28 AMERICAN POMOLOGY. 



Hogg, in his British Pomology, quoting Owen, says, 

 the ancient Glastonbury was called by the Britons Ynya 

 avallao or avallon, meaning an apple' orchard, and from 

 this came the Roman word avaUonia, from this he infers 

 that the apple was known to the Britons before the ad- 

 vent of the Romans. We are told, that in 973, King 

 Edgar, when -fatigued with the labors of the chase, laid 

 himself down under a wild apple tree, so that it becomes 

 a question whether this plant was not a native of England 

 as of other parts of Europe, where in many places it is 

 found growing wild and apparently indigenous. Thorn- 

 ton informs us in his history of Turkey, that apples are 

 common in Wallachia, and he cites among the varieties 

 one, the domniasca, " which is perhaps the finest in Eu- 

 rope, bo.th for its size, color, and flavor." It were hard 

 to say what variety this is, and whether it be known to us. 



The introduction of this word apple in the Bible is at- 

 tributable to the translators, and some commentators sug- 

 gest that they have used it in its general sense, and that 

 in the following passages where it occurs, it refers to the 

 citron, orange, or some other subtropical fruit. 



" Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples." 

 Songs of Solomon ii, 5. 



"As the apple-tree (citron) among the trees of the 

 wood, * * * I sat me down under his shadow with great 

 delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste." Sol. ii, 2. 



* * * "I raised thee up under the apple-tree." Solo- 

 mon viii, 5. 



" A word fitly spoken, is like apples of gold in pictures 

 of silver." Prov. xxv, 11. 



