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AN

HISTORICAL AND BOTANICAL ACCOUNT

OF

FRUITS

KNOWN IN GREAT BRITAIN.

LONDON :
PRINTED BY S. AND It. BENTLEY, DORSET STREET.

:^C£^ i ry^-^ t.-^-^Oi^ ^ ^-Z^:^^ ' ^^f^r

THE

COMPANION

FOR THE

ORCHARD

AN

HISTORICAL AND BOTANICAL ACCOUNT

OF

FRUITS

KNOWN IN GREAT BRITAIN:

BY

HENRY PHILLIPS, F.H.S.

AUTHOR OF
" THE COMPANION FOR THE KITCHEN GARDEN," &c. &c.

" I have often been astonished at onr indifference respecting the applause of those who
have introduced useful plants into their country, the fruits of which are to this day so de-
lightful. The names of these public benefactoi-s are chiefly unknown, whilst their benefits
pass from generation to generation ; whereas, those of the destroyers of the human race are
handed down to us in every page, as if we took more account of our enemies than of our
friends." ST. PIKBRE.

NEW EDITION.

LONDON:

HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY,
NEW BURLINGTON STREET.

1831.

UNIV^osmrOFCAUFORNiA

^ LIGRAR^'

WORK BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

This day is published, in 2 vols. 8vo. 12s. a new edition of the

COMPANION FOR THE KITCHEN GARDEN;

BEING A

HISTORY OF CULTIVATED VEGETABLES.

By henry PHILLIPS, F.H. S.

In this work, the object of the Author has been to render the know-
ledge of Plants entertaining and useful, not only to Botanists, but to
those who have hitherto deemed it a difficult and uninteresting science.
He has endeavoured to ascertain of what Countries the Vegetables now
cultivated are natives, the earliest account of their cultivation, and how
far they have improved by attention, or degenerated by neglect 5 also
the various uses made of them by the Ancients, as well as the Moderns,
of different Countries.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

GEORGE O'BRYEN WYNDHAM,

EARL OF EGREMONT,

BARON COCKERMOUTH, LORD LIEUTENANT AND GUSTOS

ROTULORUM OF THE COUNTY OF SUSSEX,

&c. &c. &c.

My Lord,

The being allowed the honour of dedicating
this enlarged edition of my Work on Fruits to a
Nobleman who has so greatly promoted the arts
of Horticulture and Agriculture in my native
country, is a gratification far beyond what can
be derived by those who seek exalted rank for
patronage only; and my ambition will be fully
satisfied, should the labours I have bestowed on
my orchard meet the approbation of one who
possesses the discernment of your Lordship,
whose favour, therefore, will be a strong recom-
mendation to the dessert I have prepared.

I remain.

My Lord, '^
Your Lordship's most devoted,
And obedient Servant,

Henry Phillips.

n

Brighton^
Sepf.lG, 1822.

S2S87

^u

INTRODUCTIOJN

who studies Nature's laws.

Sincerest pleasures from the country draws ;
And while the Arts his friendly aid receive,
For him, and him alone, does nature live."

Delilk,

Historians generally seem to dwell with enthusiasm
on the splendid achievements in which the cannon, the
sword, and the bayonet, are chiefly instrumental ; we,
however, regard these implements of destruction with
far less reverence than we bestow on the spade, the rake,
and the pruning-knife, which enhance the beauties of the
spring, and the luxuries of the summer, make our vats
overflow in autumn, and secure us comforts for the win-
ter. Not that we are insensible to the merits of the
brave defenders of our country ; but we wish to see those,
whose talents and industry have so greatly enriched these
kingdoms by their attention to horticulture, partaking of
the admiration and gratitude of a people who are daily
enjoying the fruits of their labours. Has the most splen-
did campaign which our history boasts secured the nation
a treasure equal in value to the potatoe plant ? or would
we renounce the possession of ten of our best adopted
fruits to double the acquisitions of the last ten wars?
For it is not (says the elegant Bernardin St. Pierre) upon
the face of vast dominions, but into the bosom of in-
dustry, that the Father of Mankind pours out the
abundant fruits of the Earth.

il INTRODUCTION.

The ingenuity of the horticulturist, and the industry
of the cultivator may be said to have brought the south
ten degrees nearer to our shores, within these last three
centuries : a fact which, although imperceptible to us
who have moved with the current, would be instantly ac-
knowledged by our ancestors of the sixteenth century,
could they_ be recalled to witness our gardens blushing
with the fruits of Persia, our trees purpling with the
drupes of Damascus, our hills ornamented with the ce-
dars of Libanus, our valleys embellished by the spiral
blossoms of the Asiatic chesnut, our cottages covered
with the roses of China, and even some of our woods
beautified by the violet blossoms of the American rhodo-
dendron, to say nothing of our numerous

" Ambrosial gardens, in which art supplies
The fervour and the force of Indian skies."

That the British nation has carried commercial enter-
prises to an unparalleled extent and success, all countries
allow ; that it excels in manufactures and arts, our works
prove to all the admiring world : but that this northern
island is beautified by plantations that surpass Italian
scenery, and blessed with fruits that rival those of China,
none will believe until they visit this land

>.
" where mortals dare

To vanquish nature and correct the air."

Wars and dissensions are indigenous to barbarous soils ;
commerce and agriculture are natives of civilized lands ;
but horticulture is only to be found in countries where a
high degree of refinement is cultivated. It was intro-
duced to us by commerce, and flourished on the banks
of the Thames when trade seated herself in our capital.
They have journeyed together through every part of these
realms, and where one has smiled, the other has pros?

INTRODUCTION. Ill

pered. Our intercourse with distant nations having en-
lightened the mind and refined the taste, men began to
turn their attention to an employment, the most rational,
because the most beneficial both to mind and body, as
it is the most ancient and the most honourable. "The
Lord took the man, and put him into the garden, to
dress it, and to keep it," — not to behold it only, and to
revel in the enjoyment of the fruits, which unless earned
by toil would cloy ; but to rear the tender plant, and prop
the, beauteous blossom ; to lend a staff to the gadding
pea, or turn and fertilize the barren mould ; these were
the occupations that endeared man to earth, brought new
relish to each fruit, and gave that humane delight which
so greatly contributes to banish spleen and sullen sadness
from the terrestrial globe.

Amongst civilized nations in ancient times, we find the
greatest and wisest monarchs both studied and honoured
this useful pursuit. Of Solomon it is written, that " he
made cedars to be as sycamore trees that are in the vale
for abundance ;" and that he wrote a history of all the
plants, from the cedar of Libanus to the moss growing
on the wall,*

The Chinese have ever been celebrated for their atten-
tion to horticultural pursuits. Among the peasants in
some parts of China, it is the custom to reward those
whose gardens or fields are cultivated with the greatest
care, by making them Mandarins of their class. It is
related by the historians of China, that the Emperor Xi-
Hoam-Ti, in the thirty-fourth year of his reign ("213 years
B. C.) ordered all the books in his dominions to be burnt,
except those on Physic, Agriculture, and Astrology,
which shews that despotism itself regarded this art as
sacred.

* This is the literal ineauing of the passage, and not hyssop.

IV INTRODUCTION.

Among the Persians, horticulture was most strictly
attended to, according to Xenophon, who states that
Cyrus the younger was accustomed to inform himself
whether the private gardens of his subjects were well kept,
and yielded plenty of fruit ; that he rewarded the go-
vernors whose provinces were the best cultivated, and
punished those who did not labour and improve their
grounds. We must not omit the just compliment of Ly-
sander to this monarch, who was telling him that many
of the trees they were looking at had been planted by
himself. The Lacedaemonian observed, ** That the world
had reason to extol the happiness of Cyrus, whose virtue
was as eminent as his fortune, and who, in the midst of
the greatest affluence, splendour, and magnificence, had
yet preserved a taste so pure, and so conformable to right
reason."

Socrates makes this noble encomium upon agriculture :
— " It is," says he, " an employment the most worthy of
the application of man, the most ancient and the most
suitable to his nature ; it is the common nurse of all per-
sons in every age and condition of life ; it is the source
of health, strength, plenty, riches, and of a thousand
sober delights and honest pleasures ; it is the mistress
and school of sobriety, temperance, justice, religion, and,
in short, of all virtues, both civil and military."

To shew in what esteem those persons who encouraged
or improved this art, were held by the ancients, Plutarch
tells us tliat Ceres and Bacchus were mortals deified for
having bestowed on mankind the knowledge of raising
fruits. At Rome, especially during the Commonwealth,
the greatest generals, consuls, and dictators, with the
same victorious hands that overthrew the enemies of their
state in war, turned up the earth in time of peace.

Pompey and Vespasian bore in their triumphs trees
which they had procured from the conquered nations, as

INTRODUCTION. V

monuments more durable and useful than those of brass
or marble ; and long before their time, after the sacking
of Carthage, the Senate reserved from the libraries of
that great city only twenty-eight volumes, (the writings
of Mago on Husbandry,) which they caused to be trans-
lated into the Latin language, notwithstanding Cato had
so lately written on the same subject.

As soon as they had in some measure made themselves
masters of Britain, the Romans began to clear the forests,
and encourage agriculture, which in this country had pre-
viously been little attended to, except upon the coast ;
and at that period the island possessed but few fruits,
■which, for want of proper culture, must have been very
inferior in quality.

The Romans were accustomed to convey to their na-
tive country the natural productions of the conquered
nations, and by careful cultivation to make them flourish
as well as those indigenous to the climate. It is pro-
bable that after the fall of their empire, the Crusaders,
who often made that part of the world a rendezvous, ob-
served and acquired a taste for many of those rarities';
and brought back to their homes, not only new fruits, but
those of their native soil in an improved state. Besides
this, the intercourse of the Christian priests with Rome
probably served to introduce other fruits, as the Catholic
religion, enjoining frequent abstinence from animal food,
must have increased the demand for fruits.

The monastic buildings appear to have been almost the
only dwellings to which orchards and vineyards were at-
tached, previously to the reign of Henry the Eighth.

But it was under that monarch and Elizabeth, that the
most valuable fruits were introduced into this country;
for at that time the desire of discovery pervading Eng-
land, many fruits, plants, and vegetables, hitherto un-
known, were brought hither from the New World. So

vi INTRODUCTION.

little does horticulture seem to have advanced prior to
that period, that Queen Catherine was obliged to pro-
cure her salads from Holland : and, according to Fuller,
green peas were seldom seen except from that country.
** These," says he, " were dainties for ladies, they came so
far and cost so dear."

This politic Queen seems to have constantly patronized
horticulture. Turner dedicated his Herbal to her in the
first year of her reign, which is the earliest English work
we possess on plants. She invited Tusser to her Court,
who published the " Five hundred Points of good Hus-
bandry." But he, preferring his fields to a palace, re-
mained in retirement at his farm in Essex. It was in this
reign, also, that Leonard Mascall, or Maschal, printed
his ** New Art of Planting and Grafting." This author
first introduced the pippin apple to our country.

In 1574, Thomas Hyll published " Art of Gardening."
In 1597, John Gerrard, a surgeon in Holborn, sent out
his History of Plants, a folio work of 1392 pages. The
same year, William Lawson printed " A New Orchard
and Garden."

In 1600, Sir Hugh Piatt published " Paradise of
Flora;" also, " Dyvers Snyles for manuring." In the
following year Dr. Holland produced his Translation of
the Works of C. Plinius Secundus.

Since this, there has been kept up a continued search
for every kind of tree, shrub, and herb, that could either
please the eye, gratify the taste, or contribute to the stores
of medicine ; the hottest and the coldest climates have
been explored: and those plants that, for want of a
warmer sun, would not flourish naturally in this country,
have had an artificial clime and temperature furnished to
them. The Agricultural Society has succeeded in im-
proving our farms, the very meadows of which are clothed
anew : this produces the gras3 of the Italian fields, and

INTRODUCTION. VU

that the pasture of the Netherlands : the chalky hills
ware with corn, our marshes are no longer stagnated, and
famine, which formerly succeeded an unfavourable season,
seems no longer to be dreaded.

The Horticultural Society was established in the year
1809, in order to give farther encouragement to this art,
and to extend the best possible system to every part of
the kingdom. By means of this company, what is disco-
vered in one place, may be sent post as it were to others,
through the remotest corners of the dominions, without
travelling as before, by ages. Besides this advantage,
individuals have sent out men of science to every quarter
of the known world in search of plants, which have since
been so diversified and multiplied, as to make it difficult
' to discover more varieties.
• The author has ascertained, by the assistance of the
fiortus Kewensis, that since the discovery of the New
World, we have procured 2345 varieties of trees and
plants from America, and upwards of 1700 from the
Cape of Good Hope, in addition to many thousands
which have been brought from China, the East Indies,
New Holland, various parts of Africa, Asia, and Europe,
until the list of plants now cultivated in this country ex-
ceeds 120,000 varieties.

But flowers have principally engaged the care and
study of the lovers of horticulture and botany, while fruits
have been, comparatively, rather too much neglected,
though of the two the latter are intrinsically the most
valuable ; for since the more frequent use of fruits and
vegetables in. this country, many dreadful diseases, as the
leprosy, &c. are no longer prevalent, or have lost their
baneful effects.

With respect to the City of London, particularly,
amongst the blessings which gardening has bestowed on
h, one of the most important is the prevention of pesti-

Viii INTRODUCTION.

lence ; cleanliness having become a matter of profit in
this immense metropolis, whence the soil is carefully
and expeditiously removed to fertilize the grounds occu-
pied by gardeners in the environs, which are now calcu-
lated to exceed an extent of six thousand acres within
twelve miles of London. These are constantly cultivated
for the supply of the metropolitan markets with fruit and
vegetables.

Stevenson informs us, that three thousand five hundred
acres of ground in Surrey alone are employed as market
gardens ; and Middleton observes, that from Kensington
to Twickenham, the land on both sides of the road for
seven miles compose the great fruit-gardens north of the
Thames, for the supply of the London markets. It is
gratifying to see the number of hands this ground em-
ploys. Even during the six winter months, it is computed
that each acre affords work to five persons, and at least
double that number for the summer months; these are
principally females ; and if we add porters, hawkers, &c.
the amount will be trebled, and the total number will be
found to exceed ninety thousand persons, who are in the
summer months daily employed by the gardeners within
a circle of ten or twelve miles around London.

The author has been anxious to discover the names of
the first introducers and cultivators of each particular
fruit, but in this endeavour he met with considerable
difficulty; for n^odern historians are silent on the subject,
though they often dwell long on others not really so inte-
resting ; and the few works in our language on this head,
are either too expensive, or too strictly botanical for gene-
ral readers. Encouraged, however, by the observation
of Sir Joseph Banks, that ** every anecdote that tends to
throw light on the introduction, or on the probable origin
of plants now collected for use, is interesting, even though
it is not quite perfect," he continued his researches till he

INTRODUCTION. IX

was flattered by the suggestions of friends, that the work,
originally intended only as a private instruction for his
family, might, with care, become worthy the perusal of
the public, and enable him to make farther inquiries and
discoveries.

It has been the author's study to produce a History of
Fruits, that may not only be read through, but referred to,
with some amusement ; to blend entertainment with use-
ful information, as far as the subject would allow ; to
combine and compare the accounts of the ancients with
those of the moderns which are more improved ; and, in
short, to treat on each species of fruit generally ; for to
have descended into varieties, would have filled volumes
with names alone, since he finds one individual possessing
four hundred kinds of strawberries, and others as great a
variety of gooseberries ; while the kinds of apples, pears,
plums, &c. have been still more numerously multiplied —

And kinds are less material to his theme ;
Which who would learn, as soon may tell the sands,
Driven by the western wind on Libyan lands,
Or number, when the blust'ring Eurus roars,
The billows beating on Ionian shores.

DrydeiCs t^ir^ii.

Lately published by the same Author,
HISTORY OF CULTIVATED VEGETABLES,

Comprising their Botanical, Medicinal, Edible, and Chemical Qualities,

Natural History, and relation to Art, Science, and Commerce.

By HENRY PHILLIPS, F.H.S.

Author of The Pomarium Britannicum, or History of Fruits known in

Great Britain.

The Second Edition, in 2 vols. 8vo. price 21s.

SYLVA FLORIFERA— The SHRUBBERY,

Historically and Botanically treated.
In 2 vols. 8vo. price 21s,

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HISTORY OF FRUITS.

ACORN— GLANS.

I

THE OAK TREE. QUERCUS.

Natural Order, Ametitacea. A genus of the Monacia
Polyandria Class.

Thresh the wood
For masts of Oaks, your fathers' homely food.

Virgil.

X HE prince of the Latin poets having thus noticed the
food of the early race of mankind, which Ovid tells us,

" Content with food, which nature freely bred
On wildings and on strawberries they fed ;
Cornels and bramble-berries gave the rest,
And falling acorns furnished out a feast,"

This, we trust, will justify our noticing a fruit, which the
Horticulturists have banished from our board by the in-
troduction of a more agreeable dessert. It is the fruit or

B

2 HlSTOllV OF FRUITS.

nut of the oak-tree, and was called by the Greeks BaXavoj,
while in Latin it is called Glans.

It appears to have been amongst the Grecian traditions
that of all trees the oak was made first, and that among
men the Arcadians were first created ; who for this rea-
son were compared to the oak. They were certainly
celebrated for their partiality to that sort of diet, since
they are distinguished in Lycophron by the name of
/3aXav>jfayoi, acorn-eaters. Hence it was customary in
the marriage festivals of the Athenians, for a boy to
bring in a bough full of acorns and a plate covered with
bread, proclaiming 'ISifuyov xoacov, svpov aju-sivov.* — 1 have
escaped the worse and found the better — which was
done in memory of their leaving the use of acorns for
that of bread. Most other nations in Greece also made
use of acorns. The inhabitants of Chios once held
out a long siege, whilst they were destitute of all
other food.

Strabo tells us that in the mountainous parts of Spain
the inhabitants ground their acorns into meal. In a raw
state they are eaten to this day by the Spaniards, who
long retained them as a delicacy at the desserts. Cer-
vantes mentions them in his Don Quixote. But the Spa-
nish acorns are certainly of a sweeter nature than those
of England. Mrs. Stothard says in her tour in Brittany,
" I am informed that in the neighbourhood of Brest, the
lower orders resort to acorns as well as chesnuts for food,
which have some nutritious quality when boiled in milk."
In times of scarcity and dearth of corn, they have been
ground and baked into bread both in this country and
in France ; but the taste of this bread is rougli and dis-
agreeable ; and indeed acorns are said to be hard of di-
gestion and to cause head-aches and flatulence. Hence
Turner, who is the earliest English author on this subject

A CO UN. 3

writes, " Oke whose fruite we call an Acorn or an Eykorn
(that is ye corn or fruit of an Eike,) are harde of diges-
tion and norishe very much, but they make raw humores.
Wherefol^e we forbid the use of them formeates."

This species of mast was also eaten by the ancient
Britons. The Druids taught that whatever grew on the
oak was sent immediately from heaven ; and nothing was
held so sacred by them as the misletoe of an oak, which
it was unlawful to cut except with a golden hook.

The Persians, and the Massagetse, also thought the
misletoe something divine.

The study of botany, and the encouragement given to
agricultural and horticultural pursuits, have so wonder-
fully improved the state of this country, that what in
early ages a king would have feasted on, the beggar now
refuses ; and the acorn is scarcely known as affording
nourishment to the human species, even among the wan-
dering vagrants who pitch their tattered tents, and cook
their scanty fare beneath the branches of the trees that
produce them.

Acorns continued to be of so much importance for
many ages after they had been relinquished as the food
of man, that a failure of them frequently caused a fa-
mine ; as the swine which our woods and forests main-
tained, formed a principal part of the food of our ances-
tors. The author of the Saxon Chronicle, after describing
the extraordinary famine and mortality of the year 1116,
records particularly the failure of masts in that year.

We find that as early as the end of the seventh cen-
tury our Saxon ancestors had a law and particular direc-
tions given them by King Ina, respecting the fattening of
swine in woods, since his time called pawnage or pannage.
In a succeeding century, Elfhelmus reserves the pan-
nage of two hundred hogs for his lady, in part of her

b2

4 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

dowry : and acorns are particularly mentioned about the
middle of the eleventh century in a donation of Edward
the Confessor.

Before the conquest, the wealds of Sussex (which
is the largest valley in Europe) were one continued forest
from Hampshire to Kent, principally of oak-trees that were
only valued for the number of swine which the acorns
maintained. And so accurately was the survey taken in
William the Conqueror's time, that woods are mentioned
in the Domesday book, of one hog. The succeeding line
of our Norman Kings, in their rage for extending forests
for the chase, took away the right of pawnage from those
on whose lands they had encroached : this was one of
the grievances that King John was compelled to redress
in the Charta de Forest^.

Acorns are but little used at present, except to fatten
hogs and deer; they are sometimes given to poultry, and
would be found an advantageous food for them, were they
dried, and ground into meal.

In the time of Strabo, Rome was principally supplied
with hogs which were fattened on masts in the woods of
Gaul ; and we have observed that at the present time the
swine fed in the woods of France, particularly those of
BeiTy, afford a meat of a very superior firmness and fla-
vour : and as many persons esteem it equal to that of
Westphalia or Mentz, it brings a much higher price in the
Parisian markets than the home fed bacon.

Tusser says, —

" Some left among bushes shall pleasure thy swine ;
For fear of a mischief, keep acorns from kine."
They are considered injurious to cows because they swell
in their stomachs, and will not come up to the cud
again : which causes them to strain as it were, to remit,
and draw their limbs together.

ACORN. 5

In medicine, a decoction of acorns is reputed good
against dysenteries and colics. Pliny states, that acorns
beaten to powder, and mixed with hog's-lard and salt,
heal all hard swellings, and cancerous ulcers ; and when
reduced into a liniment, and applied, stay the haemorr-
hage.

Every part of the oak is styptic, binding, and useful
in all kinds of fluxes and bleedings, either inwardly or
outwardly ; the bark is frequently used in gargarisms, for
the relaxation of the uvula, and for sore mouths and
throats. An extract made from the bark is said by some
to be equal to the Peruvian bark.

Dr. CuUen frequently employed the decoction with
success in slight tumefactions of the mucous membrane
of the fauces, in prolapsus uvulae, and cynanche tonsil-
laris, to which some persons are liable upon the least ex-
posure to cold : in many cases this decoction, applied
early, has appeared useful in preventing these disor-
ders, but in the improved state of medicine it is little
employed although there is no doubt that oak bark
will cure intermittents, both alone and joined with ca-
momile flowers.

The gall nuts of the oak, are of many kinds, but they
have all the same medicinal virtue. We learn from Pliny
that they were used by the Romans to colour their hair
black. Galls appear to be the most powerful of the vege-
table astringents, striking a deep black when mixed with a
solution of green vitriol, and are therefore preferred to
every other substance for the purpose of making ink. As a
medicine they possess a greater degree of astringent and
styptic power than the bark, and have therefore an ad-
vantage over it, particularly for external use.

Two sorts of galls are distinguished in the shops, those
brought from Aleppo, and therefore called Aleppo nuts.

6 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

or Galla Spinosa, are the most esteemed ; the second sort
is brought from the South of Europe.

All the varieties of galls are caused by insects, which
prick the tender bud of the oak which begins to be
turgid in June, and then deposit their eggs in the wound ;
these eggs swell with the excrescence, and first turn to
worms, and then to flies, which, having perforated the
galls make their escape. And as some eggs are unfruit-
ful and remain in the gall, they are observed to yield a
volatile salt. The gall insect is a species of the inchneu-
Dion fly, and so singularly differing from other insects that
we refer the curious to Reaumer's Hist. Insects, vol. 4,
p. 40. It is suspected that these insects eject some venom-
ous ichor with their eggs, which effectually obstructs the
regular vegetation of the bud, and causes those protube-
rances called galls, and oak apples, from their afterwards
taking the shape and colour of that fruit.

At Rome the civic crown was composed of oak leaves.
But the ancient veneration of this tree was not confined
to the heathens, for it appears there were oak-trees in the
temple of the true God ; as the Bible informs us that Joshua
'• wrote the commandments and the precepts of the Lord,
in the book of the law, and that he took a great stone,
which he set up under an oak, which was in the sanctuary
of the Lord/'

In the valley of Mamre, which was in the beautiful
country of the tribe of Judah, where Abraham was visited
by the angels who announced to him the birth of Isaac,
stood an oak, that became celebrated as the tree under
which Abraham often went to repose and refresh himself.
Bayle says, that this oak was said to have existed in the
reign of the Emperor Constantius.

The biblical reader will recollect so many important
notices of this tree as to induce us to think that the Israel-
ites considered it almost as a sacred tree. As the oak in

ACORN. 7'

Ophra, under which the angel of God appeared to Gideon,
(Judges vi. 14. J The oak by Shechem, under which Jacob
hid all the idols and ear-rings (Genes, xxxv. 4.) The oak
near Bethel which marked the grave of Deborah, and was
significantly called A/lor-bachuth, (the oak of weeping.
Genes, xxxv. 8.) The classical reader will scarcely want
reminding that it was an oak-ttee also which cost Milo of
Grotona, the most celebrated wrestler of Greece, and who
was always the conqueror in the games, his life. He pos-
sessed prodigious strength. It is related that he held a
pomegranate in his hand so firmly, without smashing or
hurting the fruit, that no person could open his fingers
strait, so as to take it from him. He would put his naked
foot on a quoit, greased with oil, and whatever effort was
made, it was impossible to shake him. His confidence in
his (almost supernatural) strength was fatal to him, for
having once found in his way an old oak-tree, nearly
opened by wedges, which had been forced by the hatchet
and hammer, he undertook to finish the operation, by
the power of his arms alone ; but in the effort he dis-
placed the wedges, and his hands were caught by the
two parts of the oak, which joining together again,
he was unable to liberate himself, and was devoured
by the wolves.

The famous forest of Dodona, in Epirus, consisted of
oaks that were consecrated to Jupiter : this was one of the
most ancient oracles of which we have any particular
account. Herodotus gives two accounts of the rise of this
oracle, one of which clears up the mystery of the fable,
viz. that some Phoenician merchants carried off a priestess
of Thebes into Greece, where she took up her residence
in the forest of Dodona, and there, at the foot of an old
oak, erected a small chapel in honour of Jupiter, whose
priestess she had been at Thebes ; and this was the first
temple that was ever seen in Greece. Suidas informs us

8 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

that the answer was given by an oak. Homer has also de-
livered the same account ; and as it was generally believed
to proceed from the trunk, it is easy to conceive that the
priestess had nothing more to do than to hide herself in
the hollow of this oak, and from thence to give the pre-
tended sense of the oracle ; for the distance the supplicants
were obliged to keep was an effectual means to prevent
the cheat from being discovered. During the war between
the Thracians and Boeotians, the latter sent deputies to
consult this oracle of Dodona, when the priestess gave
them this answer, of which she doubtless did not foresee
the consequence, '* If you would meet with success, you
must be guilty of some impious action." The deputies
suspecting that she prevaricated with them in order to
serve their enemies, from whom she was descended, re-
solved to fulfil the decree of the oracle ; and therefore
seized the priestess and burnt her alive, alleging, that this
act was justifiable in whatever light it was considered ;
that if she intended to deceive them, it was fit she should
be punished Tor the deceit ; or, if she was sincere, they
had only literally fulfilled the sense of the oracle.

On Mount Lycaeus, in Arcadia, was a temple of Jupiter
with a fountain : when rain was wanted, it was thought
that it would be obtained of the god by throwing into the
fountain a branch of the oak-tree.

Socrates swore by the oak, perhaps because this tree
was consecrated to Jupiter.

The veneration that the ancients had for the oak, gave
rise to the. Greek and Latin proverb, " Speak to the oak f
which signified, speak in good security. They had also
another proverb on the oak : when they spoke of persons
they did not know the birth of, it was said they were bora
of an oak, because the ancients often exposed children in
the hollow of trees.

ACORN. y

' Lucan compares Pompey to an old oak, hung with su-
perb trophies.

The oak is a tree of slow growth, requiring a century
before it will arrive to its full perfection.

In Dodsley's Annual Register for 1758, p. 116, men-
tion is made of an oak in Langley-wood, near Downton,
Wilts, the property of the Bishop of Salisbury, sup-
posed to be of near one thousand years growth. It was'
six feet two inches in diameter, contained about ten tons
of timber, and was sold for forty pounds.

In the St. James's Chronicle, No. 5038, it is saixl that
an oak was felled a few days before at Morley, in Cheshire,,
which produced upwards of a thousand measurable feet of
timber. Its girth was fourteen yards, and one branch con.-
tained two hundred feet. Its existence could be traced
back for eight hundred years, and it was supposed to be
the largest tree in England ; as a proof of it, the trunk
had been used some years for housing cattle, and it is
said Edward the Black Prince once dined under it.

Pliny, in his Natural History, states, that hard by
the city of Ilium, there were oaks near the tomb of
Ilius, which were planted from acorns when Troy was
first called Ilium. He also says, " the great forest
Hercynia is full of large oaks, that have never been
topped or lopped. It is supposed," adds this naturalist,
" that they have been there ever since the creation of the
world, and (in regard to their immortality) surmounting
all miracles whatever. The roots of these trees run
and spread so far within the ground that they meet each
other, in which encounter they make such resistance, that
they swell and rise upwards to a great height, in the form
of arches."

Linnaeus mentions fourteen species of the oak-tree j
Miller extended them to twenty-three; and Aiton de-

10 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

scribes twenty-eight species of this tree. The most com-
mon kind of the English oak produces the acorns close
to the branches, without any stalk ; but the species most
esteemed for ship-building is found growing in the wealds
of Sussex and Kent; and this tree often produces its
acorns with foot stalks as long as the cherry stalk. Young
says, " Oak is the staple commodity of Sussex, which,
from the remotest antiquity, has been celebrated for the
growth of oak : it is estimated that not less than from
170 to 180,000 acres are occupied by this timber, the
quality of which is acknowledged by navy contractors
preferring, and in all their agreements stipulating for,
Sussex oak." This author adds, that the soil is so naturally
adapted to the growth of oak, that if a field were sown
with furze only, and the cattle kept out, the ground
would, in a few years, be covered with young oaks,
without trouble or expense of planting.

Sir William Ouseley observes, " However replete with
interesting objects, the ample field of antiquarian re-
search offers but few to our notice under a more attractive
form than trees ; whether we regard them as distinguish-
ing remarkable spots, the scenes of memorable transac-
tions; as dedicated to certain divinities; or as, in some
cases, almost identified with those divinities themselves.*'
This is peculiarly applicable to

the sturdy oak,

A prince's refuge once, th' eternal guard
Of England's throne, by sweating peasants fell'd,
Stems the vast main, and bears tremendous war
To distant nations, or with sov'reign sway
Awes the divided world to peace and love.

Phillips.

The scene of King William Rufus's death in the New
Forest is still (or was within a few years) indicated by

ACOllN. 11

the remains of the tree, against which the arrow of Sir
Walter Tyrrel glanced, and killed the King. Eighty
years ago it became so decayed and mutilated, that the
spot would probably have been forgotten, had not John
Lord Delaware, who lived in one of the neighbouring
lodges, erected a triangular stone, with an inscription oi|
each face, before the stump was eradicated. On this
subject Mr. Gilpin says, fn his work on Forest Scenery,
" They who think a tree insufficient to record a fact of
so ancient a date, may be reminded that seven hundred
years make no extraordinary period in the age of an oak."
King William was killed in the year 1100.

The celebrated oak in Hainault Forest, Essex, known
by the name of Fairlop, and under whose protecting
shade so many city knights and dames have enjoyed their
pic-nic meal, is no more. Whether it fell by a stroke of
sound policy, the axe of avarice, or the shock of dice, it is
not our intention to record, we have only in common
with the lovers of ancient customs to regret its loss and
record its wonders.

" Nor could old age itself their pity reach,
No reverence to hoary barks they knew."

It is thus mentioned by the late Rev. Mr. Gilpin:
" The tradition of the country,'' says this ingenious wri-
ter, '* traces it half way up the christian era. It is still
a noble tree, though it has suffered greatly from the de-
predations of time. About a yard from the ground,
where its rough fluted stem is sixty-six feet in circum-
ference, it divides into eleven vast arms, which overspread
an area of three hundred feet in circuit : beneath this
shade an annual fair has long been held on the 2d of
July ; but no booth is suffered to be erected beyond the
extent of its boughs."

This venerable oak was cut down previous to the fair in

12 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

1 820. The founder of this fair was a Mr. Daniel Day, com-
monly called, the Good Day, who was born in the parish
of St. Mary Overy, in 1682; his father was an opulent
brewer, but Mr. Day followed the business of a block
and pump-maker in Wapping, and possessing a small
fstate in Essex, at no great distance from this remark-
able tree, he used, on the first Friday in July, annually,
to repair thither, having given his accustomed invita-
tion to a party of his neighbours to accompany him, for
the purpose of dining under the shade of its branches
and leaves, on beans and bacon. This benevolent as well
as humorous man never failed to pay his annual visit to
the public bean feast, and as regularly provided several
sacks of beans, with a proportionate quantity of bacon,
which he distributed from the trunk of the tree to the
persons there assembled. For several years before his
death, the pump and block-makers of Wapping, to the
number of thirty or forty, went annually to the fair in a
boat made of one entire piece of fir. This amphibious
vehicle was covered with an awning, mounted on a coach
carriage, and drawn by six horses ; the whole adorned
with ribbands, flags and streamers, and furnished with a
band of musicians ; it has thus been noticed in verse :

" O'er land our vessel bent its course,
Guarded by troops of foot and horse ;
Our anchors they were all a-peak,
Our crew were baling from each leak,
On Stratford bridge it made me quiver,
Lest they should spill us in the river."

A few years before the decease of Mr. Day, (which
happened on the 19th of October, 1767, being then
eighty-four years of age) his favourite oak lost a large
limb, out of which he procured a coffin to be made for
his own interment.

We have been informed that the followin"; circumstance

ACORN. 13

gave rise to the name of Fairlop, bestowed upon this cele-
brated oak. Some of Mr. Day's friends having promised
that he should be buried in a coffin made from that tree,
lopped off one of the branches, for vt^hich trespass an
action was brought against the party, fortunately for whom
some flaw was found in the pleadings, and the plaintiff
was nonsuited. It was, however, proved that the fact
committed was not injurious to the tree, but a fair lop.
Mr. Day was buried in Barking Church-yard. As lately
as 1794, this venerable oak, in the meridian of the day,
shadowed an acre of ground, although then greatly de-
cayed.

Fisher's oak, about seventeen miles from London, or
half way to Tunbridge, is of a monstrous bulk ; the trunk
only remaining, of above four fathoms in compass. When
King James the First made a progress that way, a school-
master of the neighbourhood, and all his scholars, dress-
ed in oaken garlands, came out of this tree in great num-
bers, and entertained the King with an oration. They
have a tradition at Tunbridge, that thirteen men on horse-
back were once sheltered in this oak. — Marty n.

Hern's oak, celebrated by Shakspeare, is still in ex-
istence in the Little Park at Windsor. The remains of
an other oak stand at Heveningham, in Suffolk, called
Queen Elizabeth's oak, which was hollow when that
Princess was in her youth, and who, it is said, used to
take her stand in this tree, and shoot the deer as they
passed.

The large oak in Whinfield Forest, near Appleby, in
Westmoreland, belonging to the Earl of Thanet, is also
a great curiosity ; a part of the trunk being broken away
forms a portal, into which a person may ride on horse-
back and turn about at pleasure ; it forms a convenient
receptacle for deer in stormy weather. It is supposed to
be upwards of 300 years old.

14 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

In Bloomfield wood, near Ludlow, in Shropshire, is
an oak-tree belonging to Lord Powis, the trunk of which,
in 1765, measured sixty-eight feet in girth, thirty-two in
length, and which, reckoning ninety feet for the larger
branches, contained in the whole 1455 feet of timber,
round measure, or twenty-nine loads and five feet at fifty
feet to a load.

In the vale of Gloucestershire, near the turnpike-road
between Cheltenham and Tewksbiiry, stands the Bad-
dington oak, the stem of whose trunk is fifty-four feet,
and some of its branches extend to eight yards from the
body of the tree.

The famous oak, Robur Britannicum, in Lord Norrey*s
Park, at Prescot, was computed to be able to shelter be-
tween three and four thousand men. Dr. Plot, in his
Oxfordshire, tells us of an oak near Clifton, that spread
eighty-one feet from bough-end to bough-end, and shaded
560 square yards.

In Worksop Park, the Duke of Norfolk had an oak
which spread almost 3000 square yards, and near 1000
horse might stand under the shade.

We have been favoured with the particular dimensions of
the large oak that was felled on the Gelin's estate, in the
parish of Bassaly, and within four miles of the town of
Newport, in the County of Monmouth, in 1810, as com-
municated by the Earl of Stamford to Sir Joseph Banks.

Body of the tree, ten feet long - - 450 ft.

Twelve limbs and collateral parts, contained 1850
Dead limbs ------ 126

2426 ft. or
48 loads and 26 ft — Quantity of bark, 65 cwt, and
16 stacks of wood.

Four men were three weeks and two days in felling and
stripping the tree. There were 85 pieces of square or

ACORN. 15

hewn timber: the squarers were three weeks and four
days in squaring it. One pair of sawyers had been five
months in sawing the tree, and had not finished when this
account was sent. (Mar. 6th, 1811.) The tree was pur-
chased by Mr. Thomas Harrison for one hundred guineas.
We could add the particulars of numerous other ancient
oaks, had we not a fear of exceeding our bounds in de-
scribing the most picturesque kind of tree the world can
boast. Its appearance has more of dignity than grace,
yet it equally suits the Gothic tower or the modern
villa, as it harmonises with the former, as beautifully as
it contrasts with the latter; it is the grandest ornament
of the embellished park, and the happiest protection to
the woodman's hut, where

" Hard by a cottage chimney smokes
From between two aged oaks."

Part of an oak-tree, twenty feet in circumference, was
drawn out of the Thames in September, 1815, near the
Ferry at Twickenham, with great diflaculty, by twenty-
four horses : it is known to have lain in the river one
hundred and fifty years.

The workmen, in cleaning the channel, at Brindisi,
have drawn up many of the oak piles that were driven in
by Gaesar. They are small oaks stripped of their bark,
and still as fresh as if they had been cut only a month,
though buried above eighteen centuries, seven feet under
the sand. These piles were driven in by Julius Gaesar, to
block up Pompey's fleet. (Swinhurn.)

Thus " oft conducted by historic truth,
We tread the long extent of backward time."

Thomson.

A great natural curiosity may be seen at the Imperial
Museum at Vienna, at the entrance of the gallery of the

16 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

portraits of the Emperors, in a block of oak about four
feet high, and about nine feet in circumference, in which
is the head of a Stag with the horns partly in the body of
the tree and partly out. The hart was twenty-two years
old when taken, as appears by the horns. This oak was
cut in a forest in Hungary about three hundred years ago.
We would wish the experiment to be made of binding a
young oak with brass or iron hoops, to ascertain in what
time the hoops would be surrounded by solid timber.

The timber of the oak-tree is so well known, ^nd so
justly esteemed, for a variety of purposes, that it would
be superfluous to state the whole of them.

In building ships of war, one great advantage is, that
it seldom splinters, which caused foreigners to attribute
our naval victories to the excellence of our timber ; but
the late war has given so many proofs of our defeating our
enemies with ships of their own building, that they must
now acknowledge that the bravery of a British sailor is as
fir,m as the heart of an English oak.

" The particular and most valuable qualities of the oak,"
says Mr. Gilpin, " are hardness and toughness. Box and
ebony are harder, yew and ash are tougher than oak ; but
no timber is possessed of both these qualities together in
so great a degree as British oak."

The beauty of oak timber was evidently known to the
early Greeks, as Homer thus notices its use
" Now gently winding up the fair ascent,
By many an easy step the matron went :
Then o'er the pavement glides with grace divine
(With polish'd oak the level pavements shine)."

Odyssey.

But it was not until we had manufactured into furniture
all the curious woods of the New World, that the trans-
cendent splendor of the English oak was brought to any
degree of perfection, by the late Mr. Bullock, of Tenterden-

I

ACOUX. 17

street, and other eminent cabinet-makers. Mr. Pennino-

c

of Holies-street, Cavendish-square, has lately wrought up
some old oak-trees of such matchless beauty, that one set
of dining-tables brought him the unheard-of price of six
hundred pounds. This far exceeds any thing of the kind
we read of, even in the luxurious days of the Romans,
although Pliny says, " Our wives at home twit us, their-
husbands, for our expensive tables, when we seem to find
fault with tlieir costly pearls."

" There is at this day to be seen," says this author, " a
board of citron wood, belonging formerly to M. Tullius
Cicero, which cost him ten thousand sesterces ; a strange
circumstance, as he was not rich." He also mentions a
table that belonged to Gallus Asinius, which sold for
eleven thousand sesterces, which is about equal to 70/. of
our money ; and he particularizes a table of citron wood
that came from Ptolemaeus, king of Mauritania, which
was made in two demi-rounds, or half circles, joined
together so cleverly, that the joints could not be discover-
ed : the diameter of it was four feet and a half, and three
inches in thickness. It is related that they set great store
on woods of curious orrains : some there are mentioned
with curling veins, which were called tignri(£{t\g^v tables) ;
others, pantherince (panther) ; and some are described
waved like the sea, and spotted like the peacock's tail.
But those of the highest value were of the colour of honey
wine, with shining and glittering veins, or lamprey veined,
running across.

We venture to make this digression, having seen within
these last few years oak of such various grains, that out
of them the whole of the above-mentioned, and many other
curious representations, might have been selected.

The bark of the oak-tree is a most valuable article for
the purpose of tanning; it is also used to dye woollen of a
purplish blue. The Highlanders of Scotland dye their yarn

18 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

with it of a brown colour, and it is by the aid of this bark,
that our English gardeners are able to supply us with
pine-apples, and other fruits peculiar to the hottest
climates ; but as our stoves are now successfully heated by
steam, we may expect that a less expensive article will be
substituted, having witnessed that sea-sand will retain its
heat so as to answer the same purpose.

Even the leaves of this valuable tree are used for the
purpose of tanning, and many gardeners prefer them to
dung for the purpose of making hot-beds for melons. See
the History of Cultivated Vegetables, vol. ii. p. 96.

In medicine, oak-bark has long been esteemed as a
powerful and useful astringent and tonic. It was at one
time a celebrated remedy for intermittents, and considered
as a good substitute for cinchona ; but it certainly falls
much short of that drug in these cases ; for agues will
often withstand the oak-bark, which readily yield upon
administering a few doses of Peruvian bark. It is however
an useful astringent in obstinate diarrhoea, and chronic
forms of dysentery ; also in leucorrhoea and other chronic
serous discharges, depending on debility and relaxations
of the secreting vessels.*

Oak sawdust is a principal ingredient in dyeing fustian ;
all the varieties of drabs and browns are made by the aid
of oak sawdust. Oak apples are likewise used in dyeing :
the black got from them is more beautiful than that ob-
tained from galls, but not so durable.

For the sowing of acorns, we can take no better time
than that which Nature directs, and the squirrels, who in
all probability were the first planters of our forests, em*
ploy. When the fruit is perfectly matured, so that it may
be easily taken from the cup, these little animals may
be observed to descend from the oak each with an acorn

• Medical Botany.

,1

I

ACORN. 19

in its mouth, and with the greatest rapidity they make a
small hole in the earth and cover it over as a repository
for their vv^inter food : this they continue to repeat during
the proper season. We may conclude that many of these
hoards escape their subsequent search, and spring up to
form Britannia's glorious bulwark. Can we see, and not
estimate the admirable harmony of Nature?

John Ellis, Esq, discovered that acorns can be pre-
served in a state fit for vegetation for a whole year, by
enveloping them in bees' wax : other seeds may be con-
veyed from distant countries by the same means.

In transplanting trees of any considerable size, more
attention should be observed to the ancient practice of
marking the bark so as to give them the same aspect they
enjoyed in their original situation ; an attentive observer
will perceive that nature often clothes the northern bark
with a coat of lichen, while the southern side is bare to
the softer rains and warmer aspect ; may not even the
bark itself be formed for each particular aspect ? Because
we find some superstitious customs among the Romans,
let us not condemn all their practices, but take a lesson
from VirgiFs unrivalled poem : — ^

Quinetiam Coeli regionem in cortice signant ;
Ut quo quceque modo steterit, qua parte calores
Austrinos tulerit ; quae terga obverterit axi^ restituant.

" Also Heaven's quarters on the bark they score,
That they may coast it as it was before,
Which Southern heat sustain'd, which view'd the Pole."

The oak principally used for wainscot, &c., is brought
from Dantzic and Norway.

The evergreen oak (ilex) is a native of the south of
Europe, and is planted merely to ornament our gardens
and plantations : this variety was introduced into England
in 1581, and is found to grow in great perfection on the

c2

20 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

banks of the Thames, west of London. There is an oak
of this description in the grounds belonging to the Bishop
of London's palace at Fulham, more than fifty feet high,
and eight feet in circumference. We conclude it was
planted by Bishop Compton, who introduced many new
plants and forest trees from North America and other
parts of the world.*

* The various species and varieties of the oak will be noticed in a
future work on Plantations.

21
APRICOT.^ARMENIACA.

OR, PRiECOCIA MALA.

Natural order, Pomacea. A genus of the Icosandria Mono-
gynia class.

-And Apricots,

Seed of the sun, from Iran's Land.

The name of the Apricot has been thought to be de-
rived from Apricus, open and exposed to the sun ; or from
pracox, early ripe : but there can be no doubt that the
word is a corruption of the Arabic name of the fruit, va-
riously written in European characters, barkuk, berkach,
or berikach.

M. L. Legnier has made some remarks on this subject,
which appeared in the Revue Encyclopedique, for Novem-
ber 1815. Here he says, " I was struck with its mode
of growth in Egypt, whither it was anciently brought
from latitudes still more southern. In Egypt its leaves
have scarcely fallen off before the blossoms appear again.
The name of berikokka, first given to it even in Greece,
approaches very near to its Arabian name of berkach, or
berikach." M. L. Legnier adds, " that the inhabitants of
the deserts called Oasis, gather and dry large quantities
of apricots, which they bring down to Egypt for sale ;
and they are there called mickmich" ** The result of
every inquiry I made," says this author, " was, that the
apricot-tree grows there spontaneously, almost without
cultivation : and as it is not known to grow in the natu-
ral state in any part of Armenia, we may very justly con-
clude that it is an Arabian fruit."

22 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Dr. Turner, who wrote his Herbal soon after the intro-
duction of this tree into the English garden, calls it abrt-
cok. Gerarde, in 1597, writes it abrecoke, aprecock, and
aprecox.

The apricot was, however, long considered, and in most
botanical works stated, to be a native of Epirus ; and the
name of pruneus Armeniaca having been given to it in
mistake, and which unquestionably belonged to another
fruit, it has been transmitted down from one author to
another, without particular enquiry. Theophrastus, one
of the oldest authors, never mentions the apricot-tree as
being cultivated in Greece, at the time when he lived :
on the contrary, he alludes to it as an exotic, from an
account transmitted to him. He also mentions the almond,
as being the only tree in his country which produced the
flowers before the leaves. (Theoph. Hist. Plant, lib. vii.
c. 12.)

Columella is the oldest Roman author who has men-
tioned the tree that has been considered the apricot. He
writes, that at the end of January we may graft the cher-
ry-tree, the Armenian plum, the nectarine, the almond,
the peach-tree, and others which blossom early.

Pliny also mentions the Armenian plum; and says
there is a plum brought from a foreign nation, which is
called Armeniaca, and is desirable for its smell. This
great naturalist has particularly mentioned the apricot, as
distinct from the Armenian plum : he states that it was
not known above thirty years before he wrote the ac-
count; which would make its introduction into Italy
about the sixtieth year of the Christian era. Pliny says,
" at its first coming, each sold for a Roman denier :''
he adds, ** this fruit is harmless, and is in such request
among invalids, that thirty sesterces are given for one
of them, which is as great a price «s is given for any

APRICOT. 23

fruit whatever. We have/' continues he, " two sorts,
supernatia, which w^e have from the Sabines; dnid popu-
laria, which grow common everywhere." Thus Pliny
has furnished us with an account of the apricot, and
omitted to mention from whence it was first procured.

Sonnini, in his Travels in Egypt, observed that in some
parts of that country near the plains of Siout, you find
abundance of small apricots: they are called Mischmisch,
and have an agreeable flavour. They dry them, and after-
wards dress them as sauce to meats. These dishes, he
observes, usually garnish the tables of the rich, and are of
the best sort which come from Egyptian kitchens.

Thunberg describes the apricot-tree as growing to a
large size in Japan. Grosier says it covers the barren
mountains to the west of Pekin ; and Pallas tells us that
it is commonly wild on the whole tract of Caucasus.

The Chinese have a great variety of fruiting apricots,
and they not only preserve the fruit both dry and in
liquor, but make lozenges from the clarified juice, which
dissolved in water yields a cool refreshing beverage.
From the wild tree, the fruit of which has little pulp, but
a large kernel, they extract a great quantity of oil.

The Persians have a delicious kind of apricot which
they call tokm ekshems, signifying sun's seed.

The apricot-tree was- first brought to England from
Italy, in the year 1524, by Woolf, gardener of Henry the
Eighth, who it appears introduced several valuable fruits
about the same period. (Gough's British Topography,
vol. i. page 133. J

Turner, whose work was written in 1564 and published
in 1568, says, ** I have sene many trees of thys kynde in
Almany, and som in England." Gerarde in 1597 notices
two varieties that he tells us " do grow in my garden, and
now-adaies in many other gentlemen's gardens through-

24 HISTORY OF FllUlTS.

out all England." Parkinson notices but two varieties of
this fruit, and Coles says also, in 1657, " I am not assured
that there are more than two sorts of Apricot-trees."

We have now many varieties of this fruit, some of
which, by their names, inform us whence they were pro-
cured, as the Algier, the Roman, the Turkey, the Breda,
and the Brussels apricot, besides the Muscadine, the
Orange, and several new varieties. It is one of our earliest
wall -fruits, as well as one in the highest estimation.

