62 
THE APPLE. 
generally dished up with vine or other leaves. Some, however, use 
coloured paper. Different coloured leaves, such as those of such vines 
as the Claret, Barbarossa, West St. Peters, are among the most 
striking. The Liquid Amber and Virginian creeper also brighten up the 
yellow or orange varieties of apples nicely. For the red-cheeked sorts 
leaves of the variegated Cohea scandens, Acer negunda variegata, or 
silver variegated kale, afford a nice contrast. Extra curled parsley, 
tansy leaves, asparagus tops, and other elegant foliage, such as maiden¬ 
hair or other ferns, some of the finer lycopodiums, &c., give grace and 
beauty to dishes of apples on the dessert table. Some of these garnishes 
are, however, objectionable, on account of their scent, or the fiavour they 
impart to the fruit, and ivy and even laurel leaves are objectionable 
on the same grounds. There are few more effective dressings for 
apples than that of leaves and tiny branchlets of holly, either with 
or without berries. Among the wide choice of green and variegated 
hollies, sufficient variety may be found to suit every coloured apple, and 
the holly neither scents nor fiavours the fruit. Brought to table at 
the right time, and disposed to the best effect, there are few fruits more 
prized for dessert than first-rate apples, which might be eaten by every¬ 
one, if not absolutely all the year round, at least nine months out of the 
twelve. 
Diseases and Insect Pests. 
The apple grown on good soil and skilfully cultivated is but little attacked 
by disease, and seldom seriously infested by insects. Both alike are 
generally proofs of something wrong, either in the soil, the climate, or 
the management. With these three what they ought to be, most apples 
are proof against disease, and afford but little shelter or food for insect 
pests. But as climate is beyond control, and apples are often planted 
in ungenial soils, disease frequently breaks out among apples alike in 
garden and orchard. 
L—Canker. 
The most destructive and most difficult to prevent or cure is canker. 
This is something akin to cancer in the animal kingdom—a something 
that eats in to the tissues, consumes or dries them up, and so kills 
large branches or main stems. It first blotches and kills the bark. 
