. t. 65. ; the plate in 

 Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. vi. ; and our Jig. 777. 



Spec. Char., Spc. Leaves broadly ovate, rounded at the base, subangidate, 

 serrated, smooth. Peduncles in corymbs, glabrous. Flowers odorous. 