The fruit, when gathered young to thin the crop, makes
an excellent tart ; and, when ripe, it is second to no fruit
for preserves or jam : it gives an excellent flavour to ice,
and makes a delicious liqueur. Of all the fruits used in
pastry, none is more beautiful or agreeable than the
ripe apricot : they should be placed in an open pastry, the
stones taken out, and a kernel placed on each fruit, which
adds as much to the flavour as to the appearance. To
prolong the enjoyment of this fruit in its natural state, we
should be careful to plant the earliest variety in the warm-
est situation, as the frost often injures the blossoms of the
Muscadine apricot, unless it is protected by a glass shutter
or some subsiitute. The Brussels apricot is the latest
ripe, and it should be observed that this variety produces
better fruit when not exposed to so full a sun. In this
age which exerts so much ingenuity to accelerate the
maturity of vegetation, we shall endeavour to point out
the best means of retarding or prolonging the season of
fruits. The apricot as well as the plum may be kept for
our dessert two or three weeks later, by gathering it when
half ripe and placing it in an ice-house, a dairy, or any
cool place, where it slowly ripens.

Apricots, if not too ripe, agreeably astringe and strength-
en the stomach, but like all other perfumed watery fruit,
it loses its aromatic and tempting flavour, becomes clam-
my, and is less easy of digestion, when over-ripe • they

A Pill COT. 2o

should therefore be gathered at least twenty-four hours
before they acquire the last degree of maturity.

The apricot-tree produces its blossom buds not only on
the last year's wood, but also on the curzons, or spurs,
from the two year old wood. Great care should be
used, in pruning, not to injure them ; and it is advisable
to remove all foreright shoots in the growing time.

The Brussels and the Breda apricot are the best as stan-
dard trees : they are all propagated, by grafting them on
plum stocks, excepting the Alberge, the seed of which will
produce the same fruit, or with very little variation. ^

Madame de Genlis relates the following anecdote,
which cannot be translated so as to retain the wit, which
depends on the agreement of the French name for apri-
cot-tree with the inscription alluded to.

Apres la mort de Louis XI, au commencement de la
regence de Madame de Beaujeu, plusieurs personnes fu-
rent disgraciees ; entre autres, Cotier, premier medecin
du feu roi, qui s'applaudissant d'etre echappe de cette
cour orageuse, fit sculpter sur la porte de sa maison un
abricotier avec cette inscription, * A I'abri Cotier.'

26

ALMOND.— AMYGDALUS.

Natural order, Pomacea. A genus of the Icosandria Mono-
g^nia class.

That the Almond-tree is a native of Syria and Arabia,
we have the authority of the earliest writers.

Jacob mentions almonds among the best fruits of the
land of Canaan, when he says to his sons, ** Take of the
best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the
man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices and
myrrh, nuts and almonds." By the miracle of Aaron's rod
we learn that this tree was growing in the wilderness —
** the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded,
and brought forth buds, and blossomed blossoms, and
yielded almonds." The Israelites did not use the same
ornamental statuary that adorned the heathen temples,
but copied the fruits and flowers of their country, where
they admitted embellishment. The almond was selected
to beautify the candlesticks for the tabernacle, which
were made of pure gold, of beaten work: ** Three bowls
made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop
and a flower : and three bowls made like almonds in ano-
ther branch, a knop and a flower ; so throughout the six
branches going out of the candlestick. And in the six
candlesticks were four bowls made like almonds, his
knops, and his flowers.'*

Theophrastus, who wrote about 300 years before
Christ, mentions the almond as the only tree in Greece
that produced the blossoms before the leaves. Servius

ALMOND. 27

relates the traditionary tale of Phyllis's being changed
by the gods into an almond-tree, which was called phylla
by the Greeks. Some days after this metamorphosis,
Demophoon, her lover, revisited Thrace, of which Phyllis
was queen : and when he heard of the fate of Phyllis, he
ran and clasped the tree, which, though at that time
stripped of its leaves, suddenly shot forth and blossomed,
as if sensible of his tenderness and love.

The almond-tree was not cultivated in Italy in the time
of Cato, who calls the fruit, nuces Graces, or Greek nuts.
There are now orchards and whole fields of them in that
country, as well as in the south of France.

The Jordan almond-tree was first planted in England in
the reign of Henry the Eighth, 1548. (Hortus Kewensis.)
Dr. Turner notices it in the year 1645, and says "almond-
trees growe muche in hyghe Germany beside Sypre in a
cytie called Newstat, and great plentye in Italye, and
some growe in England, but I have hearde of no greate
store of the fruyte of them that growe in England."

Lord Bacon, whose Natural History was written some
years after this time, mentions it among the trees that blos-
som earliest, and whose fruit ripens latest : and which he
accounts for as being a tree that hath much oily moisture.
He recommends almond butter as an excellent nourisher
to those that are weak ; as also the oil of almonds, newly
drawn, with sugar arid a little spice, spread upon toasted
bread, as a nourishing diet.

The Jordan almonds are the most esteemed for the ta-
ble, and are named after the river Jordan, so celebrated
in the Old Testament, and from whence they were first
procured : these almonds, when taken in moderation, are
wholesome, being cooling, healing, emollient, and nutri-
tive : they are much prescribed in emulsions, and are
found of good effect in all disorders arising from choleric
and acrimonious humours. Dr. John Hill tells us tliat sweet

28 HISTOKY OF FRUITS.

almonds are good to be eaten in consumptive cases, if
thoroughly chewed, as they supply many of the good of-
fices of milk, when the stomach will not bear that fluid,
and serve at once as a medicine and a food.

The oil of almonds is principally drawn from the Valen-
tian and Barbary almonds, and is well known for its me-
dicinal qualities. The bitter almond contains a great deal
of oil ; more salt than the sweet almond ; and but little
phlegm : it is for that reason, that the oil of the bitter
almond will keep a longer time without growing musty,
than the oil of sweet almonds.

Hoffman tells us that a family of ten persons, who had
taken two ounces of arsenic by mistake in some water-
gruel, were relieved and recovered from danger by the oil
of almonds and milk which he administered. The same
author says, '* oil of sweet almonds taken to the quantity
of some spoonfuls, in a little broth, is a most effectual
medicine in all pains and spasms ; even in such spasms as
shake the most remote part of the body : for this reason,
it is very properly prescribed in convulsive coughs, &c."

On triturating the almond with water, it unites with
the fluid, into an emulsion or milky liquor. It is also
useful for uniting substances with water, which of them-
selves are not miscible with it.

Bitter almonds were considered by the ancients as of
use to prevent or relieve intoxication. Plutarch relates
that Drusus*s physician, who was a great drinker, took at
every cup five bitter almonds, to allay the heat and fumes
of the wine, and that thouoh he became the greatest drinker
of the age, he was never intoxicated. The bitter almonds
are held aperient, detersive, and diuretic ; they are there-
fore recommended in obstructions of the liver, spleen, &c.
Pliny states, that a decoction of the roots of the bitter al-
mond-tree supples the skin, prevents wrinkles, and gives a
fresh, cheerful colour to the countenance ; and that bitter

'^

ALMOND. 29

almonds cause sleep, and create appetite. They were
considered a cure for chilblains, as well as for the bite of
a mad dog.

Neumann states, that these almonds are poisonous to
birds, and all animals that come into the world blind.
The Bohemians are said to bruise them, and to throw
them where fowls frequent, which will stupify those that
eat them, so that they are easily taken by the hand.
The bitter almonds are more generally used for culinary
purposes, and for flavouring cordials, &c. From the Jor-
dan almond is produced one of the most exquisite and
nourishing of all our soups.

As an ornamental tree, the almond deserves to be more
generally cultivated in our shrubberies, and particularly
as a foreground to clumps of evergreens in parks and
plantations, which have a sombre appearance towards the
spring, that would be much relieved by the blushing
petals which grace the leafless branches of the almond-
tree in the month of March, and give a gaiety to the
plantations at a time when no other trees are in blossom.
In favourable seasons, the fruit often comes to perfect
maturity in this country; but these almonds will not keep
so well as those produced in warmer climates ; but when
gathered young and preserved with their peachy pulp,
they make an excellent sweetmeat, and we have no doubt
but that they would be found an equally agreeable
pickle.

It is observed that the handsomest almond-trees are
those which have not been transplanted, but raised by
planting well-ripened almonds in the month of October,
or November ; but they may be planted in February or
March, if care be taken to preserve them in sand. Both
the common and the dwarf almonds are, however, more
generally propagated by inoculating a bud of either of
these trees into a plum or peach stock, in the month of

30 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

July. For a wet or cold soil they should be budded on a
plum stock; but where the soil is light and dry, the peach
or almond stock is preferable. The nature of the soil, as
well as the season, should be attended to in transplanting
these trees. Where the ground is dry the month of Oc-
tober is a proper time; but in wet or cold lands the
month of February is a better season. They should be
trained with single stems ; but when of a proper height
they require no pruning, and are more graceful when al-
lowed to branch out in their natural way.

31

APPLE-TREE— MALUS,

Natural order, Pomaceee, A species of the Pyrus, he-
longing to the genus of Icosandria Pentagynia.

" Comfort me with Apples."

Song of Solomon,

The Apple-tree appears from the testimony of Sacred
History, as well as that of the naturalists of ancient
Greece and Rome, to be a native of the east. The pro-
phet Joel, where he declares the destruction of the fruits
of the earth by a long drought, mentions the fruits which
were held in estimation, and among them names the
apple-tree.

Solomon writes — " As the apple-tree among the trees
of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons."

Apple-trees, from the earliest accounts, seem to have
required the fostering care of man. Of all fruit-trees,
Pliny says, the apple is the tenderest, and least able to
bear heat or cold, particularly the early sweet apples.
For a long time the apple-tree was of the highest value
among fruit-trees with the Romans : " there are many
apple-trees," says Pliny, " in the villages near Rome
that let for the yearly sum of 2000 sesterces," which is
equal to 12/. 10s. of our money; " and some of them,"
says this author, " yield more profit to the owner than a
small farm, and which brought about the invention of
grafting.

" Graft the tender shoot,

Thy chil^en'a^c^drep shall enjoy the fruit."

32 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

*' There are apples," says Pliny, " that have ennobled the
countries from whence they came ; and many apples have
immortalized their first founders and inventors. Our
best apples," continues he, " will honour the first grafters
for ever ; such as took their names from Matius, Cestius,
Manlius, and Claudius," This author particularizes the
quince apples, that came ffom a quince grafted upon an
apple stock, which, he says, smell like the quince, and
were called Appiana, after Appius, who was of the
Claudian house, and who was the first that practised
this grafting. " Some apples," says he, " are so red
that they resemble blood, which is caused by their being
at first grafted upon a mulberry stock." But of all the
apples he mentions, he says the one which took its
name from Petisius, who reared it in his time, was the
most excellent for eating, both on account of its sweet-
ness and agreeable flavour. He mentions nine-and-
twenty kinds of apples as being cultivated in Italy at
about the commencement of the Christian era. The
grafting of trees was carried to its greatest extent about
this time. *' I have seen," says Pliny, ** near Thuliae, in
the country of theTiburtines, a tree grafted and laden with
all manner of fruits, one bough bearing nuts, another
berries; here hung grapes, there figs; in one part you
might see pears, in another pomegranates; and, to con-
clude, there is no kind of apple or other fruit but there
it was to be found : but this tree did not live long."
Modern grafters will condemn this account as fabulous or
exaggerated ; but what reason can we have to doubt the
authority of a man, whose life was spent to the benefit
of mankind, and whose death was caused by his perse-
verance in the research after truth in the wonderful works
of nature ? Let those who dispute this account be able to
tell us why a graft, taking nourishment from a crab-stock,
srhall have a fruit more noble than its nurse and parent.

APPLK. 33

Lord Bacon mentions apple scions that were grafted
upon the stock of a cole wort, which produced great flaggy
apples. This great man observes, •* that grafting should
be done on a drier stock, as the apple upon the crab, the
pear upon the thorn," &c.

Thornton says, in his History of Turkey, that *' apples
are among the most common fruits of Wallachia, and
that one variety appears natural to the climate, as it bears
without culture a fruit called domniasca, which is perhaps
the finest in Europe, both for size, odour, and flavour."

Sir William Ouseley tells us, in his account of the
Eastern Nations, that " in the territory of Istakhr, a kind
of apple grows, the half of which is sweet and the other
half sour."

The wild crab is the only apple indigenous to this coun-
try ; and it is on this stock that most of our valuable
apples have been grafted and raised by the ingenuity of
the gardeners, who have, by sowing the seeds and study-
ing the soil, so improved and multiplied the varieties of
this most excellent fruit, that it has now become of great
national importance, affording an agreeable and whole-
some diet, in a thousand shapes, to all classes of society.

The English name of this valuable fruit is evidently
derived from the Saxon word aeppel ; and from which
circumstance we may safely conclude that the fruit
was cultivated in this country under the Saxon govern-
ment, if not previously by the Romans.

Maliciously barking of apple-trees, or other fruit-trees,
is made felony by 37th Henry VIII. c. 6.

But it was not until the 16th year of the reign of that
monarch, that pippins were first introduced into England,
by Leonard Maschal, who, in Fuller's words, *' brought
them from over sea," and planted them at Plumstead, in
Sussex, a small village on the north side of the South
Downs, near the Devil's Dyke. Maschal brought the

D

34 . HISTORY OF FRUITS.

first carp to England, and thus, at one time, furnished
our orchards and our ponds with the rarest variety of
each kind.

Pippins take their name from the small spots or pips,
that usually appear on the sides of these apples. The
golden pippin is a native of Sussex, and is said to have
been first reared at Parham Park, w^hich is also situated
on the north side of the South Downs. The Dutch ac-
knowledge it to be an English apple in their catalogue of
fruits, where it is called the " Engelsche goud Pepping.*'
The French call it " Pippin d'Or." which is a translation
of the English name. Worlidge notices the golden pip-
pin, and says, *' it is smaller than the orange-apple, else
much like it in colour, taste, and long keeping." Evelyn
observes in his Diary, 22d October, 1685, that "at
Lord Clarendon's seat at Swallowfield, Berks, there is an
orchard of 1000 golden and other cider pippins."

Catherine, Empress of Russia, was so fond of this
apple, that she was regularly supplied with it from Eng-
land ; and in order that she might have it in the greatest
perfection, each apple was separately enveloped in silver
paper before it was packed.

Our earliest apple is ripe at the end of June, hence
called June eating, and now corrupted into Juniting and
Jenniting.

The Ribston pippin is a native of Ribston Park, York-
shire. Hargrave, in his History of Knaresborough, (p.
216,) says, "This place is remarkable for the produce of
a delicious apple, called the Ribston Park pippin. The
original tree was raised from a pippin brought from France,
from which tree such numbers have been propagated,
that they are now to be met with in almost every orchard
in this and many other counties." The old tree is yet
standing: and in the year 1787 produced six bushels of
fruit. Mr. Speechly says, " he has seen the tree within

APPLE. lib

these last few years, and that it was without decay, or
any indication of dissohition."

Hargrave adds, " This fruit still retains its value, being
preferred before every other apple this country produces."
While Philips says in his Poem on Cider : —

" Let every tree in every garden own

The Redstreak as supreme ; whose pulpous fruit
With gold irradiate, and vermilion, shines
Tempting, not fatal, as the birth of that
Primeval interdicted plant, that won
Fond Eve in hapless hour to taste, and die.
This, of more bounteous influence, inspires
Poetic raptures, and the lowly Muse
Kindles to loftier strains ; even 1 perceive
Her sacred virtue. See ! the numbers flow
Easy, whilst, cheer'd with her nectareous juice,
Her's and my country's praises I exalt.
Hail, Herefordian plant, that dost disdain
All other fields ! Heaven's sweetest blessing, hail!
Be thou the copious matter of my song.
And thy choice nectar ! on which always waits
Laughter, and Sport, and care-beguiling Wit,
And Friendship, chief delight of human life.
What should we wish for more ? Or why, in quest
Of foreign vintage, insincere, and mix'd.
Traverse th' extremest world ? Why tempt the rage
Of the rough ocean, when our native glebe
Imparts from bounteous womb annual recruits
Of wine delectable, that far surmounts
Gallic or Latin grapes, or those that see
The setting sun near Calpe's tow'ring Height.
Nor let the Rhodian nor the Lesbian vines
Vaunt their rich must, nor let Tokay contend
For sov'reignty ; Phanaeiis' self must bow
To th' Ariconian vales." *

D 2

36 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Gerard, who wrote his History of Plants about seventy
years after the introduction of pippins, has given no
account of this variety of the apple. He describes but
seven kinds : the pome water, the baker-ditch apple, the
king of apples, the quining, or queen of apples, the
summer pearmain, the winter pearmain, and the Paradise
apple. In his description of apples, he says, "The fruit
of apples do differ in greatness, forme, colour and taste ;
some covered with a red skin, others yellow or greene,
varying infinitely according to the soyle and climate ;
some very great, some little, and many of a middle sort ;
some are sweet of taste, or something sour; most be of
a middle taste, betweene sweet and sour ; the which to
distinguish I think it impossible, notwithstanding I
heare of one that intendeth to write a peculiar volume of
apples, and the use of them." This author continues,
" The tame and grafted apple-trees are planted and set in
gardens and orchards made for that purpose : they delight
to grow in good and fertile grounds. Kent doth abound
with apples of most sorts; but I have seen in the pastures
and hedge-rows, about the grounds of a worshipful gen-
tleman dwelling two miles from Hereford, called M,
Roger Bodnome, so many trees of all sortes, that the
seruants drink for the most part no other drinke but that
which is made of apples. The quantitie is such, that by
the report of the gentleman himselfe, the parson hath for
tithe many hogsheads of cyder.** " Like as there be
divers manured apples, so is there sundry wilde apples,
or crabs, not husbanded, that is, not grafted. We have
in our London gardens, (Gerard's garden w^as in Holborn)
a dwarfe kind of sweet apple called the Paradise apple,
which beareth apples very timely without grafting."

From this account we may conclude, that the pippin
apples were still rare, or that they had not been cul-
tivated out of Sussex, although 1 find Gerard must have

APPLE. 37

tseen the fruit of the pippin kind, for, in his account
of the pomum amoris, or love-apple, he says it is the
bigness of a goose egg or a large pippin. The pippin
appears to have been scarce even in the time of
Charles the First ; for in the valuation of the fruit-trees
at the royal gardens of his queen at Wimbledon, there is
only one pippin-tree mentioned.

For some years past, it has been stated by several in-
genious writers, that many of our best varieties of apples
could no longer be cultivated with success ; that by
length of time they have become degenerated and worn
out. Mr. Knight, the president of the Horticultural So-
ciety, seems to have been the first that gave birth to this
idea. He says, in his Pomona Herefordiensis, that those
apples which have been long cultivated are on the decay.
The Redstreak and the Golden Pippin can no longer be
propagated with advantage. The fruit, like the parent-
tree, is affected by the debilitated old age of the variety.

' Again, he says, in his Treatise on the Culture of the apple
and pear, page 6, '* the Moil, and its successful rival the

^ Redstreak, with the Must and Golden Pippin, are in the
last stage of decay, and the Stire and Foxwhelp are hast-
ening rapidly after them." " It is much to be regretted,"
says Speechly, '* that this apparently visionary notion of
the extinction of certain kinds of apples should have been
promulgated by authors of respectability, since the mis-
take will, for a time at least, be productive of several ill
consequences." Pliny notices the decay of apple-trees
in his time, and observes that the apple-trees become old
sooner than any other tree, and that the fruit becomes
less, and is subject to be cankered and worm-eaten, even
while on the trees. Book 16. r. 27.

Columella seems to make the same allusion in his 10th
book :• —

38 HISTOKY OF FRUITS.

" And Autumn, glutted with ail sorts of fruit,
Shaking his hoary head, with apples deck'd."

Having observed among the apples in Covent-garden
market, in 1819, a great quantity of the real Golden Pip-
pin in a perfect state, the author was induced to make
particular inquiries respecting this fruit ; and has received
satisfactory accounts from all quarters that these trees
are fast recovering from a disease, or canker, which appears
to have been brought on by a succession of unpropitious
seasons ; but that the summer of 1818, and the following
year, have greatly improved them.

When the author had decided to publish this History
of Fruits, he waited on some gentlemen who are well
known in all parts of the world for their practical know-
ledge in the cultivation of apples. Mr. Hugh Ronalds,
jun. of Brentford, informed him that he had lately seen a
tree of the Golden Pippin kind, which had been planted
against a wall in a south aspect, which was in a thriving
condition, and the fruit in a perfect state. Mr. Ronalds,
sen. assured him it was the true Golden Pippin, and that
there is no fear of losing this variety.

Mr. Lee, of Hammersmith, who politely shewed me
500 various kinds of apple-trees, was decidedly of opinion
that the apparent decay of some trees was owing to the
unfavourable springs we have had for several years.

Mr. Knight, of the King's Road, Chelsea, has also fa-
voured us with his opinion, which perfectly agrees with
that of Mr. Ronalds and Mr. Lee. Mr. Knight added,
that if this spring and summer should be as favour-
able as the two last seasons, he should be able to shew
this and other old varieties of the apple-tree in as perfect a
state as they have ever been known. Since the first edi-
tion of this work was printed, we have had opportunities
of making observations and farther inquiries as to the

APPLE. 39

state of these trees both in this and other countries, the
result of which has been that of confirming the opinions
of the gentlemen before named. We are informed by
Thomas Harrison, Esq. who resided several years in the
Island of Madeira, that there are at this time a considera-
ble number of the true Golden Pippin-trees growing on the
mountains in Madeira, about fourteen miles from the capital
of that island, and at an elevation of about 3000 feet above
the sea, which regularly produce abundance of fruit, not-
withstanding the trunk and branches are covered with a
white lichen or moss. Grafts which were sent from these
trees about three years ago, produced fruit at Cheshunt in
Hertfordshire the second year, and proved to be the original
Golden Pippin. These trees are also in a thriving state
in several parts of America, as has been shewn by the ex-
cellent quality of the fruit lately sent to this country. We
observed them also in several parts of England during the
summer of 1821 in as healthy a state as most other apple-
ttees, particularly in the gardens of Mr. Kirk of Old
Brompton, and Messrs. Humphreys at Chichester, where
the fruit was of a size and perfection which has been rare-
ly surpassed : thus it appears that the Golden Pippin
only requires the most genial situation of the orchard, to
render it as prolific as formerly.

Mr. Knight, the ingenious president of the Horticul-
tural Society, we conclude, had watched these trees dur-
ing the unfavourable wet seasons we have had from the
commencement of the present century, and finding the
disease increase, he attributed it to the old age of the va-
rieties ; for, as the great friend of Pomona, his object
evidently was to encourage the obtaining and cultivation
of new kinds, to replace those which he apprehended
would be lost to the country. We have made this digres-
sion, to prevent if possible our best apples from being
stigmatized as a decaying fruit, and unprofitable to the

40 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

grafter, which would be the cause of their becoming
scarce, and, in time, totally lost. We have not presumed
to set our judgment in opposition to that of Mr. Knight,
who is so justly celebrated for his attention to horticul-
tural pursuits ; but it behoves all who may write of this
most valuable fruit, to recommend the graftings to be of
the best kinds, and to throw out no hint that may cause
our nurserymen to neglect its propagation. Gerard, when
he published his Account of the Apple in 1597, was a
warm advocate for the cultivation of apples. " Gentle-
men that have land and living," says he, " put forward,
in the name of God ; graffe, set, plant, and nourish up
trees in euery corner of your grounds ; the labour is
small, the cost is nothing, the commoditie is great, your
selues shall have plentie, the poor shall have somewhat
in time of want to relieve their necessitie, and God shall
reward your good mindes and diligence."

Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. has, for some years past,
been benefiting his country, by creating, if I may be al-
lowed the expression, a new variety of fruits ; but before
we disclose the ingenious method he has adopted to pro-
cure new varieties, it is but justice to departed merit to
notice by whom the invention was first deemed possi-
ble : and we have great pride and satisfaction in stating,
that, after an unprejudiced research, we find this wonder-
ful discovery has been left for the perseverance of the
English, who, although late in taking up botanical stu-
dies, have now surpassed whatever was done by the an-
cient world in this science.

Lord Bacon, who has been called the Prophet of Arts,
' and who looked into nature with a most curious eye of
inquiry, evidently suspected that it was possible to cross
the breed of plants, and so procure kinds, by art, as
novel as those which Nature has sometimes produced by
accident

APPLE, 41

" We see," says the great Verulam, " that in living
creatures that have male and female, there is copulation
of several kinds, and so compounded creatures; as the
mule that is generated betwixt the horse and the ass ;
and some other compounds which we call monsters.

** The compounding or mixture of kinds in plants is
not found out ; which nevertheless, if it be possible, is
more at command than that of living creatures ; wherefore
it were one of the most notable experiments touching
plants to find it out, for so you may have great variety
of new fruits, and flowers yet unknown. Grafting does
it not:" adds this great man: '''that mendeth the fruit,
or doubleth the flowers, &c. ; but it hath not the power
to make a new kind, for the scion ever overruleth the
stock."

Bradley, whose works were published in 1718, about a
century after those of Lord Bacon, is the first author who
wrote on this subject as being accomplished ; but the
exact method was not then clearly understood, as he only
describes it by bringing the branches of different trees
together when in blossom. But, on this hint, the gar-
deners in Holland and the Netherlands practised before it
was much attended to in this country, where the discovery
was made and published ; and, to do them justice, they
have the honour to acknowledge they owe the art to the
English.

In the Monthly Review for November 1750, (vol. I.
p. 55,) an account of the mixed breed of apples is noticed
by Mr. Benjamin Cooke of the Isle of Wight, and is
clearly explained by the editor's observation.

It now appears to have reached its highest perfection ;
and we shall proceed to relate the manner in which Mr.
Knight has so successfully produced new varieties of
apples and other fruits. Although he has most clearly
explained himself, yet we have thought it advisable to

42 HISTORY OF FKUITS.

elucidate it more plainly by plates from drawings which
we have made from the blossoms for the express purpose,
knowing how little even the botanical terms are under-
stood by the farmers, and many gardeners in the country.

Mr. Knight, in his Pomona Herefordiensis, says, " It
is necessary to contrive that the two trees from which you
intend to raise the new kind, should blossom at the same
time ; therefore if one is an earlier sort than the other, it
must be retarded by shading, or brought into a cooler
situation, and the latest forwarded by a warm wall or a
sunny situation, so as to procure the blossoms at the
same period."

The apple-blossom contains about twenty stamina or
males, which are represented in Plate I. No. 3. and gene-
rally five pointals or females, which form the centre of the
cup or cavity of the blossom, as in Figure No. 4. The
males stand in a circle, just within the bases of the petals,
or flower leaves, and are formed of slender threads, each
of which terminates in a small yellow ball or anther, as in
Fig. 6. As soon as the blossoms are nearly full grown,
as in Fig. 1, they must be carefully opened, and all the
male stamina cut or extracted, so as not to injure the
pointals or females, which will then appear as in Fig. 4.
The blossoms are then closed again, as in Fig. 1, and
suffered to remain till they open spontaneously. From
the blossoms of the tree, which it is proposed to make
the male parent of the future variety, must be taken a
portion of their pollen or farina, when ready to fall from
the mature anthers; and this pollen must be deposited
upon the pointals of the blossoms of the tree which is in-
tended to bear the variety, which consequently will afford
seed. By shaking the blossoms over a sheet of white
paper, you will ascertain when the pollen is ready. It is
necessary in this experiment, to cover the branches on
which the prepared blossoms are, with a thin muslin or

APPLE. 43

gauze, so as not to touch the flowers, or keep off" the sun
or air, but to prevent the bees or other insects from inocu-
lating them with the pollen of other blossoms, which
would make the experiment uncertain ; and in order to
obtain the fruit and the seeds of a large size, it is best to
leave but few blossoms on the tree, and, at all events, to
clear the branches on which the prepared flowers are,
from all other blossoms. When the fruit is quite ripe,
the pips or seeds should be sown at a proper season, and
in suitable soil, and in about four or six years fruit may
be expected. Mr. Knight has also made some curious
experiments between the peach and the almond, which
will be found in the account of the former fruit. Among
the new apples which the world have to thank Mr. Knight
for, is the Grange apple, which fruited first in 1802, and
obtained the prize of the Herefordshire Agricultural So-
ciety : it is the offspring of the Orange Pippin and the
Golden Pippin. He also obtained the annual premium of
the same society, in 1807, for the Siberian Harvey, an
apple which fruited for the first time in that year. This
tree was raised from the seed of the Yellow Siberian Crab
and the pollen of the Golden Harvey. Mr. Knight also
. raised the Foxley apple, from the seed of the yellow Si-
berian crab and the pollen of the orange pippin: this
fruit also received the premium in 1808, and it is said to
rival the golden pippin in sweetness.

Apples and pears may be raised from seed in the short
space of four years, by the following mode : Sow the
kernels in separate pots in November, and place them in
a green-house during winter. They will vegetate in
February; at Midsummer remove the plants into a seed-
bed in rows, about fourteen inches apart. In the autumn
of the following year transplant them into a nursery at a
distance of six feet. Every succeeding winter prune
away all small lateral shoots, leaving the stronger laterals

44 HTSTORY OF FRUITS.

to the bottom, and so disposing the branches, that the
leaves of the upper shoots may not shade those under-
neath.

The Chinese method of raising fruit trees has of late
years been practised with success, and with the great
advantages of keeping the varieties perfect and an early
production of fruit. They strip a ring of bark, of
about an inch in width, from a bearing branch, surround
the place with a ball of fat earth or loam, with a mixture
of cow dung, bound fast to the branch with a piece of
sacking or mat: over this they suspend a pot or horn,
with water, having a small hole in the bottom just suffi-
cient to let the water drop, in order to keep the compost
constantly moist. The branch throws roots into the
earth just above where the bark has been stripped off.
The operation is performed in the spring, and the branch
is sawn off and put into the ground at the fall of the leaf.
The following year it will bear fruit.

The cultivation of this our most valuable fruit, has
been attended to with so much care of late years, that
one of our principal nurserymen (Mr. Hugh Ronalds, of
Brentford,) exhibited at the Horticultural Society, in
August 1818, sixteen varieties of apples, and in Sep-
tember he exhibited fifty-eight other sorts, all grown in
his own garden, and considered the finest collection ever
exhibited. In the month of October of the same year,
he exhibited fifty-three sorts, making in the whole a
variety of 127 kinds of this our staple fruit, which, in
point of real value, takes place of all others, and affords
a variety for all seasons of the year, both for the dessert
and for culinary purposes, as well as the drink, of which
Philips in Miltonian verse has sung, —

Some ciders have, by art or age, unlearn'd
Their genuine relish, and of sundry vines

APPLE. 45

Assumed the flavour : one sort counterfeits
The sparkh'ng nectar of Champagne ; with that,
A German oft has swill'd his throat, and sworn,
Deluded, that imperial Rhine bestow'd
The gen'rous rummer, whilst the owner, pleased,
Laughs inly at his guest, thus entertain'd
With foreign vintage from his cider cask.

Thomson has thus beautifully described the cider sea-
son : —

The fragrant stores, the wide projected heaps
Of apples, which the lusty -handed year,
Innumerous, o*er the blushing orchard shakes ;
A various spirit, fresh, delicious, keen,
Dwells in their gelid pores ; and, active, points
The piercing cider for the thirsty tongue.

The word Cider is a slight abbreviation from the Seider
of the ancient Britons, and which having some analogy
with the Greek word Sikera, induces us to believe that
it is a beverage of great antiquity in this country. Huet
is of opinion that the use of cider was first introduced into
Neustria by the Normans, who had learned it of the Bis-
cayans, as these latter had done from the inhabitants of
the northern coast of Africa.

Dr. Short informs us, that cider was first invented by a
Norman, who much admired the delicate flavour of apples;
and " long observation," says he, " assures us, that such
as chiefly drink cider, are more healthy and strong, and
have better complexions, than those that are accustomed
to wine or ale." Both Lord Bacon and Dr. Baynard tell
us of several persons near a hundred, and some above,
who, having seldom used any other liquor, were very
active and vigorous at that age. It is certainly more
nourishing than wine, for, not being so thoroughly fer-
mented, its spirits are less subtile and impetuous.

46 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

It has been also remarked that those who drink cider
are free from apoplexy, which often overthrows the
strongest ale tippler. But we are decidedly of opinion,
that our beverage, like our diet, ought not to be too
uniform. The constant use of any one particular kind of
drink, as of food, might have some bad effects. Nature
seems to give us this opinion by the aliments which she
has provided for man, and likewise by giving him an ap-
petite for different kinds of food.

Many estates might be improved, the country enriched,
and the people benefited, were the planting of cider fruit
more attended to, particularly on those grounds not fit
for corn. Cider is always a marketable commodity, it
costs no fuel to make it, and when well made it brings
as high a price from the press as the Frenchman obtains
for his boasted wines from the vat : let us then imitate
the Parsis, who hold few good works in more estimation
than the planting of trees. They have also a great un-
willingness to cut down any fruit-tree.

Apple-wine is admired as a summer beverage, but it is
by no means equal to the cider made from Golden Pip-
pins, which, when given in good condition, and well
timed, surpasses every other refreshing drink. The
spirit extracted from cider is equal to brandy for preserv-
ing fruit, or mixing in made wines or liquors.

A solution of iron in the juice of the golden rennet,
evaporated to a thick consistency, proves an elegant
chalybeate.

Apples were formerly used as a cosmetic to soften the
skin and take away freckles.

" There is made an ointment," says Gerard, " with the
pulp of apples and swine's grearse and rose-water, which
is used to beautify the face, and to take away the rough-
ness of the skin, which is called in shops pomatum, of
the apples whereof it is made."

APPLE. 47

As the Horticultural Society of this country has been
established for the purpose of benefiting the world by
its attention to the improvement of our various fruits, and
as it is the study of the members to induce the planters of
orchards to cultivate and propagate the best kinds of apples
only, we may expect that by their attention we shall soon
have our markets supplied with a superior kind of apples
to what is now generally offered for sale, as the same land
that will produce an ill-flavoured apple will afford a good
one ; and it is as easy to raise the best kinds of apple-
trees as those of inferior value.

Virgil says in his Pastorals : —

" New cheese and chesnuts are our country fare,
With mellow apples for your welcome cheer."

Coles tells us in his " Paradise of Plants," that " Apples
in moderation expel heaviness, and procure mirth." Dr.
Veitch, when before the Committee of the Commons on
the treatment of insane persons, particularly recommended
that their proportion of animal food should be lessened,
and that puddings should be substituted : he also says,
** The occasional use of cooling fruits, particularly at
the warm season of the year, would be attended with
advantage."

M. Duduit de Maizieres, a French officer of the king's
household, has invented, and practised with great suc-
cess, a method of making bread with common apples
very far superior to potatoe bread. After having boiled
one-third of peeled apples, he bruised them while quite warm
into two-thirds of flour, including the proper quantity of
yeast, and kneaded the whole without water, the juice of
the fruit being quite sufficient; when this mixture had ac-
quired the consistency of paste, he put it into a vessel,
in which he allowed it to rise for about twelve hours. By

48 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

this process he obtained a very excellent bread, full of
eyes and extremely palatable and light.

The Siberian crab apple was not cultivated in this
country until 1758, and the small fruited variety was
first introduced in 1784. The flavour of this latter kind
is highly esteemed in tarts and puddings, and the tree is
often planted to beautify our shrubberies. The dwarf
apple-tree, when allowed to spread naturally, is the greatest
ornament that can be planted on our lawns, both when in
blossom and in fruit, particularly the red varieties.

In pruning apple-trees, nothing more should be done
than to cut out all those branches which cross each other,
to prevent the rubbing of the bark ; but never to shorten
any of their shoots, except those shoots or suckers which
proceed from the stem, which should be entirely taken
off, as also all branches broken by the wind or accident,
which should be cut off close to the division of the
branch. November is the best time to prune apple-trees,
as it injures them to prune in frosty weather, or when the
sap begins to rise. Pruning is to be avoided as much as
possible, as it creates useless shoots, and prevents the
fruiting ; but if trees are becoming too full of branches,
which will be the case in espaliers, the better way is to
rub off the buds and shoots which are irregularly pro-
duced in the growing season. All sorts of apples pro-
duce their fruit upon curzons, or spurs, therefore it is ne-
cessary to be careful not to cut off or destroy them, as
they continue to be fruitful for several seasons.

The apples intended to be preserved for the winter
should remain on the trees until quite ripe, when they
should be gathered in dry weather, and placed in a heap
for five or six weeks, in order to sweat : they should then
be carefully wiped dry, and those that are perfectly
sound, packed in large jars or boxes so as to be excluded
from the air, which will keep them sound and plump, and

APPLE. 49

retain tlieir flavour. Tusser tells us in, his " Points of
Good Husbandry."

" Fruit gathered too timelie, will taste of the wood,
Will shrink and be bitter, and seldome prone good :
So fruit that is shaken, or beat off a tree.
With brusing in falling, soon faultie will be."

He adds,

*' The moon in the wane, gather fruit for to last,
But winter fruit gather when Michel is past."

We have found the wood of old apple-trees, when used
as a fuel, produce a most agreeable perfume.

The various diseases to which the apple-tree is subject,
have occupied the attention and the pen of some of our
greatest naturalists, as well as many of our eminent prac-
tical gardeners. Dr. John Hill considered the blight on
trees to be occasioned by debility or ill-health. Animals
of different species are found to engender different kinds
of insects, particularly where cleanliness is not attended
to. Trees, according to their kinds, attract different
blights : our endeavours, therefore, would be in vain to
avoid the blight affecting the leaves and blossoms of large
trees; but as the trunk and branches of the apple-tree are
often injured, and sometimes destroyed, by animalculae,
an attention to the cleanliness of these trees cannot fail
of being beneficial to their growth. It has therefore oc-
curred to us, from observations and experiments made
since compiling this work, that if the trunks of the apple-
trees were rubbed with the leaves and young shoots of the
elder, to which every kind of blight has an antipathy, those
injurious, although minute insects, would not only be de-
stroyed, but it would prevent their fixing themselves on
these trees. As this is a matter of importance to the pub-
lic, we shall feel obliged by the remarks of any gentlemen
who may be disposed to try the experiment. Brimstone

50 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

pounded and put on lighted charcoal, has been found a
successful fumigation for destroying the blight on apple-
trees. The canker of apple-trees, we apprehend, is princi-
pally occasioned by the uncongenial quality of the soil.
We lately travelled with a gentleman, who informed us,
that having observed all his apple-trees become cankered
at a certain state of growth, he was induced to examine
the nature of the soil at the greatest depth the roots had
penetrated, and which he found consisted of gravel. Not
being willing to give over the propagation of apple-trees,
he caused a pavement of bricks to be made on the bed of
gravel, which obliged the roots to take a horizontal direc-
tion, and thereby prevented their reaching the gravel,
since which they have been free from canker. This seems
to have been an ancient practice, as many of the gardens
which were formerly attached to the monasteries in this
country have been found paved with tiles a few feet be-
neath the earth.

There is an apple-tree now growing on the leads of
Romsey Church in Hampshire, which regularly produce*
two sorts of apples ; and we have gathered nuts from a
hazel which grows on the top of the Church steeple at
Henfield in Sussex.

In planting of orchards we attend more to the fruits-
that please our fancy, than to kinds that are most congenial^
to our soil and situation ; thus we often see pear-trees un-
fruitful where apples might be produced, and vice versa^
Columella notices " Apple-bearing Tibur," and Virgil,
** Those whom the walls of Apple-bearing Abella look
down upon." Indeed throughout the writings of these
authors we are reminded that particular spots were set
apart for particular plants. t

51

BARBERRY.— BERBERIS;

OR, THE PIPPERIDGE-BUSH.

A genus of the Hexandria Monogynia class.

The Greeks called this bush ofuaxavfia, from the
sharpened points of its thorns ; which name was adopted
in Latin ; but the barberry is distinguished as Oxyacantlta
Galeni, there being some difference between Dioscorides
and Galen concerning this plant : the latter is the name
still used in the shops. Berberis is an Arabic name, used
by Averroes and the officinal writers; and from which
the English name is derived.

The common barberry-bush is a native of this coun-
try ; and notwithstanding the high state of cultivation
this kingdom is now arrived at, it is still to be found
growing wild in many parts of the northern counties.
Gerard says, in his time (1597) most of the hedges near
Colnbrook were nothing else but barberry-bushes.

It is now very properly introduced into our gardens and
shrubberies, being both ornamental and useful; but it
should not be planted near the house or principal walks,
on account of its oft'ensive smell when in blossom. The
flowers are small, but beautiful ; and on their first appear-
ance have a perfume similar to that of the cowslip, which
changes to a putrid and most disagreeable scent, particu-
larly towards the evening and at the decay of the flowers.
The author had a barberry-tree in his garden near twenty
feet in height, the branches of which extended over a
circumference of sixty feet. When covered with blossom

E 2

52 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

in the spring, it had a pleasing effect in the shrubbery ; '
but was so offensive for about a fortnight, that no one
could walk near it during that time. It seems particu-
larly attractive to singing-birds, especially the bullfinch
and the goldfinch, both of which often build in these
bushes.

A very singular circumstance has been stated respect-
ing the barberry-shrub ; — that corn sown near it, proves
abortive, the ears being in general destitute of grain ;
and that this influence is sometimes extended to a dis-
tance of three or four hundred yards across a field. This,
if correct, is a just cause for banishing it from the hedge-
rows of our arable fields, for which, otherwise, its thorny
branches would have made a desirable fence.

Mr. Macro, a very respectable farmer at Barrow, in
Suffolk, planted a barberry-bush in his garden, on pur-
pose to ascertain the fact. He set wheat round it three
succeeding years, and it was all so completely mildewed,
that the best of the little grain it produced, was only
about the size of thin rice, and that without any flour.
He adds, that some, which he set on the opposite side of
his garden one of the years before mentioned, produced
very good grain, although the straw was a little mildewed ,
From this observation the author was induced to try the
experiment by sowing clumps of canary seed in his shrub-
bery. Those which were planted immediately under the
barberry-bush certainly produced no seed; but other
plants of this grass yielded seed, although not at many
yards distance. The celebrated Duhamel, and Mons.
Broussonet, who have paid such particular attention to
agriculture, assure us that there is no just reason for
ascribing this baneful effect to the barberry-bush.

The flowers of the barberry have this singular property,
that if you touch the chives which support the stamen
with a pin or a straw, &c. they incline towards the pistil-

BARBERKr. 53

lum, and they often draw with them the petals, and the
flower closes when its sensitive organs are pressed. ,

On close inspection it appears to us that the parts of fruc-
tification could not perform their office without being slightly-
touched, and that to remedy this apparent inconvenience,
the blossoms contain particles that seem particularly at-
tractive to various kinds of insects, who, while seeking
tiieir food, press on the chives, and thus assist nature in
the procreation of the seed. May not this in some degree
account for the blighting effects of this shrub, that by
its May-flowers allures insects which breed on the
branches, and then feed their proojeny on the nutritious
juices of the surrounding blades of young corn ? Proba-
bly these very insects are the cause that the barberry-bush
is so much frequented by small birds.

Linnseus observed, *' that when bees in search of honey
touch the filaments, the anthers approximate to the
stigma, and explode the pollen."

Dr. Smith thus notices this curious phenomenon. *' The
stamens of such flowers as are open, bend back to each
petal, and shelter themselves under their concave tips.
No shaking of the branch has any eflfect upon them ; but
^ if the inside of the filaments be touched with a small bit
- of stick, they instantly spring from the petal and strike
the anther against the stigma. The outside of the fila-
ment has no irritability, nor has the anther itself any ;
as may easily be proved by touching either of them with
a blunt needle, a fine bristle, a feather, or any thing which
cannot injure the structure of the part. If a stamen be
bent to the stigma, by means of a pair of scissors applied
to the anther, no contraction in the filament is produced.
From all this it is evident, that the spring of the stamens
is owing to a high degree of irritability in the side of the
filament next the germ, by which, when touched, it con-
tracts, that side becomes shorter than the other, and,
consequently, the filament is bent towards the germ.

54 HISTORY OF FHLITS.

" This irritability is perceptible in stamens of all ages ;
in flowers only so far expanded as to admit a bristle ; and
in old flowers ready to fall off*. If the germ be cut off,
the filaments will still contract, and nothing being in their
way, will bend over quite to the opposite side of the
flower. After irritation, the stamens will return to their
original place. On being touched, they will contract with
the same facility as before : and this may be repeated
three or four times.

" The purpose which this curious contrivance of nature
answers, is evident. In the original position of the sta-
mens, the anthers are sheltered from rain by the concavity
of the petals. Thus probably they remain, till some in-
sect, coming to extract honey from the base of the flower,
thrusts itself between the filaments, and almost unavoid-
ably touches them in the most irritable part : and as it is
chiefly in the fine sunny weather that insects are on the
wing, the pollen is also in such weather most fit for the
purpose of impregnation.*'

When this coral-like fruit is ripe, it adds much to the
beauty of the garden ; but its acidity is so great, that
even the birds refuse to eat it.

It is concluded that this is the fruit called appendices
by the ancients. Pliny says, " There is a kind of thorny
bush called appendix, having red berries hanging from
the branches which are called appendices :" he adds,
*• these berries, either raw by themselves, or dried, and
boiled in wine, are good to stay the flux of the body."
We find, by Gerard's account, that the leaves were for-
merly used in salad, and to season meat with : he also
says, " The green leaves of the barberry-bush stamped
and made into sauce, as that made of sorrel called green
sauce, doth cool hot stomachs, and those that are vexed
with hot burning agues, and procureth appetite."

Barberries are of an agreeable, cooling, astringent

BAllBERRY. 55

taste, which creates appetite. A conserve is made from
this fruit that is refreshing, and strengthens the stomach,
and is good against diarrhoeas and dysenteries. The
juice, or decoction, abates the inflammation of the fauces
and tonsils, and heals scorbutic gums. — Brooke^.

This fruit gives an agreeable acid to soup, and the
young leaves may also be used for the same purpose.
According to Prosper Alpinus, the Egyptians employ a
diluted juice of the berries in ardent and pestilential
fevers. Their manner is to macerate them in about twelve
times their quantity of water, afterwards to let them stand
for about twenty-four hours, and then to add a little fennel
seed.

Pickled barberries make a handsome garnish for all
white dishes, where acids can be introduced : this fruit is
also used for making syrup, lozenges, &c.

The bark of the tree is a good medicine against the
jaundice, and all obstructions and foulness of the viscera.
The inner bark of this tree, with the assistance of alum,
dyes a bright yellow : in Poland it is used for colouring
leather.

The French use it for dyeing both silk and cotton, and
also for staining wood for cabinet and other purposes.

Valmont Beomare says, that the scratches of these
thorns are difficult to cure ; therefore hedges made of
these bushes are to be avoided. Cows, sheep, and goats
are said to feed on the barberry ; but horses and swine
refuse it.

We have now several varieties of the barberry-shrub
cultivated in England, one of which was brought from
Candia in 1759, and another from Siberia in 1790; but
they possess no advantage over our native kind of this
fruit. The variety with a white berry seldom produces
much fruit, but they are considerably larger, and of a
more agreeable acid.

56

BEECH.— FAGUS.

Natural order, Amentacea. A genus of the Castanea, or
Chesnut Tree, and of the Moncdcia Polyandria class.

And the beech

Of oily nuts prolific/'

The fruit of this tree having been the food of mankind
before the use of corn, claims our attention. The Greeks
called the beech <p>jyoj, from the old verb (priyoo, I eat :
hence the Latin name of Fagus. It is, however, maintain-
ed that our beech is the ofya of the Greeks. The fruit is
often called buck-mast, in England, from the eagerness
with which deer feed upon it.

The beech is one of the handsomest of our native
forest-trees, and, in stateliness and grandeur of outline,
vies even with the oak. Its silvery bark, contrasting with
the sombre trunks of other trees, renders its beauties con-
spicuous in our woods; while the gracefully spreading
pendulous boughs, with their glossy foliage, mark its ele-
gance in the park or paddock. If none but painters were
planters, we should oftener see this tree cultivated for the
sake of its autumnal tint, which harmonizes so happily
with the oak, the elm, and the ash, and relieves so cheer-
fully the gloom of the cedar, the fir, and the cypress. The
German or purple beech is particularly ornamental to the
plantation. Caesar remarks in his Commentaries, that
during his stay in Britain he had never seen either the
beech-tree or the fir ; but from our reading we have

BEECH. 57

n«ver discovered that he penetrated into Sussex or Hamp-
shire, where the beech most abounds, or that he visited
Scotland, from whence we have transplanted the fir. The
beech seems to have been greatly admired by the an-
cients. Pliny says, ** There was a little hill called Came,
in the territory of Tusculum, not far from the city of
Rome, that was clad and beautified with a grove and
tufts of beech-trees, which were as even and round in the
head as if they had been curiously trimmed with garden
shears." He adds, ** this grove was, in old times, conse-
crated to Diana, by the common consent of all the inha-
bitants of Latium, who paid their devotions there." To
one of these beech-trees, he says, ** Passienus Crispus,
an excellent orator, who was twice consul, and afterwards
married the Empress Agrippina, was so much attached,
that he not only reposed under it, but sprinkled it plenti-
fully with wine, and would even embrace it."

Manlius Curius protested with an oath, that of all the
booty and pillage taken from the enemy, he had reserved
nothing for himself but a cruet, or little ewer, made of
beech-wood, wherein he intended to sacrifice to the
gods.

The beech, it will be observed, from the class in which
it is ranged, produces both male and female flowers on
the same tree. The fruit succeeds the latter blossoms,
which have a one-leafed empalement, cut into four parts,
but have no petals : the germen is fixed to the empale-
ment, which afterwards becomes a roundish capsule,
armed with soft pines opening in three cells, each con-
taining a triangular nut, called the beech mast. This nut
is palatable to the taste, but when eaten in great quanti-
ties occasions head-aches and giddiness ; nevertheless,
when dried and ground into meal, it makes a wholesome
bread.

58 - HISTORY OF FRUITS.

An oil, equal in flavour to the best olive oil, with the
advantage of keeping longer without becoming rancid,
may be obtained from the nuts by pressure. It is very
common in Picardy and other parts of France, where the
masts abound; in Silesia, it is used by the country
people instead of butter. The cakes which remain from
the pressure are given to fatten swine, oxen, or poultry.
A bushel of masts is said to produce a gallon of clean
oil; but the beech-tree seldom produces a full crop of
masts oftener than once in three years.

