THE APPLE. ITS VARIETIES. 27 



deep cavity. Flesh, yellowish, firm, crisp, juicy, sugary, rich, and highly 

 aromatic. 



A dessert apple of the very first quality, possessing all the richness of 

 the Nonpareil, but with a more sugary juice. It comes into use in No- 

 vember, but is in greatest perfection from Christmas till May. 



The tree is very hardy, an excellent bearer, and will succeed in situa- 

 tions unfavorable to the Nonpareil, to which its leaves and shoots bear 

 such a similarity, as to justify Mr. Lindleyin believing it to be a seedling 

 from that variety. 



This delightful apple was raised at Gloucester, about the beginning of 



last century, by Dr. Ash- 

 mead, an eminent physician 

 of that city. The original 

 tree existed within the last 

 few years, in what had origi- 

 nally been Dr. Ashmead's 

 garden, but was destroyed in 

 consequence of the ground 

 being required for building. 

 It stood on the spot now oc- 

 cupied by Clarence Street. 

 It is difficult to ascertain 

 the exact period when it was 

 raised ; but the late Mr. 

 Hignell, an eminent or- 

 chardist at Tewkesbury, in Gloucestershire, informed me, that the first 

 time he ever saw the fruit of Ashmead's Kernel, was fi-om a tree in the 

 nursery of Mr. Wheeler, of Gloucester, in the year 1796, and that the 

 tree in question had been worked from the original, and was at that 

 time upwards of thirty years old. From this it may be inferred that the 

 original tree had attained some celebrity by the middle of last century. 

 The Ashmead's Kernel has long been a favorite apple in all the gardens 

 of West Gloucestershire, but it does not seem to have been known in 

 other parts of the country. Like the Ribston Pippin it seems to have 

 remained long in obscurity, before its value was generally appreciated ; 

 it is not even enumerated in the catalogue of the extensive collection 

 which was cultivated by Miller and Sweet, of Bristol, in 1790. I find it 

 was cultivated in the Brompton Park Nursery, in 1780, at which time it 

 was received from Mr. Wheeler, nurseryman, of Gloucester, who was author 

 of " The Botanist's and Gardener's Dictionary," published in 1763, and 

 grandfather of Mr. J. Cheslin Wheeler, the present proprietor of the 

 nursery, to whom I am indebted for specimens of the fruit, and much 

 valuable information connected with the varieties cultivated in that 

 district. 



12. AUGUSTUS PEARMAIN — Hort. 



Idehtification. — Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, p. 30. 



Fruit, below medium size ; pearmain-shaped, regular and handsome. 

 Skin, thick and membranous, yellow in the shade, and marked with a few 



