USES AND PROPERTIES OF THE APPLE. 



529 



situations, from the warm moist climate of Devonshire and Cornwall, to 

 the cloudy and stormy atmosphere of Orkney. There are varieties which 

 ripen as early as July, and others which are not fit to eat till the following 

 spring ; and which, with proper care, will keep till apples come again, and 

 even longer. No fruit tree is more prolific than the apple when in a suit- 

 able soil and situation, and no fruit is applied to a greater variety of useful 

 purposes, 



1128. The uses of the apple in pies, tarts, sauces, the dessert, or boiled or 

 roasted, is familiar to every one. The expressed juice fermented forms 

 cider, — that of the crab verjuice ; and when both these liquids are mixed, 

 and properly managed, a very good wine, it is said, may be produced. 

 One-third of boiled apple pulp, baked mth two-thirds of flour, and fer- 

 mented for twelve hours, is said to make an excellent bread, very palatable 

 and light. In confectionery the apple is used for comfits, compotes, marma- 

 lades, jellies, pastes, tarts, fritters, and various other purposes. To form a 

 jelly, the apples are " pared, quartered, and the core removed, and put in 

 a closely- covered pot, without water, in an oven, or over a fire. When 

 well stewed, the juice is squeezed through a cloth, a little white of an egg 

 is added, and then sugar ; and lastly it is skimmed, and by boiling reduced 

 to a proper consistence." — Kenrick. Medicinally, boiled or roasted apples 

 are considered laxative and at the same time strengthening. In perfumery, 

 the pulp of the apple beat up with lard forms pomatum ; and by mixing 

 apples with elder-flowers, in a close vessel, an odour of musk is said to be 

 communicated to them. The juice of the apple concentrated by boiling 

 will keep for several years, and ma}^ be used to form a liquor similar to cider, 

 by adding a little to water as it is wanted for use. The apple-tree when 

 in flower is very ornamental, particularly some varieties which have their 

 petals tinged with pink, such as the Hawthomden ; and the tree is still 

 more beautiful when covered with fruit, especially with such as are highly- 

 coloured, such as the red Astrachan, the tulip-apple, &c. The bark of the 

 tree may be used for dyeing yellow ; and the wood being fine-grained and 

 very compact, is well adapted for turning and for staining, so as to be used 

 as a substitute for ebony. We have dwelt long on the uses of the apple, 

 because, with Speedily, we regard it as a fruit of more use and benefit to 

 the mass of society than all the other fruits cultivated in Britain united. 



1129. Properties of a good apple. — Apples for table are characterised by a 

 firm juicy pulp, elevated, poignant flavour, regular form, and beautiful 

 colouring ; those for kitchen use by the property of falling, as it is techni- 

 cally termed, or forming in general a pulpy mass of equal consistency when 

 baked or boiled, and by a large size. Some sorts of apples have the pro- 

 perty of falling when green, as the Keswick, Carlisle, Hawthornden, and 

 other codlins ; and some only after being ripe, as the russet tribes. Those 

 which have this property when green are particularly valuable for affording 

 sauces to geese early in the season, and for succeeding the gooseberry in 

 tarts. For cider an apple must possess a considerable degree of astriugency, 

 with or without firmness of pulp or sugariness of juice. The best kinds, 

 Knight observes, are often tough, dry, and fibrous ; and the Siberian Har- 

 vey, which he recommends as one of the very best cider apples, is unfit 

 either for culinary purposes or the table. The same eminent pomologist 

 has found that the specific gravity of the juice of any apple recently 