A few years ago an attempt was made to introduce the
making of beech-oil in this country, and a patent was
granted to the projector ; but the difficulty of bringing
the country-people into any new measure, however bene-
ficial to them, is so great, that it often destroys the best-
concerted projects. In this instance it was found, that
they would rather let the swine consume the masts, than
suffer their children to collect them for sale to the
patentee; and thus failed the making of salad oil in
England.

In the reign of George the First, we find a petition was
made for letters patent for making butter from beech-
nuts. At the beginning of the last century Aaron Hill
had a project for paying off the national debt with the oil
of beech nuts ! We conclude that he intended to have
used it with a spunge !

The finest beech-trees in England are said to grow in
Hampshire. The forest of St. Leonard, near Horsham, in
Sussex, abounds with noble beech-trees. The cottagers
of this forest inform you, that when St. Leonard wished
to rest beneath these trees, he was disturbed during the
day by the biting of vipers, and that his repose was bro-
ken in the night by the warbling of nightingales, and on
that account they were removed by his prayers, sinc^
which time tradition says of this forest, —

BEECH. ' 59

The viper has ne'er been known to sting,
Or the nightingale e'er heard to sing.

The shade of the beech-tree is very injurious to most
sorts of plants that grow near it, but is generally believed
to be very salubrious to human bodies. The leaves of
the beech are collected in the autumn, to fill mattresses,
instead of flock or straw, as they remain sweet, and con-
tinue soft, for many years. Thus Juvenal observes,

- — -Silva domus, cuhilia frondes.

The wood 's a house, the leaves a bed.

To chew beech-leaves is accounted good for the gums
and teeth. The Romans used beech-leaves and honey
to restore the growth of hair, which had fallen off* in
sickness.

Mr. Arthur Young, in his " Travels in France, speaks of a
Beech at Chantilly about seventeen miles from Paris, which
he says ** is straight as an arrow, and not less than eighty
or ninety feet high ; forty feet to the first branch, and
four yards in diameter at five feet from the ground."

In the " Extraits et Notices des MSS., <%-c."" Tome 3.
p. 300, it is stated that on Ascension Eve, the curate of
Douremy, on the borders of Lorraine, usually performed
a religious ceremony under a beech called the Tree
of the Fairies, for the express purpose of keeping the
fairies at a distance. It was under this tree that the
unfortunate heroine Joan of Arc paid homage to those
imaginary creatures, according to her absurd accusers.

One charge against the Maid of Orleans (when tried in
1431 for witchcraft and heresy) was her declaration, that
Saint Margaret and Saint Catharine had revealed them-
selves and spoken to her near the great tree, which, as
was commonly reported, the fairies frequented. Joan ac-
knowledged that she had gone with other girls, who
amused themselves innocently singing and dancing near

60 HISTORY OF FKUITS.

the beech called " Handsome May/' or " Fairy-tree,"
formerly haunted, as old people said, by the fairies ; but
she employed herself there in making nosegays for the
holy Virgin of Douremy : she had seen angels and the
two saints above-mentioned, not exactly at the Fairy-tree,
but at the fountain near it. (See her Trial in the ** Ex-
traits et Notices des MSS.** Tome 3. p. 5S.)

The timber of these trees, in point of actual utility,
follows next to the oak and the ash, and is little inferior
to the elm for water-pipes. Between the years 1790 and
1800, when John Aldredge, Esq. of New Lodge, St.
Leonard's Forest, was causing fish-ponds to be dug in
that neighbourhood, the workmen found scantlings of
beech timber, and trunks of these trees, squared out,
which were supposed to have been buried in the earth
since the time of the Romans, as there is no record men-
tioning that part of the forest having been cleared, or of
ponds made there since. Beech-timber is subject to worms
when exposed to the air without paint. It is used by
wheelwrights and chairmakers, and also by turners for
making domestic wooden ware, such as bowls, shovels,
&c. Bedsteads and other furniture are often made with
this timber ; and no wood splits so fine, or holds so well
together, as beech, so that boxes, sword-sheaths, and a
variety of other things, are made from it. When the
art of splitting this wood was first known in England,
the parties who used it kept the method a profound secret
for many years.

The inhabitants of London are indebted to this tree
for the baskets called pottles, in which they are so well
supplied with strawberries.

n ^Q wars did men molest,

When only beechen bowls were in request."

Tibullus,

» BEECH. 61

Of the ancient use of beech-timber the poet tells us,:-^

" In the world's best years, the humble shed

Was happily and well furnished :

Beech made their chests, their beds, and the join'd-stools.

Beech made the board, the platters, and the bowls."

Virgil notices its use in husbandry : —

" Of beech the plough-tail, and the bending yoke."

In the pastorals of the same author we learn how highly
the rustics of his country esteemed their beechen bowls,
and to what perfection carving was carried even in com-
mon furniture : —

" The pawn I proffer shall be full as good :
Two bowls I have, well turned, of beechen wood ;
Both by divine Alcimedon were made ;
To neither of them yet the lip is laid ;
The lids are ivy, grapes in clusters lurk
Beneath the carving of the curious work ;
Two figures on the sides emboss'd appear i
Conon, and — what's his name, — who made the sphere
And shew'd the seasons of the sliding year."

Damcetas replies to Menalcas : —

" And I have two, to match your pair, at home ;
The wood the same, from the same hand they came :

I The kimbo handles seem with bear's-foot carved ;

And never yet to table have been served."
Dry den.

The beech-tree thrives in a chalky or stony ground,
where most other timber-trees will not prosper, and it is
found to resist winds on the declivities of hills better than
most other trees ; where the soil is tolerably good, beech
will become fit to be felled in about twenty-five years.
There is no tree better calculated to train as espaliers for
the purpose of screening the garden or orchard from

}

62 HISTORY OF 1»RUITS.

winds than the beech, which when so grown is often
found to retain its brown leaves all the winter.

This tree is propagated by sowing the mast, which
should be gathered about the middle of September, when
they begin to fall, and spread them out on a mat in an
airy place for a week to dry, when you may either sow
them immediately, or put them into bags to be sown in
the spring, when there is less danger of their being des-
troyed by vermin. These nuts do not require to be
covered more than one inch deep in mould, and it will
be observed that only a part of them germinates the first
year.

63

BLACKBEKRY.— RUBUS ;

OR, BRAMBLE BERRY.

Natural order, Senticosa, A species of Raspberry. — A
genus of the Icosandria Polygynia class*

" But check the progress of thy vasty tdil :
First choose thy objects from thy native soil ;
Where, daily seen, they own thee for their lord,
And, born with thee, shall greater joy afford/'

Delille.

" Berries, that emboss

The bramble, black as jet,

Hard fare ! but such as boyish appetite
Disdains not.

Cottier,

The bramble which creeps along the hedge of every
soil, derives its Latin name, ruhus, from the redness of its
twigs and the juice of its fruit. Pliny informs us, " that
the propagation of trees by layers was taught the ancients
by the bramble-bush."

Some bow their vines, which buried in the plain,
Their tops, in distant arches, rise again.

Dryden's Virgil.

" The berries,'* says Pliny, " have a desiccative and
astringent virtue, and are a most appropriate remedy for
the gums and inflammation of the tonsils." The flowers
also, as well as the berries of the bramble, were con-
sidered by the ancients as remedies against the most dan-

64 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

gerous serpents. They are diuretic ; and the juice pressed
out of the tendrils, or young shoots, of brambles stamped,
and afterwards reduced into the consistency of honey by
standing in the sun, is, says the above author, '* a singu-
larly efficacious medicine taken inwardly, or applied out-
wardly, for all the diseases of the mouth and eyes, as
well as for the quinsy," &c. The young shoots, eaten as
a salad, will fasten teeth that are loose. The roots of the
bramble, boiled in wine, were esteemed one of the best
astringents by the Roman physicians, who preferred the
juice of blackberries to that of mulberries for the in-
firmities of the mouth. Brookes says, "the fruit, when
ripe, is cooling, and quenches thirst ; and the leaves
pounded, and applied to ringworms, and ulcers of the
legs, was thought to heal them in a short time." Boer-
haave affirms, that the roots taken out of the earth in
February or March, and boiled with honey, are an excel-
lent remedy against the dropsy.

Turner, one of the earliest English writers on Plants,
says, " The bramble bindeth, drieth, and dieth heyre.'*

The jam made from blackberries is now much used in
sore throats caused by colds, and is given in slight
fevers.

The juice of blackberry mixed with raisin wine, before
it has fermented, will give it both the colour and flavour
of claret.

The green twigs are still found of great use in dyeing
woollen, silk, and mohair, black. Silk-worms will feed
upon the leaves of the bramble ; but the silk they produce
is not so good as when they are fed on mulberry- leaves.

However generally the bramble is reprobated as a trou-
blesome weed, we must acknowledge that when either in
fruit or flower, it forms a principal among the numberless
hedge-row beauties ; and its utility in particular soils is
equally valuable, especially in poor sandy lands where the

BLACKBERRY. 65

growth of other hedges is slow. When planted in such
situations, it will by its quick growth soon entwine its
thorny branches in the dead hedge, which it binds fast
from the pilfering vagrant, and proves equally hostile to
the legs of idle boys, thus forming a fence

" Not pervious to the cattle, or the thief."

Of the Rubus fruticosus, or common bramble, we have
five varieties ; and as one has been discovered in a hedge
near Oxford by Bobart, which produces a white fruit, it
will be necessary to adopt the proper name of bramble-
berry for this fruit, to avoid the contradictory appellation
of white blackberry. The variety with a double flower is
now one of the ornaments of the shrubbery : the other
varieties are, one with variegated leaves, one with cut
leaves, and the bramble without thorns.

Of the species of bramble named Rubus ccesius, or dew-
berry, but which Gerard calls Rubus saxatilis, or stone-
berry, the protuberances are much larger, and fewer in-
number, than those of the common blackberry. It is
generally found trailing on the banks of hedge-rows, or
in hazel copses, seldom growing above a foot high, with
leaflets considerably larger than those of the common
bramble. This is a berry of excellent flavour, and quite
free from the faint taste of the common bramble-berry.
It is therefore well deserving a place in cultivated grounds,
as it must be equally beneficial to society that our na-
tive fruits should be improved, as that new varieties
should be imported from climates that afford but little
hope of their thriving here without the aid of artificial
heat.

eQ

CACAO.— THE OB ROM A ;

OR, CHOCOLATE TREE.

Natural order, Columnifera. Age/ius of the Polyadefphia
Decandria class.

The generic name is derived from Gscov BpcofjLu, signify-
ing the food of the gods.

Coles, who wrote in 1657, and is one of the best etymo-
logical herbalists that we have been able to consult, says
" It is called by the West Indians, amongst whom it was
first knowne, and not in any part of the christian world
till after the discovery of America, Cacao or Cacavate,
besides which name it hath received none, either Greek or
Latin ; in English it is called, the pear-bearing wholesome
almond-tree : the confection wherein the Cacao is the
maine ingredient, is in the Indian language called Choco-
late, being compounded of Ate as some say, or as others,
Atle, which in the Mexican language signifieth water, and
Choco the noise that the water (wherein the chocolate is
put) maketh when it is stirred in a cup, until it bubbles
and rises into a froth. It may be called, in English, a
compounded or confectioned drink, yet it is better known
by the names of Chocolate and Chocoletto." The native
Mexicans call this tree Cuctihua guahuitl, and the Spaniards
Cacastal.

The cacao, or chocolate-tree, is a native of South
America, and is said to have been originally conveyed to

CACAO. 67

Hispaniola from some of the provinces of New Spain,
where, besides affording the natives a principal part of
their nourishment, it also serves the purpose of money,
150 of the nuts (which are about the size of Windsor
beans) being considered of the same value as a rial by the
Spaniards.

Dampier says that the cacao tree grows nowhere in the
north seas but in the bay of Campeachy, on Costa Rica,
between Portabel and Nicaragua, chiefly up Carpenter's
river, and on this coast as high as the Island of Trinidada.
In the South Seas it grows by the river of Guiaquil, and in
the valley of Collima, on the south of Mexico. The nuts
of the coast of Caraccas, though less than those of Costa
Rica, which are large and flat, are better and fatter.

It is not only an article of great internal consumption,
but for exportation it is one of the most valuable fruits.
Guthrie considers the cacao, from which chocolate is made,
as the next considerable article, in the natural history and
commerce of Mexico, to gold and silver. A garden of
cacao is said to produce the owner twenty thousand
crowns a-year.

Chocolate was not known in England until the eleventh
year of the reign of Henry the Eighth, although twenty-
three years had elapsed since Columbus had discovered
the country of which it is a native. It is esteemed the
most restorative of all aliments, insomuch that one ounce
of it is said to nourish as much as a pound of beef.

An acquaintance, on whose veracity we can rely, in-
formed us, that during the retreat of Napoleon's army from
the North, he fortunately had a small quantity of little
chcoolate cakes in his pocket, which preserved the life of
himself and a friend for several days, when they could pro-
cure no other food whatever, and many of their brother
ofl&cers perished for want.

In all countries where chocolate is known, it is esteem-

f2

68 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

ed, and found to be a suitable diet for all ages ; more par-
ticularly for infants, old persons, those of consumptive
habits, and such as are recovering from sickness : but
with all these advantages the author does not know of one
chocolate-house now remaining in the vast metropolis of
the British Empire. White's chocolate-house near the
Palace in St. James's Street, kept by Mr. Arthur, was
burnt down on Saturday, 28th April, 1733.

It is related in Hawkesworth's Voyages, that Commo-
dore Byron, in his passage through the South Seas, found
plenty of cacao in the island called King George's Island;
and that many of his men, who were so afflicted with
scorbutic disorders that their limbs were become black a&
ink, and who could not move without assistance, and suf-
fering excruciating pain, were in a few days completely
cured by eating these nuts, and able to resume their ac-
customed duties.

The sons of ^sculapius who wrote on the properties of
the chocolate-nut when first known in Europe, recom-
mend it strongly to Venus and all her disciples.

We have often been surprised that the making of the
small chocolate cakes for eating should not have been
attempted by some persons in London, when they are in
such demand at Paris, where a celebrated manufacturer of
these chocolate trifles assured us that he had then, in
1816, received an order from a late high personage in
England that would exceed 500/.

The oil of the cacao-nut is the hottest of any known, and
is used to recover cold, weak, and paralytic limbs. The
Mexicans are said to eat the nuts raw, to assuage pains in
the bowels. The Spanish ladies make use of the oil drawn,
from the cacao-nut, as a good cosmetic to soften and,
smooth the skin, as it does not render it greasy or shining,
being a quick drier and without smell.

Should we ever revive the ancient custom which for-

I!

CACAO. 69

merly existed amongst persons of all ages, of rubbing them-
selves with oil to give pliability to the muscles, and to
preserve them from rheumatism, this oil would obtain the
preference, as we conclude the practice was discontinued
from the greasy and rancid smell which common oil must
naturally leave on the body.

We cannot but regret that the cultivation of this valu-
able plant should have been discontinued in our West-
India islands ; nor can we be surprised, when we find that
the duty, including the customs and excise, amounted to
upwards of four hundred and eighty per cent, on its mar-
ketable value when manufactured.

It is carefully cultivated in all the French and Spanish
settlements in the warmer parts of America. For what
reason our ministerial policy should have so widely dif-
fered from that of the neighbouring courts, we are unable
to guess ; but we trust that the alteration which has lately
taken place in the duty on chocolate, will prove a benefit
, to our revenue, an advantage to our colonies, and a credit
to the ministers who adopted this measure.

It is certain that the cultivation of the cacao planta-
tions was both extensive and successful in the British su-
gar islands, for many years after they had become subject
to our government. Blome, who published a short ac-
count of Jamaica in 1672, speaks of cacao as being at
that time one of the chief articles of export : ** There are,"
says he, '* in this island, at this time, about sixty cacao
walks, and many more now planting." At present, we be-
lieve, there is not a single cacao plantation from one end
of Jamaica to the other. A few scattered trees, here and
there, are all that remain of those flourishing and beauti-
ful groves which were once the pride and boast of the
country. ** They have withered with the indigo manufac-
ture," says Edwards, " under the heavy hand of minis-
terial exaction."

70 HISTORY OF FllUITS.

The produce of one tree in Jamaica was generally esti-
mated at about twenty pounds of nuts. The produce per
acre was rated at one thousand pounds per annum, allow-
ing for bad years.

The chocolate-tree grows to about six feet high before
the head spreads out, and it seldom exceeds from six-
teen to twenty feet in the whole height, the boughs and
branches beautifully extending themselves on every side,
resembling the heart cherry-tree, the leaves being much
of the same shape. The tree bears leaves, flowers, and
fruit, all the year through ; but the usual seasons for ga-
thering the fruit are June and December. The flowers
spring from the trunk and large branches ; they are small,
but beautiful, and sometimes pale red, but most com-
monly of a saffron colour : the pods are oval and pointed,
and contain from ten to thirty nuts each, almost like
almonds, adhering to one another by soft filaments,
and enclosed in a white pulpy substance, soft and sweet,
which some persons suck when they take them out of the
shells. The pods change from green to a yellowish co-
lour when they reach their maturity, which is known by
the rattling of the nuts, when the pods are shaken. When
gathered, it is usual to lay the pods in heaps to sweat for
three or four days before they are opened ; they are then
exposed upon mats or skins, to the sun, every day for
about a month.

The cacao-tree is permitted to bear a moderate crop of
fruit the fourth year after the seed has been sown : but if
the plant is weak, a greater quantity of the blossoms are
gathered, in order that it may recover strength. The tree
attains its full perfection in eight years : after that it will
continue to produce fruit for thirty years or more, if
planted in a good soil ; but it is obnoxious to blights, and
shrinks from the first appearance of drought. In early
times the planters had many superstitious notions con-

CACAO. 71

cerning this tree ; and among others, the appearance of a
comet was always considered as fatal to the cacao planta-
tion.— Lunan.

It is from the wood of this tree that our most esteemed
German flutes have for some years past been made, as
they are not so subject to swell by using as those made
from Box-wood ; which swelling often causes a variation
of half a note, as after being played on for a short time the
tone becomes sharper. The cacao flutes have also an ob-
jectionable quality, viz. as they are subject to crack by use,
and will not stand the breath of different persons. A
respectable professor of this instrument, among other
instances, informed us of a gentleman who after having
played on a cacao flute for seven years without accident,
sold it to a friend, by whose breath alone three joints
were split, in the course of a few months practice.

The chocolate-tree was grown in our stoves as early as
the year 1739.

Chocolate-nuts will not retain their growing faculty
long after they are taken from the trees, so that there is
no possibility of transporting them to any great distance for
planting : they are, therefore, generally planted in boxes
of earth when transported to Europe. They may also be
encreased by cuttings. Naturalists observe that the germ
of these nuts or almonds is placed in the large end,
whereas the common almond is placed in the small end.

Although it is thought that grafting would improve this
fruit, we believe it has never been attempted.

I

72

CASHEW-NUT.— ANACARDIUM.

ISatural order, Holoracece. A genus of the Foli/gamid
Monacia class.

The generic name is derived from two Greek words,
signifying, without a heart; because the fruit, instead of
having the seed enclosed, has the nut growing at the end.

The cashew-tree is a native of the East Indies, and of
the Brazils, and other parts of America, where it grows to
the height of twenty feet or more, in favourable situa-
tions. Lunan gives the following account of it in his
Hortus Jamaicensis, The fruit is full of an acrid juice,
which is frequently used in the making of punch. To
the apex of the fruit, grows a nut of the size and shape
of a hare's kidney, but much larger at the end which is
next the fruit than at the other end. The shell is very
hard, and the kernel, which is esteemed the finest nut in
the world, is covered with a thin film. Between this
and the shell is lodged a thick, blackish, inflammable
liquor, of such a caustic nature in the fresh nut, that, if
the lips chance to touch it, blisters will immediately fol-
low. The fruit is said to be good in disorders of the sto-
mach ; for th6 juice of it cuts the thick tough humours,
which obstruct the free circulation of the blood, and thus
removes the complaint. This juice, expressed and fer-
mented, makes a fine rough wine, useful where the viscera
or solid system has been relaxed. Barham, who has writ-
ten on this fruit, says, ** the stone of this apple appears

CASHEW-NUT. tS

before the fruit itself, growing at the end in the shape of
a kidney, as big as a walnut. Some of the fruit are all
red, some entirely yellow, and some mixed with both
red and yellow, and others perfectly white, of a very
pleasant taste in general ; but there is- a great variety,
some being more sharp, some in taste resembling cherries,
others very rough like unripe apples. The taste of most
of them is sweet and pleasant, but generally goes off with
an astringency or stipticity upon the tongue, which pro-
ceeds from its tough fibres, that run longwise through the
fruit. When cut with a knife, it turns as black as ink.
The generality of the fruit are as big and much of the
shape of the French Pippins, and make an excellent cider
or wine." Barham adds, that he has distilled a spirit
from the nut far exceeding arrack, rum, or brandy, of
which an admirable punch is made.

The flowers are very small, grow in tufts of a carnation
colour, and are very odoriferous. The leaves much re-
semble those of the common walnut-tree in shape and
smell, and a decoction of them is equally effectual in
cleansing and heahng old wounds.

The oil cures the herpes, takes away freckles and liver
spots, but draws blisters, and therefore must be cautiously
used ; it also takes away corns, but it is necessary to
have a very good defensive round the corn to prevent
inflaming the part. The inside kernel is very pleasant to
€at when young, and, before the fruit is too ripe, exceed-
ing any walnut ; and when older and drier, roasted, is
very agreeable, excelling pistachio nuts or almonds ; and
ground up with cocoa, makes an excellent chocolate.

It has been observed, that poor dropsical slaves, who
have had the liberty to go into a cashew-walk, and eat
what cashews they pleased, as well as to eat the roasted
nuts, have been recovered. These trees are of quick
growth : Barham says he has planted the nuts, and the

74 HISTORY OF FIIUITS.

young trees have produced fruit iiv two years after. They
will continue bearing fruit for more than a hundred years.
Many are now flourishing in Jamaica that were planted
when the Spaniards had it in their possession.

The author of this work lately received from Jamaica a
cashew apple, bearing two distinct nuts, which was con-
sidered so rare a circumstance that it was preserved in
spirits. Its appearance is unnatural, resembling a lemon
pippin apple, with two lambs' kidneys stuck on the end.

The wood of the cashew is excellent, strong, and last-
ing timber.

These trees annually transude in large quantities, viz^
often to ten or twelve pounds* weight, a fine, semi-trans-
parent gum, similar to gum-arabic, and not at all inferior
to it in virtue and quality, except that it contains a light
astringency, which perhaps renders it the more valuable
in many respects : for this reason it is often used as a
succedaneum in the Jamaica shops.

The thick oil of the nut or shell tinges linen of a rusty
iron colour, which can be hardly got out; and if any
wood be smeared with it, it preserves it from decay. From
the body of this tree is procured, by tapping, or incision,
a milky juice, which stains linen of a deep black, and
cannot be discharged. Dr. Grew mentions the juice
being used for staining of cottons ; but it is doubtful
which of the species he means, though Sir Hans Sloane
supposes it to be of the acajou or cashew, here men-
tioned.

Long seems of opinion that this juice has the same
property as the Japan lac.

The oil between the rinds of the nut, if held to the
candle, emits bright salient particles. This oil is used as
a cosmetic to remove freckles and sun-burning, but the
pain suffered makes its use not very frequent. Grainger.

The pith, or medullary part of the anacardium, is ex-

CASHEW-NUT. 75

tremely pungent and acrimonious ; whence the ancients
made great use of it in cold diseases of the head, parti-
cularly to strengthen the memory ; but the abuse of it
sometimes made them stupid, delirious, or even mad ;
the moderns rarely venture on its use, at least not without
great correctives. Chambers.

The cashew-nut tree was cultivated in this country as
early as 1699, by the Duchess of Beaufort; but, as it re-
quires the stove even in the summer months, it has not
become common in Europe.

76

CHERRY.— CERASUS.

'Natural order , Pomacea. A genus of the Icosandria Mo-
nogynia class. — It was formerly considered by Botanists
as a distinct genus ; but Linncdus pronounces it of the
Prunus species.

Xspoia-iu, the Greek name for the Cherry, was derived
from the Latin ; of most other plants and fruits the Latin
names are derived from the Greek : but this beautiful fruit
was procured and brought into Europe on occasion of the
overthrow of Mithridates, king of Pontus, when he was
driven from his dominions by Lucullus, the Roman gene-
ral, who found the cherry-tree growing in Cerasus, a city
of Pontus, (now called Keresoun, a maritime town be-
longing to the Turks in Asia,) which his army destroyed,
and whence this fruit derived the present name of Cherry.
LucuUus, who was as great an admirer of nature as he
was of the arts, thought this tree of so much importance,
that when he was granted a triumph, it was placed in the
most conspicuous situation among the royal treasures
which he obtained from the sacking of the capital of
Armenia ; and we doubt much if there was a more valuable
acquisition made to Rome by that war, which is stated
by Plutarch to have cost the Armenians 155,000 men.
We may very justly style it the fruit of the Mithridatic
war.

Botany seems to have been more studied in early times
by distinguished persons than at present. In this instance
we find the conquered and the conqueror both botanists.

CHERRY. 77

Mithridates, whom Cicero considered the greatest mo-
narch that ever sat on a throne, and who had vanquished
twenty-four nations, whose different languages he had
learnt, and spoke with the same ease and fluency as his
own, found time to write a treatise on botany in the
Greek language. His skill in physic is well known :
there is, even at this day, a celebrated antidote, called
Mithridate, a particular translation of the account of
which will be found in the history of the walnut.

It was in the 68th year before the birth of Christ, that
Lucullus planted the cherry-tree in Italy, which " was so
well stocked," says Pliny, *' that in less than twenty-six
years after, other lands had cherries, even as far as Bri-
tain beyond the Ocean." This would make their intro-
duction to England as early as the forty-second year
before Christ, although they are generally stated not to
have been brought to this country until the early part of
the reign of Nero, A.D. 55.

Some idea may be formed of the Roman gardens, by
the luxurious manner in which Lucullus lived in his re-
tirement from Rome and the public affairs. He had pas-
sages dug under the hills, on the coast of Campania, to
convey the sea-water to his house and pleasure grounds,
where the fishes flocked in such abundance, that what
were found at his death sold for more than twenty-five
thousand pounds. Pliny mentions eight kinds of cherries
as being cultivated in Italy when he wrote his Natural
History, which was about the seventieth year A.D. " The
reddest cherries," continues he, " are called apronia ; the
blackest, actia ; the Caecilian are round. The Julian
cherries have a pleasant taste, but are so tender that they
must be eaten when gathered, as they will not endure
carriage." The Duracine cherries were esteemed the best;
but in Picardy the Portugal cherries were most admired.
The Macedonian cherries grew on dwarf trees ; and one

78 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

kind is mentioned by the above author, which never ap-
peared ripe, having a hue between green, red, and black.
He mentions a cherry that was grafted in his time on a
bay-tree stock, which circumstance gave it the name of
laurea : this cherry is described as having an agreeable
bitterness. ** The cherry-tree could never be made to
grow in Egypt,'* continues Pliny, " with all the care and
attention of man."

The county of Kent has long been celebrated for the
quantity of cherries which it produces, and, in all proba-
bility, they were first planted in this part of England, of
which Caesar speaks more favourably than of any other
part which he visited. Some authors assure us, that the
whole race of cherries that had been brought to this
country by the Romans, were lost in the Saxon period,
and were only restored by Richard Harris, fruiterer to
Henry the Vlllth, who brought them from Flanders, and
planted them at Sittingbourn in Kent. This appears to
be an error, as Gerard says, " the Flanders* cherrie-tree
difFereth not from our English cherrie-tree in stature or in
forme," &c.

The Kentish-cherry is considered to be the original
kind, and it is also thought to be the most wholesome ;
great quantities of this variety of the cherry are cultivated
in the neighbourhood of Paris, where they are generally
preferred, particularly the variety with a short stalk,
called Montmorency, from the fertile and delightful valley
of that name, in the northern vicinity of Paris, where
they are cultivated for the well-supplied markets of that
city.

De Heem seldom painted any other than the Kentish
cherry in his admirable fruit-pieces, from which we should
judge that it was the favourite cherry in Flanders two
hundred years ago.

Mr. T. A. Knight has raised a new variety of this fruit.

CHERRY. 79

called after him Knighi*s early Black cherry, and which
seems to possess a very desirable property, that of ripen-
ing its fruit considerably earlier than the May-duke ; it is
of a fine dark hue, and its flesh is firm and juicy. It
blossoms much earlier than any other sort.

There is an account of a cherry-orchard of thirty-two
acres in Kent, which, in the year 1540, produced fruit
that sold in those early days for 1000/., which seems an
enormous sum, as at that period good land is stated to
have let at one shilling per acre. We can only reconcile
our minds to this great price, from the deficiency of other
fruits in this country, and the splendour in which Henry
the Vlllth and his ministers lived. Evelyn tells us, that
in his time, an acre planted with cherries 100 miles from
London, had been let at 10/.

Fruit orchards are still considered the most valuable
estates in Kent ; and we learn from Boys's Kent, that
cherry-gardens, while in full bearing, pay better than or-
chards ; but the cherry-tree does not generally continue
more than thirty years in perfection. Mr. Randall says,
he has known a single cherry-tree produce fruit that he
has sold for above five pounds per annum, for seven years
in succession.

Gerard says, " the Luke Warde's cherrie is so called,
because he was the first that brought the same out of
Italy. Another we have called the Naples' cherrie, because
it was first brought into these parts from Naples : the
fruit is verie great, sharpe pointed, somewhat like a
man's heart in shape, of a pleasant taste, and of a deepe
blackish colour when it is ripe." This author mentions
the Spanish and the Gascoigne cherry, &c. and says,
" there are many other sorts in our London gardens."

The cherry seems to have been a fruit highly esteemed
by the court in the time of Charles the First, as we find,
by the survey and valuation of the manor and mansion

80 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

belonging to his queen, Henrietta Maria, at Wimbledon
in Surrey, which was made in 1649, there were upwards of
two hundred cherry-trees in those gardens. (Archaologia,
vol. X. p. 399.)

We have observed, that the cherry-gardens in the vicinity
of London have what is termed an upper and an under
crop, which is produced by planting strawberries or cur-
rants, &c. between the trees ; and the latter fruit, we have
noticed, has been as fine, and as productive, as when
planted by itself, and engrossing the whole garden.
Philips says, the apple-tree is

" Uneasy, seated by funereal yew,
Or walnut, (whose malignant touch impairs
All generous fruits,) or near the bitter dews
Of cherries ; therefore weigh the habits well
Of plants, how they associate best, nor let
111 neighbourhood corrupt their hopeful grafts."

Lord Bacon has clearly elucidated what the ancients
considered the sympathy or antipathy of plants. " For it
is thus," says this great man : " wheresoever one plant
draweth such a particular juice out of the earth as it qua-
lifieth the earth, so that the juice which remaineth is fit
for the other plant : there the neighbourhood doeth good,
because the nourishments are contrary, or several ; — but
where two plants draw much the same juice, there the
neighbourhood hurteth ; for the one deceiveth the other.'*

The cherry, like many other kinds of fruit, has had it&
sorts so multiplied by various graftings and sowing the
seeds, that we now enjoy a great variety of this agree-
able fruit, and for a considerable portion of the sum-
mer, as it is one of the first trees that yields its fruit in
return for the care of the gardener. From the ripening
of the Kentish and the May-duke, to that of the Yellow
Spanish and the Morello, we may reckon full one third of

CHERRY. 81

the year that our desserts are furnished with this orna-
mental fruit; and to those who have the advantage of
housed trees, the cherry makes a much earlier appear-
ance, as it is a fruit that bears forcing exceedingly
well.

Cherries have ever been found more tempting than
wholesome. Pliny says, " this fruit will loosen and hurt
the stomach ; but, when hung up and dried, has a con-
trary effect." He relates, that some authors have affirmed
that cherries, eaten fresh from the tree when the morning
dew is on them, and the stones being also swallowed, will
purge so -effectually, as to cure those who have the gout
in their feet. Dr. John Quincey says in his English
Dispensatory, ** Many of the sorts, and particularly the
Kentish red cherries, are a very wholesome fruit and grate-
ful to the stomach, but the black only are used in medi-
cine : they are prescribed in all diseases of the head and
nerves ; and by some are accounted diuretic, especially
the water distilled from them."

Dried cherries are much esteemed for winter puddings ;
and the wine made from this fruit much resembles the red
Constantia, both in colour and flavour. The small black
cherries, with good brandy, produce one of the most
wholesome as well as agreeable liqueurs. Eau de Cerises
is an admired liqueur of France.

The wood of the cherry-tree, which is hard and tough,
is next to oak for strength, and comes the nearest to ma-
hogany in appearance : it is in much request with the turn-
ers for making chairs, &c. and is esteemed by musical in-
strument makers, who pretend that it is sonorous. ^'?f*^ -^^^'

The common black cherry-tree prospers in a cold soil.
Evelyn observes that they afford considerable timber ;
and he mentions some that were eighty feet in length.
In all probability these trees originally sprang from the
seed of the cultivated cherry that had been introduced by

82 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

the Romans, as they do not partake of the character of
any of our native trees.

It is observed of stone-fruit in general, that, if sown im-
mediately after they are excarnated, they will appear the
following spring, but, being kept too long, they will not
germinate under two years.

The timber of the wild cherry-tree comes to perfection
in about forty years.

The cherry-tree produces its fruit generally at the ex-
tremity of the branches; therefore, in pruning, they should
never be shortened. In trees that are trained to a wall,
displace all foreright shoots by the hand, in the summer;
for if they are suffered to grow till winter, they will not
only deprive the bearing branches of their supply of nou-
rishment, but, when they are cut out, will occasion the
tree to gum in that part. Cherries bear the knife worse
than any other sort of fruit-trees : we would therefore im-
press upon the mind of the pruner, that although this fruit
was gained by the sword, it may be lost by the knife.
He must be also careful not to rub off the sides or spurs
which are produced upon the two or three year old wood ;
for it is upon these that the greatest part of the fruit is
produced ; and it will continue fruitful for several years.
** It is,*' says Miller, ** for want of duly observing this
caution that cherry-trees are often so unfruitful, especi-
ally the Morello, which shoots the weaker the more it
is cut.

Judiciously planted, the cherry-tree is very ornamental
in a shrubbery, its early white blossoms contrasting with
the sombre shades of evergreens in the spring, and its
graceful ruby balls giving a pleasing variety in the sum-
mer; particularly the Morello, which, when planted as a
standard, decorates the pleasure-grounds by its gracefully
pendent boughs, whose snowy blossoms opening early to

CHERRY. 83

receive the sedulous bee, gives a pleasure that is scarcely
surpassed by its autumnal transparent fruit.

There is a feast celebrated at Hamburgh, called the
** Feast of Cherries;" in which troops of children parade
the streets with green boughs ornamented with cherries,
to commemorate a triumph obtained in the following man-
ner: In 1432 the Hussites threatened the city of Hamburgh
with immediate destruction, when one of the citizens,
named Wolf, proposed that all the children in the city,
from seven to fourteen years of age, should be clad in
mourning, and sent as supplicants to the enemy. Proco-
pius Nasus, chief of the Hussites, was so touched with
this spectacle, that he received the young supplicants,
regaled them with cherries and other fruits, and promised
them to spare the city. The children returned crowned
with leaves, holding cherries, and crying ** Victory*^

84

CHESNUT.— CASTANEA.

Natural order, Conlortie, In Botany y it is ranged in the
class of Monacia Polyandria, and is of the genus of
Fagus, or Beech. The Fruit is more properly a Mast
than a Nut.

Or whose discourse with innocent delight
Shall fill me now, and cheat the wint'ry night ?
While hisses on my hearth the pulpy pear.
And black'ning chesnuts start and crackle there.

The chesnut-tree was first brought to Europe from
Sardis (now Sart), a town of Asia Minor, by the Greeks,
who called the fruit the Sardinian nut, until it was ho-
noured by the appellation of Aioj BaAavoj, or Jupiter's
nut. Sardis was burnt by the Athenians 504 years before
Christ, which caused the invasion of Attica by Darius.
We may therefore venture to conclude that the chesnut
was thus early known to the Greeks. Pliny mentions
eight kinds of chesnuts as being known to the Romans in
his time, and says they were ground into meal, and made
into bread, by the poor ; " but when roasted," he adds,
" they are pleasanter and better food." He also mentions
one kind, coctivce (chesnuts to be boiled). Chesnuts were
considered nutritive by the ancients, and good for those
who vomited blood.

*' Chesnuts," continues Pliny, *' were much improved
when men began to graft them."

CHESNUTv S5

The Romans called them Castatiea, after a city of that
name in Thessalia, from whence they first procured them,
and where they were grown in great abundance by the
Grecians ; they still retain the same appellation in all the
European languages. In German Castanienhaum ; in
Swedish and Danish Castanietr(£e ; in French Chataignier ;
in Italian Castagno ; in Spanish Castano ; in Portuguese
Castanheire. In Russian Keschtan.

Some authors affirm that the chesnut-tree is a native
of this country. Dr. Ducarel maintains, in his Anglo-
Norman Antiquities, that it is an indigenous, or na-
tive tree of this island; in proof of this he alleges, that
many of our old buildings in London, and other places,
contain a great quantity of this timber ; and among the
ancient records to which he appeals, produces a deed of
gift from Henry the Second to Flexley abbey, of the tithe
of all his chesnuts in the forest of Dean.

The remains of very old decayed chesnut-trees may be
seen in the Forest of Dean, Enfield Chase, and in many
parts of Kent. At Fortworth, in Gloucestershire, is a
chesnut-tree fifty-two feet round : it is proved to have
stood there since the year 1150, and was then so remark-
able, that it was called " The great chesnut of Forhoorthy
It fixes the boundary of a manor. Mr. Marsham states
that this tree is 1100 years old. It is mentioned by Sir
Robert Atkyns in his history of that county, as a famous
tree in King John's time ; — and by Evelyn in his Sylva, to
have been so remarkable for its magnitude, in the reign of
King Stephen, as then to be called the great chesnut, as
already noticed ; from which it is presumed to have been
standing before the Conquest.

Cheshunt, or Chestrehunt, in Hertfordshire, is sup-

-posed to have been so called from the chesnut-trees with

which it formerly abounded. Camden remarks, that

Gowdery Park, near Midhurst in Sussex, abounded in

1

86 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

fine chesnut-trees. It is therefore evident that chesnut
timber has been long known in this country ; but we are
induced to believe that it was one of the fruits which was
introduced by the Romans to this island, who, having been
masters of the country for nearly four hundred years, and
being much attached to horticultural pursuits, we may
naturally conclude, would not fail to transport hither
their hardier kinds of fruits, and particularly those which
were used as a substitute for bread.

Chesnuts were certainly considered as a proper food
for man by Lord Bacon, who, in his ** Essay on Planta- ,
tions," says, " In a country of plantation, first look j
about what kind of victual the country yields of itself to
hand; as chesnuts, walnuts, pine-apples, olives, dates, &c.
&c." Chesnuts are the usual, and in some places almost
the only food of the common people, in the Apennine
mountains of Italy, in Savoy, and some parts of the south
of France ; not only boiled and roasted, but also in pud-
dings, cakes, and bread. They afford great part of the
food of the peasants in the mountains of Madeira. M.
Valmont Bomare says, the inhabitants of Perigord and
Limousin and the mountains of C^vennes make great use
of these nuts for bread, which is thought to give them a
swarthy complexion: they are also said to be flatulent and
hard of digestion; yet there are instances, in Italy, of
men's living to ninety or one hundred years of age, who
have fed wholly on chesnuts. Roasted chesnuts make
a good substitute for malt in making beer.

Chesnuts stewed with cream make a much-admired
dish, and many families prefer them to all other stuffings
for turkeys : they make an excellent soup ; and we have
no doubt that chesnuts might be advantageously used
in cooking, so as to make many agreeable and wholesome
dishes. The author has had them stewed and brought to
table with salt fish, when they have been much admired ;

CHESNUT. 87

but it is exceedingly difficult to introduce any article as
food that has not been established by long custom ; and
it is not more strange than true, that the difficulty in-
creases, if the object be economy. NievhofF tells us that
the Chinese grow chesnuts in the province of Suchuen
.tli4t will melt in the mouth like sugar. We hope to
iear that this tree will be inquired for and brought to
.England.

'; The importation of chesnuts is very considerable both
from Spain and Portugal, yet we believe it is rarely if ever
there is a single meal made from them in this country.
The Catalonians have this strange religious practice : on
the first of November, the eve of All Souls, they run about
from house to house to eat chesnuts, believing that for
every chesnut they swallow, with proper faith and unc-
tion, they shall deliver a soul out of purgatory.

As ornamental and profitable for parks, chesnut-trees
are exceeded by no others, which all must acknowledge
who have seen the picturesque and stately trees in the do-
mains of the Earl of Egremont at Petworth, or the fine
avenues in Greenwich Park. It is this tree which graces
the landscapes of Salvator Rosa, who painted in the
mountains of Calabria, where it flourishes. Its rami-
fications are more straggling than even those of the
oak, while its foliage, which is more loose and brilliant in
colour, is less subject to the attacks of insects, and its
yellow and umber tints greatly relieve the sable hue of
the fir and the pine, and act like a blossom to enliven
the month of November. The male flowers, which appear
in May, have for a short time a strong spermatic and dis-
agreeable odour; the female blossom attracts our attention
by the curious manner in which nature has provided for
the impregnation of this seed. There are generally four
chesnuts in each of their thorny habitations, that have a
small hole at the point, out of which each nut thrusts its

88 HISTOIIY OF FRUITS.

stigma, which opens into five claws, however crowded
they may be, to receive the farina and conduct it to the
proper channel. When the fruit is matured and becomes
of that reddish brown colour, which gives a name to
horses, its prickly dwelling opens into four quarters, and
the sap having discontinued to supply the ripened fruit, it
drops from its plush-lined dwelling to form future trees,
and to feed the various animals that await its fall, as is
noticed by the author of the Farmer's Boy, who says of
the swine : —

" From oak to oak they run with eager haste,
And wrangling share the first delicious taste
Of fallen acorns ; yet but thinly found,
Till the strong gale has shook them to the ground.*'

There is no better food for deer than chesnuts, and
they fall from the trees when other sustenance is often
scarce from the dryness of the season.

The timber is of equal value with the best oak, and,
for many purposes, far exceeds it ; to which we may
add that it grows twice as fast. No wood is preferable to
this for making casks to hold wine and other liquors, as
it imparts no taste to the contents, and has the property
of maintaining its bulk constantly, without shrinking or
swelling, which mt)st other timber is apt to do, and which
often causes casks to burst.

M. Bourgeois says, " that casks made of the chesnut-
wood contribute much to the quality of the wine, as well
as to the preservation of it ; the fermentation," he adds,
** is very slow, and the wine made in those vessels is
sweeter. This wood being less porous than the oak must
certainly prevent the evaporation of the spirituous parts.

It has also the quality of lasting longer than elm, or
any other timber, when used for water-pipes, or other
purposes, under ground.

CHESNUT. 89

Its durability when exposed to the weather is suffi-
ciently ascertained from its use for gate-posts at Welling-
ton in Somersetshire, of which the following account is
extracted from the Transactions of the Society of Arts
for 1789. — ** In or about the year 1763, some gate-posts
of oak, and others of chesnut, were to be repaired : they
had the appearance of being put in at the same time, but
the latter were much more sound, insomuch that some of
them were adjudged good enough to remain as gate-posts,
and are now to be seen there (1788). Such as were too
small were taken up, and set as posts to fix rails to. At
the same time some new posts of oak were put in, there
not being enough of the old chesnut posts. Though
these were old when put in, twenty-five years ago, they
are now (1788) more sound than the oak posts which
were then new. One side of the chesnut posts was the
outside of the tree, but the timber is as sound there as
in any other part, which would not have been the case
with oak, the sap of which, next the bark, soon decays.
The chesnut gate-posts had been put down many years
before 1 745 ; they have therefore probably stood the
weather above half a century."

Another account says, that the branch of a chesnut
about thirteen inches square, which in the year 1726
was put down as a hanging post for a gate, and carried
the gate fifty-two years, when taken up appeared perfectly
sound, and was put down for a clapping post in another
place.

Its durability when employed in buildings has been
shewn in the most ancient houses of our metropolis, while
its beauty has been displayed in the doors and balustrades
of our modern dwellings. It appears to be noxious to
spiders and other insects, which must rather increase
than diminish its value in buildings.

These and similar recommendations liave induced the

90 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Earl of Fife and other land-proprietors to enrich their
northern estates, by the planting of chesnut-trees : while
in the more congenial southern counties the tree is
scarcely known, and seldom seen without the boundaries
of the park fence.

M. Valmont Bomare makes the same observation on
the neglect of his countrymen that without offence we
would make to our own, on the unaccountable neglect of
the cultivation of this tree, when it is the general opinion
that, the oak excepted, it should be attended to before
any other forest-tree.

"It is to be regretted," says this able French writer,
" that there are not to be found so many chesnut-trees in
our provinces where this timber used to abound." Yet
we find that they have many large forests composed en-
tirely of those trees in Britanny ; where you see the
fruit piled up within their cabins as a winter food for the
poor, who seldom taste the luxury of wheaten bread.

The chesnut-wood has recently been successfully ap-
plied to the purposes of dyeing and tanning, thus forming
a substitute for log-wood and oak-bark. Leather tanned
by it, is declared, by the gentleman who made the ex-
periment, to be superior to that tanned with oak-bark ;
and in dyeing, its affinity for wool is said, on the same
authority, to be greater than that of either galls or
sumach, and consequently the colour given is more per-
manent : it also makes admirable ink.

The great chesnut-tree near Mount Etna is perhaps
one of the most extraordinary trees in the Old World.
It is called " The chesnut-tree of a Hundred Horses,"
from a traditionary tale that Joan of Arragon, when she
visited Mount Etna, being attended by her principal
nobility, a heavy shower obliged them to take refuge
under this tree, the immense branches of which sheltered
the whole party. According to the account given of it

CHESNUT. Oil

by Mr. Howel, this chesnut-tree is 160 feet in circum-
ference. Mr. Brydone, who measured it in 1770, says,
" it was then 204 feet round ;" and, although quite hol-
low within, the verdure of the branches is not affected ;
for this species of tree, like the willow and some others,
depends upon its bark for subsistence. The cavity of this
enormous tree is so extensive, that a house has been
built in it, and the inhabitants have an oven therein,
where they dry nuts, chesnuts, almonds, &c. of which
they make conserves : but, as these thoughtless people
often get fuel from the tree that shelters them, it is feared
that this natural curiosity will be destroyed by those
whom it protects.

These trees seem to delight in the cinerated substances
thrown out of volcanos, as is shewn by the thick woods
of chesnut-trees, which cover the surface in the neigh-
bourhood of Vesuvius. They grow luxuriantly on Mount
Somma, on the heights of the Camaldoli near Naples, on
the Pyrenees near medicinal springs, and in general, in the
neighbourhood of subterraneous fires, not to mention the
numerous and gigantic trees that have for ages darkened
the sides of Etna.

We strongly recommend the grafting of chesnut-trees
where planted for the sake of the fruit, and to those who
plant for timber it may be only necessary to notice that the
months of November and February are the best seasons
for sowing the nuts, which should be done on fresh un-
dunged earth : and the fruit of English trees answers
equally well for the latter purpose, provided care is taken
to reject all the nuts that swim upon the surface of the
water. Evelyn says, ** they need only to be put into
holes with the point upmost as you plant tulips. October
is the season recommended for transplanting the young
trees ; and the younger they are planted, the better they
succeed.

92 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

This fruit should be gathered on a sunny day, and
then exposed for a week to the influence of the sun on
wicker mats, which should be removed to the hottest
part of the bouse in the evening. By this treatment
chesnuts will retain their native relish and their reproduc-
tive energy, though conveyed to a great distance and
even across the seas.

93

HORSE-CHESNUT.— iESCULUS.

Natural order, Trihilata. A genus of the Heptandria
Monogynia class.

The generic name of this tree is derived from esca,
food. It had the old names Hippocastanum and Casta-
Tiea equina, from the similitude of the fruit to that of the
chesnut, and from its being given to horses. The class
and order of the tree being as widely different from the
Castanea chesnut, Linnaeus altered the old title to that
of Esculus.

The Horse-chesnut was first brought from the northern
parts of Asia into Europe about the year 1550, accord-
ing to Martin's edition of Miller, and was sent to Vienna
about the year 1558; but of this statement we are doubt-
ful, as it was certainly not introduced into French Flan-
ders before the year 1576, when C. Clusius, a celebrated
botanist of Arras, received it from the Imperial Ambas-
sador at the Porte, together with a considerable variety of
trees new to Europe ; but the horse-chesnut and the
cherry-laurel were the only two he succeeded in rearing.

When planted in well-chosen situations, this tree is
one of the greatest ornaments to our parks or extensive
grounds, particularly during the month of May, when
its bold and elegant spiral blossoms are conspicuous at a
distance and pleasing on approach : but the large digitated
leaves form a heavy foliage, that requires to be relieved
by the birch, the ash, the elm, or the poplar. It tells

94 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

well as a fore-ground to clumps of firs, whose dark
tapering points are relieved by the early and soft green of
the Esculus, and their naked limbs are obscured by its
branches, which in return show their flowery spikes to
greater advantage by the contrast.

Where unsightly buildings are to be hidden, or where
grounds are too much overlooked by public roads, this
tree by its rapid growth and ample foliage is preferable
to most others. Even when raised from the nut it has
. frequently attained so considerable a height in twelve or
fourteen years as to form a complete screen, or to shade
by its branches a space sufficient for several chairs. The
horse-chesnut is only objectionable when planted too near
our dwellings or the walks of the shrubbery, as its leaves
fall early and are unsightly in the path.

This tree does not appear to have been planted in Eng-
land in the time of Gerard, who, in 1597, says, " the
Horse-chesnut groweth in Italic and in sundry places
of the East countries." But in Johnson's edition of that
author, printed in 1633, we are told, "it is now growing
with Mr. Tradescant at South-Lambeth."

