ROSACE.E. 257 



fi-oni Justice Shallow's invitation to Falstaff : — " You shall see mine orchard, where in 

 iin arbour we will eat a last year's pippin of my own grafting." The practice of 

 grafting, or grading as it is called, is of very ancient origin, and is now constantly used 

 !is a method of ]ierpotuating the varieties originally obtained from seed. A notion w.ta 

 foi'merly entertained that the grafts would only hist as long as the parent tree ; but 

 there seems no reason to doubt that if the operation of grafting be properly performed, 

 tlie graft may be as durable as a tree raised from seed, and the kind pcrjietuated indefi- 

 nitely. The best Apples in Gerarde's time were the queening-pearmains, the para- 

 dise, and some other sorts. He tells us that " Kent doth abound with Apples of 

 most sorts," and adds : " But I have seen in the pastures and hedgerows about the 

 grounds of a worshipful! gentleman dwelling two miles from Hereford, called Master 

 Roger Bodnome, so many trees of all sorts, that the servants drinke for the most part 

 no other drinke but that which is made of Apples. The quantity is such, that by the 

 report of the gentleman himselfe, the parson hath for tithe many hogsheads of syder. 

 The hogs are fed with the fallings of them, which are so many, that they make choice 

 of those apples they do eate, who will not taste of any but of the best ; an example, 

 doubtless, to be followed of gentlemen that have land and living : but envie saith, the 

 poore will breake down our hedges, and we shall have the least part of the fruit ; but 

 forward in the name of God, — graffe, set, plant, and nourish up trees in every corner 

 of your ground ; the labour is small, the cost is nothing, the commodity your selves 

 shall have plenty, the poore shall have somewhat, in time of want, to relieve their 

 necessitie, and God shall reward your good minds and diligence." 



Herefordshire and Worcestershire are the counties in England where the most 

 Apples are grown, and in the early spring the white blossoms of the trees form a dis- 

 tinctive feature in the landscape, as the ripe and ruddy fruit amidst the green leaves 

 does in the autumn. Some of the oldest Apple-trees in existence are to be found iu 

 Herefordshire, and the number of varieties there cultivated are numerous ; but in the 

 catalogue of Apples published by the Horticultural Society of London we find 1,400 

 different sorts enumerated and described ; and this list is increased every year. 



The wood of the Apple is hard and tough, and well fitted for the use of the 

 turner : that of the Wild Apjjle is superior to the cultivated vaiiety. The uses of the 

 Apple as an eatable fruit are very numerous. Apples are equally good cooked and 

 in a raw state, and may be easily preserved in the form of jell}', and also by a jirocess 

 which is carried on chiefly in Norfolk, of drying them slowly in bakers' ovens and then 

 ))ressing them flat till they are perfectly soft and of a rich brown colour. Apples so 

 ])repared will keep for many mouths, and are sold under the name of " biffins," really 

 bcMi Jilts. The chief commercial value of Apples is in the manufacture of cider, which 

 is carried on extensively in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Devonshire. In the 

 two former counties large orchards of Apple-trees cover many acres of ground, especi- 

 ally with a view to this beverage. The fruit is allowed to remain on the trees until 

 perfectly ripe. It is then gathered and ])laced in a crushing-mill, and the juice expressed 

 by a very heavy roller. This is allowed to ferment ; and it is in the careful attention to 

 this process that the excellence of the cider consists. The usual protiuce of an Apjile- 

 tree is from one to two hogsheads of fruit, which will, under the most favourable circum- 

 stances, yield one hogshead of cider ; but more commonly it requires three trees to 

 produce two hogsheads. Upon an average, about twenty-six to thirty bushels of A]iples 

 yield a hogshead of cider, and a single acre of good orchard-land will sometimes furnish 

 from five to six hundred bushels of fruit ; but the produce varies greatly, as the blossom 

 of the Apple, like that of most of our fruit-trees, is likely to be injured by the late 



VOL. III. 2 L 



