212 



Geography and History of the Apple. 



Vol. XII. 



forming a part of the subjects on which they 

 wrote.* 



Whitaker, in his " History of Manches- 

 ter," conjectures that the apple was brought 

 into Britain by the first colonies of the na- 

 tives, and by the Hsedui of Somersetshire in 

 particular; hence Glastonbury was distin- 

 guished by the title of "Avellonia" or apple 

 orchard, previously to the arrival of the Ro- 

 mans. Before the third century, this fruit 

 had spread over the whole island, and so 

 widely, that, according to Solinus, there 

 were large plantations of it in the "Ultima 

 Thule." The manufacture of wine from the 

 apple, appears to have occurred in Norfolk, 

 at the beginning of the thirteenth century; 

 for it is stated by Bloomfield, that, in the 

 sixth year of King John, (1205,) Robert de 

 Evermere was found to hold his lordship of 

 Redham and Stokesly, in Norfolk, by petty 

 sergeantry, the annual payment of two hun- 

 dred pearmains, and four hogsheads of wine 

 of pearmains, into the exchequer, at the 

 feast of St. Michael. The making of cider 

 was introduced into Britain by the Normans, 

 who, it is said, obtained the art from Spain, 

 where it is no longer practised. This liquor 

 is supposed to have been first known, how- 

 ever, in Africa, from its being mentioned by 

 the two African fathers, Tertullian and Au- 

 gustine, and was introduced by the Cartha- 

 genians into Biscay, a province unfriendly 

 to the vine, on which account it became the 

 substitute in other countries. 



Many of the better varieties of the apple 

 were probably introduced into Britain from 

 the continent, as the greater part of their 

 names are either pure or corrupted French. 

 Thus the "Nonpareil," according to old 

 herbalists, was brought from France by a 

 Jesuit, in the time of Queen Mary, and first 

 planted in Oxfordshire. On the other hand, 

 the celebrated " Golden Pippin" is consider- 

 ed as of British origin ; and is noticed as 

 such by French and Dutch authors. It is 

 described by Du Hamel under the name of 

 "Pomme d'or," "Reinette d' Angleterre," 

 and " Grosse Reinette d' Angleterre." Pip- 

 pins were probably very little known in 

 England until towards the close of the six- 

 teenth century. Fuller states that one Leon- 

 ard Maschal, in the sixteenth year of the 

 reign of Henry VHI., brought them from 

 over sea, and planted them at Plumstead, in 



* The art of grafting, as well as tliat of pruning, 

 has been ascribed to accidental origin. The occasional 

 natural union or inarching of the boughs of distinct 

 trees in the forests, is thought to have first suggested 

 the idea of grafting; and the more vigorous shooting 

 of a vine, after a goat had broused on it, is said to 

 have given rise to the practice of pruning. 



Sussex. They were called pippins, because 

 the trees were raised from the pips or seeds, 

 and bore the apples which gave them celeb- 

 rity, without grafting. 



The fine cider orchards of Herefordshire 

 began to be planted in the reign of Charles 

 I. The adaptation of the trees to the soil 

 was soon discovered, and they spread over 

 the face of the whole country. The cider 

 counties of England lie something in the 

 form of a horse-shoe, round the Bristol chan- 

 nel, the best of which are in Worcester and 

 Hereford, on the north of the channel, and 

 Somerset and Devon on the south. Of the 

 varieties of the cider apples, the "Red- 

 streak," and the "Sline," were formerly the 

 most prized; and the cider of these apples, 

 and the perry of the " Squash Pear," were 

 celebrated throughout the kingdom. Some 

 of the orchards occupy a space of forty or 

 fifty acres, the produce of which is very fluc- 

 tuating, and the growers seldom expect an 

 abundant crop oftener than once in three 

 years; and in a good year, an acre of or- 

 chard will produce about six hundred bush- 

 els of fruit. 



The introduction of the common apple 

 tree into the North American colonies, dates 

 back to the earliest periods of their settle- 

 ments. In the middle, northern, and some 

 of the western States, no branch of rural 

 economy has been pursued with more zeal, 

 and few have been attended with more suc- 

 cessful and beneficial results, than the culti- 

 vation of orchards. It was not undertaken 

 on an extensive scale, however, until about 

 the commencement of the present century, 

 when experience had taught the hardy yeo- 

 manry of the soil, that "the moderate use 

 of cider, as a common beverage, was highly 

 conducive to sound health and long life." It 

 appears from Dodsley's London "Annual 

 Register," that in the year 1768, the Society 

 for promoting Arts, &c., at New York, award- 

 ed a premium of £10 to Thomas Young, of 

 Oyster Bay, for the largest nursery of apple 

 trees, the number being 27,123. Between 

 the years 1794 and 1808, Mr. William Coxe, 

 of Burlington, New Jersey, enriched his 

 lands in that vicinity with extensive or- 

 chards, containing in t)ie aggregate several 

 thousand trees, which occupied a space of 

 seventy or eighty acres; and within and 

 since that period, nuinerous other orchards 

 have been planted in various parts of the 

 country, equaling, and even surpassing them 

 in extent. Among the largest, and perhaps 

 the most select, are those of Mr. Robert L. 

 Pell, of the county of Ulster, New York, 

 which have been planted about twenty 

 years, and are said to contain 20,000 trees. 

 America, too, has given birth to several val- 