Parkinson, in 1629, seems to have been unacquainted
with the tree : he says, " our Christian world had first the
knowledge of it from Constantinople." He places it as
a fruit-tree between the walnut and the mulberry, and
adds, " it is of a greater and more pleasant aspect, for
the fair leaves, but also of as good a use for the fruit,
which is of a sweet taste, roasted and eaten as the ordinary
sort.'* He also, like Gerard, describes and figures the
corolla with four petals. lo jat^a^r;^ 3iij

It appears to have been rare even M late as the year
1700, as Mr. Houghton notices some at Sir William Ash-
hurst's, at Highgate, and at the Bishop of London's, at
Fulham.

Those which now afford shade to the pensioners of

!

HORSE-CHESNUT.^ = ' S5

XJhelsea college were then very young ; but we are told!
that there was a very fine one then growing in the post-
house garden near Old-street, and another not far from
the ice-house under the shadow of the Observatory in
Greenwich Park.

The grand avenue of horse-chesnut-trees in Bushey
Park, near Hampton-Court Palace, is the finest in Eng-
land, and attracts many parties from London to see it
when in full blossom.

The fruit of the horse-chesnut-tree is ground, and
given to the horses in Turkey, particularly to such as
have coughs, or are broken-winded. The Turks also give
it to milch-cows, it being found to increase the quantity
of milk, without injuring the quality.

The author, when in Paris, found the milk which he ob-
tained from the porter of the hotel so superior in flavour
to what he had ever met with in the country, that he was
induced to investigate the cause, and found that the goats
which supplied the hotel with milk, were then kept en-
tirely on the leaves of the horse-chesnut-tree, which were
brought to Paris as a covering to the numberless baskets
of fruit that then furnished the markets of that city.

In France and Switzerland horse-chesnuts are used for
the purpose of bleaching yarn, and are recommended as
capable of extensive use in whitening, not only flax and
hemp, but also silk and wool. These nuts contain a
great deal of farinaceous and nutritive matter, and whert
deprived of their astringent principle, constitute a very
good article of food for cattle.

A patent was granted, in the year 1796, to Lord William
Murray, for his discovery of a method of extracting starch
from horse-chesnuts ; and a paste or size has been made
from them, which is preferred by bookbinders, shoemakers,
and paper-hangers, to that made from w beaten flour. It
is thought that the meal of this fruit can be converted

96 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

into many useful articles, such as soap, &c.; and as it
loses its bitter astringent taste after it has been rasped
into water, it is concluded that it would be a wholesome
food mixed with flour or potatoes. The prickly husks
are valuable for tanning leather.

Zannichelli aflSirms, that he has made a great many
trials, and has found the bark of the horse-chesnut-tree to
have the same effect as the Peruvian bark ; but the gene-
rality of practitioners tell us it is much inferior to that
article.

The bark of horse-chesnut is inodorous, but has an
astringent and agreeable bitter taste ; it should be taken
from those branches which are neither old nor young : it
may be preserved for several years without having its
virtues impaired, for they do not reside in any volatile
matter, but in a substance called tannin, which may be
extracted from the bark by spirit or water. Its medical
properties are astringent and tonic. — Medical Botany,

The common horse-chesnut is propagated by sowing
the nuts in the same manner as the eatable chesnut. This
tree will grow luxuriant and healthy even in very cold,
barren, and hungry earth, being, as Dr. Hunter observes,
** not very nice in its diet ;" but in a sandy loam it makes
the greatest progress, and retains its verdure longest in a
moist soil. After horse-chesnuts have been transplanted,
neither knife nor hatchet should come near them, but
they should be left to Nature to form their fine parabolic
heads, and assume their utmost beauty ; for the fine
spikes of flowers come out at the extremity of each
branch, therefore when pruned or crowded by other trees
they lose half their splendour.

The timber is not considered valuable ; but as Mr.
Hanbury justly observes, *' It grows rapidly to a con-
siderable magnitude, and is therefore well worth the
planting for the sake of the timber." It is used by the

horsp:-chesnut. 97

turner, and often by the cabinet-maker as a substitute for
wainscot-oak, to which in appearance it approaches so
nearly that none but those who are accustomed to work on
these woods can discern the difference. It is also said to
be more durable than many harder kinds of timber when
used for under-ground pipes, &c.

The most common observer of Nature must have ad-
mired with what wonderful security the buds of these
trees are guarded against the inclemency of the winter,
and the rapacity of insects. No sooner are the flowers
fallen, than the buds for the succeeding year are formed,
which continue swelling till autumn, at which time the
folding covers are spread over with a thick tenacious
juice, which, like pitch, hardens with the cold, and thus
defends its tender buds from the frost and rain in winter,
but which is never so far hardened but it melts and runs
off" upon the first return of warmth in the spring : the
young bud then escapes and grows with such rapidity
that in less than three weeks it is often found to have
made a shoot of eighteen inches in length, and to have
fully expanded its fine leaf.

On opening the fruit we find a vacuum so perfectly
formed for the shape of the leaf, that even the impression
for the veins is distinctly to be seen. That part of the
germ which forms the root escapes without opening the
nut, and as it extends in the earth it sends up moisture,
which swells the germ until the vacuum is filled and the
first leaves are perfectly formed by the impression, when
the fruit opens and the bud escapes.

98

COCO A-NUT.^COCOS.

Natural order, PalmcB; a genus of the Monacia
Hexaiidria class.

" Give me to drain the Cocoa's milky bowl,
And from the palm to draw its freshening wine !"

The Cocoa-nut appears to have been known to the
ancient Greeks, as we find the Macedonian soldiers, who
accompanied Alexander the Great in his expedition into
India, met with various Indian fruits, amongst which
although they were not able to give the names of them
this nut was evidently one ; and their account of it has
been faithfully transmitted to us in the twelfth book of
Pliny's Natural History, chap. 6. " The fruit," he says
" is put forth at the bark, having within it an admirably
sweet juice, and in such abundance, that one of them is
sufficient to regale four men." The Macedonians described
the leaves as being of great size, resembling birds' wings

From this period, which was about 325 years before
Christ, little or nothing more was known of the cocoa
nut by the Europeans, for more than 1800 years, when
the discoveries of Columbus opening a wide field of spe
culation for the naturalist as well as the trader, this frui
became once more known to the Old World ; but it
only of late years that the cocoa-nut has been brought to

COCOA-NUT. 99

England as an article of commerce. It is now used by
the West-India captains instead of wedges of timber, to
fill up the vacua between the casks and other packages in
their ships. The freightage of these large nuts is conse-
quently considered as of no charge : they are therefore
now become as common in the shops and streets of
London, as the orange.

We learn from tlie Travels of two Mahomedans who
visited India in the years of the Hegira 831 and 851, and
which have been translated from the Arabic by Eusebius
Renaudot, a learned member of the French Academy, that
there were then some Indians, who, making profession of
piety, went in search of unknown islands, or those newly
discovered, on purpose to plant cocoa-nut trees and to
sink wells for the use of ships. These travellers farther
tell us, ** there are people at Oman who cross to these
islands that produce the cocoa-nut trees, from the planks
of which they build ships, sewing them together with the
yarn made from the bark of the tree. The mast is made
of the same wood, the sails are formed from the leaves,
^nd the bark is worked up into cordage : and having thus
completed their vessel, they load her with oocoa-nuts,
.which they bring to Oman for sale."

The tree which produces this fruit is, indeed, of the
first importance to the Indians, as it furnishes them with
meat, drink, physic, clothing, lodging, furniture, and
fuel. Chambers states, that many travellers aver, that
from a single cocoa-nut tree and its fruit, a ship might
he built, equipped, and laden with merchandize and pro-
arision.

It is supposed to be a native of the Maldive, and some
desert islands in the East Indies, and from thence to have,
been transported to all the warmer parts of America.
The largest cocoa-nut trees grow on the river Oroonoko,
which reach to the height qf sixty feet, and, bearing all
h2

100 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

their foliage at the top, produce a beautiful, waving,
feather-like appearance.

The leaves have a strong mid-rib from twelve to four-
teen feet long, on which the leaflets are placed alter-
nately ; these are from six to nine inches long, and are
nearly triangular, having very sharp points. The flowers
come out round the top of the trunk of the tree in large
clusters : they are inclosed in a large spathe or sheath,
and the nuts afterwards are formed in large clusters, ten
or twelve together. When all the parts of the flowers
have gained a due degree of perfection, the spathe splits
on the under side, from the bottom upwards, and exposes
the common bunch, with all its flowers, to the open air.
Most of these are males, and fall off" gradually as the spathe
withers, leaving the embryo fruit, which is generally fixed
to the lower and stronger part of the stalk, to increase and
ripen gradually.

This fruit is properly a berried Drupe, superior, very
lai^e, ovate, rounded-three-cornered, umbilicate both
ways, tawny or reddish, becoming finally of a very pale
red or brownish colour : the skin is thin and very tough;
the substance under this, investing the shell, is extremely
fibrous. The shell itself is of a bony substance, ovate,
three-sided, and acuminate, marked with three raised
spurious sutures, and having three holes at the base closed
with a black membrane. The kernel adheres all round
the inner wall of the shell, and the cavity is filled with a
milky liquor. — Browne, GcErtner, Lunan.

The Spaniards call it Palma de las Indias; and the Por-
tuguese CocOf from the three holes in the shell, which give
it the appearance of a monkey's head.

The kernel, or substance which adheres to the interior
of the shell of the cocoa-nut, is very nourishing, and is
used instead of almonds in milks, emulsions, &c. These
emulsions, when added to coffee instead of cream, give.

COCOA-NUT. vol

it an exquisite taste ; excellent cakes and fritters are
also made from the kernel, when rasped. The tender
shoots of this tree, when Jboiled, afford an excellent sub-
stitute for cabbage.

A large cocoa-nut will produce upwards of a pint of
milk ; and when young, it is esteemed one of the greatest
dainties of America. As the fruit gets older, the milk
becomes more sharp and cooling, consequently more
agreeable to those of feverish habits. It is also esteemed
highly antiscorbutic. Custards, blanc-mange, rice pud-
dings, &c. are made with this milk.

An agreeable sweet oil, fit for the table, is procured by
concentrating the milk of the cocoa-nut over a mode-
rate fire, by ebullition. The oil obtained from this nut
by pressure is an excellent lamp oil, burning with a clear
bright flame, without exhaling any odour or smoke. The
cocoa-nut oil, composed with the emulsion, is a gentle
purgative, without, being nauseous or producing colic: it
is also recommended in coughs, and complaints of the
luno-s. The substance from which this oil has been

o

squeezed, is given to cattle, mixed with their forage, and
greatly promotes the quantity of milk when given to
cows.

A juice is obtained by tapping the trunk of this tree,

: or by cutting off the shoots which produce the nuts, and
which is caught in jars attached to the trees. This
liquor, after it has fermented, is distilled into a spirit
called Arrack, which is very superior to that drawn from
rice : it also improves the flavour of rum when used in the
distillation of that spirit. This juice, when exposed to the

! sun, produces vinegar.

The filings of the hard shell, applied to old wounds,

I will cleanse and heal them rapidly. In Maldivia, this

I nut is thought a powerful antidote against the venom of
serpents and other poisons.

102 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

The milk is of the g;reatest importance in dyeing silks
cotton, or woollen stuffs, as it prevents black and other
caustic colours from burning them, and gives a brilliancy
to the colour. The emulsion of the kernel is used in
painting chintzes, and in scouring the cloth after the
colours have been applied. The Hindoos procure their
fine violet and rose colours by the assistance of this
fruit.

The tough fibres, or substance which encloses the shell,
being steeped in water and beaten like flax, are then manu-
factured into linen. The palms of this tree are made into
mats for sleeping on ; the leaves, which are of great
length, are made into baskets, hammocks, mats, brooms^
racks, &c. and are used for the thatchijig of houses : the
trunk of the tree is employed for gutters, and split into
laths for covering buildings, &c. The shell of the fruit,
when polished, is formed into basins, drinking-cups, and a
variety of useful articles. The Emperors of Mogul highly
esteemed the cocoa-nut for making goblets, which they
had set with precious stones and edged with gold, believ-
ing that poison would lose its baneful qualities in these
vases.

The cocoa-nuts have three holes closely stopped; one
of these being both wider, and more easily penetrated
than the rest : from this, when the nut is planted, rises
the germen, or young tree, first having ramified and filled
the whole cavity of the hut ; it then shoots out at the
before-mentioned hole in the top, and soon appears
above ground in two narrow leaves : through these holes
likewise is the water copiously distilled into the nut from
the roots : thus wonderfully has nature made an egress for
the future tree.

M. Le Goux de Flaix, an officer of engineers, and a
member of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, in his account
of the cocoa-nut tree, says it is a well-known fact, that

COCOA-NUT. 103

the fibrous covering of the cocoa-nut is converted into
good ropes, which are useful in navigation and for various
purposes on shore. Cables for anchors made of this sub-
stance are much better than those made of hemp. They
are exceedingly elastic, stretch without straining the vessel,
and scarcely ever break — advantages which are not pos-
sessed by those of hemp. They are also lighter, and never
rot in consequence of their being soaked with sea-water ;

I nor do they exhale damp or miasmata, which are exceed-
ingly hurtful to the crews of ships who sleep on the same
deck where ropes are kept when ships are under sail.
These ropes are also more easily managed, and run better

' in the pulleys during nautical manoeuvres.

Some time since a cocoa-tree was cut down on Mr.

I Hanson's land, in Jamaica, which had been planted about

I a century, when, in grubbing up the root, the shell from
which the tree had been raised was found quite sound and
perfect.

The Chili cocoa produces a fruit not larger than a
walnut, but this is more esteemed than the large kind
which is brought to England.

The cocoa-nut-tree was cultivated in Chelsea garden as
long back as the year 1 739.

104

COFFEE.— COFFEA.

Natural order, Stellata. A genus of the Pentandria
Monogynia class.

Coffee is named after CafFa, in Africa, where it
grows abundantly. This berry, which affords such a
wholesome and agreeable beverage, is said Xo have been
drunk from time immemorial in Ethiopia, but for this we
have no satisfactory authority ; and as the use of most
plants has been accidentally discovered, it is probable
that the properties of coffee might have been first found
out in the manner related by Chambers, who says that
a goatherd having observed that his cattle, after browsing
on this tree, would wake and caper all night; this fact the
prior of a certain monastery, being informed of it, first tried
it on his monks, to prevent their sleeping at matins.

About the fifteenth century the use of coffee appears to
have been introduced from Persia by Gemaleddin, Mufti
of Aden, a city near the mouth of the Red Sea. He,
finding it dissipate the fumes which oppress the head,
give cheerfulness, and prevent sleep, without injury, re-
commended it to his dervises,with whom he used to spend
the night in prayer. It was soon after this drunk at
Aden by all studious persons and those who travelled by
night. It was progressively used at Mecca, Medina, &c.
and Grand Cairo : hence it continued its progress to Da-
mascus and Aleppo. From the two latter places, it was
introduced into Constantinople by persons of the name of

COFFEE. • 105

Shems and Hekin, in the year 1554, each of whom
opened a public cofFee-house in that city. These coffee-
houses becominoj a rendezvous for newsmongers, who
made too free with state-affairs, were suppressed by Cu-
proli, the Grand Vizier.

Rauwolfus, who was in the Levant in 1573, was the
first European author who made any mention of coffee ;
but the first who has particularly described it is Prosper
Alpinus, in his Mediciria ^gyptiorum, 1591, and in hi&
History of Egyptian Plants, published at Venice in
1592.

The Venetians seem to be the next who used coffee,
Pietro della Valle, a Venetian, writes from Constantino-
ple in 1615, informing his friend, that upon his return he
should bring him some coffee, which he believed was a
thing unknown in his country. This beverage was
noticed by two English travellers at the beginning of the
seventeenth century : Biddulph about 1603, and William
Finch in 1607. The former says, ** the Turks have for
their most common drink Coffa, which is a black kind of
drink, made of a kind of pulse like peas, called Coava.'*
The latter observes, ** that the people in the island of
Socotora have, for their best entertainment, a China dish
Coho, a black bitterish drink, made of a berry like a bay-
berry, brought from Mecca, supped off hot."

Lord Chancellor Bacon mentions it in 1624: he

says, " the Turks have a drink they call coffee, made

jl with boiHng water from a berry reduced into powder,

which makes the water black as soot, and is of a pungent

and aromatic smell, and is drunk warm."

M. La Roque, who published his journey into Arabia
Felix in 1715, contends that his father having been with
M. de la Haye, the French ambassador at Constantinople,
did, when he returned to Marseilles, in 1644, drink
coffee every day ; but the same author acknowledges

^

106 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

that it was M. Thevenot who taught the French to drink
coffee, on his return from the East, in 1657. It was
made fashionable and more known in Paris, in 1669, by
Soliman Aga, ambassador from Sultan Mahomet the
Fourth, who gave coffee at all his parties with great
magnificence ; and it could not fail to be pronounced an
agreeable beverage by the Parisian ladies, after they had
received it from his slaves on bended knee. If it were a
matter of policy with the Turks to get coffee introduced
into France, the ambassador's splendid porcelain, equi-
page, and gold-fringed napkins, were the best recommen-
dation that could have been given to a people who are so
naturally fond of show.

Two years after, it was sold in public at the Foire St.
Germain, by Pascal, an Armenian, who afterwards set
up a coffee-house on the Quai de TEcole ; but, not being
encouraged in Paris, he left that city, and came to Lon-
don. However, soon after this, some spacious rooms were
opened in Paris for the sale of coffee, and they soon in-
creased to upwards of three hundred.

It is said to have been first brought to England by Mr.
Nathaniel Conopius, a Cretan, who made it his common
beverage, ac Baliol College, at Oxford, in the year 1641 ;
but it must evidently have been a few years prior to this
date, as Evelyn says in his Diary, 1637, *' There came in
my tyme to the Coll: one Nathaniel Conopios out of
Greece, from Cyrill the Patriarch of Constantinople,
who, returning many years after, was made (as I under-
stand) Bishop of Smyrna : he was the first I ever saw
drink coffee, w*^*^ custom came not into England till 30
years after."

The first coffee-house in England was kept by one
Jacob, a Jew, at the sign of the Angel in Oxford^ in
1660. Coffee was first publicly known in London in

i

COFFEE. 107 •

1652, when Mr. Daniel Edwards, a Turkey merchant,
brought home with him a Ragusan Greek servant, whose
name was Pasqua Rossee, who understood the roasting
and making of coffee, and kept a house for that purpose,
in George Yard, Lombard Street, or rather, according to
Mr. Houghton, in a shed in the Churchyard of St. Mi*
chad's, Cornhill. This seemed to give alarm to the ale-
sellers, who, taking advantage of Rossee's not being free
of the City, - petitioned the Lord Mayor against him ;
but Mr. Edwards having married a daughter of Alderman
Hodges, the Alderman joined Bowman his coachman,
who was a freeman, as a partner with Pasqua Rossee.
The Greek was afterwards obliged to leave the country
for some misdemeanor ; and Bowman, by his business and
the aid of a subscription of one thousand sixpences, was en-
abled to convert his shed into a coffee-house. The famous
Dr. Harvey used it frequently. Mr. Ray affirms that, in
1688, London might rival Grand Cairo in the number of
its coffee-houses, so rapidly had it come into use ; and it is
thought that they were augmented and established more
firmly by the ill-judged proclamation of Charles the
Second, in 1675, to shut up coffee-houses as seminaries
of sedition : this act was suspended in a few days.

The first mention of coffee in our statute books is in
1660, (12 Char. II. cap. 24.) by which a duty of four-
pence was laid upon every gallon of coffee bought or
sold. Ksempfer says, " that Mocha is the peculiar region
of coffee :" — ** Kahwah ; quae nullibi terrarum quam circa
Mocham Arabise fehcis colitur." — (Aman. Exot. p. 123.^

Bruce, however, would trace it to Caffa, " the South
province of Narea, whence it is first said to have come."
(Travels, ^c. vol. ii. p. 411.)

The Arabs seem to have been very jealous of letting
this tree be known ; and in order to confine the commo-

' ]08 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

dity to themselves, they destroyed the vegetable quality
of the seeds ; but Nicholas Witsen, burgomaster of Am-
sterdam and governor of the East-India Company, desired
Van Hoorn, governor of Batavia, to procure from Mocha,
in Arabia Felix, some berries of the coffee-tree, which
were obtained and sown at Batavia ; and about the year
1690, several plants having been raised from seeds. Van
Hoorn sent one over to Governor Witsen, who presented
it to the garden at Amsterdam. It there bore fruit,
which in a short time produced many young plants : from
these the East Indies and most of the gardens in Europe
have been furnished. In 1696, it was cultivated at Ful-
ham, by Bishop Compton; and in 1714, the magistrates
of Amsterdam presented Louis the Fourteenth with a
coffee-tree, which was sent to the royal garden at Marli.
In 1718, the Dutch colony, at Surinam, began first to
plant coffee; and in 1722, M. de la Motte Aigron, go-
vernor of Cayenne, contrived by an artifice to bring
away a plant from Surinam, which, by the year 1725,
had produced many thousands. The French authors
affirm that it was planted in the Isle of Bourbon, in the
year 1718, having been obtained from Mocha. This seems
doubtful ; but it is ascertained that M. Declieux carried
the first coffee-plant to Martinico in 1720.

This passage was long and dreary, and fresh water
being scarce in the vessel, made it necessary to limit
every one to a small portion daily, to make it last out the
voyage, when this gentleman deprived himself of a great
part of his allowance in order to keep these valuable
trees alive. M. Fusee Aublet states that one tree only
survived in the Isle of Bourbon, which bore fruit in 1720.
From Martinico it spread to the neighbouring islands.
Sir Nicholas Laws first introduced it into Jamaica, in the
year 1728, and planted it at Townwell Estate, now called
Temple Hall, in Liguanea: the first berries produced

ii

COFFEE. 109

from this tree sold at a hit each, which is equal to Qd,
In the year 1752 the export of coffee from Jamaica was
rated at 60,0001bs.; and it has continued regularly to
increase since that time, except when additional duties
have been laid on, which have as regularly lessened the
exports and the revenue also ; an important proof, among
others, how frequently heavy taxation defeats its own
purpose. In 1791 there were 607 coffee-plantations in
Jamaica, employing 21,000 negroes. In 1808, the exports
from Jamaica were 29,528,2731bs. ; the next year they
were lessened about four millions of pounds; in 1812, the
export was 18,481, 9861bs. The Abbe Raynal says, that
12,550,000 pounds of coffee are annually exported from
Arabia Felix.

Almost every species of the vegetable creation has an
apparent enemy peculiar to itself in the animal tribe, but
which is undoubtedly intended for some wise purpose,
although often beyond our investigation. The finest
coffee-tree in our colonies, and sometimes a whole plan-
tation, is seen to perish in a short time. This is often
occasioned by an insect called the coffee fly : this fly is
very long, and has attached to its head two saws with
which it sometimes cuts these trees to the very heart.
The white vine-fretters also attack the coffee-tree, to
prevent which, pine-apples are planted between the trees,
because these insects, preferring the juice of this fruit, eat
of it, which causes their death.

Every gentleman who has stoves should raise this
tree for the beauty of its appearance. It is an evergreen,
whose leaves continue three years ; and being of a fine
dark green, make a beautiful contrast with the clusters
of pure white blossoms, which perfume the air with an
odour like jasmine. Nothing can be conceived more
delightful and grateful than the appearance and per-
fume of a field of coffee-trees when in full bloom ; it

110 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

resembles a shower of snow, which nearly obscures the
dark green branches. The tree, like the walnut, pro-
duces smaller fruit, and better-flavoured, as it becomes
older.

Sonnini, in his Travels in Egypt, says, *' If you wish to
be supplied with excellent coffee, you must go to Kous,
Kenne, or Bonoub ; for when one had arrived at Cairo, or
had crossed the Nile, it was no longer pure. Merchants
were waiting there to mix it with the common coffee of
America. At Alexandria it underwent a second mixture
by the factors who forwarded it to Marseilles, where. they
did not fail again to adulterate it; so that the pretended
Mocha coffee, which is used in France, is often the growth
of the American colonies, with about one-third, and seldom
with half of the genuine coffee of Yemen. When I was at
Kous, the unadulterated coffee of the first quality sold for
about ten-pence halfpenny the pound. If to prime cost is
added the expense of conveying it to Cairo, the duties
which are paid there, the charges for loading and unload-
ing, those for transporting it to Alexandria, freight to Mar-
seilles, the exorbitant and arbitrary duties with which
that commodity is there loaded, and if to these are added
commission and the expense of grinding, &c. how is it
possible to believe that they should have real Mocha
coffee at Paris, at the t ate of five shillings per pound ?

The Turkey coffee is a small berry, and is more esteemed
for its flavour than that which grows in the West Indies.
We conclude that one great cause of the American coffee
being inferior in point of flavour, is owing to the practice,
in that part of the world, of gathering the berries before
they are quite ripe, whereas the Arabians shake their
trees, and by this means obtain the berries in full perfec-
tion. Mr. Lunan observes, that the West-Indian berries
being considerably larger than those of the Turkey coffee,
require much longer keeping; but Mr. Miller, the cek-

COFFEE. Ill

brated gardener, is of opinion, that coffee does not require
long keeping, and that it loses a part of its flavour. He
states that two gentlemen, who resided some years in
Arabia, assured him that the berries, when first ripe, were
very superior to those which had been kept. He also
states, that from plants brought from the West Indies,
and raised in English hot-houses, coffee-berries have
been produced, which, at a proper age, were found to
surpass the very best Mocha that could be produced in
Great Britain. Jamaica coffee is often sold as Turkey
coffee in London, and there have been many samples sent
from Jamaica, that have proved quite equal to any
Arabian berries. As coffee readily imbibes the smell or
flavour of any article it comes in contact with, it is often
injured in the voyage home, by being stowed near sugar,
rum, pimento, &c. &c. ; and the flavour which it thus
contracts, cannot be separated again, even by roasting.

The most eminent physicians of every country have
recommended the use of coffee for various complaints.
It greatly relieves the head-ache, and is recommended to
those of constitutionally weak stomachs, as it accelerates
the process of digestion, removes languor and listless-
ness, and affords a pleasing sensation. Coffee is often
found useful in quieting the tickling vexatious cough.
Sir John Floyer, who had been afflicted with the asthma
for sixty years, was relieved by strong coff'ee. The great
use of coffee in France is supposed to have abated the
prevalency of the gravel ; for where coffee is used as
a constant beverage, the gravel and the gout are scarcely
known. Voltaire lived almost wholly on coffee, and said
nothing exhilarated his spirits so much as the smell of it ;
for which reason he had what he was about to use in the
day roasted in his chamber every morning, when he lived
at Ferney.

A friend writes me from Constantinople, that many of

112 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

the Turks will subsist almost entirely on coffee, except
during the rigid fast of the Ramadan, or Turkish Lent,
which lasts forty days; during which time they neither
eat, drink, nor smoke, while the sun is over the horizon ;
and the use of coffee is then so strictly forbidden, that
those who have even the smell of coffee on them, are
deemed to have violated the injunctions of their prophet:
yet it is estimated that as much money is spent in coffee
at Constantinople as in wine at Paris. Among the legal
causes of divorce with the Turks, the refusal to supply a
wife with coffee is one. Notwithstanding the immense
consumption of coffee in the Turkish capital, they have
but one building where it is allowed to be roasted ; a great
number of persons are employed in pounding it in mortars ;
this is performed as soon as the coffee is taken from the
oven, which causes the surrounding neighbourhood to
smell strongly of this aromatic drug.

Among the various qualities of coffee, that of its being
an antidote to the abuse of opium must make it an inva-
luable article with the Turks, who drink it without either
sugar or milk. The Persians, who sip their coffee extremely
hot, take it- also without either of these additions; but
they have an accompaniment that would not be quite so
agreeable to our fair countrywomen. The Persians have
a saying, that " coffee without tobacco is like meat with-
out salt." How greatly must the habits of the Mahome-
dans have been changed by the introduction of these two
vegetable luxuries, which now contribute to solace even
the poorest inhabitants of Turkey and Persia, as much as
the Chinese leaf does the English.

An interesting analysis of coffee was made by M.
Cadet, apothecary in ordinary to the household of Napo-
leon, when emperor; from which it appears, that the
berries contain mucilage in abundance, much gallic acid,
a resin, a concrete essential oil, some albumen, and a

CO I FEE. 113

volatile aromatic principle, with a portion of lime, potash,
'charcoal, iron, &c. Roasting developes the soluble prin-
ciples. Mocha coffee is, of all kinds, the most aromatic
and resinous. M. Cadet advises that coffee be neither
roasted nor infused till the day it be drunk, and that the
roasting be moderate.

M. Bigio, of Venice, has succeeded in extracting from
coffee a green gum lac, said to be useful and beautiful in
painting.

Dr. Moseley, in his learned and ingenious Treatise,
states, that ** the chemical analysis of coffee evinces that
it possesses a great portion of mildly bitter, and lightly
astringent gummous and resinous extract, a considerable
quantity of oil, a fixed salt, and a volatile salt. These
are its medicinal constituent principles. The intention of
torrefaction is not only to make it deliver those prin-
ciples, and make them soluble in water, but to give it a
property it does not possess in the natural state of the
berry. By the action of fire, its leguminous taste and
the aqueous part of its mucilage are destroyed ; its saline
properties are created and disengaged, and its oil is
rendered empyreumatical. From thence arise the pun-
gent smell, and exhilarating flavour, not found in its
natural state.

" The roasting of the berry to a proper degree, requires
great nicety. If it be underdone, its virtues will not be
imparted, and in use it will load and oppress the stomach :
if it be overdone, it will yield a flat, burnt, and bitter
taste ; its virtues will be destroyed, and in use it will heat
the body, and act as an astringent. The closer it is con-
fined, at the time of the roasting, and till used, the better
will its volatile pungency, flavour, and virtues, be pre-
served.

** The influence which coffee, judiciously prepared,
imparts to the stomach, from its invigorating qualities.

114 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

is strongly exemplified by the immediate effect produced
on taking it when the stomach is overloaded with food,
or nauseated with surfeit, or debilitated by intemperance,
or languid from inanition. In vertigo, lethargy, catarrh,
and all disorders of the head, from obstructions in the
capillaries, long experience has proved it to be a powerful
medicine : and in certain cases of apoplexy, it has been
found serviceable even when given in clysters, where it
has not been convenient to convey its effects to the
stomach. Mons. Malebranche restored a person from
apoplexy by repeated clysters of coffee.

" Du Four relates an extraordinary instance of the effect
of coffee in the gout : he says, Mons. Deverau was at-
tacked with the gout at twenty-five years of age, and had
it severely until he was upwards of fifty, with chalk stones
in the joints of his hands and feet : he was recommended
the use of coffee, which he adopted, and had no return of
the gout.

*' A small cup or two of coffee, immediately after 1
dinner, promotes digestion. With a draught of water i
previously drunk, according to the eastern custom,
coffee is serviceable to those who are of a costive habit.'*

The generality of English families make their coffee
too weak, and use too much sugar, which often causes it
to turn acid on the stomach. Almost every housekeeper
has a peculiar method of making coffee ; but it never can
be excellent, unless it be made strong of the berry, any
more than our English wines c^n be good, so long as we
continue to form the principal of them on sugar and
water. When coffee is used as a breakfast beverage, we
would strongly recommend it to be served in the manner
of the French Caft au Lait : — with a small pot of very
strong coffee, they send a large jug of boiling milk, and
it is generally used from about one-fourth of coffee, to
three-fourths of milk; thus you get nourishment from

COFFEE. 115

the milk and sugar, and more refreshment from a small
quantity of strong coffee, than a larger portion of weak.

After dinner we would recommend it strong and hot,
but without sugar or cream.

Count Rumford says, " Coffee may be too bitter ; but
it is impossible that it should ever be too fragrant. The
very smell of it is reviving, and has often been found to
be useful to sick persons, and to those who are afflicted
with the head-ache. In short, every thing proves that
the volatile, aromatic matter, whatever it may be, that
gives flavour to coffee, is what is most valuable in it, and
should be preserved with the greatest care, and that, in
estimating the strength or richness of that beverage, its
fragrance should be much more attended to, than either
its bitterness or its astringency. This aromatic sub-
stance, which is supposed to be an oil, is extremely vola-
tile, and escapes into the air with great facility, as is
observed by its filling a room with its fragrance, if suf-
fered to remain uncovered, and at the same time losing
much of its flavour.

We would recommend those who give coffee to even-
ing parties, to let their attendants hand empty cups, with
a coffee-pot on the tray, which would ensure its being
warm and with flavour.

116

CRANBERRY .-VACCINIUM.

Natural order, Bicornes, A germs of the Octandria
Monogynia class.

This fruit, which is so much esteemed in tarts, or with
cream, is a native of England, and is found growing in
the peaty bogs of Sussex, Cumberland, Norfolk, Lan-
cashire, and in other marshy lands. Gerard calls the fruit
fen-berries : " they grow, "says he, ** in fennie places, in
Cheshire and Staffordshire, where I have found them in
great plentie." Valerius Cordus called them oxycoccon ;
the Dutch term them yew grapes.

They are thought to have derived the name of cran-
berry from the peduncles being crooked at the top, and,
before the expansion of the flower, resembling the head
and neck of a crane.

Dr. Withering states, that at Longton, in Cumberland,
there is a considerable traffic carried on in cranberries ;
that on the market-days, during the gathering season, the
sale of these berries amounts to from twenty to thirty
pounds sterling per day. Many people in that neighbour-
hood make wine from cranberries ; but never having
tasted this liquor, we can give no account of its quality.
The English cranberries, which are preserved in bottles
with no other care than keeping them dry, are very supe-
rior to those large cranberries imported from the northern
parts of America, which are now so common in the shops
of London. These berries, being packed in large casks
must undergo a fermentation during the voyage, whicl:

CRANBERRY. 117

vonsequently deprives them of a part of their natural
flavour. Cranberries are also imported from Russia and
Germany ; and during this last year s;reat quantities have
been brought from New Holland, v^rhich are smaller, and
darker coloured, than those brought from America, and
very superior in flavour. Cranberries are found growing
in many parts of Spain and Hungary. They are the
produce of damp swampy lands only ; but the idea that
they will not bear transplanting is erroneous, the late
Sir Joseph Banks having planted some near a pond in his
grounds at Spring Grove, which have produced fruit be-
yond calculation. This information may be worth the
attention of those who have marshy or brook land, as a
matter of profit; and to those who have ornamental
water in their gardens or parks, it would be found an
embellishment to the banks ; it being an elegant little
fruit on the ground, where it trails, and spangles the grass
with its red and variegated berries. When transplanted
intQ the garden, they require a moorish or boggy soil, and
the bed should be kept about six inches lower than the
general surface of the ground, by which means they may
be kept in a swamp by a small channel, or temporary
shoot from a pump; they will soon cover ihe surface,
and produce fruit abundantly.

This fruit is now also grown in dry beds : — the experi-
ment was first made by Robert Hallett, Esq. of Axmin-
ster, Devonshire, who in a letter to the Horticultural
Society (read 5th June, 1821,) says, ** Having cultivated
the American cranberry with great success in Devon-
shire, 1 beg to submit to the Horticultural Society a
detail of the practice by which I have satisfactorily
ascertained that the fruit of this plant may be obtained in
dry, as well as in moist situations, to any extent that may
be desired ; and since it makes such excellent tarts, and
as no other trouble is required than putting them into

118 HISTORY OF til L ITS.

dry bottles, and corking them up close, 1 trust this com-
munication will be acceptable.

"In April 1814,1 procured four plants of the American
cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), the kind cultivated
by the late Sir Joseph Banks at Spring Grove, whose
method I followed, placing them in a small bed over
part of a pond which was fenced off. These plants
flourished, and produced me some very fine fruit, which
I found so useful that I was induced to attempt to obtain,
if possible, a larger supply ; but not having another
piece of water, which I could conveniently devote to this
purpose, I resolved to try to grow them in a dry bed.

"In April 1818, I filled half-a-dozen shallow boxes,
each about eighteen inches square and four inches deep,
with peat earth, and planted in them, at one inch apart,
cuttings of the cranberry, about an inch and a-half in
length, placing them in my melon bed, where they were
frequently watered : the cuttings rooted freely and threw
out strong shoots, and in the June following they were fit
to plant out. Having collected from a dry hill, where
wild heath flourished in abundance, a sufficient quantity
of peat earth, such as Gushing in his Exotic Gardener
(second edition, page 156,) describes under that name,
I formed a bed one hundred and fifty feet long by four
feet wide. In order to give the plants room to extend
their roots freely, I caused eighteen inches in width of
the centre part of this bed to be excavated ^throughout
its whole length to the depth of two feet ; and having first
covered about two inches of the bottom of the trench
with small wood, I filled it up with the peat earth, well
trod in ; on the sides of the bed, to the extent of its
width, 1 put only six inches depth of this mould. About
the end of June 1818, I placed one row of plants in the
centre of this bed, about two feet apart from each other

CUAN BERRY. 1|9

in the row : these soon put forth luxuriant runners, ex-
tending before the winter to the edges of the bed.

" At the close of the year 1819, the bed was covered
with the plants, and the runners of the former year had
thrown out a number of upright bearing shoots, from
which, last year, I gathered several bottles of excellent
fruit, much superior in flavour to any imported berries I
have ever tasted. In the autumn of 1820 I had the satis-
faction to see the entire bed filled so completely by the
plants, as to form a mass through which scarcely a weed
could penetrate, the whole exhibiting a profusion of
bearing branches, which are now (May 1821) putting
forth such an abundance of blossoms as not only to make
a very handsome appearance, but to promise a supply of
berries far exceeding my expectations.

**The plants, after the first supply, may be easily pro-
pagated to any extent that may be required ; for though
they root more freely under glass, yet a hot-bed is not
absolutely necessary to raise them.

" I have known the cuttings strike well, and make good
plants in pots in the open air, and after being rooted they
require no trouble to preserve them. One of the boxes of
those raised in 1818, has been left exposed to the open
air throughout three summers and as many winters, and
though no care was bestowed on the plants, and the depth
of earth did not exceed four inches, yet neither the sum-
mer's heat nor winter's cold affected them, and last year
they produced some very fine berries. This proves their
hardy nature, and that an exposed situation will not be
inimical to the health of the plants. The berries I have
likewise found to be as little susceptible of injury from
being allowed to remain out late in the season ; for on
examining my bed in April last, I discovered that out of
a considerable number which had not been leathered in

120 HISTORY OK FUUITS.

the autumn, mnny were at that time in a perfect state on
the branches.

" Four feet is the most convenient width for the beds,
but by passing the shoots under the path formed of peat
earth, wherein they would root, other beds might soon
be established on each side. From four to six inches
depth of peat earth would be sufficient for such beds, and
the paths should be level with them, it being desirable
not to drain off the moisture.

*' Dry heathy commons and wastes would produce a
large supply of these fruits, with little labour or expense,
either for the markets or for food for moor-game. A
single plant would soon extend itself over a large space
of ground, if turned up and kept clean till the runners
had taken root ; and as no manure is requisite, and little
or no weeding wanted, the first trouble is all that would
be necessary, except in situations where hares or rabbits
abound : these animals are particularly fond of the young
plants, and a temporary fence must be made to protect
them from their depredations.

" Dung is peculiarly injurious to the cranberry: it abso-
lutely destroys it, as I have proved by a variety of expe-
riments, in which I found that all the plants completely
failed which were planted in any compost of which gar-
den mould or dung formed a part. Peat earth is the only
soil in which they will flourish : nor can a supply of this
very valuable fruit be expected except in situations where
the plants will have a due enjoyment of sun and air."

The cuttings may be taken from any part of the old plants,
for the old wood will root as well as the young branches.

Sweden produces abundance of cranberries, but they
are only used for cleansing plate in that country.

A new species of cranberry is now cultivated in this
kingdom, which has been called snowberry, on account
of the colour of the fruit : it was brought from Nova

CRANBERRY. 121

Scotia in the year 1760 by Mr. Jonathan Laycock, and is
stated to be found in the swamps of Cyprus also. This
berry has a perfumed taste, like eau de noyau, or bitter
almonds : it is reared by Mr. Joseph Knight, of Little
Chelsea, and several other nurserymen near the metro-
polis. Another variety was brought from Madeira in 1777
which requires the shelter of the green-house; and the
Jamaica cranberry, which was introduced the following
year, will not thrive in this country except in the stove.

Cranberries are of an astringent quality, and esteemed
good to restore the appetite : they were formerly imagined
efficacious in preventing pestilential diseases.

122

CUCUMBER.— CUCUMIS.

Natural order, Cucurhitacea. A genus of the MotKKcia
Syngenesia class.

The cucumber, which is one of the coldest fruits, is
evidently a native of a v^^arm climate ; and by all the re-
searches we have been able to make, we conclude it be-
longs to the soil of some parts of Asia and Africa. It
seems to have been a common and favourite diet in Egypt
in very early times ; as among the murmurings of the
Israelites when in tha wilderness we find them regretting
this vegetable.

The Hebrews called it i^pp, from which the Greeks
named it K«xuoj, or %xvo$, of whom the Latins derived
the word Cucumis, from which there is but little variation
in any of the European languages.

We find cucumbers were cultivated by the Greeks, as
their earliest writers on Natural History have mentioned
them, and in particular recommend that the seeds should
be steeped for two days in milk and honey before they are
set, to make the fruit sweeter and pleasanter. Pliny
mentions the great quantities that grew in some parts of
Africa, and particularly in Barbary. All vegetables are
• so formed as to perpetuate themselves by seed in the
climate where they originate; for if this were not the
case, every species of plant that is not cultivated would
soon cease to exist ; and the cucumber has never been
found to^Tow in the natural state in any part of Europe.

CUCUMBER. 123

Columella is the oldest author who gives any direction
for forwarding cucumbers by artificial means. ** Those
who wish for them early," says he, ** should plant the
seeds in well-dunged earth, put into osier baskets, that
they may be carried out of the house, and placed in
warm situations when the weather permits ; and as soon
as the season is advanced, the plants may be sunk in the
earth with the baskets, or wheels may be put upon large
vases, that they may be brought out with less labour.
Notwithstanding they ought," continues he, ** to be
covered with speculariay** which seem to have been trans-
parent stones, that the Romans were in the habit of cut-
ting thin, so as to admit light, and keep out the air, glass
being unknown at that period.

It is related by Pliny, that Tiberius the emperor was
so fond of cucumbers, that there was not a day through-
out the year but he had them served up at his table.
The beds and gardens wherein they grew, were made
upon frames, so as to be removed every way with wheels ;
and in winter, during the cold and frosty days, they could
be drawn back into certain high covered buildings, ex-
posed to the sun, and there housed under roof. These
appear to be the earliest accounts of the forcing of plants,
of which we read. It is probable, also, that artificial
heat was used ; as we find, by the i-emains of their villas
in this country, how perfectly the Romans were ac-
quainted with the method of warming their rooms with
flues.

Pliny says, " To make a delicate salad of cucumbers,
boil them first, then peel them from the rind, and serve
them up with oil, vinegar, and honey."

Mr. Aiton mentions the cucumber as being first culti-
vated here in the year 1573, in the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth. This appears to be an error, as cucumbers were
very common in this country in the reign of. Edward the

124 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Third ; but being unattended to during the wars of York
and Lancaster, they soon after became entirely unknown,
until the reign of Henry the Eighth, when they were
again introduced to this kingdom. (Gough's British To-
pography, vol. I. p. 134.)

Gerard gives the earliest directions for making hot-
beds for cucumbers in this country, when gardening was
in its infant state. He directs, that they should be
covered with mats over hoops, as glasses were not then
known.

Lord Bacon says, " cucumbers will prove more tender
and dainty if their seeds be steeped (little) in milk : the
cause may be, for that the seed being mollified in milk,
will be too weak to draw the grosser juices of the earth,
but only the finer." He adds, " cucumbers will be less
watery if the pit where you set them be filled up half-way
with chaff or small sticks, and then pour earth upon
them; for cucumbers, as it seemeth, do exceedingly
affect moisture, and over-drink themselves, which this
chaff or chips forbiddeth." This author also states, that
*' it hath been practised to cut off the stalks of cucum-
bers, immediately after bearing, close by the earth ; and
then to cast a pretty quantity of earth upon the plant
that remaineth, and they will bear the next year fruit,
long before the ordinary time. The cause may be, for
that the sap goeth down the sooner, and is not spent in
the stalk or leaf, which remaineth after the fruit ; where
note, that the dying in the winter of the roots of plants
that are annual, seemeth to be partly caused by the over-
expense of the sap into stalk and leaves ; which being
prevented, they will superannuate, if they stand warm."
Miller informs us, that the cuttings of cucumbers, taken
off about five or six inches long, from healthy plants in
the summer crop, at the end of September or beginning

CUCUMBER. 125

of October, planted in pots of rich mould, plunged into
the bark bed and shaded until they have struck, will pro-
duce fruit before Christmas. It is also recorded in
Miller's Gardener's Dictionary, that Thomas Fowler, gar-
dener to Sir Nathaniel Gould, at Stoke Newington, pre-
sented King George the First with a brace of well-grown
cucumbers, on New Year's Day, 1721. The seeds from
which they were raised were sown on the 25th of Sep-
tember.

His late revered Majesty had his table supplied with
cucumbers, at all seasons of the year, by Mr. Aiton,
under whose care the Royal Gardens of this kingdom have
produced, in the highest perfection, nearly all the known
fruits of the world.

Cucumbers are now grown with so much success by the
aid of steam, that the London Markets have been regularly
and abundantly supplied with them during the last winter.
We have lately seen some pits for growing melons and
cucumbers which have not only obviated the necessity of
horse-dung, but by the more regular heat which the
steam conveyed to the mould, the plants were kept in a
more healthy state; and produced fruit so abundantly
that one pit yielded about two hundred brace of fine cu-
cumbers during the most uncongenial month of the year.

When cucumbers are thus raised earlier in the season
than the bees leave their cells, or when the frames are
kept too close to admit these little animals, the gardener
should attentively observe the time when the anther
bursts, and apply it to the stigma of the fertile flower,
as the fruit is greatly assisted by being thus fecundated.

Mr. Martells is said to have lately cut-from his garden
at Southsea, Hants, a cucumber measuring five feet in
length : we conclude it must have been the Cucumis
Jlexitosus, snake melon.

12G HISTORY OF FRUITS.

The principal varieties of the cucumber are the Spring
Grove, or early frame; Southgate. or late frame; Hot-
house, or winter ; Green turkey ; White turkey.

Cucumbers are much less used in their natural state
than formerly among wealthy families, but they are in
great request for stews and made-dishes, and, when pre-
served, they are esteemed one of the most agreeable
sweetmeats. As a pickle, girkins have been long ad-
mired ; but whoever purchases them, should be careful to
get them free from any substance that may have been used
to colour them.

Lunan, in his account of the sativus, or cultivated
cucumber, says, " although cucumbers are neither sweet
nor acid, they are considerably acescent, and so produce
flatulency, cholera, diarrhoea,'* &c. Their coldness and
flatulency may be likewise in part attributed to the firm-
ness of their texture.

They have been discharged, with little change, from
the stomach, after having been detained there for forty-
eight hours. By this means, therefore, their acidity is
greatly increased ; hence oil and pepper, the condiments
commonly employed, are very useful to check their fer-
mentation. Another condiment is sometimes used ; viz.
the skin of the cucumber, which is bitter, and may there-
fore supply the place of aromatics ; but it should only be
used when young.

Brookes states, that the cucumber is unfit for nourish-
ment, and is generally offensive to the stomach, especially
if not corrected with a good deal of pepper as well as
vinegar. The seeds, he states, are reckoned among the
four greater cold seeds : therefore emulsions of them have
been prescribed in burning fevers, &c.

Frederic Murell, a physician at Berlin, informs us, that
he cured a gentleman who was about twenty-one years of
age, of a consumption, which succeeded a profuse spitting

CUCUMBER. 127

of blood, by keeping him some weeks on cucumbers,
which he ate without any other preparation than peeling,,
and took no other diet, except a few biscuits and water.
Cowper has beautifully described the method

To raise the prickly and green-coated gourd,
So grateful to the palate ; and when rare,
So coveted ; else base and disesteem'd,
Food for the vulgar merely.

The Rev. Griffith Hughes, in his Natural History of
Barbadoes, mentions the wild cucumber-vine as indige-
nous to that part of the world. It is called by Father
Plumier anguria fructu echinato eduli. He describes the
fruit a^ a small cucumber, whose surface is covered with
many soft-pointed prickles : it is sometimes es^ten ; but
is esteemed to be of too cold a nature to be wholesome.

Lunan, in his Hortus Jamaicensis, mentions the small
wild cucumber as being a native of Jamaica, where it
grows very plentifully, and is often used with other herbs
in soups, and is a very agreeable ingredient : the rind is
thickly beset with blunt prickles. Sloane mentions it as
a pale green oval fruit, as big as a walnut, and says it is
eaten very greedily by sheep and cattle.

The ancients used the wild cucumber as a sovereign
remedy in various complaints. " The best kind," says
Pliny, " was found in Arabia, and the next about Cyrene
and Arcadia."

It was from the juice of these cucumbers that they
procured the medicine called elaterium, which, Theophras-
tus states, could be kept good two hundred years ; and for
fifty years it would be so strong and full of virtue, that
it would put out the light of a candle or lamp. Pliny
says, ** to try good elaterium, it is set near to a lighted
candle, which it causes to sparkle upwards and down-
wards."

Elaterium was used not only as a purgative, but against

128 HISTOllY OF FRUITS.

the sting of scorpions, and for the dropsy : with honey
and oil, it was used for the quinsy and diseases of the
windpipe. It was said to cure dimness and other imper-
fections of the eyes, the ringworm, tetter, &c. as well as
the swelling kernels behind the ears.

The juice of wild cucumber-leaves dropped with vinegar
into the ears, was thought a good remedy for deafness.
A decoction of the fruit being sprinkled in any place,
will drive away mice ; it was also said to cure the gout,
&c. : indeed, so many virtues were attributed to it by the
ancients, that if we were to give credit to them, we must
wonder that they had any complaint uncured.

The elaterium of the present day is so variously pre-
pared, that it is to be met with in the shops from a cream
colour, to nearly black. The lighter it is, generally the
more active. The best is of a light grey colour, brittle,
but with difficulty powdered, having no smell, and a
bitter taste. As prepared by some chemists, a quarter of
a grain will be a sufficiently active dose, while the same
extract prepared by another, may be taken in doses of two
or three grains, without acting more violently.

