16 



APPLE. 



pulp, baked with hvo thirds flour, properly fermented w ^\ 

 yeast for twelve hours. This bread is said to be very fine, 

 full of eyes, and extremely palatable and light. Apples, 

 by furnishing cider, a grateful and salubrious liquor, have a 

 tendency to diminish the consumption of ardent spirits. 

 Besides, apples are thought to alter and ameliorate the taste 

 and the tone of the human system, in such a manner as to 

 destroy that artificial appetite, which is gratified by the 

 deleterious preparations of alcohol. The palate," says 

 Mr. Knight, a celebrated English horticulturist, " w^hich 

 relishes fruit, is seldom pleased vvith strong fermented 

 liquors ; and as feeble causes, continually acting, ultimately 

 produce extensive eff'ects, the supplying the public with 

 fruit at a cheap rate, w^ould have a tendency to operate fa^ 

 vourably, both on the physical and moral health of the' 

 people." In medicine, verjuice, or the juice of crab-apples, 

 is used for sprains, and as an astringent and repellent. The 

 good table apple, when ripe, is laxative ; the juice is useful 

 in dysenteries ; boiled or roasted apples fortify a weak' 

 stomach. " Scopoli," says Loudon, "recovered from a 

 weakness of the stomach and indigestion from using them ; 

 <ind they are equally efficacious, in putrid and malignant fe- 

 vers, with the juice of lemons or currants." " In diseases 

 of the breast," says Dr. Yfillich, (Dom, Ency,) "such as 

 catarrhs, coughs, consumptions, &c. they are of consider- 

 able service. For these beneficial purposes, however, they 

 ought not to be eaten rav/, but either roasted, stewed, or 

 boiled. They may also be usefully employed in decoctions, 

 which, if drank plentifully, tend to abate febrile heat, as 

 well as to relieve" painful strictures in pectoral complaints." 



Apples have also been recoram.ended as food for horses 

 and farm stock, for which purpose sweet apples are of the 

 greatest value, — See iV. E. Farmer^ vol. v. p. 82. Sweet 

 apples are said, likewise, to afford a saccharine matter, 

 which is a good substitute for molasses. For this purpose 

 the apples are ground and pressed in a cider mill, and the 

 juice boiled immediately, the scum being taken off till it is 

 reduced to a proper consistence. 



The following process for making apple jelly has been 

 recommended : — Pare and quarter the apples, and remove 

 the core completely. Then put them into a pot, and place 

 it in a heated oven, or over a slow fire. When well stewed, 



