THE APPLE. 31 



for cider. The Ribstone Pippin may be taken as a type 

 par excellence of this class. It will not cook well, but it 

 possesses all the qualities of a really good eating Apple. 

 The Keswick Codlin and the Hawthcnden may be 

 taken as types of our sauce or cooking Apples. And 

 what is called the Bitter Sweet may also be taken as a 

 fair specimen of the cider class, which, however, no one 

 would care to eat under any circumstances, such a taste- 

 less variety is this Apple ; yet it is prized for cider- 

 making. 



Having referred a little to the various classes of 

 this highly favoured fruit, I may now turn to its culti- 

 vation. 



The Apple differs considerably in disposition from 

 that of the Pear, good deep land being required for the 

 former. If the Apple is grown on poor dry land the 

 fruit will ultimately be small, and the trees will become 

 dwarfed and cankered, and will probably be covered 

 with some kinds of lichen. This will depend greatly 

 upon the locality — at any rate the fruit will be small. 

 The Apple should be grown on rich sandy loam con- 

 taining considerable moisture — a subsoil naturally 

 retentive of moisture, but not to saturation or super- 

 saturation, anyhow for a long time. The cider orchards 

 of Devonshire are mostly planted in low grounds, and 

 often where water abounds to saturation, but then there 

 is a free drainage for excess of moisture, and here the 

 Apple flourishes exceedingly as cider fruit. 



The Apple differs somewhat again from the Pear in 

 regard to another feature of its disposition. The 

 latter must be root-pruned or lifted to induce fruitful- 

 ness, but this is not required for the Apple, at least as 

 a rule. The Pear is naturally disposed to go too deep 

 into the subsoil ; the Apple has a tendency to run on or 

 just below the surface. Of course it will ultimately 

 make some deep ramifications into the soil below ; but 

 generally the small roots are not deep, nor is there the 

 same tendency in that direction that there is in the 

 Pear stock, so that as a rule Apples do not require 

 root-pruning nor lifting to make them bear. I think the 