It produces a most copious secretion of serous fluid
from the bowels, and by that means often gives the
greatest relief to dropsical patients, where other medi-
cines have been taken without any benefit. By some
authors it is considered as a remedy which ought only to
be resorted to in desperate cases ; but we may confidently
state, that when given with caution, it may often be em-
ployed in dropsical cases. It is advisable to give it in
the form of powder, with some more mild medicine, as
the sulphate, or supertartrate of potash. — Medical Botany.

The Romans had many superstitious opinions respect-
ing these wild cucumbers. Wives who wished for
children wore them tied round their bodies; and they
were brought into houses by the midwife, but carried
out, in the greatest haste, after child-birth.

CUCUMBER. 129

Columella has recorded a variety of wonderful stories
respecting the garden-cucumber; and some English au-
thors of great celebrity hare stated, that, when a cucum-
ber-vine is growing, if you set a pot of water about five
or six inches from it, it will shoot so much in twenty-four
hours as to touch the pot ; but that it will shrink from oil,
and turn fairly away from it.

The gourd

And thirsty cucumber, when they perceive
Th* approaching olive, with resentment fly
Her fatty fibres, and with tendrils creep
Diverse, detesting contact.

Philips.

1:^0

CURRANT-TREE.— RIBES.

Natural order, Pomacea. A genus of the Pentandria
Monogynia class.

This agreeable and wholesome fruit is undoubtedly a
native of our country : it was formerly found growing, in
the wild state, iii the woods and hedges of Yorkshire,
Durham, and Westmorland, as well as on the banks of
the Tay, and other parts of Scotland. The red currant
grows naturally in Sweden and other northern parts of
Europe. The white is only a variety of it, and was at
first accidentally produced by culture. The salmon
colour, or Champaigne currant, is evidently the offspring
of accidental impregnation, and it has nothing but variety
to recommend it.

The common black currant, ribes nigrum, is a distinct
species of this kind of fruit, as is marked by its strong-
scented leaves and berries, and of which even the wood
partakes so sensibly, as to impart by its odour a correct
idea of the flavour which the fruit gives to the palate.
As a further proof of its being a northern fruit, we have no
account of its having been at all known to the ancient
Greeks or Romans, who have been very accurate in de-
scribing all the fruits known in their time. It seems not
to have grown so far south as France ; for the old French
name of groseilles d'outremer evidently bespeaks it not to
have been a native of that country, and even at the pre-
sent time the French language has no appropriate name for
it distinct from the gooseberry. The Dutch also acknow-

CUllUANT. 131

ledge it not to have been indigenous to Holland, where it
was called hesskins over zee. Whether the Dutch first
procured this fruit from Britain, or from any other
northern countries, we must acknowledge ourselves in-
debted to the gardeners of that country for improving the
size, if not the flavour, of this fruit.

The English name of currant seems to have been taken
from the similitude of the fruit to that of the small Zante
grapes, which we call currants, or Corinths, from Corinth,
where this fruit formerly grew in great abundance, and
which is so much used in this country for cakes, pud-
dings, &c.

The Italians seem to have no other name for the cur-
rants than uvette, little grapes. At Geneva they are called
raisins de Mars. The currant does not appear in the list
of fruits published by Thomas Tusser in 1557, which we
have transcribed to shew what fruits were cultivated in
the latter part of Queen Mary's reign.

" Apples of all sorts, apricots, barberries ; booUesse,
black and white; cherries, red and black; chesnuts ;
cornet plums ; damascens, white and black ; filberts,
red and white ; gooseberries ; grapes, white and red ;
green or grass plums ; hurtil berries ; medlers, or meles ;
mulberries ; peaches, white and red ; peeres of all sorts ;
peer plums, black and yellow ; quince-trees ; raspis ; rei-
sons ; small nuts ; strawberries, red and white ; service
trees ; wardens, white and red ; walnuts ; wheat plums."

So little advance had horticulture made in this country
even at that late period,

** That still, a stranger to our trees and flowers,
Knew not their name, their lineage, and their powers."

Currants were not distinguished from gooseberries by
any particular name at that period; and even in Gerard's
time they were considered as a species of the gooseberry.

K 2

132 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

He says, in his account of the latter fruit, " We have also
in our London gardens another sort altogether without
prickes, whose fruit is Verie small, lesser by much than
the common kinde, but of a perfect red colour, wherein
it differeth from the rest of his kinde."

Lord Bacon, who wrote about fifty years after Tusser,
has noticed them : he says, " the earliest fruits are straw-
berries, cherries, gooseberries, corram, and after them
early apples, early pears, apricots, rasps, and after them
damisons, and most kinds of plum^, peaches, &c. ; and
the latest are apples, wardens, grapes, nuts, quinces,
almonds, sloes, brierberries, hops, medlers, services, cor-
nelians, &c."

Worlidge speaks of the currant in his Vinetum Britan-
nicum, which was published in the year 1675, wherein he
says, " the English curran, once in esteem, but now cast
out of all good gardens, as is the black, which was never
worth any thing. The white curran was not long since
in most esteem, until the red Dutch curran became
native to our soil, which is also improved in some rich
moist grounds, that it hath gained a higher name of the
greatest red Dutch curran. These are the only fruits that
are fit to be planted and propagated for wine, and for the
conservatory."

Coles, the herbarist, tells us, that in his time, (1657) the
white currant was called Gozell in Kent.

Currants are now a fruit of great importance in this
country : they are so easily propagated, that every cottage
gardener can rear them; they thrive in almost any soil
and situation, even under the shade of orchard-trees, but
the fruit is best when exposed to the open air, and upon
a light loamy soil ; and they are likewise so regular in
bearing, that it is seldom they are injured by the weather.
At the dessert, they are greatly esteemed, being found
cooling and grateful to the stomach ; and they are as

CURRANT. 133

much admired for their transparent beauty, as for their
medicinal qualities, being moderately refrigerant, antisep-
tic, attenuant, and aperient. They may be used with
advantage to allay thirst in most febrile complaints, to
lessen an increased secretion of bile, and to correct a
putrid and scorbutic state of the fluids, especially in san-
guine temperaments : but, in constitutions of a contrary
kind, they are apt to occasion flatulency and indigestion.
Brookes says, they strengthen the stomach, excite appe-
tite, and are good against vomiting.

Fruits in general are only wholesome when they have
acquired their full maturity ; and there are but few
species of watery fruits that can be preserved, in theii^
natural state, after they have arrived at perfection, for
so long a time as the currant. The currant is a fruit that
will ripen early, when planted in a warm situation, and
may be retarded so as to be gathered in good condition
in the month of November, when it is planted in a
northern aspect, or protected by a mat to screen it
from the heat of the sun. Thus, with care, a skilful gar-
dener will furnish a dessert of this fruit for six months,
without the aid of artificial heat.

Currants will keep for years in bottles, retaining all
their qualities for tarts, &c. if they are gathered perfectly
dry, and not too ripe. They only require to be kept from
the air, and in a dry situation. We have found it an
advantage to pack them in a chest, with the corks down-
wards ; and, if the vacua be filled up with dry sand, it
will insure their preservation.

, The red currant gives the finest flavour for jelly.
; The wine made from the white currants, if rich of the
iruit, so as to require little sugar, is, when kept to a
proper age, of a similar flavour to the Grave and Rhenish
wines ; and we have known it preferred as a summer table
wine. Even in London this agreeable beverage may he

134 HISTORY OK FIIUITS.

made at less expense than moderate cider can be bought
for. Diluted in water, this wine is an excellent drink in
the hot season, particularly to those of feverish habits.
It makes an excellent shrub ; and the juice is a pleasant
acid in punch, which, about thirty years back, was a
favourite beverage in the coffee-houses in Paris.

The best English brandy we have tasted was distilled
from weak currant wine, by a gentleman at Windsor ; and
there is no doubt but it could be made superior to the
common brandies imported from France, were it encou-
raged, and certain restrictions taken from the distiller.

The black currants, which were formerly called squi-
nancy terries, on account of their great use in quinsies,
are natives of Sweden and the northern parts of Russia, |
as well as the northern counties of England, where they j
have been found in their natural state, growing in alder ;
swamps, and in wet hedges by the banks of rivers, in
some parts of Siberia, the black currants are said to grow
to the size of hazel-nuts. A new variety of the black
currant has lately been cultivated in Cambridgeshire, the
fruit of which is so large, that a single berry weighed
sixty-one grains, and measured two inches and a half in
circumference. The inhabitants of Siberia make a drink
of the leaves: in Russia a wine is made of the black
currants, as well as in some parts of England.

The jelly made from these currants is recommended in
most complaints of the throat; they are also esteemed
cleansing, pellent, and diuretic : an infusion of the roots
is useful in fevers of the eruptive kind.

The inner bark of all the species of the currant-tree,
boiled in water, is a popular remedy in jaundice ; and
some medical men have recommended it in dropsical
complaints.

The cuiTant-tree that was brought from the isle of Zante,
by our Levant traders, and first planted in England in the

CURRANT. 135

year 1533, we conclude was the vine that produces the
small grapes which we call currants, and of which the
English use more than all th« rest of the world together.
This fruit grows in great abundance in several places in
the Archipelago. We have a factory at Zante, from
whence we import them so closely pressed by treading,
that they are often obliged to be dug out with an iron
instrument, the natives thinking we use them as a dye.

In the grounds of the market gardeners near London,
where great quantities of this fruit are grown to supply
the metropolis, these shrubs are generally pruned soon
after the fruit is gathered, when the ground is dug up
between the rows, and planted with cabbages for spring
use, by which means the ground is employed all the
winter, without injuring the bushes. In hard winters
these coleworts often escape the frost when those in more
open situations are all destroyed ; and as there is always
a demand for greens in February and March, the grounds
are generally cleared before the currants put out their
leaves. We have observed that the most productive
currant-bushes are those, which have been pruned to form
a concave, as by this method the sun and air reaches the
interior of the bush, aud the fruit becomes as much better
tasted, as it does larger by keeping the shrub thin of
wood, and shortening the strong shoots to about ten
inches.

Currant-trees produce their fruit on small snags, that
come out of the former year's wood : in pruning, care
should be taken not to injure that part; but the shoots
may be shortened or thinned as soon as the leaves are off.
They require least room, and have a neat appearance in
private gardens, when planted as espaliers ; and the fruit
of trees so managed is thought to ripen best.

136

DATE.— DACTYLUS.

mtural order, PalnuD or Palms.— Date Tree, Phanix
Dactylifera. A genus of the Diacia Triandria class.

The Greeks called this tree 4>o»v*^, from the red colour
of the spathe. The fruit they called AaxxyXoj, whence
we derive the name of date.

This species of the palm-tree is a native of the eastern
countries, and has been known to grow in the deserts of
Arabia and Syria from the earliest ages. Dates appear
to have been the first food which the Israelites found in
the wilderness of Shur. The ancients esteemed dates
next to the vine and olive.

The palm-branch or palm-tree was anciently used as
an emblem of victory, being carried before the conqueror
in processions and rejoicings for having overthrown the
enemy. It was also presented to the kings of Syria as a
token of submission.

The palm-trees are very lucrative to the Arabs and
other inhabitants of the desert, where the fruit forms a
principal part of their food, particularly in all that part
of the Zaara which is near Mount Atlas, where they grow
but little corn, and chiefly depend on this fruit for sub-
sistence. In this part of the world, forests of date-trees
may be seen, some of which are several leagues in cir-
cumference. The Grecian and Roman authors have given
full accounts of this fruit. It is related that Alexander's
army having met with dates of a most delicious quality.

DArTE. 137

many, who could not forbear eating too plentifully, died.
There is one kind of date described by the ancient au-
thors, that would inebriate and overturn the brain.

The Babylonian or royal dates were most esteemed :
these, in ancient times, were reserved for the king's of
Persia, apd are said to have grown only in one orchard
or park at Babylon, which was annexed to the Persian
crown. The dates at Jericho, in Jewry, were also in high
estimation with the ancients, who made both bread and
wine of them. Pliny, who has written at great length
upon this fruit, mentions forty-nine kinds of dates, vary-
ing according to the country where they grew ; some of
which were white, black, or brown, some were round,
others in the shape of a finger, some very small, and
others he describes as being as large as the .pomegranate.
One species of the date, the Lotus, was much cultivated
in Italy, and is by some supposed to be the fruit by
which the companions of Ulysses were enchanted and
forgot their native country.

Gibbon, in noticing the natural productions of Assyria,
says, that the face of the country was interspersed with
groves of innumerable palm-trees : and the diligent na-
tives celebrated, either in verse or prose, the three hun-
dred and sixty uses to which the trunk, the branches,
the leaves, the juice, and the fruit, were skilfully
applied.

Italy and the coast of Spain have been renowned for
palm-trees more than two thousand years ; *' but the
dates," says Pliny, " never come to maturity or ripeness,
nor were they ever known to grow without being planted :"
this caused him to state that they were foreign trees.

In one part of Persia, as well as in Upper Egypt, many
families subsist almost entirely upon this fruit, the
gathering of which is a time of merriment in the desert,
attended with the song and the dance.

138 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

♦♦ And still, when the merry date season is burning,

And calls to the palm-groves the young and the old, i
The happiest there, from their pastime returning
At sunset, will weep when thy story is told."

T. Moore. ,

The Arabs eat dates without seasoning, for they have a
very agreeable taste w^hen they are fresh, and afford
wholesome nourishment. These people dry and harden
them in the sun, to reduce them to a kind of meal, which
they preserve for food when they undertake long journeys
across the deserts ; and they will subsist a considerable
time on this simple nourishment : pieces of the date-
bread diluted in water afford a refreshing beverage. The
Arabs likewise strip the bark and fibrous parts from the
young date-trees, and eat the substance that is in the
centre. It is very nourishing, and has a sweet taste, and
they call it the marrow of the date-tree : they also eat
the leaves when they are young and tender, mixed with
lemon-juice, as a salad. The male flowers are also eaten,
when tender, in the same manner. The fruit, before it is
ripe, is somewhat astringent, but when thoroughly ma-
ture, is of the nature of the fig. A white liquor, known
by the name of date-milk, is drawn from the palm-tree.
To obtain it, all the branches are cut from the summit of
one of these trees ; and after several incisions have been
made in it, they are covered with leaves, in order that
the heat of the sun may not dry it : the sap then drops
into a vessel placed to receive the liquor. The milk of
the date-tree has an agreeable sweet taste when new : it
is very refreshing, and is given even to sick people.

Even the stones of dates, though very hard, are not
thrown away : they are bruised and laid in water to soften,
when they become good food for sheep and camels. In
Barbary, the Mahometans turn these stones, and form
handsome beads for the pater-nosters of the Christians.

DATE. 139

The Egyptians make an agreeable conserve of the fresh
dates and sugar. The Arabs weave mats and other things
of the same kind from the old leaves ; and from the fila-
ments which arise from the stumps of the branches, they
fabricate both ropes and sails.

Among the trees of Egypt there is none more common
than the date-tree, both on the sands and on the cul-
tivated districts. It requires no attention, and is very
profitable, the fruit being in great demand, particularly
that in the neighbourhood of Rosetta, which is deHcious.
The branches are cut off with the dates upon them before
they are thoroughly ripe, and thrust into baskets made for
the purpose, which have no other aperture than a hole,
through which the branches project. The dates thus
packed up, ripen in succession, and boats are laden with
them, and sent to Cairo. — Could they not be brought to
England in this state ?

The Mahometans, whose religion forbids their use of
wine or spirituous liquors, extract from dates a strong
beverage, to which they give a medicinal name, as we
might say stomach or cholic water; and this is made more
savoury with aromatic spices, according to the rank of
those who thus endeavour to cheat their prophet. Apo-
thecaries who are the venders of these comfortable
draughts make large fortunes in Constantinople.

The Persians extract a most ardent spirit from this
fruit. The nectar of the dates, as drunk by the sovereigns
of Congo, is also a pure spirit obtained from the fer«
mented dates.

The timber is so durable that it is thought incorruptible
by the natives. It is used for making beams and imple-
ments of husbandry, as also for javelins ; and the trees
often grow to a hundred feet in height. There are but
few trees which are used for so many valuable purposes,
and we know ol' none where the sexual distinctions are

140 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

SO evident. It is the female tree which produces the fruit;
but in order to obtain it the orientals, who live upon
it, plant male trees also; and it is no uncommon
practice for their enemies, in time of war, to cut down
the male trees, which prevents the others from producing
dates, and causes famine. The number of female trees
cultivated in Asia is much greater than that of the
males, the former being more profitable.

Before the Saracens were driven back to their original
habitations on the Arabian and African sands, the envi-
rons of Reggio were adorned with stately groves of palm-
trees. Many of these trees were felled by the Christians
out of a whimsical hatred to the plant, as if it had been
an appurtenance of Mahometanism. The infidels them-
selves, on their retreat, destroyed all the male-palms,
except such as grew within the walls ; — thus were des-
troyed : —

" Those groups of lovely date-trees bending
Languidly their leaf-crown'd heads,
Like youthful maids, when sleep descending
Warns them to their silken beds."

T. Moore.

The sexual organs of the date-tree grow upon different
stalks ; and when they are in flower, the Arabs cut the
male branches to impregnate the female blossoms. For
this purpose, they make incisions in the trunk of each
branch which they wish to produce fruit, and place in
it a stalk of male flowers : without this precaution, the
date-tree would produce only abortive fruit. In some
parts the male branches are only shaken over the female
blossoms.

This practice was known to the ancients, and is ac-
curately described by Pliny, who says, " if the male
tree be cut down, his wives will afterwards become
barren, and bear no more dates, as if they were widows."

DATE. 141

Linnaeus, in his ** Dissertation on the Sexes of Plants,"
speaking of the date-tree, says, *' A female date-bearing
palm flowered many years at Berlin without producing
any seeds ; but in the year 1749 the Berlin people taking
care to have some of the blossoms of the male tree which
was then flowering at Leipsic, sent them by the post,
they obtained fruit by these means ; and some dates, the
oft'spring of this impregnation, being planted in my
garden, sprang up, and to this day continue to grow
vigorously."

Pere Labat, in his Account of America, mentions a
tree which grew near a convent in Martinique, that pro-
duced a great quantity of fruit, which came to maturity
enough for eating ; and as there was no other tree of
the kind in the island, it was desirable to propagate it,
but nolle of the seeds would grow. He conjectures that
the tree might probably be so far impregnated by some
neighbouring palm-tree, as to render it capable of bearing
fruit, but not sufficiently to make the seeds prolific.

M. Geoffrey cites a story from Jovicus Pontanus, who
relates, " that, in his time, there were two palm-trees, the
one a male, the other a female, in the woods of Otranto,
fifteen leagues apart ; that this latter was several years
without bearing any fruit; till at length, rising above
the other trees of the forest so as it might see," says the
poet, ** the male palm-tree at Brindisi, it then began to
bear fruit in abundance." M. Geoffrey makes no doubt
but that the tree then only began to bear fruit, because
it was in a condition to catch on its branches the farina
of the male brought thither by the wind.

It may appear to many persons almost incredible,
that the pollen of the male flower should be conveyed to
so great a distance ; but that it should be attracted by a
tree of its own species, will not so much create our
wonder, when, with the least reflection^ we must be

142 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

satisfied that the glutinous moisture on the stigmata of
flowers, has an attraction for the pollen of the anther of
its kind only ; else, when a variety of flowers were blos-
soming at the same time, we should have the rose im-
pregnating the lily, and the wheat giving its generating
powder to the poppy. All animals and insects, when
left to nature, couple with their kinds. Vegetables do
the same, although it is now clearly ascertained that it is
possible to make the stigma of one blossom receive the
pollen of another, if it is prevented from taking that of
its own species ; and thus we have within these last few
years so great a variety of new flowers and fruits.

The date-tree grows very rapidly, and will produce
fruit in some countries in the third year, while in others
it is from four to six years before it begins to bear. When
arrived at maturity, it makes no change, but remains in
the same state for three generations, according to the ac-
count of the Arabs. Like most other fruits, the date re-
quires cultivation to have it good, as the fruit which is
produced from trees which have been raised from seed is
poor and ill-tasted, while those trees which are reared
from the shoots, give dates of a good quality.

The young shoots when taken from the male tree pro-
duce male plants, and the female suckers produce fruit-
bearing trees.

When we observe the constant uniformity of nature in
its productions, it is difficult to bring ourselves to a belief
of what we read in the Memoirs of the Academy of
Gottingen ; that by planting the seed of the date in such
a manner as that the side in which is the deepest incision
be turned towards the heaven, a female tree will be pro-
duced, and if reversed, a male tree will be procured.

The flowers of both sexes come out in very long
bunches from the trunk between the leaves, and are

DATE. 143

covered with a spatha which opens and withers : those of
the male have six short stamina, with narrow four-cornered
anthers filled with farina. The female flowers have no
stamina. huB^.hr

Dates are imported into this country in a dried state,
similar to dried figs : when in good condition, they are
much esteemed and fetch a high price. At the present
time they are sold for five shillings the pound, although
inferior kinds may be bought much cheaper for medifcinal
purposes, for which they are principally used in England,
being considered hard of digestion, and often causing
the head-ache to those w^ho eat them in quantities, and
creating scorbutic complaints as well as the loss of
teeth. In medicine the qualities of dates are to soften
the asperities of the throat, to assuage all immoderate
fluxes of the stomach, and to ease disorders of the reins,
&c. The oil and phlegm render them moistening and
good to assuage coughs. They stop vomitings and fluxes,
and are good for the piles when taken in red wine.
(Barham.)

They are principally brought from Africa, Egypt, and
Syria, but the finest come from Tunis.

Near Elete, in Spain, there is a wood consisting of two
hundred thousand palm-trees, bearing dates. These trees
furnish a curious traffic : the branches of them are bound
up in mats to bleach the leaves, which in time become
white ; they are then cut off, and sent in ship-loads to
Genoa and other parts of Italy, for the grand procession
of Palm Sunday. There is a great trade in them with
Madrid also, where every house has its blessed palm-
branch. The dates seldom ripen so thoroughly as to
keep well.

Hughes, in his Natural History of Barbadoes, speaking
of the date-tree, says, *' The straightest and youngest

144 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

branches, which grow near the summit of the tree, are
much used here by the Jews, upon their Feast of Taber-
nacles : these they usually gild, and adorn with various
flowers, and then carry them in procession to their syna-
gogue." He adds, "whether this is the same kind of
palm that was used by the Israelites, we know not ; or
whether it is not here succedaneously used as bearing the
nearest resemblance to it."

145

ELDER.— SAMBUCUS.

Natural order, Dumosa. In Botany, a genus of the
Pentandria Trigynia class.

** Though lowly shrubs, and trees that shade the plain,
Delight not all."

BoERHAAVE, the Celebrated physician of Leyden, is
said to have held this tree in so great veneration, that he
seldom passed it without taking off his hat and paying
reverence to it.

It appears that we have taken the word Elder from
Holder, the Dutch name of this tree, as we learn from
Turner that it was formerly called Bourtre in this coun^-
try, and Coles tells us that the Scotch called it Boretree
in his time, *' perhaps," says this author, " because the
pith being done forth, it seemeth as if it were bored."

The Greeks named it uktyi, as it delights to grow on
the brinks and shadowy banks of rivers. The derivation
of the Latin name is uncertain : some etymologists state,
that it is called Sambucus from Sambyx, the person who
is thought to have first noticed the plant ; others think it
should be called Sabucus, from the likeness that the
musical instrument called Sabuck, or Sambuck, has to the
hollow rods of the Elder when the pith is out.

The common elder-tree, Sambucus nigra, is a native of
England, and is found also in most parts of Europe, as it
will grow on any soil, and in situations where few other
trees would live.

The elder thrives near wet ditches, and is often seen

^

146 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

growing on the ruins of old walls, or from the hollow of
decayed trees : so hardy is this valuable and neglected
tree, that it is found both in sheltered swamps and on the
bleak tops of church towers.

The elder does not appear to have been used medici-
nally by the ancients, but the berries were employed by
the Romans to dye the hair of the head black. If they
be boiled in water, says Pliny, they are as good and
wholesome to be eaten as other pot-herbs.

Sir J. E. Smith has remarked, that this tree is, as it
were, a whole magazine of physic to rustic practitioners.

The bark, leaves, flowers, and berries, are said to have
been used with advantage in medicine. The leaves are
said to be purgative and emetic, and are applied externally
for the haemorrhoids and inflammations ; an ointment is
made also with them as well as the flowers : the latter are
used inwardly as a carminative. Infusions made from the
flowers while fresh, are gentle, laxative, and aperient ;
when dry, they are found to promote the cuticular secre-
tion, and to be particularly serviceable in erysipelatous
and eruptive disorders. Sydenham directs three handfuls
of the inner bark to be boiled in a quart of milk and water,
till only a pint remains, of which one half is to be taken
at night and the other in the morning ; and this repeated
every day for those afflicted with the dropsy. Boerhaave
recommends the expressed juice of the middle bark, given
from a dram to half an ounce, as the best of hydra-
gogues when the viscera are sound. It is said that if sheep
that have the rot can get at the bark and young shoots of
elder, they will soon cure themselves. It is an ingredient
in the black dye.

Elder-flower water, the oil of elder, and elder syrup,
are all used as medicines. The flowers are reported to be
fatal to turkies, and the berries to poultry in general ; we
have observed that it seems the last thing which animals

F.LDER. 147

in general will browse upon. The whole plant has a narcotic
smell, and it is thought not prudent to sleep' under its shade.
It is probable that this tree, particularly when in blossom,
may inhale more impure ^ir than many others of slower
growth. This would naturally be exhaled in the night
and possibly to the injury of those who continued to
breathe the immediate air of the tree ; but the author has
resided in a cottage nearly surrounded with these trees
without perceiving any ill effects, although his children
were daily playing and sitting beneath their shade, at a
time when the branches were covered with blossom. We
shall, in a future work, notice how this tree may be made
exceedingly ornamental in the shrubbery.

The berries are esteemed cordial, and useful in hysteric
disorders ; and are often put into gargarisms for sore
mouths and throats.

The fungous excrescences, which are often found
growing on the trunk of the elder-tree, bearing the re^
semblance of an ear, black in the inside and of a whitish
colour on the outside, (called auricula Judceorum) are ac-
counted good for inflammations and swellings of the
tonsils, sore throats, and quinsies.

The wine made from elder-berries is too well known by
families in the country to require any encomiums : it is
the only wine the cottager can procure, and, when well
made, is a most excellent and wholesome drink, taken
warm before going to bed. It causes gentle perspiration,
and is a mild opiate ; and may be taken safely and with
advantage, by those of costive habits.

If a rich syrup be made from ripe elder-berries and a
few bitter almonds, when added to brandy it has all the
flavour of the very best cherry-brandy.

The white elder-berries, when ripe, make wine much
resembling rich grape-wine.

l2

148 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

The buds and the young tender shoots are greatly ad-
mired as a pickle.

The leaves of the elder-tree are often put into the sub-
terraneous paths of moles, to drive those noxious little
animals from the garden. If fruit-trees, flowering shrubs,
corn, or other vegetables, be whipped with the green
leaves of the elder branches, it is said that insects will
not attach to them. An infusion of these leaves in water
is good to sprinkle over rose-buds, and other flowers
subject to blights and the devastations of caterpillars*

The wood of old elder-trees is so hard, and takes so
good a polish, that it is often used as a substitute for the
box-tree. From its toughness, it is used for tops for
fishing-rods ; needles for weaving nets, butchers' skewers,
&c. It was used by the Romans to make pipes and
trumpets, as Pliny says, " the shepherds are thoroughly
persuaded that the elder-tree, growing in a byplace out of
the way, and where the crowing of cocks from any towrx
cannot be heard, makes more shrill pipes and louder
trumpets than any other." The parsley-leaved elder wa&
thought, by Miller and others, to have been a distinct
species of this tree ; but experience teaches us that it i&
only a variety, as on sowing the seeds they have beer\
found uniformly to produce only the common elder.

149

FIG.— FICUS.— CARICA.

Natural order, Scabrida. A genus of the Poiigamia
Trioecia class.

dark

Beneath his ample leaf, the luscious fig."

The generic name of this fruit seems to have been de-
rived from the Hebrew, XQ, although some etymological
students derive it from facundus. From the little varia-
tion in all the European names for the fig, they have evi-
dently been taken from the Latin.

The earliest mention of the fig-tree is in those passages
of the Bible which relate to the creation and fall of man.
'* And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made them-
selves aprons.'* It is a fruit that appears to have been
highly esteemed by the Israelites, who brought figs out of
the land of Canaan, when they were sent by Moses to as-
certain the produce and strength of that country.

The fig-tree is often mentioned, both in the Old and
New Testament, in a manner to induce us to conclude
that Figs formed a principal part of the food of the Syrian
nation. When Abigail went to meet David, to appease
him for the affront given by Nabal, her husband, she took
with her, amongst other provisions, a present of two hun*
dred cakes of figs.

When Lycurgus banished luxury from Sparta, and
obliged the Spartan men to dine in one common hall, to
enforce the practice of temperance and sobriety, every
one was obliged to send thither his provisions monthly.

150 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

which consisted of about one bushel of flour, eight mea-
sures of wine, five pounds of cheese, and two pounds and
ahalfoffi^s.

The Athenians were so choice of their figs, that it was
forbidden to export them out of Attica. Those who gave
information of this fruit being sold contrary to law, were
called sifkophantai, from two Greek words signifying the
discoverers of figs ; and as they sometimes gave malicious
information, the term was afterwards applied to all in-
formers, parasites, liars, flatterers, impostors, &c. from
whence the word sycophant is derived.

The story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a
wolf under a fig-tree, proves that this fruit must have been
early known in Italy.

It was customary to carry a basket of figs next to the
vessel of wine used in the Dionysia, or festivals in honour
of Bacchus. The fig is related to have been the favourite
fruit of Cleopatra, who was the most luxurious queen the
world ever produced. The asp with which she terminated
her life, was conveyed to her in a basket of figs.

Saturn, one of the Roman deities, was represented
crowned with new figs ; he being supposed to have first
taught the use of agriculture in Italy. There was a temple
in Rome dedicated to this god. before which grew a large
fig-tree. The vestals, when they removed this tree (about
the year of Rome 260) in order to build a chapel on the
spot, offered an expiatory sacrifice.

The fig was a fruit much admired by the Romans, who
brought it from most of the countries they conquered,
and had so increased the varieties in Italy, by the com-
mencement of the Christian era, that Pliny has furnished
us with a description of twenty-nine sorts that were fami-
liar to him. He says, ** figs are restorative, and the best
fogd that can be taken by those who are brought low by
long sickness, and are on the recovery. They increase

FIG. 151

the strength of young people, preserve the elderly in
better health, and make them look younger, and with
fewer wrinkles. They are so nutritive, as to cause corpu-
lency and strength: for this cause, professed wrestlers
and champions were in times past fed with figs." This
naturalist mentions the African figs as being admired ;
but says, " it is not long since they began to grow figs in
Africa." — These appear to have been of an early kind ;
for we find when Cato wished to stimulate the senators to
declare war against Carthage, he took an early African
fig in his hand ; then, addressing the assembly, he said,
** I would demand of you how long it is since this fig was
gathered from the tree ?" and when they all agreed that it
was fresh gathered, " Yes," answered Cato, " it is not yet
three days since this fig was gathered at Carthage : and
by it, see how near to the walls of our city we have a
mortal enemy." With this argument he prevailed upon
them to begin the third Punic war, in which Carthage,
that had so long been a rival to Rome, was utterly de-
stroyed. ** The Lydian figs," says Pliny, " are of a red-
dish purple colour ; the Rhodian, of a blackish hue ; as is
the Tiburtine, which ripens before others. The white figs
are from Herculaneura, Albicerate, and Aratian ; the
Chelidonian figs are the latest, and ripen against the
winter : some bear twice a-year, and some of the Chalci-
dian kind bear three times a-year." The Romans had figs
from Chalcis and Chios, &c. ; and many of their varieties,
it appears, were named from those who first introduced or
cultivated them in Italy. The Livian fig was so named
after Livia, wife to the Emperor Augustus, who, it is
said, made an unnatural use of it to poison her husband.

If the fig-tree was ever brought to this country by the
Romans, it was, in all probability, confined to the southern
counties; and, not being generally cultivated, was de-
stroyed when their villas were demolished. It is generally

152 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

supposed that it was not planted in England before the
reign of Henry the Eighth, when luxury and the arts
began to be encouraged, and noblemen's houses first put
on the air of Italian magnificence. There are, at the pre-
sent time, some fig-trees, of the white Marseilles kind,
growing in the garden of the Episcopal Palace at Lam-
beth, which are said to have been planted by Cardinal
Pole, who brought them from Italy during the reign of
Henry the Eighth. There is also a fig-tree of the white
sort at Mitcham, in the garden of the manor-house^
formerly the private estate of Archbishop Cranmer ; and
it is confidently stated to have been planted by that pre-
late: the stem measures thirty inches in girth.

At Oxford, in the botanic garden of the Regius Pro-
fessor of Hebrew, is a fig-tree, which was brought from
the East and planted by Dr. Pocock, in the year 1648.
Of this tree the following anecdote is related : — Dr.
Kennicott, the celebrated Hebrew scholar, and compiler
of the Polyglot Bible, was passionately fond of this fruit ;
and seeing a very fine fig on this tree that he wished to
preserve, wrote on a label, ** Dr. Kennicott's fig," which
he tied to the fruit. An Oxonian wag, who had observed
the transaction, watched the fruit daily, and when ripe,
gathered it, and exchanged the label for one thus worded :
— " A fig for Dr. Kennicott."

Dr. Turner has given us an ample account of the
virtues of figs in the second part of his Herbal, which he
dedicated to queen Elizabeth, and although he does not
actually write that it was then cultivated in England, yet
his saying " the figge-tree is so well knowen, that it
nedith no farther description," would induce us to think
that it was common in this country at that period.

We may conclude that the fig-trees, which are stated to
have been planted in the time of Henry the Eighth, either
had not fruited, or were but little known at that period \

i

FiG. 153

as Tusser, who has furnished us with a list of the fruits
which were grown in England in the succeeding reign,
has not mentioned the fig-tree ; and Lord Chancellor
Bacon, who wrote still later, never mentions it as being
cultivated in England, though, from the exalted situation
he filled, and the circles in which he moved, he must have
had great opportunities of knowing the earliest introduc-
tion of trees and plants, which occupied a part of his
attention. The almond, which was not introduced until
the days of Elizabeth, is particularly mentioned by him
as one of our fruits ; but the fig is not in his list. He
says, " there be divers fruit-trees in the hot countries,
which have blossoms, and young fruit, and ripe fruit,
almost all the year, succeeding one another." And it is
said, the orange has the like with us- for a great part of
summer; and so also has the fig."

The Hortus Kewensis informs us, that the fig-tree was
planted in this country in 1548. Gerard says, in 1597,
that " the fruit of the fig-tree never cometh to maturity
with us, except the tree be planted under a hot wall."
Parkinson also, in 1629, says, that " if you plant it not
against a brick wall, it will not ripen so kindly ;" but
much must depend on the situation of the country. The
same author says in his Theatrum Botanicum, 1640, " the
blew figge is no doubt of the same operation with the
white to all purposes, but the fruite commeth most to ma-
turity with us, and is eaten with great pleasure with salt
and pepper."

There is an orchard of fig-trees at Tarring, near Wor-
thing, in Sussex, where the fruit grows on standard trees,
and ripens as well as in any part of Spain; these trees
are so regularly productive, as to form the principal sup-
port of a large family. Although the- orchard does not
exceed three-quarters of an acre, there are upwards of one
hundred trees, that are about the size of large apple-trees.

164 HISTORY OF FRUITS- -

the branches extending near twenty feet each way from
the trunk. Mr. Loud, the proprietor of this little figgery,
informs us, that he gathers about one hundred dozen per
day during the season, and that he averages the trees to
produce him about twenty dozen each : the fruit ripens in
August, September, and October, a part of the year when
the neighbouring watering-places are frequented with fa-
shionable company, that insures a ready sale for this
agreeable fruit, at good prices. Figs were so abundant
at Tarring one year, that the inhabitants made wine of
them.

The second crop, we find, has occasionally ripened : the
fruit, which, although smaller, is exceedingly sweet, is
of the white and purple varieties. Two of these trees
are now about seventy-five years old, having been planted
in the year 1745 by John Long, who raised them from
some old ones in an adjoining garden, near the ruins of
the palace of Thomas-a-Becket in that town, who, tradi-
tion says, brought these trees from Italy, and planted them
himself. The soil of the garden is a deep black loam
on chalk.

The trees are but seldom and sparingly pruned, which
we conclude is the cause of their being so prolific, as it
is remarked that fig-trees rarely produce much fruit where
the knife is regularly used. When they grow too luxuri-
antly, it has been found better to destroy a part of their
roots, and to fill up the space with stones or broken
bricks, than to prune the branches too much. There are
also to be found at Tarring, in the garden of Mr. Ed-
monds, some large standard fig-trees, which produce a
most dehcious green fig. These trees are very old, but
by whom or at what period they were planted, is unknown .
One of them divides into two stems, each of which mea-
sures two feet ten inches round : it is probably the largest
standard tree in England^ being about forty feet in height.

fiG. 155

In 1818 it ripened in August, and a second time in No-
vember. We have not met with this variety of the fig in
any other garden in this country, which is not only the
most rare, but the most exquisite in flavour, and quite a
sweetmeat as to richness. The birds, particularly the white-
throat, seek this fruit so greedily, that it is with difficulty
preserved from them. These trees are regular bearers,
and occasionally ripen the second crop. They are
never pruned, nor do they receive dressing of any de-
scription. Mr. Knight, the president of the Horticul-
tural Society, observes, that there cannot be a more de-
fective manner of cultivating the fig-tree than that which
is generally practised by gardeners, — of training them
against walls, with their branches perpendicularly upwards;
the wood, by this means, becomes too luxuriant to pro-
duce fruit. Where figs are trained to a wall, and pruning
cannot be avoided, the autumn is the proper season, and
it is better to cut the incumbering branches quite off,
than to shorten them, as the fruit is always produced at
the ends of the shoots. Those who protect their trees by
glass shutters, or reeds made into pannels, may generally
calculate on two crops in the year ; and it has been lately
proved, that by merely tying an old newspaper lightly
over the branch, the fruit has been perfectly secured
against the frost ; but as standard trees are found much
more productive than those trained against a wall, we
should recommend them to be table-trained ; that is, to
keep the branches tied to stakes about two feet from the
ground : they will then form a star from the trunk, and
in winter the extremities of the branches may be untied
and fastened to the bottom of the stakes, where they may
be easily covered with straw or peashaum, &c. which may
be confined down by spurs of wood, or slips of willow :
it is advisable to put straw or some dry litter between the
branches and the earth, to prevent the fruit from being

\^ HISTORY OF FRUITS.

injured by moisture. The branches should not be staked
down too early in the winter, or uncovered too soon in

the spring.

The ancients believed that there existed a sympathy
between plants, and they therefore planted rue near their
fig-trees, which was said to make the fruit sweeter ; and
that the rue not only grew more luxuriantly, but more
bitter, by being thus neighboured by the fig-tree. We
think this is very probable, without its having any thing
to do with sympathy, as trees and plants will naturally
draw juices from the earth most congenial to their nature:
the rue may therefore exhaust the earth of those pro-
perties suitable for the nourishment of bitter plants, and
leave the fig-tree to thrive from a soil which the former
has qualified, by consuming the particles of the earth that
are pernicious to sweet fruits. Shakspeare seems to have
been of this opinion when he wrote —

" And wholesome berries thrive, and ripen best,
Neigbbour'd by fruit of baser quahty."

We have now in this country a great variety of this
most delicious and wholesome fruit, which is, we believe,
the only kind we possess that has sweetness, without
acidity or oiliness. It is nourishing, easy of digestion,
and grateful to the stomach ; and is much esteemed in the
countries where it is cultivated : but in England it seems
to please only the refined palates of the higher order of
society. In some parts of the coast of Sussex, where this
fruit ripens in perfection, we have known it not only
neglected by the middle and lower classes, but even men-
tioned with derision in their disputes.

The fig-tree is distinguished from all other trees we
know of, by its bearing two successive and distinct crops
of fruit in one year, each crop being produced on a dis-
tinct set of shoots. The juices of these shoots are ex-

FIG. 157

cessively bitter, and so acrid, burning, and corrosive, that
they curd milk, and dissolve that which is curded in the
same way as vinegar. It is so powerful as to take the
skin from the flesh, on which account some people use it
to remove werts from their hands : it also forms one of
the sympathetic inks, which are invisible till heated ; but
such are the wonderful proceedings of nature, that this
very juice produces one of our most agreeable, cooling,
sweet, and wholesome fruits.

Figs should not be eaten until quite ripe, as the milky
juice is apt to cause dysenteries and fevers. Water is
the proper beverage to drink after eating this fruit, as it
dilutes the pulp, and corrects a certain inconvenient
saliva. The author has found great relief in a nervous
fever, from making fresh figs the principal of his diet.

The figs which grow in the province of Ghilan in
Persia are very unwholesome and injurious, from the
great moisture of the earth in that place. The most de-
licate figs are those which grow in Sicily, called the
• 'Neapolitan fg. It is a small black variety, that hangs
on the tree till January.

At the Royal Gardens at Kew, there was a fig-house
fifty feet in length, where, under the superintendence of
Mr. Aiton, this fruit has been forced to the highest pitch
of perfection : Mr, Aiton's chief reliance has been, we
understand, on the second crop. In the year 1810, the
royal tables were supplied with more than two hundred
baskets of figs from that fig-house, fifty baskets of which
were from the first crop, and one hundred and fifty baskets
■ from the second. In one instance, Mr. Aiton had this
fruit ripe in January, and sent excellent figs to the palace
on the late Queen Charlotte's births-day, the 18th of that
month.

It is ascertained that housed figs prosper better where
they are heated by steam than by dry heat; and we hav^

158 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

seen them not only very productive when planted in boxes,
but producing two crops more regularly than when planted
on the outside and trained under cover, as, when the fruit
is o-athered, the trees are benefited by removing them into
the air, which greatly refreshes them for a second forcing.

The maturity of the fig may be accelerated ten or twelve
days by pricking the eye of the fruit with an ivory or
bone pin dipped in olive oil, when about a third of their
size; and although it does not make the fig fruitful like
caprification, it adds much to its size and flavour. This
simple process is particularly attended to by the culti-
vators of figs at Argenteuil, as well as at Naples. It is
remarked, that figs growing near a, dusty rood ripen their
fruit the best.

If the branches of these trees, just as they begin to
shew the autumn fruit, be treated as we have already
mentioned in describing the apple-tree, excepting that
the mould should be more considerable, they may be cut
off in the month of November, planted in a pot of good
earth, and placed in a hot-house or a common green-
house ; the branch will ripen its fruit in the month of
May, and which may be brought to table while growing.

The caprification of figs was practised by the ancients
in the same manner as it is now attended to by the in-
habitants of the Archipelago ; and it is described by
Theophrastus, Plutarch, Pliny, and other authors of an-
tiquity. It is too curious a circumstance in the history
of the fig-tree to be omitted, as it furnishes a convincing
proof of the reality of the sexes of plants. The flowers
of the fig-tree are situated within the pulpy receptacle,
which we call the fruit. Of these receptacles in the wild
fig-tree, some have male flowers only, and others have
male and female.

In the cultivated fig, these are found to contain only

FIG. 159

female flowers, that are fecundated by means of a kind of
gnat bred in the fruit of the wild fig-trees, which pierces
that of the cultivated, *in order to deposit its eggs within;
at the same time diffusing within the receptacle the farina
of the male flowers : without this operation, the fruit may
ripen, but no effective seeds are produced. Hence it is
that we can raise no fig-trees from the fruit of our own
gardens, having no wild figs to assist the seed. They are
consequently raised by cuttings, or by layers.

In many parts of the Grecian islands, the inhabitants
pay such attention to the caprification of the cultivated
figs, that they attend daily for three months in the year
to gather -these little flies from the wild fig-trees, and to
place them on the fig-trees in their gardens, by which
means they not only get finer fruit, but from ten to twelve
times the quantity : thus one of the most minute insects
is, by the attention of man, made a principal cultivator
of fruit. ^

It is a curious fact, that fresh-killed venison, or any
other animal food, being hung up in a fig-tree for a single
night, will become as tender, and as ready for dressing,
as if kept for many days or weeks in the common manner.
A gentleman, who lately made the experiment, assured
the author that a haunch of venison which had lately
been killed, was hung up in a fig-tree when the leaves
were on, at about ten o'clock in the evening, and was re-
moved before sun-rise in the morning, when it was found
in a perfect state for cooking; and he added, that in a
few hours more it would have been in a state of putre-
faction.

In the neighbourhood of Argenteuil, near Paris, are
immense fields covered with fig-trees : the inhabitants of
the former town derive their chief support from the cul-
ture of this fruit ; and we feel confident that there are

100 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

many situations on the coast of Sussex, between the towns
of Arundel and Shoreham, where

" Upon the southern side of the slant hills,
And where the woods fence off the northern blast,
The season smiles, resigning all its rage,
And has the warmth of May ;"

and where, if figs were cultivated, the London markets
could be amply supplied with this nutritious fruit.

The author of this work has frequently gathered in that
neighbourhood the fruit of the second crop, which has
stood the winter without any protection whatever, and
ripened its figs about the end of June. These winter figs
are much superior in flavour to what are matured in August
and September ; and were the ends of the bearing branches
slightly covered with straw, or even oiled paper, for a few
months in the winter, we have no hesitation in saying,
that two crops might be regularly brought to market from
the same trees.

The fig-tree, like the myrtle, delights in the sea air,
where it is not too much exposed to the rude blast: would
not the inhabitants of the coast do well to enlarge their
fig plantations ? The price of this fruit at the shops in
London in September 1820, was from six to eight and
twelve shillings per dozen. In the August following, the
author bought them in Paris at sixpence and ninepence
per dozen, even at their first coming to market ; but they
were smaller than those grown in the villages near Wor-
thing, and by no means better in flavour.

We import the best dried figs from Turkey, Italy.-
Spain, and Provence. In the south of France, they are
prepared by dipping them in scalding hot lye made of the
ashes of the fig-tree, and then dried in the sun.

For medical purposes, figs are chiefly used in en^ollieqt
pataplasms and pectoral decoctions,

FIG. 161

The wood of the fig-tree is of a spongy texture, and,
when charged with oil and emery, is much used on the
continent by locksmiths, gunsmiths, and other artificers
in iron and steel, to polish their work. This wood is
considered almost indestructible, and on that account
was formerly used in Egypt, and other eastern countries,
for embalming bodies.

M

162

FILBERT.— CORYLUS.

Natural order, Amentaceo'.. A genius of the Moriacia
Polyandria class.

Filberts were originally brought out of Pontus into
Natolia and Greece, and were therefore called Pontic
nuts : from thence they were procured by the Romans,
and brought into Italy, where they acquired the name of
Abellan, or Avellan nuts, from Abella or Avella, a town
of Campania, where the best were cultivated, (Pliny,
b. XV. c. 22.) and from thence arose the French name
Aveline.

When first known in this country, they were called nuts
with full beards, to distinguish them from the common
hazel nut, as it will be observed that the husk or covering
of this nut resembles a man's full beard : this was first
corrupted into filbeard and filberd, and from thence into
filbert.

These nuts still continue to be cultivated in the neigh-
bourhood of Avelino, and, according to Mr. Swinburn's
account, the whole face of the neighbouring valley is
covered with them, and which, in good years, brings in a
profit of 60,000 ducats (11,250/.)

The inhabitants of Avelino refresh the roots of these
trees with new earth, and prune off the straggling shoots
with great attention. Evelyn tells us in his *'Silva,'*
that his family name was derived from Avelin : '* I find
(says he) some ancient records and deeds in my cus-
tody, where my ancestors' names were written Avelan,
alias pvelin, generally."

FILBERT. 1^63

It is supposed, that within a. few miles round Maid-
stone in Kent, there are more filberts growing at the
present time than in all England besides, there being
several hundred acres planted with filbert-trees in the
vicinity of that town. The London market is entirely
supplied from thence with these nuts, which are excellent
in quality, and, if quite ripe, will keep good for several
years placed in a dry room.

Filberts are not only much more agreeable than the
common nuts, but are esteemed wholesome and nourish-
ing when taken with moderation. The cream of these
nuts is good for the stone and heat of urine. Emulsions
may also be made of them. The Romans used them with
^vinegar and wormwood-seed for the yellow jaundice^

They were formerly used in this country to eat after
fish instead of cheese, to prevent the engendering of
phlegm.

" Post pisces nuces, post carnes caseus adsit."

Filberts are not found to answer well but on very few
soils : they seem to like a stony, sandy loam ; for in rich
soils they grow too luxuriantly to produce fruit, but much
depends on skill and management in pruning these trees.
In Kent, they are not suffered to grow above five or six
,feet high, and are kept with a short stem, like a goose-
berry-bush, and very thin of wood, somewhat in the shape
of a punch-bowl.

" E'en winter oft has seen it gay,

With fretted frost-work spangled o'er,
While pendants droop'd from every spray,
' And crimson budlets told once more

^' That spring would all its charms restore !"

•:-, From the class in which the tree is ranged in botany, it
jwill be observed, that the male and female flowers grow

M 2

164 HISTOIIY OF FRUITS.

quite distinct. The male flower is a scaly catkin, re-
sembling the bullion in fringe ; it appears in autumn, and .
waits for the expansion of the female blossom in the
spring, from whence the nut arises : this is very diminu-
tive, but of a fine carmine colour; therefore the pruner
should make himself acquainted with the wood that pro-
duces each blossom, and not destroy too many of the
male flowers that will fall from the tree after they have
discharged their pollen, to the benefit of the future fruit.

Although this tree is amongst the last that ripens its
seed, it takes the lead of all our fruit-trees in its blossoms,
which generally appear about the middle of January ; the
hud is carefully secured from frost by scales, w^hich open
but just sufficiently to let the red filaments escape to
catch the farina of the elegantly drooping catkins.

To preserve filberts, they should be gathered quite
ripe, and laid for some days on the floor of a room, where
the sun can get in, to dry them effectually.

