7 



of the apple does not extend. But then another 

 question will arise, supposing our Golden Pippin does 

 not appear to survive the allotted period. Who v^^ill 

 undertake to demonstrate that the Golden Pippin of 

 Tenham still exists ? It is quite certain that a majo- 

 rity of the apples for which the title of Golden Pip- 

 pin is claimed have no pretensions to the distinction, 

 and more than one old person with whom it was once 

 a favourite fruit now declare that it is no longer ob- 

 tainable. Be this as it may, even if the tree in ques- 

 tion has not already departed, yet even those who 

 maintain that it is still to be found lingering in our 

 fruit gardens, acknowledge that it is in the last stage 

 of decrepitude and decay : it is following the univer- 

 sal law of nature ; no organized creature shall endure 

 through all time. Grafting may postpone the arrival 

 of death, as the transfusion of blood will revive for a 

 while the sinking animal, but the postponement can- 

 not be for a time indefinite : the day must come in 

 both the animal and the scion, when its vessels shall 

 be without the energy to propel or assimilate the vital 

 fluid, though afforded to it from the most youthful 

 and most vigorous source. 



The history of the apple in Britain is traceable to 

 the earliest period of which we have any written re- 

 cord. \Ye are even fully warranted in believing that 

 this fruit was known and cultivated by the Britons 

 before the arrival of the Romans upon our shores, 



