60 



THE APPLE. 



it is nearly equal to wine ; in fact, many hundreds of barrels of the cider 

 of New Jersey have been manufactured, in a single year, into an imita- 

 tion champagne, which is scarcely distinguished by many from that made 

 from the grape. 



Apples are also made into jelly, by grinding and pressing in the ordi- 

 nary way for cider, then passed, in a thin and nearly continuous current, 

 over an intensely heated clarifying or evaporating pan, such as is ordi- 

 narily used in the manufacture of molasses from the sorgho sugar-cane. 

 About eight gallons of the apple-juice, or cider, will make one gallon of 

 a very delicious jelly. 



Dried apples are also a considerable article of commerce. Farmers 

 usually pare and quarter them by hand, and dry them in the sun ; but 

 those who pursue it as a matter of trade pare them by machinery, and 

 dry them slowly in ovens. They are then packed in bags or barrels, and 

 used either at home, in sea stores, or are exported. 



In perfumery, the pulp of this fruit, mixed intimately with lard, forms 

 pomatum. The wood is employed for lasts, and for other purposes, by 

 turners ; and, being fine-grained and compact, is sometimes stained black 

 and used for ebony by cabinet-makers. 



The quality of an apple is always judged of by the use to which it 

 is to be applied. A table or dessert apple of the finest quality should 

 be of medium size, regular form, and fine color ; and the flesh should be 

 fine-grained, crisp, or tender, and of a sprightly or rich flavor and aroma. 

 Very large-sized, or coarse apples are only admired by persons who have 

 little knowledge of the true criterion of excellence. Apples for kitchen 

 use should have the property of cooking evenly into a tender, pulpy con- 

 sistence, and are generally acid in flavor ; and, although there are many 

 good cooking apples unfit for the table, many sorts, as the Fall Pippin 

 and the Greening, are excellent for both purposes. To this we may add, 

 that for the common apple-sauce made by farmers, a high-flavored sweet 

 apple, which boils somewhat firm, is preferred, as this is generally made 

 with cider. The very common use made of this cheap preserve at the 

 North and West, and the recent practice of fattening hogs, horses, and 

 other animals upon sweet apples, accounts for the much greater number 

 of varieties of sweet apples held in esteem here than in any other 

 country. In fact, so excellent has the saccharine matter of the apple 

 been found for this purpose, that whole orchards of sweet apples are 

 frequently planted here for the purpose of fattening swine and cattle, 

 which are allowed to run at large in them. 



Cider apples are varieties frequently useless for any other purpose. 

 The best for this purpose are rather tough, piquant, and astringent ; their 

 juice has a high specific quality, and they are usually great bearers, as 

 the Harrison, the Red Streak, and the Virginia Crab. 



PROPAGATION. 



The Apple for propagation is usually raised from seeds obtained 

 from the pomace of the cider-mills, and a preference is always given 

 to that from thrifty young orchards. These are sown in autumn, 

 in broad drills, in good mellow soil, and they remain in the seed-beds — 

 attention being paid to keeping the soil loose, and free from weeds, from 

 one to three years, according to the richness of the soil. When the 

 seedlings are a little more than a fourth of an inch in diameter, they 



