APPLES 



swamps. It is grown by some enlightened 

 nurserymen, too, and can well be planted in 

 the home grounds to their true adornment. 

 The blossoms give way to form handsome 

 yellow fruits, about an inch in diameter, 

 which are themselves much more ornamental 

 than edible, for even the small boy will not 

 investigate a second time the bitter flesh. I 

 have heard that a cider of peculiar "hardness" 

 and potency, guaranteed to unsettle the firm- 

 est head, is made from these acid fruits — but 

 I have not found it necessary to extend my 

 tree studies in that direction. 



The states west of Kansas do not know 

 this lovely wild crab, to which the botanists 

 give a really euphonious designation as Pyrus 

 coronaria. There is a prairie-states crab -apple, 

 which I have never seen, but which, I am 

 told, has nothing like the beauty of our 

 exquisite Eastern native. This Western species 

 lacks the long stem and the bright color of 

 the flowers of our favorite, and its fruits, 

 while quite as viciously sour, are a dull and 

 greasy green. The great West has many other 

 things, but we have the wild crab -apple. 



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