Columella states, that if nuts be steeped in water and
honey before they are planted, they will grow more
speedily, and produce sweeter fruit.

Filbert-trees are generally raised by suckers or layers,
as in sowing the nuts there is a great uncertainty of keep-
ing the fruit-true to its kind ; but we may conclude that
those raised from seed might be improved by grafting as
well as the walnut.

The produce of an acre planted with filberts has some-
times been sold for fifty pounds ; yet we know of but one
place in this island where they are cultivated to any extent
for the market.

The Byzantium nut (Corylm Colurna), although mucli
esteemed for its flavour and size, is but little cultivated
in this country, and very rarely seen in our markets. Thi:
nut was brought from Constantinople, before Constantins
had given his name to that city ; and we are much inclined

FlLBlllT. 165

to think, that the Greeks procured it from more eastern
countries. They were first cultivated in this country by
Mr. John Ray, in 1665, and are generally called cobnuts.

Pliny informs us, that Vitellius brought the nuts, called
fistichs, into Italy, a little before the death of Tiberius,
and that Flaccus Pompeius, who served in the wars with
Vitellius, carried them into Spain. Nuts are now grown
in that country in such quantities, according to the ac-
count of Mr. Swinburn, that from a single wood, near
Recus, sixty thousand bushels have been collected in one
year, and shipped from Barcelona, whence they are called
Barcelona nuts.

It was the custom among the Romans for the bride-
groom, on the night of his marriage, to scatter nuts
among the boys, intimating that he dropped boyish
amusements, and thenceforth was to act as a man.

166

GOOSEBERRY.— GROSSULARI A.

Natural order, Pomacea. A genus of the Fentandria
Monogynia class.

The gooseberry, which is now so much and so justly
esteemed, is a native of Europe ; and as it grew in the
woods and hedges about Darlington, and in Cambridge-
shire, Norfolk, and other counties, in the wild state, we
consider it indigenous to this country, although Dr. Smith
and Miller both entertained doubts of its l)eing truly so.
It appears not to have been known to the ancients, either
in Greece or Rome, as their authors have made no men-
tion of it ; the generic name of Grossularia has been
given to it by later writers, on account of its resembling
the Grossos, small green figs ; but it is noticed by the
earliest naturalists who have written in this country, not-
withstanding it was a fruit much neglected, according to
Allioni's account, who says, " they are eatable, but
somewhat astringent." Gerard says, ** it is called fea-
berry-bushy in Cheshire, my native country," and we find
that it had the same name in Lancashire and Yorkshire.
In Norfolk it was abbreviated into feabes. It appears to
have taken the name o{ gooseberry, from its being used as
a sauce for young or green geese.

Culpepper, who was a Sussex author, tells us that they
were called dewberries in that county, and in some places
wineberry. We learn from Tusser, that this fruit had

GOOSEBERRr. 167

been cultivated as early as the time of Henry the Eighth,
as in his hints for the September month, he says : —
** The barbery, respis, and goosebery to,

look now to be planted as other things do :
The goosebery, respis, and roses al three,
with strawberies vnder them, trimly agree."

Gerard says, '* These plants do grow in our London
gardens, and elsewhere, in great abundance. The fruit
is used in divers sawces for meate : they are used in
brothes insteade of verjuice, which maketh the broth not
onely pleasant to the taste, but is greatly profitable to
such as are troubled with a hot burning ague." Parkin-
son says, that ** the berries, whilst they are small, green,
and hard, are much used to be boiled or scalded, to make
sauce for fish or flesh of divers sorts." Green goose-
berries are still continued to be used as a sauce for
mackerel, in many parts of the country ; and they are
often mentioned by the French as groseilles mix maque-
reaux.

The gooseberry, which was but a small berry in the
wild state, has, like the apple, been multiplied in its va-
riety, and brought to its present size by the art and in-
dustry of the English and Dutch gardeners ; and it is
now deemed one of our most valuable fruits, being
easily propagated, and regular in its production ; fur-
nishing our tables, at all seasons of the year, with a
wholesome and agreeable diet. It is the earliest as well
as one of the best fruits for spring tarts ; and, when ripe,
the gooseberry is regarded by all classes of society at
the dessert, where it appears from July to November, with
those who have well-regulated varieties ; as some kinds
ripen early, while others are not only later, but have the
quality of hanging on the bushes until near Christmas.
Among the last, the Warrington gooseberry is considered
the best.

168 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

. There is no fruit capable of more improvement, or that
turns to more general advantage, or is attended with
less expense in the cultivation, than the gooseberry ; and,
as it forms one of the most wholesome dishes of the de-
jeiine and the dessert, we shall point out the best mode
of prolonging the enjoyment of so agreeable an addition
to our table. The bushes which are intended to be
covered should be kept pruned to a size suitable to the
cases intended for them, which may be made similar in
shape to the bee-hive, either of straw, rushes, or any
substance that will effectually keep off the heat and light.
These temporary covers should be placed over the bushes
just as the fruit begins to turn towards ripening, but not
before it has acquired its full size and combined all its
acid, which is the first principle of saccharine matter.
By thus defending the fruit from the dews, the heat of the
sun, and the light — which contributes also to ripen it —
the complete maturity is much retarded, and gooseberries
may be gathered very fresh and ripe until near Christmas.
The same bushes should not be covered the succeedino;
year, as it will naturally weaken the plants ; and we would
recommend the cover to be kept a few inches from the
ground, so as not entirely to exclude the air, particularly
towards the north.

We have not attempted to give even the names of all
the varieties of this fruit, finding them so numerous :
one nurseryman furnished us with his list, and obliged
the author with a sight of 300 varieties, the largest of
which in weight was equal to three guineas and a half

'* Mr. Stringer of Congleton, in Cheshire, produced at
a gooseberry-show there, in 1821, the prize gooseberry,
which measured five inches and one-eighth in circum-
ference, and weighed twenty-one pennyweights and twelve
grains."— iVew; Monthly Mag. Oct. 1, 1821.

Gooseberries are preserved in the green state with little

GOOSEBERRY. 1G9

trouble or expense, so as to retain their natural flavour for
tarts or cream, &c. ; and, when ripe, they make excellent
jam, and a delicious and ornamental sweetmeat.

To procure gooseberries large for the table, it is desi-
rable to cut off with a pair of scissors all the small berries,
which are equally good for the purpose of tarts.

The wine made from green gooseberries, if properly
managed, is but a shade inferior to champaign ; and the
black gooseberry, when ripe, affords a luscious wine.

When we can divest ourselves of the prejudices against
all English wines, this fruit will be found covering our
fields, as profitably as the vineyards of the south ; for
when we take into consideration how speedily the bushes
are propagated, and how seldom the crop fails, it will be
found that gooseberry-wine may be made cheaper than
cider : let us then not despair of seeing wine presses and
flowing vats in every corner of the kingdom.

" in Nature's bounty rich,

In herbs and fruits ; whatever greens the spring,
When heaven descends in show'rs : or bends the bough,
When summer reddens, and when autumn beams ;
Or in the wintry glebe whatever lies
Conceal'd, and fattens with the richest sap."

Thomson.

The pale gooseberry was first brought from Flanders in
the year that Henry the Eighth received the title of De-
fender of the Faith. This monarch, and his daughter
Queen Elizabeth, seem to have encouraged the art of
gardening, as during their reigns most of our best fruits
and vegetables were first introduced and cultivated in this
kino-dom ; but even during the reign of these sovereigns,
gooseberry leaves were used as a salad by those who
could not afford to send to Holland for a lettuce.

The gooseberry is but little esteemed on the continent.

170 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

for want of being -more known; and foreigners seem
astonished at the size and flavour of this fruit in England.
It cannot be propagated with success in the warmer parts
of the world ; but in this happy island we procure, by
the aid of stoves, the finest fruits of the hottest climes ;
we may therefore justly say with the poet —

" On foreign mountains may the sun refine
The grape's soft juice, and mellow it to wine :
With citron groves adorn a distant soil,
And the fat olive swell with floods of oil ;
We envy not the warmer clime, that lies
In ten degrees of more indulgent skies."

It has been a question agitated among physicians,
whether fruits be safer before or after meals. The answer
to this seems to depend on a knowledge of the stomach.
In a weak stomach, they are more apt to be noxious when
empty, than when distended with animal food. Here like-
wise they cannot be taken in such quantity as to hurt. In
strong stomachs there is little difference ; there they
would seem to promote appetite. In weak stomachs even
when full, if taken in too great quantity, they may be
very hurtful, by increasing the active fermentation of the
whole. Tha ancients alleged, that the mild fruits should
be taken before, and the acerb after meals, as being fitter
to brace up the stomach, and promote digestion. (Lec-
tures on the Materia Medica.)

The gooseberry-bush is propagated by cuttings or
suckers ; but the former way is preferable, as the roots
are less likely to shoot out suckers. Straight shoots
should be selected about eight inches long, and planted
about half the length, in good mould or light earth. The
best time for planting them is in the autumn, just before
the leaves begin to fall. It is desirable to sow the seeds
of ripe gooseberries, as by this means you have the

GOOSEBERRY. ^ 171

chance of new varieties ; and the bushes generally grow
in a better shape than when produced either from cuttings
or suckers.

In pruning these bushes, observe to keep the stem
quite free from shoots ; at least that from ten or twelve
inches from the ground, there be but one regular stem.
We have seen them trained on trellis work, where the
fruit has grown and ripened well ; and it is a most desi-
rable method for small gardens, as they have a neat
appearance, take but little room, and form a good back-
ground to borders of flowers which they protect from
winds and embellish by their early and agreeably coloured
foliage.

IL

172

GOURD.— CUCURBITA.

Natural order, Cucurbitacea. A genus of the Monacia
Sj/ngenesia class.

The plants of this genus are very nearly allied to those
ofcucumis ; and there is a great variety of them.

Gourds were more esteemed by the ancients than
either melons or cucumbers. The Greeks called them
KoXojcyvfla l§w8ijtA0j, Colocyntha Edulis, to distinguish them
from the wild or bitter gourd, called Colocynthi or Colo-
quintida ; the Romans named it Cucurbit a , because it
will turn away or grow crooked, when it meets any thing
in its passage.

Pliny has minutely described them as different from the
pompion or cucumber. He says, ** they are employed for
more purposes, and are more useful than the former fruit.
When properly dressed," he says, ** they are a light, mild,
and wholesome food. The young and tender stalks were
dressed and served up to table as a good dish ; and the
fruit of those that climbed up trees, or walls, or on the
frames of arbours, were better food than those which crept
on the ground. They have of late been much used for
pots and pitchers ;" but long before, they had been used as
barrels to keep wine in. Both the wild and the garden-
gourd were much used in medicine by the Romans, who
also employed the seeds as a charm to cure the ague.
(Pliny, 1. XX. c. 3.)

Gerard says, ** the pulp, or meat of the gourd, used as
a poultice, mitigates all hot swellings, and takes away the
head-ache and the inflammation of the eyes "

GOURD. 173

The bottle-gourd (lageiiaria) is called by the Arabians
Charrah. The poor people eat it boiled with vinegar, or
fill the shell with rice and meat, and thus make a kind of
pudding of it. It grows in all parts of Egypt, and in
Arabia, wherever the mountains are covered with rich
soil : in many parts of the world it grows to near six feet
long, and two feet thick. The rinds or shells are used by
the negroes in the West-India islands as bottles, holding
from one pint to many gallons. Barham speaks of one
that held nine gallons ; and the Rev. Mr. Griffith Hughes
mentions them, in his History of Barbadoes, as holding
twenty-two gallons. The shells are cleared of the pulp
and seeds by the negroes in the following manner : — they
make a hole at one end, into which they pour hot water,
in order to dissolve the pulp, which afterwards is ejc-
tracted with a stick, and the inside rinsed with sand and
water, to loosen and clear away the fibres that remain ;
they are then dried and become fit for use, and will con-
tain water or other liquids for a length of time.

Sloane mentions one of these gourds as large as the
human body. Brown says, " the decoction of the leaves
is recommended much in purging clysters, and the pulp
of the fruit is often employed in resolutive poultices."
He adds, that " it is bitter and purgative, and may be
used instead of the common coloquintida." Sloane and
Barham describe a sweet gourd, which, the latter says,
" grows two or three feet long, as big as a man's thigh, is
full of sweet pulp that makes a pleasant sort of sweet-
meat or preserve." He says, " the distilled water is good
in fevers, and the pulp applied to the eyes abates their
inflammation." Sloane says, " the seeds are diuretic, and,
made into emulsions, temper and take off the acrimony
of urine."

Lunan describes the squash (melopeps), a small gourd,
not exceeding the size of a moderate fist, and which, he

174 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

says, " when young and properly boiled and dressed with
butter and black pepper, is a delicious vegetable.' ' Lou-
riero says, " this fruit is of great use in long voyages, as
it may be kept several months fresh and sweet."

The Gourd, called Vegetable Marrow, is of a pale yel-
low colour. Those we have seen did not exceed from
seven to nine inches in length. It has only been known
a few years in this country ; and, we believe, was not
sold in the shops and markets before the summer of 1819;
and although they are of so late an introduction, the ac-
counts are very imperfect ; but it seems most probable
that the seeds were brought in some East-India ships,
and perhaps originally from Persia, where it is called
deader. It is cultivated in the same manner as cucum-
bers, and is said by those who have grown, it to be very
productive. This fruit is used for culinary purposes in
every stage of its growth. When very young, it is good
fried with butter ; when half-grown, it is said to be ex-
cellent, either plainly boiled, and served up sliced on
toasted bread, as asparagus, or stewed with rice sauce,
for which purpose it is likewise sliced. It is often sent
to table mashed like turnips ; when full grown, it is used
for pies. It has been highly approved by many persons
who have grown it, while others speak of it as but little
superior to the pompion.

The author planted two seeds of this gourd in the
month of May 1820, in a pot which was plunged into
a hot bed. When the plants were about four inches
high, a hole was dug wherein only one barrow of dung
was put, which was covered with the common mould of
the garden ; into this the gourds were transplanted, and
covered with a glass frame for about three weeks, which
was then removed to give the plants room to display their
natural beauty and propensity for climbing. They were
planted between two plum-trees that were nine feet apart.

GOURD. 175

and, as it were by instinct, each turned towards a tree, one
taking a north-east direction, and the other a south-west
course. By the middle of August, they had climbed
about 16 feet in height, fixing their branches to those of
the trees, so firmly by their cork-screw tendrils, as not to
be disengaged without breaking. The leaves of these
vines were exactly twelve inches long, and thirteen inches
in the greatest breadth. With so much rapidity did these
succulent plants draw juices from the earth, that the
moisture in its passage was forced through the pores of
the fibrous bark of the plant when, on meeting the air, it
foi'raed crystallised thorns, rather than a hairy substance.
The flowers were exceedingly ornamental to the tree they
had intruded on, being even larger than those of the
pumpkin : the male blossoms were supported on stalks of
about a foot in length, the female flowers were attached
to the fruit in the same manner as all the tribe of gourds
and cucumbers. The flowers generally withered ere mid-
day, thus leaving but a few hours for the stigma of the
fruit-blossoms to be supplied with the farina of the male
flowers.

The stamen or column of the male flower, which sup-
ports the anther, is built on three piers, which rest on the
bell, forming three arches over a bason that contains the
ambrosial juice, which has been there formed as if to
allure the bees to assist in the necessary impregnation :
this nectar was devoured by those industrious insects with
such eagerness as almost to persuade us that they were
conscious of the short time nature had allowed them to
revel in these golden bells. We observed with what im-
patient eagerness they thrust their tubes into the arches
to pump up the sweets contained, regardless of the pollen
which adhered to their downy legs and bodies; away they
flew to the fruitful blossoms, which were less numerous,
and in which the pistil and stigma are so formed that

1;

176 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

these busy insects could not collect the limpid treasure
that floats around the style without resting thereon, when
the prolific powder was taken from their sides, and de-
tained by the glutinous moisture of the stigma. This
operation was no sooner finished, than the calyx began to
wither and wreath itself around the stigma, as if to pro-
tect it from other intruders.

In the garden of Dr. Crombey at Greenwich, we
observed that where the vegetable marrow and cucumbers
were growing on the same bed promiscuously, nearly
one half of the former fruit had been impregnated by the
pollen of the latter, and that it had so changed the nature
of the fruit of the vegetable marrow, that it was scarcely
to be distinguislied from the cucumbers. On some of the
vines we found perfect vegetable marrow, and other fruit
between the two, which to us appears a convincing proof
that the farina aflPects the fruit it inoculates, as well as the
seed it impregnates. May not this account for the peach-
tree often producing iiectarines on the same branch ?

We found the fruit of the vegetable marrow more
porous than the flesh of either the cucumber or pumpkin,
and when cut in slices like muffins, and fried in butter or
oil, and served on rashers of bacon, it made an agreeable
dish ; we also admired it when stewed as cucumbers, but
when plain boiled we found it rather insipid.

The great advantage of this vegetable is, that it is most
productive in those hot summers when most other escu-
lent vegetation is burnt up by heat.

177

GRAPE-VINE,— VITIS.

Xatural order, Hederacecc, A genus of the Peidandria
Monogynia class.

" Great father Bacchus, to my song repair ;
For clust'ring grapes are thy peculiar care :
For thee, large bunches load the bending vine,
And the last blessings of the year are thine.
To thee his joy the jolly Autumn owes,
When the fermenting juice the vat o'erflows.
Come strip with me, my god ; come drench all o'er
Thy limbs in musk of wine, and drink at ev'ry pore."

The generic name is derived from vincire, to bind.

The cultivation of the vine appears to have attracted
the attention of man from the earliest times of which we
have any account. Every part of the Scripture mentions
the vine as being held in the highest estimation. ** Noah
planted vineyards, and made wine." Vines are mentioned
among the blessings of the promised land, *' a land of
wheat, and barley, and vines," &c.

The patriarchs and prophets frequently represent in
scripture the flourishing state of a nation, a tribe, or a
family, under the emblem of a vine. " Thou hast brought
a vine out of Egypt, thou hast cast out the heathen, and
planted it; thou preparedst room before it, and didst
cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land." Psalm
Ixxx. — Again the Psalmist mentions it, *' Thy wife shall
be as the fruitful vine, upon the walls of thine house."

N

178 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

The heathens, likewise, held the vine in the highest
estimation. The Egyptians ascribed the invention of
wine to Osiris, the Latins to Saturn ; while Bacchus was
elevated to the rank of a god, by the Greeks, for having
taught men the use of the vine. As the god of vintage,
of wine, and of drinkers, he is generally represented as
crowned with the vine ; and, according to Pliny, to have
been the first who ever wore a crown, —

the grapy clusters spread

On his fair brows, and dangle on his head.

Ovid. '

Bacchus was sometimes represented as an infant hold-
ing a cluster of grapes, with a horn ; and he has often been
depicted as an old man, whose head was encircled with
the vine, to teach us that wine taken immoderately, will
enervate us, consume our health, and render us loquacious
and childish, like old men.

Juno's crown was also made of the vine. The vine,
with grapes, is still selected as a proper ornament in all
bacchanalian devices.

Wine was chiefly used by the ancient Romans in the
worship of their gods. Young men under thirty, and
women all their life-time, were forbidden to drink wine.
Egnatius Macennius killed his wife with a cudgel,
having caught her drinking wine out of a tun, for which
he was tried by Romulus, and acquitted of murder.
Fabius Pictor, in his annals, reports, that a Roman lady
was starved to death by her own relations for opening a
cupboard which contained the keys of the wine-cellar.
Cato records, that the custom of kinsfolk kissing women
when they met, was to know by their breath if they had
been drinking wine ; but these restrictions were removed
when wine became more plentiful ; and the use of it was
then carried to such an excess, that even females would

GKAPK-VINE. 179

drink wine, and, by the aid of an emetic, tlirow it up
again, in order to sharpen their appetites for supper.

Plato, who strictly restrains the use of wine, and se-
verely censures the excess, says that "nothing more ex-
cellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by God to
man."

Amphitryon is said by the Athenians to have been the
first who diluted wine with water ; and on this account
the fable was invented of Bacchus having been struck by
a thunderbolt, and cast, all inflamed, into the nymphs'
bath to be extinguished.

At what exact period the vine was first cultivated in
England is uncertain ; but we conclude it was as early
as about the tenth year A. D., as at that time the Ro-
mans had possession of great part of this island, and had
introduced the luxuries of Italy wherever they settled.
Augustus was then emperor, and it was common to send
the sons of the British nobles to Rome to be educated ;
from this intercourse it seems unlikely that the culture of
the vine should have been neglected at this time, though
many authors are of Opinion that the vine was not intro-
duced into this country until about the year 280, when
Probus, who greatly encouraged agricultural pursuits in
all the provinces under Rome, was emperor.

It appears that license was granted to the provincials to
plant vineyards about the year 280 ; and the Britons are
expressly mentioned by Vopiscus among the nations who
partook of it From this we should certainly conclude,
that the vine had been previously planted in this island.

Again, we are informed that the planting of vineyards
in Italy had so much increased about A. D. 85, that agri-
culture was thereby neglected ; on which account Domi-
tian issued an edict prohibiting any new vineyards to be
planted in Italy, and ordered at least one half of those in

n2

180 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

the provinces to be cut down. It therefore appears highly
improbable that the vine should not have been planted in
Britain previous to the year 280, when in 85 all the other
Roman provinces were overrun with vineyards.

That we are indebted to the Romans for the first intro-
duction of the vine, is generally allowed; although it is
possible it might have been introduced at a much earlier
period than we have stated, as the Phoenicians are said
to have planted the vine in the isles of the Mediterra-
nean sea, as well as in several parts of Europe and
Africa ; and as we have accounts of their trading to Bri-
tain for tin, they might have planted it on the English
coast also : but this must remain a matter of conjecture,
any farther than as it confirms the vine to have been ori-
ginally brought from Palestine. In the Book of Numbers
we find that the men whom Moses had sent to spy the
land of Canaan, returned with a bunch of grapes, which
they bare between two, upon a staff. The Damascus
grapes, at the present time, are often found to weigh
upwards of twenty-five pounds the bunch. In the ac-
counts of iEgidius Van Egmont, envoy from the States to
the king of Naples, and John Heyman, professor of the
oriental languages in the university of Leyden, who have
published their observations on the present state of Asia
Minor, it is mentioned that, in the town called Sidonijah,
which is four hours journey from Damascus, some of the
grapes were as large as pigeons' eggs, and of a very ex-
quisite taste. From these circumstances we may fairly
conclude, that the vine is a native of Syria. That we do
not hear more of the enormous clusters of grapes growing
in the eastern parts, is owing to that country having been
in the hands of the Saracens since the seventh century,
when Abubeker overran it ; and these people being Ma-
homedans, and prohibited the use of wine, it is natural
to suppose that the management and culture of the vine
would be greatly neglected by them.

GllAPE-VJNE. 181

Although wine is not made in Egypt, vines are much
cultivated, and the grapes have a delicious perfume: the
greater part of those which are eaten there, are of that
species, of which the fruit contains only a single seed.
The leaves of the vine are of great utility in the kitchens
of Egypt : they serve to envelope large balls of hashed
meat, one of the dishes most commonly presented at good
tables. It is necessary that the leaves should be young :
and^ they are frequently sold at a dearer rate than the
grapes themselves. (Sonnini's Travels in Egypt.) In this
country, vine-leaves are used in roasting those delicious
little birds called wheat-ears.

Pliny concludes, that the vine was very rare in Italy in
the time of Numa, who ordered that no libations of wine
should be made at funerals; and to encourage the pruning
of vines, he prohibited the use of any wines, in sacrifices
to the gods, that were cut from vines which had not been
pruned. The same author cites, from M. Varro, *' that
Mezentius, the king of Tuscany, aided the Rutilians of
Ardea in their wars against the Latins, for no other hire
but the wine and the vines which were in the territories
of the Latins." He adds, ** that wines did not come into
much repute until six hundred years after the foundation
of Rome."

Julius Caesar found vines growing in Languedoc and
Provence ; but other parts of Gaul were totally without
vines at that time. Strabo remarks, that Languedoc and
Provence produced the same fruit as Italy ; but it was not
until about the year 270, that the vine was planted in the
northern parts of Gaul, and about the rivers Rhine, Maine,
and Moselle, and in Hungary.

The varieties of the grape-vine are very numerous ; and
we have accounts of some of them growing to an extra-
ordinary size, and producing such fruit as appears almost
incredible^ to our northern conception of grapes. Strabo,

182 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

who lived in the reign of Augustus, testifies that the vines
of Margiana, and in other places, v^^ere so big, that two
men could scarcely compass them with their arms, and
that they produced bunches of grapes two cubits, or a
yard, in length. Columella states, that Seneca had a
vine which produced him two thousand clusters of grapes
in a year. Theophrastus mentions a vine that grew so
large, that a statue of Jupiter, and the columns in Juno's
temple, were made of it. The great doors of the cathedral
at Ravenna are made of vine-tree planks, some of them
twelve feet \oncr and fifteen inches broad.

o

At Ecoan, at the Duke of Montmorency's house, is a
table of large dimensions, made of vine planks. Pliny
states, that vines in old times were, on account of their
size, ranked among trees. Valerianus Cornelius mentions
a vine of one stock that encompassed and surrounded
a good farm-house with the branches. Upon the coast
of Barbary, enormous vines are now growing, some of
them being eight or nine feet in circumference ; and in
Persia there are some kinds of grapes so large, that a
single one is a mouthful. From what we find in Huetius,
Crete, Chios, and other islands in the Archipelago, afford
bunches of grapes from ten to forty pounds weight each.
Chios, now Scio, has long been celebrated for its vine-
yards, and Virgil has immortalized its wines by his pen.

" The ritual feast shall overflow with wine, .
And Chios' richest nectar shall be thine :
On the warm hearth, in winter's chilling hour,
We'll sacrifice; at summer, in a bower."

tVarton.

Pliny mentions a vine, in his time, that was six hundred
years old; and Miller states, that the vineyards in some
parts of Italy hold good above three hundred years.

It is related, that Rheaniius Palaeiuon, who was a re-

GRAPE-VINE. 183

novvned Roman grammarian, bought a farm within ten
miles of Rome, for which he gave six hundred thousand
sesterces. By cultivation he so improved it, that the
produce of his vines in one year sold for four hundred
thousand sesterces. Pliny says, that many people ran to
see the huge and mighty clusters of these grapes, which
his idle neighbours attributed to his deep learning, while
others accused him of usino- masfic and the black art.

We have at the present time some remarkable vines in
England ; for since the introduction of stoves, no country
has been able to rival us in the variety and perfection of
this fruit, which has been so much increased since the
introduction of steam into our vineries, that the last
year, it is supposed, produced more fine grapes than had
ever been gathered in any two preceding years. Several
kinds of this fruit ripen well in the open air.

" The vine, too, here, her curling tendrils shoots,
Hangs out her clusters, glowing to the south,
And scarcely wishes for a warmer sky."

The Duke of Portland has upwards of a hundred kinds
of grape-vines at his seat at Welbeck ; and in the year
1781, his Grace made, a present to the Mai'quis of Rock-
ingham of a bunch of grapes that grew in his vinery, which
weighed nineteen pounds and a half: it was nineteen inches
and a half in the greatest diameter, four feet and a half
in circumference, and twenty-one inches and three quar-
ters in length. It was conveyed to Wentworth House, a
distance of twenty miles, by four labourers, who carried it
suspended on a staff, in pairs, by turns.

In the year 1821, the Hon. F. G. Howard grew in his
garden at Elford Hall, Staffordshire, a bunch of white
grapes, which were of the extraordinary weight of fifteen
pounds.

The vine at Hampton Court Palace, which was planted

184 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

in the year 1769, has a* stem of thirteen inches in girth,
and a principal branch one hundred and fourteen feet in
length, which, in on^ year, produced two thousand and
two hundred bunches of grapes, each weighing, on an
average, a pound. His late revered Majesty enjoyed the
fruit of this vine half a" century. Fruit was the only
luxury in which he indulged himself, and that was culti-
vated in the Royal Gardens to the highest perfection, and
served at table in great abundance.

Mr. Eden planted a vine of the Black Hamburgh sort,
at Valentine House, Essex, in the year 1 758, which is the
parent of the vine ut Hampton-Court, and has extended
itself to upwards of two hundred feet in length, being so
productive that it ripened two thousand bunches of
grapes in the year 1819.

Speechly describes a vine, which was growing in the |
open air at Northallerton, in Yorkshire, in 1789, that had
once covered a space containing one hundred and thirty-
seven square yards ; and it was judged, that, had it been -
permitted, it would have extended to three or four times
that space. The circumference of the stem, a little
above the ground, is three feet eleven inches : it is sup-
posed to have been planted 150 years. j

In Jamaica, and some other of the West India islands,
the vine produces two and often three crops a-year.
Both Brown and Lunan observe, that grape-vines produce
most abundantly in Jamaica, particularly the Muscadine, *
which ripens all its berries nearly at the same time, and
has clusters of the fruit from eight to ten pounds weight ;
the pulp of which has been found less watery, and more
fleshy, than the same fruit in the south of France, and
yet the making of wine, even for the consumption of the
island, has never been attempted.

Domesday book mentions, at Rageneia, in Essex, one
park and six arpennies of vineyard, which, if successful.

i

GRAPE-VINE. 185

yielded twenty modii of wine. Vineyards are noticed
in the Domesday book, as also by Bede, as early as the
commencement of the eighth century.

That vineyards were common in this country, we have
such numerous records in the early period of our history^
as to place it beyond a doubt. Tacitus states that vine-
yards were planted by the Romans in Britain ; and it is
natural to suppose that the propagation of the vine would
be first attempted in the southern parts of our island,
both on account of the warmth, and its vicinity to GauL
The neighbourhood of Winchester was so famous for
vines, that it is supposed to have taken its name from that
circumstance. Canterbury was celebrated for its vines.
Somner tells us, that, in the year 1258, both the abbey
and the priory of that city were plentifully furnished with
vineyards. At Rochester, a large plot of ground con-
tiguous to the city is still called the Vine; and at Hailing
near Rochester, the bishop of that see had formerly a
vineyard ; for when Edward the Second was at Bockin-
feld, in 1316, bishop Hamson sent him thither, as Lam-
bert tells us, " a present of his drinkes, and wathal both
wine and grapes of his own grouth in his vineyarde at
Hailing." Captain Nicholas Toke, of Godington, in
Great Chart, in Kent, *' hath so industriously and ele-
gantly," says Philipot, " cultivated and improved our
English vines, that the wine pressed and extracted out of
their grapes, seems not only to parallel, but almost to out-
rival that of France.'' Of Sussex, Lambarde writes,
" History doth mention that there was about that time
(the Norman invasion) great store of vines at Santluc
(near to Battle)."

The plot of ground called East Smithfield, was at one
time converted into a vineyard, and held by four suc-
cessive constables of the Tower in the reigns of Rufus,
Henry, and Stephen, to their great emolument and profit.

]86 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Various parts of London, by their names, give evident
proofs of their having been formerly planted with grapes,
as Vine-streets in Hatton-garden, St. Giles's, and Pic-
cadilly ; the Vineyards by Houndsditch, and Coldbath-
fields; and even within the walls of the City of London,
there is a street called the Vineyard.

'I he Little Park at Windsor was appropriated as a vine-
yard for the use of the Castle, even so late as the reign of
Richard the Second. Lambarde observes, that some part
of the wine was spent in the king's household, and some
sold for the king's profit. We also read that in different
years of Henry the Second's reign, allowances were made
to the officer who farmed Windsor of that prince, for wine,
perry, and cider.

In Northamptonshire, Martin, abbot of Peterborough,
in the time of King Stephen, is said, in the Saxon Chro-
nicle, to have planted an extensive vineyard. Madox in
his History of the Exchequer writes, that the sheriffs of
Northamptonshire and Leicestershire were allowed in
their account for the livery of the king's vine-dresser at
"Rockingham, and for necessaries for the vineyard.

The isle of Ely was expressly denominated the isle of
vines by the Normans. The bishop of Ely, shortly after
the Conquest, appears to have received at least three or
four tuns of wine annually, as tithes from the vines in his
diocese ; and in his leases he made frequent reservations
of a certain quantity of wine by way of rent : many of
these wines were little inferior to the French wines in
sweetness. Few ancient monasteries were without a vine-
yard attached to them.

In the archives of the church of Ely is the following
register : —

Exitus Vineti . . . 2 15 3i

Do. Vineae . . , . 10 12 2i

15 1
1 12

1 7

0
0
0

! 2
0 16

2
0

GRAPE^VJNE* 187

10 bushels of grapes from the vineyard 0 7 6

7 Dolia Musti from the vineyard,
12 Edw. II. .

Wine sold for

Verjuice

One dolium, and one pipe filled with
new wine, and supposed at Ely.

For wine out of this vineyard

For verjuice from thence

No wine, but verjuice made, 9 Edw. IV.
- From this it appears plainly, that at Ely grapes would
sometimes ripen, and the convent made wine of them ;
and when they did not, they converted tbem into verjuice,
which was much more used in diet formerly than at
present.

William of Malmsbury mentions the county of Glou-
cester as excelling every other part of the country, in the
twelfth century, in the number and richness of its vine-
yards. The first Earl of Salisbury planted a vineyard in
his park adjoining Hatfield-house, Hertfordshire, which
was in existence when Charles the First was conveyed
there a prisoner to the army.

Evelyn says in his Diary, May 8, 1654 : — ** Returning
from Hackney, I visited one Mr. Tomb's garden ; it has a
vineyard, planted in strawberry borders, staked at ten
foot distances." On the 26th Sept. the following year,
he observes, *' I went to see Col. Blount's subterranean
warren, and drank of the wine of his vineyard, which was
good for little." He also writes, " 23 Aug. 1670, went to
Alburie to see how that garden proceeded. The canall
was now digging and the vineyard planted." In some
situations the very vines themselves tell us where our
forefathers cultivated them. In a park near Berkeley, in
Gloucestershire, tendrils of vines are found springing up
yearly among the grass, from one of which a cutting is

188 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

now flourishing in the garden of the late Sir Joseph

Banks.

Historians and antiquaries appear remiss in not ac-
counting for the total neglect of the British vineyards ;
but we may conclude, th-at as our intercourse increased
with the continent, it was found more advantageous to
import wine than to depend on the product of our own
crop, which must have been an uncertain one, from the
variableness of our climate. iVgain, the low price of fo-
reign wines must have contributed much to the neglect of
making it in England ; as in the year 1342, according to
Stow, the price of Gascon wines in London was fourpence,
and that of Rhenish, sixpence per gallon ; and, in 1389,
the price of foreign wine was only twenty shillings per
tun, for the best sort, and thirteen shillings and fourpence
for the second quality, which was about three halfpence
per dozen.

French wines would naturally be brought to this coun-
try in considerable quantities at the time we had so much
command of that kingdom; and this would also operate to
the neglect of our own vineyards. The advancement of
agriculture must likewise have contributed to their being
relinquished.

' It is stated by several authors, that foreign wines were
sold by apothecaries only, as a cordial, in the year 1300.
I am of opinion, that it was Portugal wine only which the
apothecaries sold, and not foreign wine in general; for
about that time we find that the merchants of Gascoin
were settled in London in great numbers ; and that in the
year 1317, an order was made to this effect, " That mer-
chants, who are not of the freedom of the city, are not to
sell, by retail, wines or other wares, within the city or
suburbs. Witness the King, at York, the eighth day
of June."
/The suppression of all the monasteries in England must

i

GRAPE-VINE. 189

also have contributed much towards the loss of our vine-
yards, as few of the greater religious foundations were
without them ; and the present high duties on wine could
not have been anticipated by our forefathers, when they
neglected their vines.

The first duty on wines was one penny per tun, which
was in the year 1272, when wine gaugers were first ap-
pointed at London and the principal sea-ports. The new
gauge duty at London alone amounted to fifteen pounds
sixteen shillings and sevenpence, which makes the quan-
tity imported amount to seven thousand five hundred and
ninety-eight pipes. The principal customs for importation,
at that period, seem to have been on wines chiefly French
and Rhenish, as there is yet scarcely any mention of
Spanish, or Portuguese, or Italian wine. (Madox's His-
tory of the Exchequer.)

In the year 1409, the duty on wine was three shillings
per tun.

Grapes seem to have become rare about the year 1560.
Strype, in his Life of Grindal, bishop of London, (who
was one of the earliest encouragers of botany in this
kingdom,) writes, that his grapes at Fulham ** were
esteemed of that value, and a fruit Queen Elizabeth stood
so well affected to, and so early ripe, that the bishop used
every year to send her Majesty a present of them."

The vintage is a season of mirth in all the wine coun-
tries, and seems to have been equally so in the earliest
times. The prediction of Isaiah concerning Moab is par-
ticularly characteristic : " And gladness is taken away,
and joy, out of the plentiful field ; and in the vineyards
there shall be no singing, neither shall there be any
shouting : the treaders shall tread out no wine in their
presses ; I have made their vintage shouting to cease."

The various wines made from the juice of the grape are
go numerous, that to give a short description of each

190 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

would be to write a voluminous work, and could only be
interesting to those who are in the wine trade. Pliny
says, there were eighty kinds of the best wines in his
days. The Grecians were renowned for their wines.
Homer has celebrated several, particularly the kind called
Maronean wine, which was made from grapes growing
upon the coast of Africa ; and also the Pramnian wine,
which, according to Pliny's account, was made from one
vineyard only in the neighbourhood of Smyrna, near to
the temple of Cybele.

These wines were so rare and expensive in Rome, in
the younger days of Lucullus, that only one draught was
allowed at a repast, however sumptuous the feast was in
other respects. " Lucullus," says Varro, ** never saw at his
father's board Greek wines served up but once at a meal;
but when he returned from Asia, he gave to the people a
largess of more than one hundred thousand gallons of this
wine ; and Hortensius, at his death, left above ten thou-
sand barrels full of Greek wines to his heir."

We have selected the following lines of a poet, who
wrote in the fourteenth century, to shew of what wines
the English had knowledge :

'* Ye shall have rumney and malespine,
Both ypocrasse and vernage wyne,
Mountrese and wyne of Greke,
Both algrade and despice eke ;
Antioche and bastarde,
Pyment also, and garnarde,
Wyne of Greke and muscadell,
Both clare, pyment, and Rochell."

Some of these liquors, as ypocrasse, pyment, and clare,
were compounded of wine, honey, and spices.

At the installation feast of George Neville, archbishop
of York, and chancellor of England, amongst other liquors,

GRAPE-VINE. 191

is mentioned, "In ale, 300 tun; in wine, 100 tun; in
ipocrasse, 1 pipe/*

In the year 1311 we find Thomas earl of Leicester
debited by his cofferer, or paymaster, Thomas Leicester,
amono^st other charges, with £104. 17s. 6d. for three hun-
dred and sixty-nine pipes of red wine and two pipes of
white, which is about 5s. lid. per pipe. (Stow*s Survey
of London.)

In the year 1322, when the sentence of banishment
against the Spencers was removed, the elder Spencer's
petition to the King, setting forth the damage he had
sustained, amongst other things enumerates forty tun of
wine and ten tun of cider. From these circumstances
we may fairly judge that wine was the principal beverage
of the English nobility at that period.

Of all the productions of.nature, wine is the thing most
difficult to choose well ; yet we scarce meet with an ac-
quaintance that does not pride himself in possessing this
quality, while at the same time we find the greatest con-
noisseurs often deceived in their judgment; and it is
generally observed, that dealers in wine know less of its
qualities than other people.

At the present time, the consumption of wine in these
dominions is immense, notwithstanding the excessively
high duties laid on foreign wines; and in the London
Docks there are eleven large vaults for housing of wines
until the duties are paid on them : one of these vaults
often contains nearly thirty thousand pipes.

Portugal supplies us with both the red and the white
port, which take their name from Oporto, from whence
they are shipped; Lisbon, which is called after that city;
and Bucellas, which is a wine made from the fruit of vines
that have been brought from the Rhine, and planted in
the neighbourhood of Lisbon, but where, if not often ret-
newed, it degenerates, and becomes similar to the produce

192 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

of Lisbon. No wine improves more by keeping than
Bucellas, if good when bottled ; and, excepting hock and
the Grave wines, it is the most excellent dinner-wine we
import. Port wine is imported in casks, containing one
hundred and thirty-eight gallons, which is called a pipe,
but often gauges two, or four gallons over : upon this the
duty must be paid, although the merchant makes no
charge for the extra quantity.

France has been long famous for her vineyards, and
even exported wine to Italy in the reign of Vespasian.
Our traffic with Bourdeaux for wine commenced about
the year 1172; and we now obtain from France a great
variety of delicate wines, among which are the red and
white hermitage, burgundy, claret, champaigne of several
sorts, frontignac, muscadel, lunel, barsac, langon, vin de
grave, &-c. &Lc. The generality of these wines do not re-
quire long keeping, and, without great care, burgundy and
champaigne soon become ropy and spoiled. The most
esteemed French wines are

" The claret smooth,
The mellow-tasted Burgundy, and quick,
As is the wit it gives, the gay Champaigne."

From Switzerland we procure neufch^tel, velteline, la
cote, reifF, &c. &c.

The borders of the Rhine furnish us with a variety of
Rhenish wines, the most esteemed of which is called Hocki
from Hockheim, the town where it is made. This Vvine
cannot be kept too long, as it obtains both body and
flavour, as well as colour, by age. Hock wine is given
with the greatest advantage in cases of the typhus fever.
About one-half of Germany can boast of having good
vineyards, while the other half has none : all the wines of
this country require long keeping.

GRAPE-VtNE. 193

The advantage of keeping particular wines was well
known to the Romans.

Est mihi noniim superantis annum,
Plenus Albani cadus.

Hor.
" Phillis, this Alban cask is thine,
Mellow'd by summers more than nine."

Pliny mentions having met with wines in his time that
were made in the consulship of Opimius, which was
almost two hundred years before. This author says,
'* there was a wine made at Vienna which sold the dearest:
it had," says he, " the taste of pitch, and it is reputed
cooler than other wines, and was therefore given to allay
fever."

The Hungarian wines, if not sentto us in great quantities,
are made up in quality, if we may judge by the price of
tokay. At the sale of the Duke of Queensberry's wine,
in 18 — , the tokay sold for one hundred and fifty pounds
per dozen, which is about a guinea a glass. The tokay
made at Johanneski, in Poland, of the vintage of 1811,
was sold on the spot for four thousand florins the cask
of eight ohms, which is equal to twenty-seven shillings
per gallon.'

Spain furnishes us with sherry, paxeretta, mountain,
tent, &c. Mr. Swinburn mentions, in his account of
Spain, that in plentiful seasons the vineyards are so pro-
ductive, that casks cannot be found to contain the wine ;
and that many vineyards remain ungathered, notwith-
standing public notice being stuck on the church doors,
that all who choose may gather, by paying a small ac-
knowledgment. Those who are afflicted with bilious
complaints should drink good sherry, in preference to all
other wines, it being less likely to turn acid on the
stomach.

194 HISTORY OF FRUITS,

The island of Madeira was planted with the vine from
cuttings brought from Cyprus, by Prince Henry, son to
John the First of Portugal, in the year 1420, when the
island was first discovered ; and it now affords about thirty
thousand pipes of wine annually; The Rhenish vine has
also been planted in Madeira, and produces a very supe-
rior wine, known by the name of Cerciel Madeira : this
island also affords us a sweet wine, called Malmsey
Madeira; but the genuine Malmsey wine is the produce
of Malvisia, and is now very rare. The ancients some-
times ripened particular wines, by placing them in. the
smoke above a fire, or in an upper part of their houses ;
and it is well known to the moderns, who are curious in
their Madeira wines, how much they improve by being
kept in a garret, instead of a vaulted cellar. Good West-
India Madeira, that has been exposed to the frost, as well
as the heat of summer, will be found to have ripened as
well as by a voyage to the East Indies.

The Teneriffe wine, when about three years old, can
hardly be known from Madeira ; but as it gets older, it
becomes sweet and mellow, like Malaga. Formerly
there was made at Teneriffe a great quantity of Canary
sack, which the French call Vin de Malvesie, and we,
corruptly after them. Malmsey, from Malvisia, a town in
the Morea, famous for luscious wines.

The luscious red wine called Lachryma Christi, is pro-
duced from vineyards on Mount Vesuvius.

The Cape of Good Hope has been planted with vines
from the Rhine, Persia, and other countries; and they
have so increased, that there is scarcely a cottage without
a vineyard in all the colony. It is from the Cape that we
obtain those rich wines called Constantia, both red and '
white, which are made on one farm only, and the quan-
tity does not exceed sixty pipes of red and 100 of the
white per annum. We also receive from thence large

GRAPE-VINE. 195

quantities of the wine called Cape, which will be good
when the growers know their interest better, and attend
more to the quality and less to the quantity. There is
another objection to this wine, which must be remedied
before Cape can be agreeable, viz. that the vines, instead
of being staked, as in other wine countries, are suffered
to trail on the ground : it is natural, therefore, to conclude
that those berries next the earth will rot, and a few un-
sound grapes will give an unpleasant flavour to a large
quantity of wine.

" The juice of the ripe grape (says Dr. Darwin) is a
nutritive and agreeable food, consisting chiefly of sugar
and mucilage. The chemical process of fermentation
converts the sugar into spirit; converts food into poison!'*
Yet the moderate use of wine has seldom been con-
demned by physicians ; and in so moist and changeable
a climate as England, a more plentiful draught may be
allowed than in warmer countries.

Dr. Short recommends wine to be drunk in moist
weather, and ale in dry weather.

Sentius, when he was praetor of Rome, said he never
had any wine of Chios in his house before the physician
prescribed it for the palpitation of the heart, a complaint
he laboured under; which is a convincing proof of its
having been used medicinally in those days. On the
other hand, Androcydes, in his letter to Alexander
the Great, says, (to correct his intemperate drinking
of wine,) ** My good lord, remember when you take
your wine, that you drink the very blood of the eaith ;
hemlock, you know. Sir, is poison to man, even so is
wine to hemlock."

That an excess of this reviving beverage is pernicious
*o the health, no one will attempt to deny, any more
than he would to excuse repeated intoxication. Wine is
not so much used in this age to debase man as it was in

o2

196 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

times past. Those liquors least intoxicating are now
preferred ; and the quality of the wines given at table is
at present more attended to than the quantity, which has
introduced cheerfulness and good sense around the de-
canters, in exchange for boisterous disputes. In an age
that has advanced so far towards refinement, there can
be no need to set up the alarm of poison, or condemn all
the wine-merchants as murderers, as has lately become
the fashion of some authors, which can answer no other
purpose than that of alarming the timid, and bringing a
respectable body of men into contempt. We are sur-
prised that any person should make so severe an accusa-
tion as that of stating to the world that poisonous drugs
are employed by the wine-merchants, without giving one
instance to make good the assertion. About the year
1426, when Sir John Rainwell was lord-mayor of London,
he having received an information of the mal- practices
of the Lombard merchants in adulterating their wines, to
the great prejudice of the health of his Majesty's subjects,
caused one hundred and fifty butts of that pernicious
liquor to be seized in divers parts of the city, the heads
whereof being knocked out, the wine, or putrid matter,
ran into the street channels, and emitted such a very
noxious smell, that it infected the air to a great degree.
It will be observed that this was an imposition practised
by foreign merchants ; and we do not recollect having met
with any instance where an English wine-merchant has
been detected in this infamous practice, or of the charge
of mixing his wine with perry (as has been stated to be
often done), and thereby defrauding both the revenue
and his customers. This latter charge can be refuted by
tire best of all possible reasons, viz. : it is against the in-
terest of a wine-merchant so to do ; for he has more
difficulty in procuring superior wines, than he has in ob^
taining ready sales at high prices. The best wines are

GRAPE-VINE. 197

always the first sold, and afford the largest profit, whereas
inferior wines are rarely disposed of without a loss. It
is generally known, that, at the present time, the duty
and other incidental charges on foreign wines form the
greater part of the price, and that the worst pipe of Port
or Madeira pays as much duty as the best : it is therefore
a most material part of the business of a wine-merchant
to import the best wines from the countries with which
he trades. When the vintage proves rather unfavourable,
or his importations are deficient in flavour, he pursues a
very different course from adulteration : he is obliged to
procure the richest whines he can obtain of the same kind
to mix with them. This is often done at a great expense,
because he has not the means of disposing of inferior
wines, even at any price. It is not an uncommon prac-
tice to add Burgundy or Hermitage to improve Port wine:
this cannot be deemed adulteration.

The fining of white wines is so simple a process, and
attended with so little expense, that there can be no in-
ducement to use poisonous drugs, as has been stated by
a late publication to be a common practice. It is well
known to every housekeeper, that isinglass, dissolved in
Hock or Rhenish wine, will fine the most obstinate white
wines. It is correctly stated, that tliere are persons who
prepare finings for the wine-merchants at a cheap rate ;
but as this is publicly sold, any person has an opportunity
to analyze it, and ascertain whether it consists of poison-
ous drugs : indeed it would have been more honourable
to have analyzed the wines of any suspected person, and
to have exposed them to the public, were they guilty of
so injuring the constitutions of their benefactors. A wine-
merchant seldom does more himself to the fining of his
wines than to give directions to his cellar-man : were he
to use pernicious finings, how often should we hear of
his being betrayed by his discharged servants !

I

198 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

For red wines, the 'whites of eggs, with sometimes a-
part of the shells pulverized, are the universal and only
finings used. A few years back, when there was so great
a demand for pale sherry, the wine-merchants discharged
the colour with the assistance of a small quantity of new
milk. The folly of this fashion was no sooner seen, than
good brown sherries returned into favour. The Africans
of old used to mitigate and allay the tartness of their
wines with a kind of linie plaster ; while the Greeks of
the same day quickened their's with clay and marble
powdered, or with sea water. The Romans admired the
flavour of pitch, which was often added to their wines.
Thus we find it has ever been the study of the wine-mer-
chant to suit the taste of the times, but at no period has
it been found necessary to add baneful drugs.

