THE APPLE. 



59 



The Apple-tree is, however, most perfectly naturalized in America, 

 and, in the northern and middle portions of the United States, succeeds 

 as well, or, as we believe, better than in any part of the world. The 

 most celebrated apples of Germany and the north' of Europe are not 

 superior to many of the varieties originated here ; and the American or 

 Newtown Pippin is now pretty generally admitted to be the finest ap- 

 ple in the world. No better proof of the perfect adaptation of our soil 

 and climate to this tree can be desired, than the seemingly spontaneous 

 production of such varieties as this, the Baldwin, the Spitzenberg, or the 

 Swaar — all fruits of delicious flavor, and great beauty of appearance. 



The Apple is usually a very hardy and rather slow-growing fruit-tree, 

 with a low-spreading rather irregular head, and bears an abundance of 

 white blossoms, tinged with red. In a wild state it is very long-lived, 

 but the finest garden sorts usually live about fifty or eighty years; 

 though, by proper care, they may be kept healthy and productive much 

 longer. Although the apple generally forms a tree of medium growth, 

 there are many specimens in this country of enormous size. Among 

 others, we recollect two in the grounds of Mr. Hall, of Kaynham, Rhode 

 Island, which, ten years ago, were 130 years old; the trunk of one of 

 these trees then measured, at one foot from the ground, thirteen feet two 

 inches, and the other twelve feet two inches. The trees bore that season 

 about thirty or forty bushels; but, in the year 1780, they together bore 

 one hundred and one bushels of apples. In Duxbury, Plymouth County, 

 Mass., is a tree which in its girth measures twelve feet five inches, and 

 which has yielded in a single season 121^ bushels. 



In Lehigh County, Pa., there is an apple-tree which measures 17^ feet 

 iii circumference, one foot above the ground. The tree is fifty-four feet 

 high, and the branches extend thirty-six feet each way from the trunk. 



USES OF THE APPLE. 



No fruit is more universally liked or generally used than the apple. 

 It is exceedingly wholesome, and, medicinally, is considered cooling and 

 laxative, and useful in all inflammatory diseases. The finest sorts are 

 much esteemed for the dessert, and the little care required in its culture 

 renders it the most abundant of all fruits in temperate climates. As the 

 earliest sorts ripen about the last of June, and the latest can be preserved 

 until that season, it may be considered as a fruit in perfection the whole 

 year. Besides its merits for the dessert, the value of the apple is still 

 greater for the kitchen ; and in sauces, pies, tarts, preserves, and jellies, 

 and roasted and boiled, this fruit is the constant and invaluable resource 

 of the kitchen. 



In seasons of scarcity, the small and usually considered refuse apples 

 may be stewed, and then rubbed through a cullender, separating the 

 seeds and skins from the pulp, forming a delicious' sauce. 



Apple-butter, made by stewing pared and sliced sweet apples in new 

 cider until the whole is soft and pulpy, is a common and excellent arti- 

 cle of food in many farmers' families, and is frequently made by the bar- 

 rel. In Prance, nearly the same preparation is formed by simmering 

 apples in new wine until the whole becomes a sort of marmalade, which 

 is called Maisine. The juice of the apple unfermented is, in some parts 

 of the country, boiled down till it becomes molasses. When fermented 

 it forms cider ^ and if this is carefully made from the best cider apples 



