CHAPTER XIII. 

 THE APPLE, PEAR, AND QUINCE. 



166. Origin of the Cultivated Apples. From prehistoric 

 times the apple has been a leading cultivated fruit of 

 the temperate zones. Poets and writers have sounded its 

 praises, and it is mingled with the mythology of about all 

 parts of Europe and Asia. The common statement and 

 belief as to its origin agrees with that of Professor Bailey, 

 who says: " The apple has come from two original stems. 

 All the common apples are modifications of Pyrus mains, 

 a low, round-headed tree with thick and fuzzy irregularly 

 dentate short-stemmed leaves and fairly compact clusters 

 of woolly-stemmed flowers. The crab-apples are derived 

 from Pyrus baccata, commonly known as the Siberian 

 crab. Hybrids between these species have given the race 

 of large-fruited crab-apples of which the transcendent is 

 an example. This race is known to botanists as Pyrus 

 prunifolia." 



This statement may need some revision and change. 

 In east Europe the cultivated apples seem to be quite as 

 ancient as in west Europe. The writer in connection with 

 the late Charles Gibb investigated this question quite 

 closely in 1882. Of the apples of that region Mr. Gibb 

 wrote on his return: " The Volga is a very old apple- 

 growing region. I am told that old poems written about 

 the time when Ruric was upon the throne at Kiev about 



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