Grapes furnish the French with another article of com-
merce, almost equal in importance to their wines; namely,
brandy. It is computed that their exportation in this
liquor is not less than 50,000 pipes or pieces per ann.
which, at the average of five shillings per gallon, pro-
duces them nearly two millions sterling annually. The
brandies imported into this country are principally from
Bourdeaux, Rochelle, and Cogniac ; but they are very in^
ferior to those made in the neighbourhood of Nantes and
Poictou, from whence private families in. the city and
suburbs of Paris supply themselves, and they are very
careful to obtain the best quality of this spirit. All
brandies are originally white, but by long keeping they
naturally become a little stained by the cask ; and to give
this appearance of age to the brandies shipped for Eng-
land, burnt sugar and other dyes are added to such an
excess, as to destroy the natural flavour of the spirit.

Private families would do well to buy none but the best
pale brandy, and the importation of bad brandies would
then speedily cease. .;;;:.; *;., /

GRAPE-VINE. 199

The fruiterers of London have a considerable trade in
preserved grapes, which are principally brought from
Portugal in large earthen jars, closely cemented down :
these grapes add considerably to the luxury of our winter
desserts, as they are sold at moderate prices for so rare a
fruit.

This art of preserving grapes was well known to the
Romans. Columella gives a particular account of the
manner in which they were preserved, both in his time,
and in the time of his uncle Marcus Columella. He re-
commends them to be put into small jars that will only
contain one bunch, and, that the fruit should be gathered
quite dry, when the sun is on it, and after being cooled
in the shade, to be suspended in the jars, and, the vacua
to be filled up with oat chaff, after all the dust has been
blown from it. The jars must be well baked or burned,
and not such as imbibe moisture : the tops of the jars
must be covered over, and pitched, to keep out the air.

The process of drying grapes into raisins is usually
performed by tying two or three bunches together before
they are cut from the vine, and dipping them into a hot
lixivium of wood-ashes, with a little olive oil in it : they
then shrivel, and partly dry ; and in a few days they are
cut from the vine, and dried in the sun. We procure the
finest raisins from Damascus. Sun raisins are brought
from Spain, and are so called to distinguish them from
those that are scalded, or dried, in ovens. Large quan-
tities are als.o imported from Malaga, Calabria, Musca-
dine, Smyrna, &c.

The vinous latitude is said to extend between the 25th
and 51st degree in the northern hemisphere.

It has been observed, that all the vineyards in Ger-
many, beyond the 51st degree, are dubious. This leaves
the southern coast of England within the latitude for
vines ; and we have often been surprised that the culture

200 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

of them should have been so little attended to, where the
shelter of the hills, and the soil, seem to offer so promis-
ing a situation, and more particularly so as the vine does
not require that depth of soil so necessary to ensure good
crops of corn ; for it is known to prosper best where the
soil is not more than sixteen or eighteen inches above
the chalk or gravel.

We read in the ** Museum Rusticum," that there was
in the year 1763, a noble vineyard attached to Arundel
Castle in Sussex, a seat of the Duke of Norfolk's, and
that it succeeded so well that it annually yielded a con-
siderable quantity of wine. At that period there were
above sixty pipes of this wine in his Grace's cellar at
Arundel : it was a kind of Burgundy ; and we are told
that although it was not of quite so fine a flavour as the
wines of Beaune, yet it much exceeded quantities of
Burgundy wine annually imported into England, and
most of what is consumed commonly in France.

Among the MS. notes of the late Peter Collinson is
the following memorandum. ** Oct. 18, 1765, I went to
see Mr. Rogers's vineyard at Parson's Green, all of Bur-
gundy grapes, and seemingly all perfectly ripe. I did
not see a green grape in all this great quantity. He does
not expect to make less than fourteen hogsheads of wine.
The branches and fruit are remarkably large, and the
vines very strong." {>.,» v< v

Bartholomew Rocque, of Walham Green, made wine
for thirty years from a vineyard he "had planted in a com-
mon field garden ; and although the ground was flat, the
wine was as good as that of Orleans or Auxerre.

•* 1 have known," says Mr. Hanbury, ** good wine made
of grapes growing in England, and have drunk our Bur-
gundy no way inferior, as my taste could find out, to that
noted wine which we have constantly imported from that
country." < , . .

GRAPE-VINE. 201

Hales, in his *' Practical Husbandry," says, " that he
drank with Dr. Shaw wines made under his own care,
from a little vineyard behind his garden at Kensington,
which equalled many of the lighter wines of France ; and
while due care was taken of the vineyard at Hammer-
smith, much very good wine was obtained there for sale :;
yet neither of these were favourable spots. Mr. King's
vineyard at Brompton was well known to the curious, as
also that at Pain's Hill, near Cobham in Surrey."

Mr. Bradley says, he cannot help mentioning how poor
soils might be improved by making of vineyards. If it
could have answered in his time, how profitable must it
be at the present, when wine sells at about four times the
price it did at that period, and the nature of the vine is
so much better understood.

There were lately several flourishing vineyards in So-
mersetshire : the late Sir William Basset, of that county,
annually made some hogsheads of wine, which was pa-
latable and well bodied. The idea that we cannot make
good wine from the juice of our own grapes is erro-
neous : the author has found it quite equal to the Grave
wines ; and in some instances, when kept for eight or ten
years, it has been drunk as Hock by the nicest judges:
but those vitiated palates that have been so long accus-
tomed to drink indifferent Port wines overloaded with bad
brandy, think nothing good that is not black and strong,
while others deem nothing worth planting that does not
promise to return them immediate riches. Grapes that
are not perfectly ripe, and even sour, will make good wine,
but it will require longer keeping.

If a sweet wine be preferred, raisins should be used
with the grapes ; for sugar and water (the common addi-
tion to our country wines) can never produce a good
beverage.

The following observations on the economical uses to

202 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

which the leaves and stalks of the vine may be applied,
are taken from a letter in the Philosophical Magazine,
No. 119, signed James Hall.

** From experiments which I have made, I find that,
on being dried, which should be done in the shade, and
infused in a tea-pot, the leaves of the vine make an excel-
lent substitute for tea. I have also found, that on being
cut small, bruised, and put into a vat or mashing-tub,
and boiling water poured on them in the same way as is
done with malt, the prunings of the vine produce liquor
of a fine vinous quality, which, on being fermented, makes
a very fine beverage, either strong or weak, as you please;
and on being distilled, produces an excellent spirit of the
nature of brandy. In the course of my experiments, I
found that the fermented liquor from the prunings, parti-
cularly the tendrils, when allowed to pass the vinous, and
to run into the acetous fermentation, makes uncommonly
fine vinegar."

To this observation we beg to add, that we have lately
tasted wine made from the summer prunings with a small
addition of sugar, that was very superior to the common
wine made in this country from water, grapes, and sugar ;
and that the vinegar made from the tendrils and prunings
was of so excellent a quality, that it would sell for as high
a price as most of the continental wines sell for from
the press.

Vine-leaves, as well as the tendrils, have an astringent
taste, and were formerly used in diarrhoeas, haemorrhages,
and other disorders requiring refrigerant and styptic me-
dicines. The juice or sap of the vine, called lachryma,
has been recommended in calculous disorders, and is said
to be an excellent application to weak eyes and specks
of the cornea. The tendrils of the vine were eaten as a
pickle by the Romans.

GRAPE-VINE. 203

The expressed juice of the unripe fruit is called ver-
juice, and is considered a very useful external remedy for
bruises.

The wood of the vine reduced to charcoal, is used by
painters for drawing outlines, and is mentioned as good
for tooth powder.

Although it forms no part of the plan of this work to
enter fully upon the cultivation of trees, I cannot avoid
giving a few remarks on a fruit of so much importance.

In the planting of vines, the first care should be to
select cuttings of those kinds which are known to be
good, and suitable to the situation and soil in which they
are to be placed ; and this cannot be better done than by
consulting some of the most respectable nurserymen who
are now so numerous in the vicinity of London, and other
populous neighbourhoods : at the same time we consider
it a duty to caution the planter against those advertising
quacks who profess to ensure their trees to be invincible
to all casualties, and with as much truth as the mounte-
bank sends forth his nostrum to cure all diseases.

** The grafting of vines upon vines is not now in use,"
says Lord Bacon in his Natural History ; and adds, " the
ancients had it, and that three ways : the first was insi-
tion, which is the ordinary manner of grafting ; the second
was terebration through the middle of the stock, and put-
ting in the scions there; and the third was paring of
two vines, that grow together, to the marrow, and binding
them close."

Speechly, in his work on the vine, says, " The grafting
of grapes is but little attended to, although of so much
importance ; as a bad vine may be improved without loss
of time ;" and he states, that he has had fine grapes from
the same year's grafts, which, if permitted, will run from
thirty to forty feet the first summer. He mentions a

204 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

vine of the Syrian kind, in a hot-house at Welbeck, that
produced sixteen different sorts of grapes from as many
graftings.

On this subject, Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. says in
a paper to the Horticultural Society, read the 18th of
September, 1821, " I selected three cutting;s of the black
Hamburgh grape, each having at its base one joint of two
years old wood. These were inserted in, or rather fitted'to,
branches of nearly the same size, but of greater age; and |
all succeeded most perfectly. The clay which surrounded
the base of the grafts was kept constantly moist : and the
moisture thus supplied to the grafts operated very bene-
ficially, at least, if it was not essential to the success of
the operation.

** A very skilful gardener in my vicinity, to whom I men-
tioned my intention of trying the foregoing experiment,
was completely successful by a somewhat different method.
He used grafts similar to mine ; but his vine grew under
the roof of the hot-house, in which situation he found it
difficult to attach such a quantity of clay as would supply
the requisi"te degree of moisture to the graft; and he
therefore supported a, pot under each graft, upon which
he raised the mould in heaps sufficiently high to cover the
grafts, and supply them with moisture."

While industry and ingenuity are so busily employed
to forward the growth of this delightful fruit that we
may taste of autumn ere summer has arrived, let it be our
study to point out the most effectual way of retarding the
maturity of the grape, and thus assist to join, as it were,
the two ends of the year, and keep Bacchus*s favourite
clusters always on our board. King Stanislaus, to pro-
long the duration of grapes in an age that had not begun
to forward them by steam, employed the ingenious device
we are going to lay before the public, as an old Polish
practice, that may be turned to many advantageous pur-
poses in horticulture.

I

GRAPE-VINE. 205

This Polish prince procured pots with notches on each
side about half-way of the depth, into which was laid a
young branch of the vine with fruit on it, having first
been bent so as to make a small bruise in the branch,
that the sap might escape to form a root in the pot,
which was- then filled up with suitable earth, and placed
on the ground or a stool, according to the situation of the
vine : it was kept regularly watered, and soon sent a root
into the earth, which, although it supplied the young
fruit with additional nourishment, and greatly enlarged
the size, yet naturally kept back the ripening. When the
frost was expected, the branch was cut off close to the
pot, and removed into the house, where it continued to
vegetate, the bend or slight section having produced the
double effect of turning the descending sap to the profit
of the fruit, as well as of forming fibres for a vine that
could be planted out in the following spring.

These pots were brought to table when other grapes
were gone, and had all the freshness required, with the
autumnal beauty on the leaves. By this means grapes
may be procured all the year, or until early varieties have
been forced.

Vines have ever been found to thrive best on the banks
of rivers, or where their roots can draw moisture in abund-
ance, as is frequently remarked in scripture.

It has been stated, that the blood of animals, applied
about the roots, greatly nourishes the vine: this must
be owing to the quantity of saline particles which it con-
tains.

Mr. Daws, of Slough, near Windsor, has made the ex-
periment of painting one half of a wall, that was covered
with a vine, black, and leaving the other half in its com-
mon state. That part of the vine which covered the
black wall, ripened the grapes earlier, and yielded about
three times the weight pf fruit that the other half pro-
duced.

206 HISTaRT OF FRUITS.

Gentlemen who prune their own vines should observe,
that the fruit is always produced upon the shoots of the
same year, which are thrown out of the buds of the last
year's shoots ; and that it is not the old wood that yields
grapes. It is best to prune vines as soon as the fruit is
gathered, as the bearing shoots for the following year
cannot then be mistaken ; and it is recommended to
shorten them, so as to leave but four eyes, as by leaving
too many, the vine is exhausted, and yields but poor
small fruit. The shoots just above the fourth eye are to
be cut, and the cutting to be sloped or cut in such a man-
ner, that the water discharging from the shoot may not
run on the bud to injure it. About the beginning of
May, all vines should be looked over, and the shoots
from the old wood should be rubbed off; and if one eye
produces two shoots, the weakest must be removed. Vines
require frequent examining, after this time, to rub off all
dangling shoots ; and about the latter end of June, the
ends of the bearing branches are to be nipped off, but
those intended for the next year's fruit, may go a month
longer before they are topped.

The blossoms of the vine have an agreeable odour : the
ancients used to put them into their wine, to give it this
fragrance.

The Romans reared their vines by fastening them to
certain trees, as the poplar and the elm, &c., whence
these trees are said to be married to the vines, which
gave rise to Ovid's elegant and entertaining story of
Vertumnus and Pomona.

" If that fair elm," he cried, " alone should stan.d,
No grapes would glow with gold, and tempt the hand ;
Or, if that vine without her elm should grow,
'T would creep a poor neglected shrub below."

Pliny states that the vines in Italy would climb to the

d\

GRAPE-VINE. 207

very top, and even out-top the highest poplars ; on which
account the grape-gatherers, in time of vintage, put a
clause in the covenant of their bargains when they were
hired, that in case their foot should slip and their necks
be broken, their masters should give orders for their
funeral fire and tomb at their own expense.

This mode of culture is still continued in that country.
Swinburne tells us in his ** Travels in the two Sicilies,"
*' The verse in Virgil —

Hinc altd sub rupe canet fiondator ad auras.

Eel. 1.
The lopper shall sing to the winds under the lofty rock,

naturally occurs, when in our walks under the rocky cliffs
of Posilipo, we see the peasant swinging from the top of
a tree on a rope of twisted willows, trimming the poplar
and the luxuriant tendrils of the vine, and hear him make
the whole vale ring with his rustic ditty.

" A classical scholar cannot stroll under the groves of
the plain without calling to mind Horace's

Durus

Vindemiator et intictus, cui scepe viator
Cessissetf magna compellans voce cucullum.

A rough and invincible vine-dresser, before whom the tra-
veller often retired, calling him with a loud voice, ' Cuckoo,'

if he attend to the vine-dresser sitting among the boughs,
lashing raw lads and bashful maidens as they return from
market, with the same gross wit and rough jokes that
gave such zest of old to the farces of Atella."

208

HAZEL.—CORYLUS ;

OR, NUT TREE.

Natural order, AmentacecB ; a genus of the Monacia
Polyandria class.

The English word. Nut, is derived from the Latin, Nux.
The common hazel-nut (Nux silvestris) is found growing
wild in most parts of Europe, as also in every part of
England. The ancients observed this tree with particular
attention in the spring, as they drew from it a good or
bad omen for the approaching harvest ; and it has been
well confirmed, that " a good nut year makes a good
wheat year." It was a remark too conspicuous to escape
the notice of Virgil, who writes —

Conteniplator item, cum se nux plurima sylvis
Induct in florem, et ramos curvabit olentes :
Si superant foetus, pariter frumenta sequentur,
Magnaque cum magno veniet tritura calore.
At si luxuria foliorum exuberat umbra,
Nequidquam pingues paled teret area culmos.

We do not find from what source the word Hazel was
derived, l?ut it seems to have been of long standing, and
to have given names to several places where the dry,
sandy, or stony soil suited its growth ; as Haselmere, in
Surrey, Hasulbury, in Wilts, Haslingfield, in Cambridge-

HAZEL-NUT. 209

shire, Haslinden, in Lancashire, &c. This tree is never
cultivated for the sake of the nut, which is considered
unwholesome, being hard of digestion, and causing short*
ness of breath and wheezing. Many young people have
suffered by eating too freely of this fruit ; and it has
caused the death of several who have taken immoderately
of it.

Nevertheless Culpepper, in his " Astrologo-Physical
Discourse on Herbs," not only commends these nuts as a
medicine for the lungs, but quaintly gives us his curious
defence of nuts, which may be acceptable to idle boys, if
not amusing to modern medical writers, to see how their
brethren of 1681 indited.

** Why should the vulgar so familiarly affirm, that eat-
ing nuts causeth shortness of breath, than which nothing
is falser ? or, how can that which strengthens the lungs,
cause shortness of breath ? I confess the opinion is far
elder than I am. I knew Tradition was a friend to errors
before, but never that he was the father of slanders : or
are men's tongues so given to slander one another, that
they must slander nuts too, to keep their tongues in use ?
If any thing of the hazel-nut be stopping, 'tis the husks
and shells, and nobody is so mad as to eat them unless
physically, and the red skin which covers the kernels,
which you may easily pull off. And thus have I made an
apology for nuts, which cannot speak for themselves."

We have already noticed the elegance of the pendant
catkins of these trees in the history of the filbert, and it
appears that they did not escape the notice of the rustic
lasses of ancient Rome. Virgil makes Corydon say —

" With hazel Phyllis crowns her flowing hair ;
And while she loves that common wreath to wear,
Nor bays, nor myrtle-boughs, with hazel shall compare."

The pleasure of nutting-parties is well known in this

p

210 HISTORY OF FRIJTTS.

country, and much enjoyed by the rustics; it is tluis
beautifully described by Thomson : —

" Ye swains, now hasten to the hazel bank,
Where down yon dale the wildly winding brook
Falls hoarse from steep to steep. In close array,
Fit for the thickets and the tangling shrub,
Ye virgins, come. For you their latest song
The woodlands raise ; the clustering nuts for you
The lover finds amid the secret shade ;
And where they burnish on the topmost bough.
With active vigour crushes down the tree ;
Or shakes them ripe, from the resigning husk,
A glossy shower."
Evelyn tells us, that " these nuts, being fully ripe, and
peeled in warm water, as they blanch almonds, make a
pudding, very little, if at all, inferior to that our ladies
make of almonds."

These nuts are not much used in medicine, but the
cream of them is good for the stone, and heat of urine :
emulsions made of them with mead, are recommended for
old dry coughs.

Quercentan gave a dram of the powder of nut-shells, j
mixed with an equal quantity of prepared coral, in a glass
of the water of carduus benedictus, or corn poppy, in the
pleurisy.

The wood of the hazel-tree is used for making hoops
for casks, hurdles, crates, springles to fasten down thatch,
fishing-rods, &c. ; it is also burnt for charcoal, and it was
formerly much used for making gunpowder.

Plantis edurce coryli nascvniur: Virgil.

" Hazels from sets and suckers take — "

from whence they thrive very well; but it is recom-
mended to plant well-preserved nuts in the month of
February, to obtain the finest hazel-trees.

I

hazi:l-nut. 211

s

In the country where yeast is scarce, they twist the
slender branches of hazel together, and steep tliem in ale-
yeast during its fermentation : they are then hung up to
dry, and at the next brewing are put into the wort instead
of yeast. The chips of this wood are used to fine wines.

In more superstitious times, divining-rods were made
of hazel, which were supposed to h£|,ve the property, when
placed horizontally in the earth, of bending towards mines,
springs of water, &c. They were even used by the magi-
strates of those credulous days to find out criminals guilty
of murder, &c. by their inclining towards the person.
We find that even the wisest and best men of those days
could not entirely escape the infectious superstitions of
their age. Lord Bacon confesses by his writings his be-
lief of witches ; and Evelyn, in his ** Discourse of Forest
Trees," says, under the article Hazel, ** But now, after all,
the most signal honour it was ever employed in, and
which might deservedly exalt this humble and common
plant above all the trees of the wood, is that of hurdles,
especially the flexible w hite, the red, and brittle ; not for
that it is generally used for the folding of our innocent
sheep, an emblem of the Church, but for making the walls
of one of the first Christian Oratories in the world ; and
particularly in this island, that venerable and sacred
fabrick at Glastonbury, founded by St. Joseph of Arima-
thea, which is storied to have been first composed out of
a few small hazel-rods interwoven about ceitain stakes
driven into the ground."

212

JUNIPER.— JUNIPERUS.

Natural order, Conifera. A genus of the Dlctcia Moim-
delphia class.

*♦ From lowest Juniper to Cedar tall/'

Of this class of trees we reckon twelve different spe-
cies and several varieties.

Etymologists are not agreed from what source the
generic name of this tree is derived ; some say Juniperus,
quod jufiiores et novellos fructus pariat, because the new
fruit is produced before the old is ripe, which is seldom
matured until the second year ; others give its derivation
from irup, ignis, from the pyramidical form of the leaves.

The earliest mention of the juniper-tree will be found
in the first book of Kings, about 906 years before the
Christian era, when the prophet Elijah took refuge in the
wilderness of Beersheba, to avoid the persecution of King
Ahab. •* He went a day's journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a juniper- tree : And as he
lay and slept under a juniper-tree, behold then an angel I
touched him, and said unto him. Arise and eat."

The juniper is also a native of most of the cold moun-
tainous parts of Europe. Gerard says, ** The common
juniper-tree grows, in some parts of Kent, unto the big-
ness and stature of a fair great tree." It is found growing
wild in considerable quantities on many parts of the Sus-
sex and Surrey hills, from whence it is often transplanted
into shrubberies. Being of a bluish evergreen, it con-

JUNIPER. 213

trasts well with the laurel and other shrubs of that nature.
Evelyn tells us that his brother transplanted a juniper-
bush of about two feet high, from a common into his
garden, which in ten years had grown to such a size, that
an arbour of seven feet square and eleven feet high, was
cut out of it, and that it would have been much larger
had it not been kept constantly shorn. The flowers
of the juniper are herbaceous, and, if viewed with a mi-
croscope, would be found a most beautiful model, either
for the jeweller, or the ornamental sculptor. The old
English epicures had their spits, and spoons, made of
juniper-wood, which we are told imparted a grateful relish
to their food.

Juniper-berries, used by distillers to flavour their gin,
are principally brought from Holland and Italy. These
berries are carminative ; but their most remarkable pro-
perties are in scouring the viscera, and particularly the
reins and urinary passages, for which reason they are of
great service in asthmas, cachexies, the jaundice, colic,
the stone of the bladder and kidneys, as also crudities
of the stomach. The oil of juniper-berries is a very
stimulating diuretic : the decoction, inspissated to the
consistency of a rob, or extract, has a pleasant, balsamic,
sweet taste. This extract may be used with advantage,
in catarrhs, debility of the stomach and intestines, and
difficulties of the urinary excretions, in persons of ad-
vanced age.

Etmuller had a high opinion of junipjer-berries. The
rob, made of the expressed juice of the green berries, has
been called by many theriaca Germanorum, so much are
they esteemed by that nation for their alexipharmic
qualities. The ripe berries, when dried, were formerly
used in this country as pepper, before that spice was
brought hither in such quantities. In many parts of Ger-
many, they are still used as a culinary spice, and the fla-

214 .HISTORY OF FRUITS.

vour of these berries is esteemed in their sauer kraut.
The heathcock of Germany is not eatable in the autumn,
being so strongly flavoured with juniper-berries, on which
this bird feeds. The wood of this shrub is also of use in
physic, as it strengthens the stomach, clears the lungs,
removes obstructions of the viscera, and is farther said
to be sudorific, cephalic, and hysteric. So much is the
flavour of the berries admired by the lower orders of
Londoners, that it would be difficult to name any com-
plaint, that they would not be afflicted with, for the
sake of a plentiful supply of the cordial to which it is
imparted.

In the hospitals on the continent both the wood and the
berries of the juniper are burnt, to fumigate the rooms
of the sick. Evelyn observes that the very chips render
a wholesome perfume within doors as well as the dusty
blossoms in spring without.

In Sweden, the juniper-berries are made into a con-
serve, and eaten at breakfast. The Swedes also prepare
a beverage from them, which they consider useful as a
medicine. In some places they are roasted, and used as
a substitute for coffee.

Gerard says, in his third book, *' Divers in Bohemia do
take, instead of other drinke, the water wherein these
berries have been steeped, who live in wonderful good
health."

The wood of the juniper-tree is very hard, beautifully
veined, susceptible of a very high polish, and is admired
when used as veneering for cabinet furniture, being frag-
rant, and of a yellow colour. Pliny says, ** the juniper
has the same properties as the cedar," adding, " that it
grew in Spain to a great size, but that wherever it grows,
the heart is found more sound than cedar." This tree
grows to a large size in some parts of Africa, and we see
in one of the rooms in Chantilly, a slab of juniper-wood.

JUNIPER. 215

nine inches in diameter, that was taken from a remarkably
large tree, which grew at the top of one of the highest
mountains in Switzerland. It has been said, that a coal
of juniper-wood, covered with ashes of the same kind,
will keep on fire a whole year. David alludes to the heat
of these coals as a punishment to the false tongue: —
" Sharp arrows of the mighty with coals of juniper."
Psalm cxx. 4.

The juniper is propagated by sowing the seed as soon as
ripe, on ground that has not been dunged ; and the plants
will grow in any soil, however dry or damp, but like other
plants they resist the frost best in dry situations. If the
under-branches are kept pruned, they will form trees of a
considerable size in a few years, but they should not be
pruned too much at any one time, particularly in the
spring, as they are apt to discharge their resinous juice,
which renders them weak and unhealthy. October is the
best time for transplanting these shrubs, as well as for the
pruning of them.

216

LEMON.- LIMON.— CITRUS.

Natural order, Bicornes. Of the class Polyadeljphia
Icosandria.

" Bear me, Pomona,

To where the lemon and the piercing lime.

With the deep orange, glowing through the green,

Their lighter glories blend."

»

This fruit derives "its name from the Greek word
Xgifteov, which signifies a meadow, because the leaves and
the fruit, before they are ripe, are of the colour of a
spring meadow.

The lemon and the citron-tree are natives of Asia, from
whence they were brought into Greece and Italy. They
appear to have been well known to the Romans in the
days of Pliny, although they had failed'in the cultivation
of them ; as that author informs us in his 13th book,,
chap, iii., where he says, speaking of foreign trees, " I
will begin with that which is of all others the most
wholesome, the citron-tree, called the Assyrian-tree, and
by some the Median-apple : the fruit is a counterpoison,
and singular antidote against all venom ; the leaves," he
says, " are like the arbutus, and it hath thorns. The
pome citron is not good to be eaten as a fruit, but is very
odoriferous, as are the leaves, which are used to be put
in wardrobes among apparel, to give a perfume, and to
keep off moths and spiders. This tree bears fruit at all
tiuies of the year, for, when some fall, others begin to

LEMON. 217

mellow, and some to blossom. Many have tried to
transplant the trees into their own country ; and for this
purpose they have had pots made, and enclosed them
well with earth ; but for all the care and pains taken
about them, to make these trees grow in other countries,
yet would they not forget Media and Persia, and, liking
no other soil, v»rould soon die."

Virgil, in his Second Georgic, has elegantly described
this fruit, and its supposed medical powers against spells
and poison.

Media fert tristes succos tardumque saporem
Felicis mali : quo non pr^esentius ullum
(Pocula si quando saevae infecere novercae
Miscueruntque herbas, et non innoxia verba)
Auxilium venit, ac membris agit atra venena.
Ipsa ingens arbos, faciemque simillima lauro :
Et si non alium late jactaret odorem,
Laurus erat : folia baud ullis labentia ventis :
Flos apprime tenax : animas et olentia Medi
Ora fovent illo, et senibus medicantur anhelis.

" Sharp-tasted citron Median climes produce,
Bitter the rind, but gen'rous is the juice ;
A cordial fruit, a present antidote
Against the direful stepdame's deadly draught,
Who, mixing wicked weeds with words impure,
The fate of envied orphans would procure.
Large is the plant, and like a laurel grows,
And, did it not a different scent disclose,
A laurel 'twere : the fragrant flow'rs contemn
The stormy winds, tenacious of their stem ;
With this, the Medes to lab'ring age bequeath
' New lungs, and cure the sourness of the breath."

, Dry den.

Apicius, the celebrated Homan epicure, is said to have
been the first that used lemons in food ; he wrote a book

218 HISTORY OF FRUITS*

on the pleasures and incitements of eating, in which he
described the manner of dressing them. Galen was the
first European physician that used lemons in medicine.

The lemon-tree appears to have been cultivated in this
country as early as the reign of James the First, as Lord
Bacon mentions the housing of hot-country plants, as
lemons, oranges, and myrtles, to save them. It was cul-
tivated in the Botanic Garden at Oxford, in 1 648.

In some parts of Devonshire^ lemon-trees are trained
to the walls, and require no other care than to cover them
with straw or mats during the winter. Earl Paulet pre-
sented some of these lemons to his late Majesty upwards
of forty years ago, which grew in the garden of his. sister.
Lady Bridget Bastard, of Garston. The lemon-tree is
of a much hardier nature than the orange : it is therefore
brought to greater perfection in this country than the
latter fruit. Lemons have long been propagated with
success in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the South of
France, as well as in the West-India islands. The lemons
of St. Helena are the most esteemed, growing larger, and
of a milder flavour than other kinds, and, according to
Browne, they frequently yield more than half-a-pint of
juice.

A very superior kind of lemons is cultivated exclu-
sively in the plain between Pisa and Leghorn, which,
from their excellent quality, sell for fifty sous each in
that place ; but they are generally sent as presents to the
various courts of Europe.

Lemons vary by ciiltivation and situation, like most
other fruits. The sweet lemon is admired by many people,
and is a desirable fruit for invalids, when oranges l)ecome
too sweet.

This fruit is now become almost necessary in culinary
purposes, as well as being an article of luxury in a variety
of shapes : it makes an excellent sweetmeat when cleared

LEMON. 219

of its pulp, and prepared with clarified syrup. Lemonade
and lemon-ices are 'as well known in the present day as
punch was in the last age. The yellow peel of the lemon
is an agreeable aromatic; and, in cold phlegmatic con-
stitutions it proves an excellent stomachic and carmina-
tive, warming the habit and strengthening the tone of
the viscera.

Lemons are cooling and grateful to the stomach, allay-
ing thirst, and increasing appetite; they are also useful in
fevers, even malignant and pestilential. The juice, mixed
with salt of wormwood, is an excellent medicine to stop
vomiting, and to strengthen the stomach. The efficacy
of lemon-juice in preventing the sea-scurvy, has long
been recommended. Sir James Lancaster, in his voyage
in 1601, carried with him several bottles of lemon-juice,
and, by giving his sailors a few table-spoonsful in the
morning, kept off this disorder.

In Captain Cook's voyages great benefit was derived
from lemon and orange-juice, which were found in the
sea-scurvy to be very efficacious.

Dr. Willich states, that the largest dose of opium may
be checked in its narcotic effects, if a proper quantity of
citric acid be taken with it; and that, with this adjunct,
it induces cheerfulness instead of stupefaction, and is
succeeded by gentle and refreshing sleep.

In Sicily, the juice of lemons forms an important ar-
ticle of commerce, it being considered the most valuable
remedy for the scurvy in long voyages. It is also very
extensively used by calico-printers, as a discharger of
colour, to produce with more clearness and effi^ct the
white figured parts of coloured patterns, dyed with colours
formed from iron.

When Gibraltar was besieged or blocked up in the au-
tumn of 1780, vegetables had become so scarce, that a
small cabbage sold for five shillings: hence the scurvy

220 HISTORY OF FKUITS.

rao-ed to a degree which threatened more fatal conse-
quences than the gun-boats of the Spaniards. The wo-
men and children, as well as the officers, were equally
affected with this dreadful disorder, when, happily, an an-
tidote was procured by the capture of a Danish dogger,
from Malaga, laden with lemons and oranges ; these the
governor immediately purchased for the use of the garri-
son, and distributed among them, which relieved them
most wonderfully. The juice was given to those in the
malignant state diluted with sugar, wine, or spirits.
Various antiscorbutics had previously been used without
success, such as acid of vitriol, sauer kraut, extract of
malt, essence of spruce, &c.

As the juice of lemons and limes became in so much
demand for medical use, as well as for the purposes of
luxury, various modes of purifying and preserving it have
been adopted by our ingenious chemists, who have suc-
ceeded in procuring the acid in a state of purity in crys-
tals, called citric acid. Dr. James Lind gives the pre-
ference to oranges and lemons above all other medicine for
scorbutic complaints, as these alone he considers a spe-
cific protection against the terrible effects of this distem-
per ; but as the fruit is liable to spoil, and cannot always
be procured, he proposes the following method of pre-
serving its virtues for years in a convenient and small
bulk; and which we shall transcribe for the benefit of
those who prefer their own preparations in domestic pur-
poses to those sold in the shops.

" Let the squeezed juice of these fruits be well cleared
from the pulp, and depurated by standing for some time ;
then poured off from the gross sediment : or, to have it
still purer, it may be filtrated. Then put it into a well-
glazed earthen vessel, which should be wider at the top
than the bottom, as a China basin or punch bowl, so that
there may be the largest surface above, to favour the eva-

LEMON\ 221

4)oration. This should be placed in a vessel of water
over a clear fire. Let the water come almost to boil, and
continue nearly in a state of boiling, for several hours,
until the juice in the basin is become of the consistence
of oil when warm, or of a syrup when cold. It is then
to be corked up in bottles for use. Where it is desirable
to preserve the perfect fragrance of the fruit, a very small
quantity of the outer peel may be added to the extract
a little before it is taken off the fire."

In making lemonade, or for any purpose requiring the
flavour and fragrance of the peel, we should recollect
that the essential oil is lodged in distinct cells on the
surface of the peel ; the best mode of obtaining this oil is
by rubbing the peel with loaf sugar, and then sweetening
the mixture with the sugar that has imbibed the essence ;
but where sweets are not required, it must be cut so thin
as not to take off any part of the white rind.

The liquor called shrub is made with lemon and lime-
juice added to rum.

The fruit of the Lime (Lima) resembles in acidity the
lemon ; and the tree, that of the orange, having winged
leaves. It is much smaller than the common lemon, and
is principally brought to this country from the West-India
islands, where, says Lunan, ** the negroes take the young
fruit, soon after it is formed, or when about the size of a
small hazel-nut, pare off the rind, which they beat into a
fine pulp, and with a hair-pencil apply it carefully to the
lids of sore eyes for a cure. It is supposed," continues
Lunan, *' this rawness of the eye-lids, accompanied with
a humour, is generally caused by worms which lodge in
it, and that this application destroys them."

] re punch is more esteemed than that made from le-
mons, particularly for cold punch, which is a beverage
greatly admired by turtle-eaters.
ft The author lately received from Portugal some fruit of

222 HISTORY OF fRUITS.

a variety of the lime, which is now growing in that couh^
try, the yellow rind of which has no other perfume or
taste than that of burgamot : the juice is a weak acid,
and by no means equal to the common lime or lemon : the
fruit is nearly of a globular shape, and from ten to eleven
inches in circumference.

The Citron is principally used as a sweetmeat.

The Shaddock-tree ; Aurantium fructu maximo
Indian Orientalis.

This fruit is also a species of the citrus, and takes its
name from Captain Shaddock, who first brought it from
the East-Indies, where it is a native. It is now cultivated
in the W^st-Indies, where the fruit often grows to the
size of twenty inches in circumference, and is known
to yield near half-a-pint of clear juice. It is described, in
the Hortus Jamaicensis, as being often larger than a
man's head. Shaddocks are preserved as a sweetmeaty
and used in making punch, as well as limes and lemons.

223

LOCUST-TREE.— HYMENS A .

Natural order, Lomentacea. A genus of the Decandria
Monogynia class.

I

The generic name is derived from Hymen, the god of
marriage.

This is a very large spreading tree, in shape resem-
bling the beech. The flowers are produced in loose
spikes at the end of the branches, and are succeeded by
thick, fleshy, brown pods, shaped like those of the garden-
bean, about six inches long, and two and a half broad,
wherein there are three or four round, flat, blackish beans
or stones, bigger than those of the tamarind, enclosed in
a whitish substance of fine filaments, as sweet as sugar or
honey. The wild bees are fond of building their nests in
these trees : we may therefore justly conclude that St. John
found both the locust and wild honey on the same trees,
and that it was this fruit on which he fed, and not on
insects called locusts, as some authors have stated.

The Indians eat this fruit with great avidity, though it
is apt to purge when fresh gathered, but loses that qua-
lity as it grows older.

The juice, or decoction of the leaves, is carminative,
and eases the colic pain. The inward bark destroys
worms. Between the principal roots of the tree exudes
a fine transparent resin, which is collected in large lumps;
it is called gum animi, and makes the finest varnish that is
known, superior even to the Chinese lacca.

224 HISTORY Of* FRUitS.

The tree is now well known in the West Indies ; and
when old, the timber is in request to make wheel-work
for various machines.

As this tree becomes interesting to us from the mention
made of it in Scripture, we shall be justified in giving
some particulars from the Botanical Manuscript of Mr*
Anthony Robinson, who writes thus:

" On the 8th July, 1759, I had the pleasure of seeing
the perfect flower of the hymenaea of Linnaeus expanded,
from which I took this description : the receptacle of the
cup was bell-shaped, permanent; the perianth consisted
of four ovate, coriaceous thick leaves, almost equal,
placed scale wise, which, for the most part, dropped as
soon as the petals were expanded. The leaves of the cup
were placed on the margin of the receptacle. The petals
were white, five in number, ovate, erect, patent, and
almost equal, as long as the cup ; the stamina were ten,
subulated, erects patent filaments, one fourth longer than
the petals ; the germen was placed on a receptacle, arising
out of a hole in the centre of the receptacle, compressed
and small ; the style subulate, and somewhat longer than
the stamens ; the stigma coronated ; the anthers were
large, oblong, and the flower has nothing of a pyramid
in its form. There was great difficulty in getting a com-
plete flower, for the leaves of the cup dropped off" with
the least motion. The petals were considerably perma-
nent, but the stamens more so. Linnaeus has described
the blossoms erroneously."

This tree was first cultivated in England, in the year
1688. (Hortus Kewensis.)

225

LOVE-APPLE.— SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM ;

OR, TOMATO-BERRY.

Natural order, Lurida. A genus of the Pentandria
Monogynia class.

The love-apple, or tomato, is the fruit of the lycoper-
sion, an herbaceous branching plant, or vine, with a hairy
stem, and a rank smell ; on which account it was formerly
called Malum Aureum odore fatido, the stinking golden
apple. It was also called the wolPs peach, from lyco-
persion.

It is a native of South America, and, in all probability,
of Mexico ; from whence it appears to have been brought
by the Spaniards, who, as Barham observes, use it in
their sauces and gravies ; because the juice, as they say,
is as good as any gravy, and so by its richness warms
the blood.

Dodoens, in his Pemptades, published at Antwerp in
1583, describes it as growing at that time in the conti-
nental gardens, and says, that its fruit was eaten dressed
with pepper, salt, and oil.

Parkinson, whose works were published in 1656, men-
tions it as being cultivated in England for ornament and
■curiosity only. Even at the present time they are grown
in many gardens in the country, merely for the singu-
larity of their appearance, varying very much in size and

226 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

shape as well as colour ; some being of a bright yellow,
and others of a fine red. It appears, by the Hortus
Kewensis, to have been cultivated in England as early as
the year 1596 ; but we conclude it was introduced several
years previous to that date, as Gerard mentions it in the
early part of his voluminous work, as growing in his
garden. This author calls it pomum amoris ; and says,
" apples of love do growe in Spaine, Italie, and such hot
countries, from whence myself have received seedes for
my garden, where they do increase and prosper."

" There hath happened unto my handes another sort,"
says this author, " agreeing very notablie with the former,
onely the fruite heereof was yellow of colour." (Now this
work, which was published in 1597, must have taken
some years in compiling and printing, 8cc. as it contains
several thousand wood plates.)

Miller says, in the sixth edition of his Gardener's Dic-
tionary, " the Italians and Spaniards eat love-apples as
we do cucumbers, with pepper, oil, and salt, as well as
for sauces.

The Portuguese call this fruit tomato, and eat it either
raw or stewed.

Lunan says of this fruit, " I have eaten five or six raw
at a time : they are full of a pulpy juice, and of small
seeds, which you swallow with the pulp, and have some- ,
thing of a gravy taste. The juice is cooling, and very j
proper for defluxions of hot humours in the eyes, which!
may occasion a glaucoma, if not prevented : they are also
good in the St. Anthony's fire, and all inflammations ; and \
a cataplasm of them is very proper for burns." Millerl
also says, that the love-apple was used as a medicine in
his time.

This fruit has long been used by the wealthy Jewish'
families in this country : and within these last few years
it has come into great use with all our best cooks, as it

LOVE-APPLE. 227

possesses in itself an agreeable acid, a very unusual
quality in ripe vegetables, and which makes it quite
distinct from all garden vegetables that are used for culi-
nary purposes in this country. It makes a good pickle,
and is preserved in various ways for winter use, and is
made into a kind of ketchup also. When boiled in soups
and sauces, it imparts an acid of a most agreeable flavour :
it is also served at table boiled or roasted, and sometimes
fried with eggs. Love-apples are now to be seen in great
abundance at all our vegetable markets ; but I do not find
that they are used by the middle or lower classes of Eng-
lish families, who have yet to learn the art of improving
their dishes with vegetables.

Mr. John Wilmot, of Isleworth, states, that in 1819 he
gathered, from six hundred plants, four hundred half
sieves, which is about equal to one hundred and thirty-
three bushels, and that he then had many to spare. He
adds, that the plants produced from twenty to forty
pounds weight each, and that some of the apples mea-
sured twelve inches in circumference.

Mr. Wilmot recommends them to be planted against a
bank, as being more congenial to their nature than a wall.
There are several varieties of the tomato ; and that which
produces fruit about the size of a cherry is the most acid,
therefore the most desirable kind for private gardens,
although not so profitable for market.

A new species of this fruit. Solarium deuren$, has been
introduced by Mr Anderson, of the Apothecaries' Garden^
Chelsea, who received the seeds from Germany ; it is said
to be a native of the Isle of France, while others consider
it to be indigenous to South America. The fruit is about
the size of a cherry, and of an orange colour, and is used
in food like the common sort; it has prospered in the
greenhouse, but succeeds better in the bark bed of the
stove,

«2

228

MEDLAR.— MESPILUS.

Natural order, Pomacece. A genus of' the Icosandria
Pentagynia class.

« Medlar-fruit, delicious in decay."

This fruit was known to the ancient Greeks, as it is
mentioned by Theophrastus : but it appears not to have
been cultivated in Italy in Cato's days. Pliny mentions
three kinds : the Anthedon, the Setanian medlar, which
he describes as the largest and palest in colour, and the
GaUicum, or Bastard French Medlar.

Some authors affirm it to have been originally a German
fruit ; but the name Anthedon was doubtless given to it
from its being brought from a city of that name in Greece ;
while the GaUicum is declared by Pliny to have come
from France : the Setanian seems to have derived its name
from its growing near the marshes of Setia. The Medlar
appears also to have been indigenous to this country, as
it is mentioned by all our early writers. Tusser calls the
fruit Medlers or Meles. Gerard says, " The medlar-tree
oftentimes grows in hedges among briars and brambles :
being grafted on a white-thorn, it prospers and produces
fruit three times as large as those which are not grafted
at all, and almost the size of small apples. We have,*'
says he, " divers sorts of them in our orchards." He,
mentions the Neapolitan Medlar, with leaves like the
hawthorn ; and the Dwarf, growing naturally upon the
Alps, and hills of Narbonne and Verona.

The Dutch Medlar, which is much larger and finer-.,

MEDLAR. 229

flavoured than the common sort, is the only kind now in
request for planting in the garden or orchard. This fruit
cannot be eaten when fresh gathered, being too harsh for
the palate ; but after it has been laid up for a few weeks,
and undergone a putrefactive fermentation, it becomes
quite soft, and is an agreeable fruit for the desserts in
November and December.

This fruit is cooling, drying, and binding, especially
before it is ripe, and is useful in all kinds of fluxes. The
lapilli, or hard seeds, are accounted good for the stone
and gravel ; they are an ingredient in the syrupus myr-
tinus, (Miller's Bot. Off.)

The medlar-tree is propagated by budding or grafting
on the hawthorn, as has been noticed by Philips:

" Men have gather'd from the hawthorn's branch
' Large medlars, imitating regal crowns."

It will also take upon the quince or pear stock, and
, both these will take upon the medlar, which shews they
have great affinity to each other; but it is more pro-
ductive when grafted on the hawthorn.

The pruner must observe not to shorten any of the
branches, as the fruit is always produced at the extremi-
ties of the boughs.

The medlar-tree is very ornamental when in blossom,
and forms a beautiful shrub for the pleasure ground, par-
ticularly when looked down upon from higher grounds.

230

MELON.— MELO.—CUCUMIS.

Natural order, Cucurbitacea. A genus of the Monacia
Syngenesia class.

The melon most esteemed in every part of Europe, ii8
the Cantaleupe, which takes its name from a town so
called, about fifteen miles from Rome, where it has been
cultivated since the Mithridatic war, being one of the
fruits brought from Armenia, by Lucullus. It grows,
says Miller, in that part of Armenia which borders on
Persia, in such plenty, that a horse-load is sold for a
French crown. The flesh of this melon, when in per-
fection, is delicious, and does not offend the most tender
stomach, but may be eaten with safety : its outer coat is
full of knobs and protuberances ; it is of a middle size,
rather round than long: that with an orange-coloured
flesh is the best.

The Musk Melon appears to be a native of Tartary,
where it is found growing wild ; these and the water melon,
form a principal part of the food of the Nayay Tartars.
It has lately been found in great abundance on the sandy
plains in the neighbourhood of Jeypoor. This kind of
melon has long been cultivated in Italy, from whence we
conclude it was brought to England, as it was first in-
troduced into this country in the year 1620 : and from
Gerard's account it appears to have been nearly confined
to the Royal Gardens : he had not grown it himself, but
says, "They delight in hot regions, notwithstanding I
have seen, at the Queen's house at St. James's, very

MELON. 231

many of this sort ripe, through the diligent and curious
nourishing of them by a skilful gentleman, the keeper of
the said house, called Master Fowle ; and in other
places neere unto the Right Honourable the Lord of
Sussex house, of Bermondsey, by London, where from
yeere to yeere there is verie great plenty, especially if the
weather be any thing temperate." " It hath," adds
Gerard, " the smell of musk, and from which account it
is called the Musk Melon."

It is stated in Gough's British Topography, that melons
were common in this country as early as the time of
Edward the Third, but were entirely lost, as well as the
cucumber, during the wars of York and Lancaster.

Miller justly remarks, that, in this country, there are
too many melons produced of no value by those who sup-
ply the market, who, endeavouring to enlarge their size,
render the fruit of no value, and unworthy the trouble and
expense, being more fit for the dunghill than the table.
In warmer countries, the melon is raised with little or no
trouble, and the fruit attains a, peculiarly fine flavour ; but
in this climate it requires great attention and expense to
rear it, therefore —

" Grudge not, ye rich, (since luxury must have
His dainties, and the world's more numerous half
Lives by contriving delicacies for you,)
Grudge not the cost. Ye little know the cares,
The vigilance, the labour, and the skill,
That day and night are exercised, and hang
Upon the ticklish balance of suspense,
That ye may garnish your profuse regales
With summer fruits brought forth by wintry suns :
Ten thousand dangers lie in wait to thwart
The process."

Cowper.

232 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

No country has a greater variety of melons than Eng-
land ; yet it is so rare to find them good in the market,
that the demand for them in London, compared to that
in Paris, cannot be more than in the proportion of one to
a thousand.

From the attention now paid to horticultural pursuits,
and the advantage of steam-pits instead of stable-dung
for growing this fruit, we may hope not only to equal our
continental neighbours in quantity, but to excel them in
quality, which is already done in private gardens. A
melon of the large netted cantelope, was cut on the 10th
of September 1821, at Denby Grange, the seat of Sir
J. L. Kaye, Bart, which weighed eighteen pounds : the
circumference was two feet six inches, and measured
lengthways two feet ten inches and a half ; the eatable
depth of the slice was full two inches and a half, and
the flavour of a very superior quality.

The Spanish winter-melon has lately been introduced
m our gardens, and it is a great addition to our desserts,
as it possesses the quality of keeping sound until February.
The author partook of one of these melons in the middle
of January last, that had retained its firmness and flavour,
although it had been cut in the month of September.

Among the numerous varieties of melons we have lately
seen introduced, is the Gr em-fleshed Egyptian, The flesh
is semi-transparent, green next the skin, and becoming
white in the centre ; it is perfectly melting, rich, sweet,
and high-flavoured, and is said to be an abundant bearer,
and generally of a size from two to three pounds each ;
and, like ail the green melons, the flesh of this is more
digestible than that of the red varieties, and this variety
in particular is considered as having that quality more re-
markably than any other. It has also the merit of ripen-
ing its flesh very close up to its skin, and consequently

MELo^^ 233

of affording a much larger eatable portion, vfor its weight,
than is usual to most melons.

We have observed, in other parts of this work, that
the French have particular places where they cultivate
peculiar fruits only : this is the case with melons ; and
where they are grown in such abundance as entirely to
occupy the attention of whole villages, the culture must
necessarily be better understood than in our gardens,
where the same persons have to cultivate every kind of
fruit or vegetable : the mind being thus divided between
so many varieties, that none can be so thoroughly under-
stood. Another great disadvantage arises in the common
mode of growing melons in this country, that is, by planting
them near to cucumbers, and sometimes quite surrounded
by them, and often by gourds, which, it is well known,
will, by their incestuous intercourse, not only affect the
seeds for future plants, but change the nature of the fruit,
which becomes polluted by the farina of other species of
the cucurbitaceee.

When a melon is perfectly fine, it is full without any
vacuity : this is known by knocking upon it ; and, when
cut, the flesh should be dry, no water running out, only
a little dew, which should be of a fine red colour. This
fruit is principally used at desserts in England, and eaten
with sugar, ginger, pepper, or salt, agreeably to the
taste ; while in France it is chiefly served up at dinner, as
a sauce for boiled meats. Miller says, '* the seeds should
not be sown before they are three years old, but not
older than six;" although we read, in the Philosophical
Transactions, of melons being raised from seeds that
.were forty-three years old. Melon-seeds are cooling and
diuretic : they are anodyne, and were formerly used to
take off stranguries occasioned by blisters ; but sweet
almonds are now preferred.

234 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Pliny writes, that " melons, being eaten as meat, cool
the body, and make it soluble : the fleshy substance of
them applied to the eyes assuages pain, and restraineth
the waterish and rheumatic flux. The root heals wens or
ulcers ; and being dried, stops vomits :" it was also used
by the Romans in washing-balls and soap, as a good
scourer.

