On a select Collection of Apple Trees. 



as my observation has extended, the Apples which are there 

 exposed to sale, are even worse. This defect is, in part, to 

 be attributed to the carelessness and ignorance of some of 

 the first cultivators of the trees, from which such fruit is 

 obtained ; but chiefly, to the want of the distribution, through 

 the kingdom, of really valuable grafts. Good fruit may be 

 as easily grown as bad, and it cannot be supposed, that if 

 scions of better varieties could be readily obtained, they 

 would not be preferred. 



In the classification of Apples, the first division is into 

 those for Culinary Purposes, and those for the Dessert. 



The Kitchen Apples, as we call them, form the most impor- 

 tant class ; in productive years they afford a considerable 

 portion of food to the lower and middle orders of the people ; 

 it is in this class that the defects I have noticed, are more 

 particularly observable. The cottager's garden and the 

 farmer's orchard furnish plenty of these, generally taken 

 from some seedling, accidentally raised in the neighbour- 

 hood, and worked for want of a better kind, though deficient 

 in several essential qualities. 



The number of this class of Apples to be selected for cul- 

 tivation should be few, just sufficient to keep up, according 

 as they come in season, a successive supply through the 

 year. The trees should be hardy, free growers, prolific in 

 produce, and their bloom not liable to be injured by frost; 

 the fruit should be large, weighty, and filled up in the 

 core, with a pulp well flavoured and juicy, sufficiently sac- 

 charine, yet possessing some acid, and becoming soft when 

 dressed. Twenty sorts, with such properties, may readily 

 be selected from the kinds we now know, and that number 



