132 



JOORNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ August 16, 1877. 



nald Symonds, Esq., Honorary Secretary of the Club, Eridge 

 Street, Hereford. 



Aa an example of what the letterpress will be which will 

 accompany the beautiful coloured plates, we subjoin a speci- 

 men descriptive of the old Herefordshire Apple the Fox-whelp. 



THE FOX- WHELP APPLE. 

 " Cider for'str ength and a long-lasting drink is best made of the Fox-whelp 

 of the Forest of Deane, but which comes not to be drank till two or three 

 years old." — (Appendix to Evelyn's " Pomona.") 



The Fox-whelp Apple is the favourite cider Apple of Here- 

 fordshire. Its origin and its singular name are alike obBcnre. 

 Mr. Knight in the " Pomona Herefordiensis," published in 

 1811, thought it " certainly a true Herefordshire Apple," and 

 it may readily be supposed that the stray seedling sprung up 

 near a fox's earth, and thus when it had shown its character 



Fig. 2S.— Fox-whelp. 



obtained its name. Some devoted admirers think they see in 

 the eye of this Apple a distinctive resemblance to the physi- 

 ognomy of a young fox, but here surely the name has guided 

 ■the imagination. Wherever it grew the brilliant colour of its 



The earliest record we have of the Fox-whelp is by Evelyn 

 in his " Pomona," which is an appendix to the Sylva " con- 

 cerning fruit trees in relation to cider." ThiB was first pub- 

 lished in 1664, and at that time and long after the great Apple 

 of Herefordshire was the Eed-streak. The Fox-whelp is dis- 

 posed of in a few words — " Some commend the Fox-whelp." 

 Ralph Austen, who wrote in 1653, makes no mention of it 

 when he says, "Let the greatest number of fruit trees not 

 onely in the orchards but also in the feilds be Pear-maines, 

 Pippins, Gennet-Moyles, Bed-streaks, and such kinds as are 

 knowne by much experience to be especiall good for cider." 

 Neither is any notice taken of it by Dr. Beale in his " Here- 

 fordshire Orchards, written in an epistolary address to Samuel 

 Hartlib, Esq.," in 1656. The first notice of it after Evelyn is 

 by Worledge in 1676, who merely says, " The Fox-whelp is 

 esteemed among the choice cider fruits." In Evelyn's time it 

 appears to have been regarded as a native of Gloucestershire, 

 for Dr. Smith in the " Pomona" when writing of " the best 

 fruit (with us in Gloucestershire) " says, " The cider of the 

 Bromsbury Crab and Fox-whelp is not fit for drinking till the 

 second year, but then very good ;" and in the quotation at the 

 head of this paper "a person of great experience" calls it 

 " the Fox- whelp of the Forest of Deane." 



Although all who have noticed the Fox-whelp up to this 

 period have spoken of its merits as a cider Apple its cultivation 

 must not have been on an extensive scale, otherwise it would 

 have been better known than it appears to have been. Even 

 Philips in his celebrated poem on " Cyder " seems as ignorant 

 of its existence as many of the writers on orchards were at that 

 period. The first appreciative notice of it with which we are 

 acquainted is found in a letter to a friend written by Hugh 

 Stafford of Pynes in Devonshire, Esq., bearing date 1727. He 

 says, " This is an Apple long known, and of late years has 

 acquired a much greater reputation than it had formerly. The 

 fruit is rather small than middle-sized, in shape long, and all 

 over of a dark red colour. I have been told by a person of 

 credit that a hogshead of cider from this fruit has been sold 

 in London for £8 or eight guineas, and that often a hogshead 

 of French wine has been given in exchange for the same quan- 

 tity of Fox-whelp. It is said to contain a richer and more 

 cordial juice than even the Red-streak itself, though something 

 rougher if not softened by racking. The tree seems to want 

 the same helps as the Red-streak to make it grow large. It is 

 of Herefordshire extraction." 



The fruit is roundish, inclining to conical or ovate, with an 

 uneven outline, caused by several obtuse ribs on the sides, and 

 which terminate in ridges round the eye ; in good specimens 

 one side is generally convex, while the other is flattened. Skin 

 beautifully striped with deep bright crimson and yellow ; on the 

 side next the sun it is more crimson than it is on the shaded 

 Bide, where the yellow stripes are more apparent. The surface 

 is marked with several dark patches like scabs, which are a 

 never-failing character of the Fox-whelp. Eye very small, set 

 in a narrow, shallow, and plaited basin ; segments short, some- 

 what erect, and slightly divergent. Stalk three-quarters of an 

 inch long, obliquely inserted by the side of a fleshy swelling, 

 which pushes it on one side and gives it a curving direction. 

 Flesh yellow tinged with red, tender, and with a rough and 

 acid flavour. Calyx-tube funnel-shaped. Stamens marginal. 

 Cells of the core wide open. It belongs to group 10 of Dr. 

 Hogg's New Classification of Apples. 



(To be continued.) 



Fig. 29.— Fox-whelp. 



fruit would render it conspicuous, and its taste with a judge 

 of Apples would proclaim its merit. 



KOSES AT FERRIERES. 

 It may be interesting to your readers to know what varieties 

 of Roses are grown by Mr. Ferdinand Bergman at Ferrieres. 

 What is wanted there is not to have fine Rose trees but plenty 

 of blooms, as the demand for them is very great. About fif- 

 teen thousand blooms are required and used in the course of 

 the year for bouquets, table decorations, &c, for Ferrieres and 

 for Paris aB well. You may therefore imagine that to supply 

 such a quantity of Roses it is necessary to have a great number 

 of those varieties which bloom very freely. Many varieties are 

 grown, but those grown in quantity are the following: — Paul 

 Neron, Marfiehal Niel, Baronne de Rothschild, Gloire de Dijon, 

 Madame Boll, Madame Lacharme, Annie Wood, La France, 

 Belle Lyonnaise, Charles Verdier, Jules Verdier, Souvenir de 

 la Malmaison, Souvenir de la Reine d'Angleterre, Elizabeth 

 Vigneron, Madame Falcot, Capitaine Christy, Le Roi, La Reine, 

 G6n6ral Jacqueminot, besides a number of other Teas_ and 

 Noisettes. The varieties preferred for forcing are Le Roi, La 



