next the sun. Eye, small, set in a rather deep and plaited hasin. 

 Stalk, short, and deeply inserted. Flesh, white, crisp, tender, sweet, 

 very juicy, and slightly perfumed. 



A beautiful little dessert apple ; in use from October to April, It 

 should be eaten with the skin on, as it is there that the perfume is 

 contained. The skin is very sensitive of shade, and any device may be 

 formed upon it, by causing pieces of paper, in the form of the design 

 required, to adhere on the side exposed to the sun, before it has 

 attained its deep red colour. 



The tree is of a pyramidal habit of growth, healthy, and an abundant 

 bearer. It succeeds well in almost any situation, provided the soil is 

 rich, loamy, and not too light or dry ; and may be grown with equal 

 success either on the doucin or crab stock. When worked on the 

 French paradise it is well adapted for pot culture. The fruit is firmly 

 attached to the spurs and forcibly resists the effects of high winds. 



According to Merlet, the Api was first discovered as a wilding in the Forest 

 of Api, in Brittany. 



It has been asserted that this apple was brought from Peloponessus to Eome 

 by Appius Claudius. Whether this be true or not, there can be no doubt it is of 

 great antiquity, as all the oldest authors regard it as the production of an age prior 

 to their own. Dalechamp and Harduin are of opinion that it is the Petisia of 

 Pliny ; but J. Baptista Porta considers it to be the Appiana of that author, who 

 thus describes it, " Odor est his cotoneorum magnitudo quae Claudianis, color 

 rnbens." ♦ From this description it is evident that two varieties are referred to, 

 the Appiana and Claudiana. Such being the case, J. Baptista Porta says, " duo 

 sunt apud nos mala, magnitudiue, et colore paria, et preciosa, quorum unum 

 odorcm servat cotoneorum, alterum minimi. Quod odore caret, vulgo dictum 

 Melo Tosa. Id roseo colore perfusum est, mira teneritudine et sapore, minimd 

 fugax, pomum magnitudine media, ut facile cum ceteris de principatu certet, nee 

 indignum Claudii nomine. Hoc Claudianum dicorem."f This Melo Rosa may 

 possibly be the Pomme Rose or Gros Api ; and if so, we may infer that the Api 

 is the Appiana, and the Gros Api the Claudiana of Pliny. This, however, may 

 be mere conjecture, but as the authority referred to was a native of Naples, and 

 may he supposed to know something of the traditionary associations of the Roman 

 fruits, I have deemed it advisable to record his opinion on the subject. 



Although mentioned by most of the early continental writers, the Api does not 

 appear to have heen known in this country, till towards the end of the 17th 

 century. It is first mentioned by Worlidge, who calls it " Pomme Appease, a 

 curious apple, lately propagated ; the fruit is small and pleasant, which the 

 Madams of France carry in their pockets, by reason they yield no unpleasant 

 scent." Lister, in his " Journey to Paris, 1698," speaking of this as being one of 

 the apples served up in the dessert, says, " Also the Pome d'Apis, which is served 

 here more for show than for use ; being a small flat apple, very beautiful, and 

 very red on one side, and pale or white on the other, and may serve the ladies at 

 their toilets as a pattern to paint by." De Quintinye calls it " Une Pomme des 

 Damoiselles et de bonne compaguie." 



Under the name of Lady Apple, large quantities of the Api are annually 

 imported to this country from the United States, where it is grown to a great 

 extent, and produces a considerable return to the growers, as it always commands 

 the highest price of any other fancy apple in the market. In the winter months, 

 they may be seen encircled with various coloured tissue papers, adorning the 

 windows of the fruiterers in Covent Garden Market. 



There are other varieties mentioned by J. B. Porta as belonging to the Api 



» Plinii Hist. Nat. Lib. xv,, cap. 14. t "Villa, p. 278. 



