228 FBUIT-GROWING 



unearthed these prehistoric garbage piles and 

 have reconstructed the breakfast menus of that 

 early time. Among other things they found 

 were the charred remains of apples — not un- 

 like some of the apples which we have to-day. 

 Not the same varieties perhaps, — that is too 

 much to expect, — but at least fruits that belong 

 to the same botanical class. 



The apple of cultivation belongs to the botan- 

 ical division known as Pyrus Malus and was 

 unknown to the American continent before 

 the coming of the white man. The Indians used 

 mid crabs and certain of the haws, but these 

 were poor substitutes for the " regular" apples 

 which the earliest settlers brought with them. 

 Most of the varieties which we have in our 

 orchards to-day originated in this country, but 

 in every case they are derived from imported 

 stock. The native crab has never been 

 improved to any extent. There are a few 

 varieties of crab apples in cultivation now 

 which have in them some of the native blood, 

 but these varieties are rare and for the most 

 part inferior. The wild fruit has remained as 

 wild and untamed as it was in the days when 

 it was the only representative of its family on 

 these shores. As a matter of fact the wild 

 crab apple of our woods makes a preserve that 

 is second to none made from the cultivated 

 crabs. 



