LOVE-APPLE. 227 



possesses in itself an agreeable acid, a very unusual 

 quality in ripe vegetables, and which makes it quite 

 distinct from all garden vegetables that are used for culi- 

 nary purposes in this country. It makes a good pickle, 

 and is preserved in various ways for winter use, and is 

 made into a kind of ketchup also. When boiled in soups 

 and sauces, it imparts an acid of a most agreeable flavour : 

 it is also served at table boiled or roasted, and sometimes 

 fried with eggs. Love-apples are now to be seen in great 

 abundance at all our vegetable markets ; but I do not find 

 that they are used by the middle or lower classes of Eng- 

 lish families, who have yet to learn the art of improving 

 their dishes with vegetables. 



o 



Mr. John Wilmot, of Isleworth, states, that in 1819 he 

 gathered, from six hundred plants, four hundred half 

 sieves, which is about equal to one hundred and thirty- 

 three bushels, and that he then had many to spare. He 

 adds, that the plants produced from twenty to forty 

 pounds weight each, and that some of the apples mea- 

 sured twelve inches in circumference. 



Mr. Wilmot recommends them to be planted against a 

 bank, as being more congenial to their nature than a wall. 

 There are several varieties of the tomato ; and that which 

 produces fruit about the size of a cherry is the most acid, 

 therefore the most desirable kind for private gardens, 

 although not so profitable for market. 



A new species of this fruit, Solarium deurens, has been 

 introduced by Mr Anderson, of the Apothecaries' Garden f 

 Chelsea, who received the seeds from Germany ; it is said 

 to be a native of the Isle of France, while others consider 

 it to be indigenous to South America. The fruit is about 

 the size of a cherry, and of an orange colour, and is used 

 in food like the common sort; it has prospered in thte 

 greenhouse, but succeeds better in the bark bed of the 

 stove. 



Q2 



