THE APPLE. — ITS VARIETIES, 137 



most useful apples of which Scotland can boast, and requires only to be 

 more generally known, to be cultivated throughout the length and breadth 

 of that country. Even in the south it is not to be disregarded, as both 

 m size, and quality, it is one of the most attractive market apples. I 

 have known them sold at two shillings a dozen. The figure given above 

 is only from a medium-sized specimen of the fruit. 



227. MERE DE MENAGE.— Hort. 

 Identification.— Hort. See. Cat. ed. 3, n. 436. 



Fruit, very large ; conical. Skin, red, streaked with darker red all over, 

 except a little on the shaded side where it is yellow. Eye, set in an 

 angular basin. Stalk, very stout, inserted in a deep cavity, so much so 

 as to be scarcely visible. Flesh, firm, crisp, brisk and juicy. 



A valuable and very beautiful culinary apple of first-rate qualitv ; in 

 use from October to January. 



228. MINCHALL CRAB.— Fors. 



Identification.— Fors. Treat. 115. Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 3, n. 440. Lind. Guide, 

 54. Kog. Fr. Cult. 58. 



Synonymes.— Minshul Crab, Hort. Soc. Cat. ed. 1. 609. Mincham's Crab, Brook. 



Pom. Brit. Lancashire Crab, Ibid. 536. Lancaster Crab, Ibid. 539. 

 Figures.— Brook. Pom. Brit. pi. xciii. f. 2. Eon. Pyr. Mai. pi. xxxiii. f. 4. 



Fruit, above medium size, three inches wide, and two inches and a 

 half high ; roundish, and considerably flattened, almost oblate. Skin, 

 yellow, covered with daik dots, and a few veins of russet ; russety over 

 the base, and marked with a few broken stripes and mottles of pale crimson 

 on the side next the sun. Eye, large and open, with short, and ragged 

 segments, set in a wide, shallow, and plaited basin. Stalk, half-an-inch 

 long, inserted in a rather shallow cavity. Flesh, white, firm, crisp, and 

 juicy, with a rough, and sharp acid flavor. 



A culinary apple, but only of second-rate quality ; it is in use from 

 November to March. 



The tree is very hardy, and is not subject to canker, or the attacks of 

 insects. It is an abundant bearer. 



This apple is extensively grown in the southern parts of Lancashire, 

 and is a great favorite in the Manchester market, and all the other manu- 

 facturing towns of that district. It receives its name from the village of 

 Minchall in Cheshire, where, according to Rogers, the original tree exist- 

 ed in 1777. 



229. MINIER'S DUMPLING.— Hort. 



Identification Hort. Trans, vol. i. 70. Fors. Treat. 114. Lind. Guide, 54. 



Fruit, large, from three to three inches and a half wide, and nearly the 

 same in height ; roundish, somewhat flattened and angular on the sides. 

 Skin, dark green, striped with darker green on the shaded side ; but 

 covered with dark red where exposed to the sun. Stalk, an inch long, 