The water-melon, or cucurhita citidlus, is a fruit greatly
appreciated in Egypt, China, the East Indies, and other
hot climates, where it is extensively cultivated on ac-
count of its grateful coolness and delicious flavour ; the
flesh of it is so succulent, that it melts in the. mouth,
and its central pulp is fluid, like thq cocoa-nut, and may
be sucked, or poured out, through a hole in the rind,
being a most refreshing beverage to the inhabitants of
warm countries.

In same parts of Upper Egypt, whole districts are
covered with water-melons. They are sown in the sand,
on the banks of rivers : and it is in this situation, where
the burning heat co-operates with the freshness of the
water, which moistens the stalks, that this fruit acquires
its agreeable pulp. The Egyptians esteem it equally
wholesome and agreeable. Sonnini says, their own me-
lons are not so good as those grown in Europe.

In so enlightened an age, we may venture occasionally
to speak as theorists, practical gardeners being now
generally too well informed to put speculative plans into
practice without previously considering well the effects
likely to be produced. The author is of opinion that
by the assistance of steam-pits water-melons could now
be grown in sea-sand only, which, while it retains its heat,
would also nourish by its nitrous particles.

The water-melon is allowed to be eaten in fevers and

i\

MELON. 235

inflammatory complaints. One kind of the water-melon
' is pickled like gherkins, and much used by the French
cooks in their fricassees ; and they are sometimes baked
in sweet wine. Gerard mentions, that the surgeons who
belonged to the fleet, brought home many kinds of melons
and pompions from the shores of the Mediterranean sea;
but they could not have been ripened well in this country,
before glasses were used for that purpose ; and Parkinson
seems to have been the earliest English author who gives
directions for making hot-beds for melons, and covering
them with bell glasses, which was in 1629.

,We have already observed that, the perfumed fruits
should be gathered from twenty-four to forty-eight hours
before they have acquired the last degree of their ma-
turity, but which must be regulated according to their
nature and the heat of the season. The quality and
flavour of the melon depend more upon the time of
gathering and treatment when gathered than any other
fruit; we shall, therefore, translate what Mons. Cadet de
Vaux remarks in " Le Menage des Fruits :" " When
melons are not ripe, or unequally so, the portion of
flesh next to the stalk is of an intolerable bitterness ; a
bitterness destined to be converted into a sugared princi-
ple. But break it off* from the branch and let it acquire
a secondary maturity, partly on the hot bed and partly in
the hot-house, or, if the weather is very hot, in a cool place,
when it will become excellent ; whilst if ripened on the
vine it would not be half so valuable. When the fruit has
acquired all its perfume, it is savoury, melting and juicy,
because its acid and its water are not yet perfectly com-
bined ; the digestion will be easier, and nothing is to be
feared from a slight excess that we may indulge in with
fruits thus perfectioned by time, by a mild fermentation,
which is only the intestine movement which the frequent

236 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

alternative of temperature excites : thus sensuality is here
found, which is not very common, perfectly agreeing
with health."

Madame de Genlis relates, that " the master of Lock-
man, the famous fabulist, who was a slave, having given
him a bitter melon, was astonished to see him eat the
whole of it ; and, on naming his surprise, received this
answer : * I have experienced so many benefits from you,'
said Lockman, * that it caimot be strange that I should
have eaten without complaint the first bitter fruit which
you ever presented me with.' This answer so affected his
master, that he gave Lockman his liberty."

237

MULBERRY.— MORUS.

Natural order, Scabrida, A genus of the Monacia
Tetandria class.

** The mulberry-tree was hung with blooming wreaths ;
The mulberry-tree stood centre of the dance ;
The mulberry-tree was hymn'd with dulcet airs ;
And from his touchwood trunk the mulberry-tree
Supplied such relics as devotion holds
Still sacred, and preserves with pious care."

Cowper.

In the Persian language this tree is called Tut (iJLfy).
The Greeks called the tree Mopsct, and the fruit Mopov, hence
the Latin name Moras. The Dutch call it Maulberham,
from whence probably the English name. The derivation
of the generic name seems most probably from jxeopo^,
stultus, per antiphrasin ; the mulberry-tree being reputed
the wisest of trees, in not budding till cold ^veather is fully
past. Pliny says, if you want a sign that the winter is
past, and all the cold entirely gone, when you see the
mulberry-tree bud and put out leaves, fear no more frost
nor hard weather, to do harm for that year.

*' This fruit, in Heraldry, is an hieroglyphic of wisdom,
whose property is to speak and to do all things in oppor-
tune season." — Guillim.

The mulberry-tree is mentioned in the 2nd book of
Samuel, where we read that David came upon the Philis-

238 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

tines, and smote them " over against the mulberry-trees."
Again, in the Psalms we read, " He destroyed their vines
with hailstones, and their mulberry-trees with frost."

This fruit was first brought from Persia into Greece and
Rome, and was more esteemed by the Romans, even in
their most luxurious days, than any other fruit.

Ovid has celebrated this tree in his story of Pyramus
and Thisbe :—

" The berries, stain'd with blood, began to shew
A dark complexion, and forget their snow ;
While, fatten'd with a flowing gore, the root
Was doom'd for ever to a purple fruit.
The pray'r which, dying, Thisbe had preferr'd.
Both gods and parents with compassion heard :
The whiteness of the mulberry soon fled,
And, ripening, sadden'd in a dusky red."

Pliny observes (book xv. c. 24), that *' there is no other
tree that was so neglected by the wit of man, either by
grafting, or in giving it names, except that of making the
fruit large and fair." " At Rome," he continues, " we
make a difference between the mulberries of Ostia and
those of Tusculum." This author observes, in his xvith
book, c. 25, that " of all the cultivated trees, the mulberry
is the last that buds, and which it never does until the
cold weather is past ; and was therefore called the wisest
of all trees : but when it begins to put forth buds, it dis-
patches the business in one night, and that with so much |
force, that their breaking forth may be evidently heard."

Martyn tells us in his edition of Miller, that the silk-
worm was unknown to Theophrastus and Pliny ; but this
able compiler must have overlooked the 22d chapter of
the 11th book of the world's greatest naturalist, where
Pliny says, " The silkworm in Assyria is called Bomhyx,
when a fly ; it afterwards grows to a Bombylius, and then to

MULBERRY. 239

a Necydalus : of which, in six months after, come the silk-
worms, Bomhyces. These worms spin the silk of which
our expensive ladies form their costly garments and super-
fluous apparel, which we call Bombycina. The first that
devised the means to unwind these webs of the silkworm,
and to weave the same again, was a woman in Coos, named
Pamphila, daughter of Latous ; and we must not," says
this author, " defraud her of due honour and praise for
the invention of those fine transparent silk fabricks,
which, instead of apparel to cover and hide, shew the
person through them."

In the following chapter he describes the silkworms of
Coos in a manner that convinces us that their introduction
to Europe was earlier than has been generally supposed.
After describing the worm, he says, " they enwrap and
enfold themselves in a round ball of the thread ; they are
then taken and put into earthen pots, and covered with
bran to keep them warm. He tells us farther, that these
balls are put into some moisture before they are unwound
by a spindle made of some light reed, and from this (says
he, satirically,) is made that fine silk cloth which even
men are not now ashamed to put on and use in the sum-
mer, that they may go thinly clad. How could they carry
armour on their backs, their common clothing being now
too heavy ?"

The mulberry was much used in medicine by the
Romans, particularly for the diseases of the mouth, the
windpipe, the uvula, and the stomach. The leaves and
the roots were also used medicinally by them. — (Pliny,
b. xxiii. c. 17.)

The mulberry-tree is stated to have been introduced into
this country in the year 1548, and it is said that it was
first planted at Sion House, where the original trees still
thrive, and which we have seen since the first part of this
work has been put to press. The interior of these trees

240 HISTORY OF FRlflTS.

is SO entirely decayed, that the timber has so far returned
to its native earth, tliat it will crumble in the hand ; yet
its branches, that are supported by props, are so well
nourished by means of the bark, that the fruit and the
foliage appear as luxuriant as those of the youngest trees :
a strong proof of the durability of the mulberry-tree in
this country. The first Duke of Northumberland said he
could trace these trees back three centuries.

This fruit is mentioned by Tusser, in 1557, and by Ge-
rard in 1597, who notices both the white and the black
mulberry, and says they grow in sundry gardens in Eng-
land : he adds, ** that in Italy they do maintain great
woods and groves of them, that their silk-worms may
feed thereon."

The planting of mulberry-trees was much encouraged
by King James the First, about the year 1600 ; but
parties running so high at that period, the attention of the
nation was occupied on political affairs ; and the procuring
of silk in England was neglected, and has never since been
attempted, although the mulberry-tree has been found to
thrive exceedingly well, and the silk-worms to spin as well
as in any other part of the world. The mulberry-trees
are now alive, and bearing fruit in many parts of the coun- {
try, that were planted in the time of James the First; which i
is a proof of their durability. The author has lately seen i
a mulberry-tree, of the Nigra species, which is supposed to !
be one of the oldest in England, in the garden of the i
Rev. Dr. Crombie, adjoining Greenwich Park ; and, not-
withstanding its neglected and dilapidated state, it is one
of the greatest curiosities he has ever seen in the shape of
a fruit-tree in this country. It throws out ten large
branches so near the earth, that it has the appearance of
half a score of large trees rather than of one ; and not-
withstanding many of the projecting branches have been
sawed off, still it completely covers a circumference of

llULlitRUY. 241

one hundred and fifty feet ; and although the elder-trees
liave fixed their abode in some parts of the trunk, and
other parts are covered with ivy, yet it continues to give
shoots as vigorous as the youngest tree, and produces the
finest mulberries in England. It is a regular bearer ; and
the gardener assured him that he gathered more than
eighty quarts a week during the season.

We have noticed in the History of Cultivated Vege-
tables that the City of London petitioned the Parliament
to prevent the use of hops in beer, and Newcastle coals
as fuel; we are now going to prove that it was from the
ignorance of the City merchants in asking, and the weak^
ness of king James's ministers in granting, that England
does not at this time abound in mulberry-trees, and that
our unemployed cottagers are not profitably occupied at
the present moment in winding and weaving the silks of
our own country, instead of pressing so heavily on the
parochial purse as to endanger the prosperity of the agri-
culturist.

** King James did," says Evelyn, " with extraordinary
care, recommend it (the planting of mulberry-trees) to
this nation by a book of directions, acts of council, and
all other princely assistance."

In the year 1600, we find that by the special order
of that monarch, the first mulberry garden known in Eng-
land was planted at Charlton Park, near Blackheath, Kent,
by Mons. Vetron from Picardy, and Matthew Stellendge,
Esq. to whom a patent royal was granted to plant mul-
berry-trees in all parts of England. The jmotive was a
hope that Britain, in a few years, might be able to keep
tli«3 silk markets with her neighbours ; and the scheme for
a while succeeded; and so sedulous were the King and his
whole royal family in feeding silkworms and preparing
thread, that the Queen had silk enough of her own wind-
ing to make many yards of taffeta, which being wrought

K

242 HisTORr OF fruits.

into proper garments, her Majesty, on the King's birth-
day, appeared at Court in a complete suit, all the effect of
her Majesty's own industry. The prosperity of the royal
scheme was beyond expectation; but upon a warm repre-
sentation of the merchants respecting the impolicy of j
checking the imports, and other causes likely to arise,
the pursuit declined as rapidly as it had advanced, and in
a very short time not a public silk-work was to be seen, j
except at this place where they had their commencement, jl
These identical trees were cut down, and sold by auction •
in 1821, and the timber was in fine preservation, although
of two centuries vegetation.

Buckingham House is said to be built on the site of
the old mulberry garden which adjoined to St. James's
Park; others suppose it was situated where Arlington
Street now is, as the piece of ground called Mulberry
Garden was granted by Charles II. in 1672, to Henry earl
of Arlington. These gardens were the rendezvous of
fashion in the time of the commonwealth. Evelyn says
in his Diary, May 10, 1654, ** My Lady Gerrard treated
us at Mulberry Garden, now y^ onely place of refreshment
about the towne for persons of y^ best quality to be ex-
ceedingly cheated at, Cromwell and his partizans having
shut up and seized on Spring Garden, w*'*' till now had
been y* usual rendezvous for ladys and gallants at this
season."

The mulberry-tree planted by Shakspeare afterwards
became an object of veneration; and when cut down by
an avaricious proprietor, the wood was made into various
utensils, which sold for a high price, and were preserved
with more than common affection. Mrs. Garrick has an
arm-chair made from this tree, which the inimitable actor,
her husband, greatly valued.

Henry the Fourth of France was equally unsuccessful
with James of England in hrs attempt to introduce the

MULBERRY. 243

mulberry-tree and the making of silk in his kingdom,
although he filled the gardens, parks, and highways, with
these trees, beginning in his own garden as an example.
Louis the Fourteenth, by the indefatigable diligence of
Mons. Colbert, superintendant of that monarches manu-
factures, so successfully revived it, that it soon produced
an incredible revenue to that nation.

Mons. Cadet de Vaux says, '* Oliver de Serres has
been called the Xenophon of France, principally f) om his
pointing out the best mode of cultivating the mulberry*
tree, a tree to which France is so much indebted."

Evelyn says, " It is demonstrable that mulberries in
four or five years may be made to spread all over this
land." Every later writer tells us, that in the south of
England they would be sure to succeed ; yet from the
mouth of the Thames to that of the Severn, you will find
ten thousand useless laurels cultivated without a purpose,
or affording a single benefit excepting only their indifferent
ornament, to one of these trees, which by their leaves
would employ the people and enrich the country, — while
their fruit would greatly assist to counteract the scorbutic
complaints of our villagers, and afford us, by its juice, a
wine little inferior to that produced from the grape — to
say nothing about the beauty of the tree, or the value of
the timber.

In speaking of the benefit derived from these trees,
Evelyn says, " that they are frequently let to farm for
vast sums ; so as one sole tree has yielded the proprietor ,
a rent of twenty shillings per annum for the leaves only,
and six or seven pounds of silk, worth as maay pgunds
sterling, in five or six weeks, to those who kept the
worms.

We have already proved the longevity of these trees,
we shall presently shew that they will thrive in barren or
in rich land ; but we are now going to give the important

r2

244 HISTORY OF KllUlTS.

remarks of an ingenious writer on rural economy, who
says, *' 1 am acquainted with but one tree of any growth
or beauty, that seems to have the least capability of re-
sisting the malign influence of the sea atmosphere ; and
that is the mulberry. From two or three grand Sj3ecimens
of this beautiful tree, of which I have had long know-
ledge, standing in the most exposed situations of the
north-east coast of England, it seems not only to defy the
enemy, but to delight in its situation, throwing out its
noble limbs in all directions, and assuming a foliage rich,
full, and tufted to its topmost boughs. One of these
specimens to which I allude is of great magnitude, even
though some of its vast limbs have been torn from it ; but
it is still in vigour, and in point of richness of effect, the
oak itself is scarcely superior.

** These trees are also abundantly prolific, and in all
good seasons the fruit arrives at perfection. Is it not
singular, therefore, that the cultivation of this beautiful
and useful species should have been so long neglected ?
It might be supposed, that one single flourishing specimen,
in a situation where all other trees fail, would have been
an inducement to the trial of others. The slow growth of
the mulberry- tree may be urged as an objection ; but, on
the other hand, it appears to be a tree of great longevity,
which is no small recommendation."

Let us not, therefore, obstinately persist in keeping this
tree so great a stranger to our shores, but impress upon
the minds of those who have estates on the eastern coast
of Sussex, how much they would benefit posterity by
forming plantations of mulberry-trees in many parts of
the South Downs, particularly in the vicinity of Brighton,
where more is wanting, and less is done, by way of embel-
lishing the neighbourhood by planting, than in any other
spot in the kingdom.

Should a few spirited land-proprietors make the expe-

il

MULBERUV. 245

riinent of grubbing up their hedge-rows, and plantino-
fences of mulberry-trees, we have no doubt but that in a
few years they would reap as great a profit from their
hedges as from their corn. It would find immediate em-
ploy for many labourers, and would in time require the
assistance of thousands of the lower classes to gather the
leaves, and attend to the breeding and feeding of the silk-
worms, the winding of the silk, &c. ; indeed, the whole pro-
cess is calculated as an employ for the aged and the infirm,
who, being unable to do laborious work, must now, of
necessity, add to the weight of the parochial taxes. The
author is fully of opinion that it would be the foundation
of a permanent reduction in the poor-rates, which must
continue to augment, unless employ be found equal to the
increase of the population. It is worthy of notice that
the trees which are planted for the feeding of the silk-
worms, are seldom suffered to grow to a height to injure
the land ; but they are kept as shrubs or espaliers. The
great nurseries of mulberry plants in the plain of Valencia,
in Spain, are produced from seeds obtained by rubbing a
rope of esparts with ripe mulberries, and then burying the
rope two inches under ground. As the young plants
come up, they are drawn and transplanted ; the trees are
afterwards set out in rows in the fields, and pruned once
in two years.

It is supposed that this plan could be advantageously
carried into effect without the loss of a single year; as
many persons whom we have consulted on the subject are
of opinion, that the young plants from the seeds would
be as good to feed the worm as those of older trees.
Father Loureiro states, that in Cochin China they root up
the plants every third year, and make fresh plantations of
the cuttings, because the young shoots afford a more de-
licate food for the worms, and produce a finer silk.

At Genoa, and other countries where the silkworms

246 HrsTOKV of fruits.

spin, even the coverings of the chrysalis are turned to
profit, as from these the most valuable and beautiful arti-
ficial flowers are made, which greatly excel those made ia
Paris from cambric.

Let us now notice what remarks have been made by
ingenious travellers and men of science and observation
on these valuable trees. Hanway tells us that " Ghilan
is a part of Persia where the silk flourishes, and particu-
larly the mulberry-tree, although the moisture of the earth
is so great as to be unwholesome; and in the year 1741,
the snov/ fell in such quantities, that in some places it
was said to be seven feet in depth.

M. de Goyne observes, that those mulberry-trees that
grow on light sandy barren grounds, that have little mois-
ture, will produce the finest and strongest silk, while those
which are produced in fertile fat land, abounding in juice,
yield a coarser and weaker silk ; that young trees from
six to twelve years old will not produce so fine or good
silk as trees of eighteen to twenty years old. He tells
us, that a closet twelve feet square and ten feet high,
will contain eighteen thousand worms, arid that one
hundred and fifty balls ought to produce one ounce of
silk, and a shed of the size described, seven pounds and
a half.

Swinburn says, " The fertile plains of Reggio contain
avenues of mulberry-trees. On each side of the road are
houses erected for the accommodation of silkworms, upon
a particular plan of construction. The windows are long,
and not above six inches wide. This narrowness prevents
too great a quantity of air being admitted at a time,
whiqh would overpower the tender insects. When the
eggs are on the point of being hatched, these holes are
shut, and a moderate fire is kept up in the rooms. The
worms, as soon as they come out, are placed upon beds
of reeds, and there fed with leaves of the mulberry-tree.

ji

MULBERRY. 247

which in this district is invariably of the red sort. It is
preferred to the white fruited kind, as being a later
shooter, and better adapted to the periods of the worms*
life, which would be endangered from late changes of
weather, if forced out of its shell at the time the white
mulberry produces its leaves : besides, it is the opinion of
si Ik- workers, that worms fed with the red mulberry pro-
duce a naore compact heavy silk, than those that live
upon the leaves of the white one. I am apt to think this
a vulgar prejudice, unwarranted by experience, as the
Chinese, Piedmontese, and Languedocians, prefer the
white sort. In order to provide food for them in cases
of a blight among mulberry-trees, other leaves have been
tried, and bramble-tops have been found the best succe-
daneum. In the management of this produce, the Cala-
brese are much inferior to the Tuscans, who, though many
degrees farther north, contrive to have two hatchings or
seasons in a year. These silkworm-houses are the property
of respectable families in Reggio, who furnish rooms,
leaves, eggs, and every necessary implement ; take two-
thirds of the profit, and leave the other for the attendants.
A succession of eggs is imported from Leghorn, and other
places, to renew the breed, and by frequent changes keep
up the quality of the silk. Lizards are great enemies to
the silkworms in Italy ; this, and the tyranny exercised
by lords in that country, would not be felt in England.
A tax, also, has been laid on every mulberry-tree, which
caused many hundred to be cut down."

NievhofF says, in his " History of China," that " in
the province of Chekiang are several woods consisting of
mulberry-trees, which the inhabitants cut every year, that
so they may not grow up to any largeness ; for they find
by experience, that the leaves of the lower trees make
the best silk : so that by this only means, all that keep
silkworms know very well how to distinguish the first

248 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

spinning of the silk from the second, because the first is
the product of the soft and tender leaves which shoot
forth in the spring, and are then eaten by the worm; but
the hard and sowre summer leaves make the second spin-
ning ; which alteration of the same food does occasion so
great a difference in the work of these small creatures.
And such is the infinite abundance of silk in this pro-
vince, that ten suits of silk may be bought cheaper than
one of cloth in Europe."

About the year 877, all the mulberry-trees in CWna
were cut down by the revolters under an officer of the
name of Baichu, on which account the silk-trade failed
for some years, to the great distress of the inhabitants.

Not to dwell longer on the subject of the trees, let us
next take a review of the silk-trade, and follow it from
Persia to our own island, in which we shall not omit to
notice the exertions made by Queen Elizabeth to secure
a part of this valuable trade to the people she governed,
and the dangers and difficulties that attended the pro-
curing raw silk, in an age that had not contemplated the
possibility of procuring it from our own fields.

The mulberry must have been a most valuable tree to
the Persians and Chinese in ancient times, as it enabled
them exclusively to supply all the known world with silk,
the price of which, in Europe, was an equal weight of
pure gold, even as late as Justinian's time, A.D. 526.
Madame de Genlis gives the invention of silks to the
Chinese : she relates in her work (La Botanique, Histo-
rique et Litteraire), that the Empress Siling Chi, wife to
Hoamti, was desired by that emperor to examine the
silkworms, and endeavour to turn their web to some
useful purpose, which she did, after various trials and
experiments ; and by feeding them with mulberry-leaves,
she discovered the means of winding the silks, and the
making of silk-stufTs, which she embroidered with flowers

MULBLKKY. 249

and birds. Voltaire states, that the valuable insect that
produces the silk, is originally from China, from whence
it was carried into Persia, though not until very late,
together with the art of weaving the down in which it is
enveloped.

It is now 2143 years since wrought silks were first in-
troduced into Greece from Persia ; and about forty-nine
years afterwards the Grecians obtained them from India.

In Rome a law was passed by the senate in the reign of
Tiberius, forbidding men to debase themselves by wear-
ing silk, as being fit only for women.

Heliogabalus was the first Roman that wore a garment
all silk, which must have been about the year 220, A.D,
The Emperor Aurelianus,»who died in 275, denied his
empress a robe of silk, because it was too dear. In the
year 555 some monks, who had been in India, brought
some eggs of the silkworm to Constantinople, where,
in time, they produced raw silk, which was manufactured
at Athens, Thebes, Corinth, &c.

Charlemagne sent OfFa, king of Mercia, a present of
a belt, and two silken vests, in the year 780, which is
the earliest account we have of silk being seen in this
country.

In 1 130 the Sicilians were taught to breed silkworms,,
and to spin and weave silk; from whence the art was
carried to Italy, Spain, and the south of France. Some
noblemen's ladies wore silk mantles at a ball given at
Kenilworth Castle, in Warwickshire, in 1286; and it was
worn by the English clergy in 1534.

Stockings made of silk were first worn by Henry the
Second, of France, in 1543 ; and in 1549 mulberry-trees
were propagated through all France ; and the breeding of
silkworms was much encouraged by Henry the Fourth of
that country.

Henry the Eighth of England received a few pair of

250 HISTOUY OF FKIITS.

silk stockings from Spain ; but knit silk stockings were
not known until they were made by Mrs. Montague, who
nresented the first pair to Queen Elizabeth. Thus silk
has gradually come into use; and it is now so common in
this country, that it would be difficult to find a female
servant in the streets of London, or any part of the king-
dom, who had not some portion of her dress composed
of silk.

Anthonie Jenkinson obtained the assistance of Queen
Elizabeth, at the commencement of her reign, to enable
him to trade with Persia in raw silk; but his journey
thither was attended with very little success beyond an
introduction obtained by the Queen's letter, which ran
thus : —

" To the right mightie, and right victorious prince, the
great Sophie, emperor of the Persians, Medes, Parthians,
Hyrcanes, &c. &c. desiring safe pasports for the purpose
of making merchandize, &c. dated the 25th day of Aprill,
in the yeere of the creation of the world 5523, and of
our Lord Jesus Christ 1561, and of our raigne the third."

In 1579 Christopher Burrough went into Persia, and
returned home in 1581. He built a vessel on the Volga
at Niezanovogorode, in which he transported several
kinds of merchandize as far as Baku. At Niezabad his
vessel was stranded and gi-eat part of his cargo lost.
At Derbend he sold a part of his cargo to the Turks, and
bought another vessel to bring home his returns of raw
silk ; but either through want of experience, or constrained
by necessity, he came to Russia so late in the season as
November, which occasioned his ship being cut to pieces
by the ice : the cargo, however, was saved in a boat, which
floating out to sea with the ice, and being in great danger
of peirishing, was at length frozen up. The crew left the
boat and her cargo, and went in search of assistance ; but,
losing their way, their lives were much endangered by

MULBERRY. 251

hunger, as well as by a shower of arrows from a flyin«»-
party of Nagai Tartars. At length they had the good for-
tune to bring their cargo safe to Astrachan, and thus
ended the British Caspian commerce.

However, Monsieur de Thou remarks, that the English
made immense profits by their trade with Persia, by rea-
son that in Queen Elizabeth's reign they had the ex-
clusive privilege of importing all manner of foreign com-
modities into Russia. By this privilege they were en-
couraged to visit more carefully the several provinces of
that vast empire.

In 1626 Sir Robert Shirley was sent embassador from
the English court to Abas the Great, king of Persia ; when
this king promised that he would deliver in Gambroon
ten thousand bales of silk, (supposed to mean bales of
seven batmans of twelve pounds and one-fifth English,
not twenty-five batmans, as now usually shipped on the
Caspian,) and take the value in English cloth : his ob-
ject seemed to be to deprive the Turks of this trade,
which greatly enriched them.

We have already proved that the breeding of silk-
worms was known in the Archipelago as early as the first
century, which makes the monkish tale of the mission-
aries a few centuries too late. The story goes, that about
the year 551 two Persian monks, employed as mission-
aries in some of the Christian churches established
in India, penetrated into the country of the Seres, or
China. There they observed the labours of the silk-
worm, and became acquainted with the art of working up
its productions into a variety of elegant fabrics. They
explained to the Greek Emperor at Constantinople these
mysteries, hitherto unknown in Europe ; and undertook
to bring to the capital a sufficient number of these won-
derful insects. This they accomplished by conveying
the eggs of the silk worm in a hollow cane.

252 ' HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Soon after the conquest of Constantinople by the Ve-
netians in 1204, they attempted the establishment of the
silk manufacture in their dominions ; and in a short time
the silk fabricks of Venice vied with those of Greece and
Sicily ; for a monarch of the latter country, who had tra-
velled into Greece, brought back with him people who
could nourish silkworms and manufacture silk. Thus it
travelled by degrees through all Italy, which, with Constan-
tinople, for some ages supplied the northern parts of the
world. The Spaniards, laying a heavy tax upon raw silk,
were the first cause that induced the French monarch to
attempt the manufacture in his country; and we now find
that the wealthy families of Italy get their silks from
France. England had this manufactory first established
through the want of policy and good government of
France, whose industrious artizans being driven from their
homes through difference in religious opinions, settled
themselves in Spitalfields, where to this day many of their
posterity continue to manufacture silks.

In 1661, Evelyn says, " I went to y** wonderfull engine
for weaving silk stockings, said to have been y' invention
of an Oxford schoUer forty years since."

A machine had been erected in Savoy for weaving silks,
of which, notwithstanding the punishment of immediate
death decreed against those who should make any de-
scription of it. Sir Thomas Lombe contrived to get a
model; and in the year 1714, he erected a machine at
Derby, for which, in 1718, he obtained a patent. This
machine contained 26,726 wheels, and 97,746 movements,
which worked 73,726 yards of silk thread every time the
water-wheel went round, which it did three times in one
minute ; one water-wheel gave motion to all the rest of
the wheels and movements, of which any one could be
stopped separately ; one fire-engine conveyed warm air

MULBKHUY. 253

to every individual part of the machine ; and one regu-
lator governed the whole work.

On the 3d April, 1732, we find his Majesty gave his
assent to the bill for granting fourteen thousand pounds to
Sir Thomas Lombe, as a recompense for his introducino*
this machine for working silk.

Having thus obtained artists and machinery, let us no
longer neglect the cultivation of the tree that is to em-
ploy them.

It is observed in Evelyn's Sylva, that this tree possesses
the peculiar property of breeding no vermin, neither does
it harbour any caterpillar except the silkworm. The fruit
when ripe stains the hands ; but, when unripe, is a good
cleanser.

It is one of the latest trees to blossom, and one of the
earliest to ripen its fruit; which, when ripe, is of a cooling
aperient nature, but quite of an opposite quality when
unripe, being a strong astringent.

The root of the mulberry-tree has an acrid bitter taste :
it is powerful in its effects ; and has been used with great
advantage against worms, particularly the tape-worm.
The juice of this fruit, mixed with cider, is esteemed the
best of all the English vinous liquors.

Miller mentions eight varieties of this agreeable fruit ;
which appears to be again duly appreciated at the dessert,
as we find it is cultivated in a hot-house belonging to
T. A. Knight, Esq., who, we believe, is the first person
that has attempted to force this excellent berry. In the
garden of Thos. Wm. Coke, Esq. M. P., at Holkham-hall,
Norfolk, there are two mulberry-trees trained to a trellis,
upon a south wall. These trees are about sixteen feet
hio-h, and the lateral extent of the branches of one of
them is upwards of ninety-four feet, and the other exceeds
ninety-seven feet. They have been planted about thirty
years ; and it is found that the fruit is much larger than

254 HISTORY OF FRUITS,

that produced on standard trees, their time of maturity
much earUer, and that they afford an abundant succession
from the middle of July until October. They are pruned
twice a-year, leaving spurs of two inches long, which, at
the winter pruning, are shortened to about an inch in
length. It is both a common and a bad practice to make
grass-plats under mulberry-trees, by this means retarding
the ripening of the fruit by the coolness of the grass;
whereas the heat reflected from the earth would greatly
promote the ripening.

The Alba, or white mulberry, is a native of China.
The Nigra, or black mulberry, is the tree of the largest
size, and the fruit is of a blackish red colour, and from it
a good wine is made : this variety is a native of Persia.
The Rubra, or red mulberry, is a native of Virginia.
The Japan mulberry-tree is called Papyrifera, from the
bark, of which a kind of paper is made.

The fact that the mulberiy-tree seldom produces fruit
until it has arrived at a considerable age, has been much
against its cultivation ; but it is now discovered, that by
grafting it from the aged trees, or, to use a common phrase,
putting an old head on young shoulders, it soon becomes
fruitful.

It is said that these trees, as standards, never require
pruning ; but a friend who pruned his trees by the recom-
mendation of the author, according to the plan practised
at Holkham Hall, found that his mulberry-trees made
more wood, and greater progress the following year, than
they had done altogether in the six former years.

255

NECTARINE.— AMYGDALUS, NUCIPERSICA.

Natural order, PomacecE. A genus of the Icosandria Mo-
7iogynia class.

" Blushing like youthful cheeks : the nectarine full
Of lavish juice."

This fruit is thought to have derived its name from the
Nectar of the heathen gods. Matthiolus and Csesalpi-
nus call it Nucipersica, because it resembles the smooth-
ness of the outer skin of the walnut.

It is a native of Persia, and was brought into this
country with the peach, about the year 1524. It does
not appear at that time to have been distinguished by any
name distinct from other peaches, of which it is a species,
as Gerard was living when it was first obtained, and pub-
lished his History of Plants about thirty-five years later,
wherein he describes four kinds of peaches, and says,
" they are set and planted in gardens and vineyards : I
have them all in my garden," continues he, " with many
other sorts," which shews there was a variety when first
introduced. He mentions one kind of peach which ap-
pears to have been the Nectarine, Persica rubra. ** The
fruit or peaches," says Gerard, " of this sort, be round, of
a red colour on the outside : the meat likewise about the
stone is of a gallant red colour. These kinds of peaches
are very like to wine in taste, and therefore marvellous
pleasant."

Pliny says, of all the peaches, the one most admired

256 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

in Rome is that named Duracina, from the solid sub-
stance of the meat ; which seems to agree with the quality
of the nectarine, the principal distinction of which, from
other peaches, consists in the firmness and fineness of its
pulp, its superior flavour, and smooth skin.

There have been many instances of nectarines having
grown not only on peach trees, but on branches bearing
both peaches and nectarines, without either budding or
grafting. Whether this is owing to its being so nearly
allied to the peach, or by the pollen of the nectarine
being conveyed by the bees or the wind, we have not yet
been able to ascertain, although this circumstance has oc-
curred in the gardens of persons eminent for their know-
ledge of fruits, as Mr. Wilmot, of Isleworth ; James
Wyatt, Esq., Hounslow ; William Gilpin, Esq., East
Sheen ; and in the garden of the Earl of Lanesborough,
Yorkshire. Having, however, observed that the fruit of the
vegetable marrow has been changed in the same manner
when growing with cucumbers, we are confirmed in the
opinion that it is owing to the accidental impregnation of
the blossom. This fruit is generally esteemed more
wholesome than the peach, as it is more delicious in fla-
vour, but like other watery fruits is best before meals.

Thomson has beautifully distinguished it from the com-
mon peach in his Seasons : —

As I steal along the sunny wall,

Where autumn basks with fruit empurpled deep,
My pleasing theme continual prompts my thought ;
Presents the downy peach, the shining plum,
, The ruddy, fragrant nectarine : and, dark
Beneath his ample leaf, the luscious fig.

But it is only when in fruit that the tree can well be dis-
tinguished from the peach, of which it is evidently only a
variety. The fayourite kinds of nectarines are Fairchild's

NECTAUINi:. 257

early nectarine, which is the earliest : it is a round fruit not
larger than the nutmeg peach, of a beautiful red colour»
and ripens about the end of July or beginning of August.

The Newington nectarine is esteemed the finest fla-
voured of all the varieties ; and when thoroughly ripe, it is
thought by many persons not to be second to any fruit.
It has a beautiful red colour next the sun, and a bright
yellow towards the wall. The Scarlet, the Brugnon,
the Roman red, the Golden, and several other varieties,
are all more or less admired as they are suited with soil
and situation to ripen. The latest ripe is the Peter-
borough, or late green nectarine, which generally ripens
about the middle of October.

The flowers have an aromatic bitter taste, and, when
fresh, an infusion of half an ounce in water, or a drana
when dry, and sweetened with sugar, is a useful laxative
for children. (Brookes, vol. Q.)

We particularly recommend these trees to be protected
in the spring by sliding shutters of glass or oiled paper;
the richness of the fruit when at the dessert will well, repay
the small expense, and a more regular crop may be an-
ticipated, for, as Speechly justly remarks, " The decay of
peach and nectarine trees almost uniformly commences
on the upperside of the large branches : the cause of this
defect, as I have constantly observed, is brought on by
snow being permitted to lodge on the horizontal branches
during the winter and spring months, but more particularly
at the time of the rising of the sap in the spring. Snow
lodging on the branches during that period, generally
proves highly detrimental to them. In a severe season,
the snow goes off by slow degrees, and what is dissolved
by the rays of the sun by day, is constantly congealed
into ice by the frost at night. Now, the capillary ves-
sels which are thus exposed, being surcharged with
moisture in the evening, the frost which comes on at

258 HISTORY OF fRUITS.

nicht freezes the sap in the vessels which contain it, and
causing it to expand, thus tears the vessels asunder, and
brings on a decay of that part of the branch/'

This particularly points out the necessity of protecting
these trees in the spring ; but where it is not convenient to
do so, the snow should be removed from the branches by
a pair of kitchen bellows, as by using a brush there would
be danger of injuring the buds.

Where these trees are grown in tubs for the purpose of
forcing, we should recommend the square-shaped box with
a divided door on each side, which would give an opportu-
nity of refreshing the roots with new mould, without re-
moving the plants, and this should be done some time
before they are removed into the hot-house. By this
means of conveying nourishment, most large housed trees
may be kept in a vigorous state.

.4i. ifi^y\

259

OLIVE.— OLEA.

Natural orrhr, Sepiarice.. A genus of the Diaudria
Monogynia class.

I

" I bear these peaceful branches in my hand."

The generic name is derived from the Greek E\aia, from
\eio$, Icevis, smooth. Oka is generally put for the tree,
Oliva for the fruit, and Oleum for the juice.

Of this tree we have very ancient mention, since it is
related in the book of Genesis, that the dove which Noah
sent out of the ark, returned with an olive-leaf in its
mouth, by which he knew that the waters of the Deluge
had abated. Since this time the olive-branch has been
used as an emblem of peace by all civilized nations ; and
it is observed that a green bough answers the same pur-
pose amongst the most savage people in every part of
the world.

" High on the stern -^neas took his stand,
And held a branch of olive in his hand.
— Now suppliants, from Laurentum sent, demand
A truce, with olive branches in their hand."

Virgil.

" As the young olive, in some silvan scene, i

Crown'd by fresh fountains with eternal green,
Lifts the gay head, in snowy flow'rets fair,
And plays and dances to the gentle air."

The olive-tree is said to have been transported from
Egypt into Attica by the care of Cecrops, about one thou-

s2

260 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

sand five hundred and fifty-six years before the Christian
era. In the fabulous histories of Greece, we are informed,
that the gods having been called on to settle a dispute
between Neptune and Minerva, arising from the desire of
each of them to give name to the new city of Cecrops ;
they determined to give the preference to the one who
should produce the most beneficial gift to mankind. Nep-
tune, striking the ground with his trident, created a horse ;
but Minerva, by causing an olive-tree to spring from the
earth, gained her point ; and from her the city was called
Athense, now Athens; since the olive, the emblem of
peace or agriculture, was much preferable to tlie horse, the
symbol of war and bloodshed. ' Minerva and the Graces
are also represented as crowned with olive-branches.

A contribution of olives was given by all the Grecians
who attended the Panathenaea, a festival held at Athena
in honour of Minerva. Those who excelled in any of the
games during this festival, were crowned with a wreath of
olives, which grew in the grove of Academus, a place
near the city, with spacious and shady walks, belonging
to a man of that name. Plato having here opened a
school of philosophy, all places of learning have been
since called Academies.

As to the soil of the olive-tree, we may conclude, from
several passages in Scripture, that it grew naturally in
Syria ; but particularly near Jerusalem, if we may judge
by the Mount of Olives, so often mentioned in the New
Testament. It was first planted in Italy in the thirteenth
year of the reign of Servius Tullius, the sixth king of
Rome.

The olive seems to have been highly appreciated by
the Romans ; as Pliny says, except the vine, there is not
a tree bearing fruit of so great account as the olive.
" Fenestella informs us," says this author, " that during
the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, which was about the

OLiVF. 261

183d year from the foundation of Rome, there were no
olive-trees either in Italy, Spain, or Africa, which is a
strong presumption that they grew originally only in
Syria." Theophrastus states, that in the 440th year of
the city, there were no olive-trees in Italy, but on the
coast, and within forty miles of the sea; but Pliny says,
in his time, they were to be found in the very heart of
Spain and France, but that the olives of Syria, although
smaller, produced the best oil. Virgil mentions but three
kinds of olives : Columella mentions ten varieties, but says
he believes they were much more numerous. The olive-
tree is cultivated with great assiduity by the peasants, on
the banks of the river Kizilasan in Persia.

The olive-tree was first introduced into England in the
year 1570 ; but there is little inducement for us to culti-
vate it, since it is by no means handsome, and we have
no desire for its ripe fruit. Besides, the climate in ge-
neral is not sufficiently warm to assure us of a crop,
though we have no doubt but it would flourish in many
situations on the south side of the Sussex Downs, where
the fig-tree thrives : indeed, in some parts of Devonshire
it is found as a standard tree, and is seldom injured by
the frost.

Several olive-trees were planted against a warm wall
at Camden House near Kensington, which succeeded very
well till their tops advanced above the wall; after which
they were generally cut down to the top of the wall in
winter. These in 1719 produced a good quantity of fruit,
which grew so large as to be fit for pickling.

According to Columella, this tree flourishes best in
dry hills that are full of white clay ; for in moist and fat
fields it produces plenty of leaves, but no fruit. Though
this author contradicts the opinion that the olive will not
grow sixty miles from the sea, he states, that where an
oak has stood, it cannot be raised.

262 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

The olive-tree requires but little care in the cultivation,
but it seldom produces fruit oftener than once in two
years. Signor Battiloro describes a singular variety of
olive-tree, which deviates so much from the general habit
of the tree, that it produces four or five crops of fruit in
the year, according to the temperature of the season, the
olives being small and black, but affording delicious oil.
The same intelligent observer has related the following
anecdote :

** Francesco Longuano, a person known in Italy by his
proficiency in literature, happening one day to converse
with me concerning the olive-tree, mentioned that he had
read in the writings of an ancient Greek author, whose
name had escaped his recollection, that in the city of
Coriolanum, near that of Venasso, there was an olive-tree
which put forth blossoms every month, and that this Greek
noticed the circumstance as a prodigy. That city, at pre-
sent a village, called Ciurnalo, being at a little distance
from my castle, I repaired to it, for the purpose of
tracing, if possible, the remains of such a tree ; and fortu-
nately, owing to the kind attention of the priest, I ac-
tually encountered five of them ; and on returning to the
same spot in September, I found on them four different
kinds of olives, and the recent blossoms of a fifth crop.
The inhabitants call them Olive d'ogni mese."

This fruit the modern Greeks during Lent eat in its ripe
state, without any preparation, but a little pepper, or salt
and oil.

The sweet olives in the south of Italy are of a large
size, and eaten annually in October, when pulled from the
trees ; or if neglected by the inhabitants, they are greedily
devoured by birds.

We receive the olive from the south of France, from
Spain, and Porfugal, pickled in the following manner : it
is gathered unripe, and suffered to steep in water some

OLIVE. 263

days, and afterwards put into a ley of water and barilla,
or kali, with the ashes of olive-stones calcined, or with
lime. It is then bottled or barrelled with salt and water,
and in this state do we meet with it at the desserts of our
most wealthy tables, where fashion has done much in
having introduced and given a fondness for ohves, which
seems to be an acquired taste : however, they are grateful
to the stomach, and are considered good to promote di-
gestion and appetite.

But olives are chiefly cultivated for the sake of the oil
tliat they produce, which is not only a profitable article of
commerce, but forms a principal one of food to the inha-
bitants of the places where these trees are found. This
oil is contained in the pulp only, whereas other fruits
have it in the nut or kernel. It is obtained by simple
pressure, in the following manner: the olives are first
bruised by a mill-stone, and afterwards put into the
trough of a press, which, by means of turning a strong
screw, forces all the liquor out, which is called virgin oil,
A coarser kind is obtained afterwards, by adding hot
water to the bruised fruit.

Oil is the main support of commerce in some provinces
of Italy. It forms the great trade of the Gallipolitans.
It appears by the books of their custom-house, that in
1766, eleven thousand four hundred and fifty-nine salme
were shipped off for national markets, and thirty-four
thousand four hundred and ninety-three salme for foreign
ones. This quantity cannot be valued at less than a mil-
lion of ducats. The exportation of oil brings into Cala-
bria-ultra half a million of ducats annually.

The olive-tree is attended to with the nicest care near

Naples, and no trouble spared to increase its fruitfulncss,

or revive prolific vigour in plants that begin to feel the

decay of age ; at one time they manure or water the roots ;

V in winter the peasants bare the roots of the old trees, lay

264 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

upon them a thin coat of litter, and leave them thus,
during four months, to imbibe the restorative salts of the
atmosphere. Few of them have any principal bole ; for
all predominant shoots are early cut out, that every part
may derive equal benefit from the influence of the sun.
The fruit in some places is suffered to hang till it falls
through ripeness.

AristBBus, son of Apollo by Cyrene, was regarded as a
rural deity for having taught mankind to extract olive oil,
and also to make honey, cheese, and butter. The wrestlers
were anointed with it ; and it was made a substitute for
butter, which among the Romans was used as a medicine.

We find in the book of Leviticus, that oil formed a
principal part of the meat-offerings, which the Israelites
presented to the Lord.

Pliny informs us, that in the 500th year of the city,
when Appius Claudius and L. Junius were consuls toge-
ther, a pound of oil was sold for twelve asses ; but that in
the year 680, ten pounds of oil sold for one ass, and that,
in twenty-two years after that time, Italy was able to
furnish the provinces with oil ; and it was much used at
their baths, having, as they supposed, the property of
warming the body, and defending it against the cold.

The best olive-oil at present is obtained from Provence.

Although the greater number of the English eat but
very little olive-oil, yet oil in some shape forms a consi-
derable part of our food, both animal and vegetable, and
affords much nourishment: but with some, oily substances
do not unite with the contents of the stomach, especially
where acids abound.

Dr. A. Hunter was decidedly of opinion, that all plants
receive their principal nourishment from oily particles
incorporated with water, by means of an alkaline salt, or
absorbent earth. Till oil is made miscible, it is unable
to enter the radical vessels of vegetables ; and on that

OLIVE. 265

account. Providence has bountifully supplied all natural
soils with chalky or other absorbent particles.

Olive-oil is esteemed good for the breast and lungs ; it
tempers the sharp choleric humours in the bowels, is
useful against all corrosive mineral poisons, as arsenic,
&c. ; opens the urinary passages ; and is good for the
stone and gravel. Olive-oil congeals at 38° of Fahrenheit.

The wood of the olive-tree is used by cabinet-makers,
from its being beautifully veined, and admitting an ex-
cellent polish.

These trees may be obtained from those Italian houses
which import orange-trees ; they require nearly the same
treatment ; but when they have taken good root, they may
be taken from the pots, and planted in a warm situation.

266

' ORANGE.— CITRUS.— AURA NTIUM.

Natural order, Bicornes. A germs of the Polyadelphia
Icosandria class.

" Here orange-trees with blooms and pendants shine,
And vernal honours to their autumn join ;
Exceed their promise in the ripen'd store,
Yet in the rising blossom promise more.

Pope.

The derivation of the generic name of this fruit is un-
certain. Some say it is from a place in Asia so called.
Vossius states the Latins derived it from Africa, while
others affirm that it is an Arabic word.

The China, or sweet oranges, with which this country
is now so amply supplied, and at such moderate prices,
that all classes of society enjoy them as perfectly as if
they had been indigenous to the climate, were not known
to the ancient Europeans. They were first brought into
Europe by Juan de Castro, a celebrated Portuguese war-
rior, who made them a present to the Conde Mellor, the
king of Portugal's prime minister, who was only able to
raise one plant from a great number that were brought to
Europe. This tree, which was planted in 1548, and from
which all the European orange-trees of this sort were pro-
duced, is said to be now alive at Lisbon, in the garden
of Count S. Laurent.

The Romans had endeavoured to cultivate the citrus
before the Christian era, for the beauty of the tree and its

ORANGE. 267

medicinal qualities ; but, as it has already been observed
in the history of the lemon, they could not succeed in
the time of Pliny, who says, (Book xvi. c. 32) " The
Assyrian pome-citron-tree will not bear fruit out of Syria."
The same author, in his 12th book, c. 3, informs us that
the Romans were acquainted with the Persian and Median
pome-citron; but he never mentions it as a fruit to be
eaten : the kernels, he states, were in particular employed
by the Parthians, to sweeten the breath. In his 13th
book, chap. 15, we are informed, that the Romans had
tables made of the citron wood, which they procured from
Mauritania and Cyrenaica, in Africa.

Some authors are of opinion, that the orange was the
golden apple of the Hesperides; which, as the ancient
Europeans could not propagate it, was said to have been
taken back by Minerva. The fable states, that Hercules,
to obtain information of this garden, seized Nereiis, god
of the sea, in his sleep, who directed him to Africa. If
he had to cross the deserts of that country to obtain this
fruit, the allusion of its being guarded by a dragon, is
both natural and just ; the fruit was therefore called Aurea
mala Hesperidum.

About the eleventh or twelfth century several varieties
of the orange were cultivated in the neighbourhood of
Reggio, from whence they were extended over Italy,
and from hence they were taken to Spain and Portugal,
being found much hardier than was at first expected;
therefore the sweet orange, soon after it was introduced,
became plentiful in these countries, where there were
already abundance of stocks to graft on. Gerard notices
in his work, which was published in 1597, that orange
and lemon-trees grew on the coast of Italy, and in the
islands of the Adriatic ; and on the coast of Spain they
were, says he, in great quantities, as well as in certain
provinces of France, which lie upon the midland coast.

I

268 HISTORY or fruits.

At the present time, these trees are cultivated in Italy to
so ffreat an extent, that there are almost forests of them.
Prince Antonio Borghese, at his palace near Rome, has
upwards of seventy sorts of orange and lemon-trees,
among which are some very rare kinds : it is a fruit so
much esteemed in Italy, where it thrives well, that
apples, pears, and cherries, have almost become extinct
in that country.

Lord Lyttelton says : —

" In the soft bosom of Campania's vale,
When now the wintry tempests all are fled,
And genial summer breathes her gentle gale,
The verdant orange lifts its beauteous head ;
From every branch the balmy flow'rets rise,
On every bough the golden fruits are seen;
With odours sweet it fills the smiling skies;
But, in the midst of all its blooming pride,
A sudden blast from Apenninus blows,

Cold with perpetual snows ;
The tender blighted plant shrinks up its leaves, and dies."

The delightful perfume of an orange-grove is such as
to scent the air for miles ; and the tree gives a succession
of flowers during the whole summer on which account
it is cultivated in all green-houses.

Cotton observes : —

'* The orange, with a vernal face.
Wears ev'ry rich autumnal grace.
While the young blossoms here unfold,
There shines the fruit like pendant gold ;
Citrons their balmy sweets exhale,
And triumph in the distant gale."

Large orangeries have been built for the express pur-
pose of housing these trees ; the most magnificent one is
that of Versailles, built by Louis the Fourteenth.

ORANGF. 269

Oranges were known in this country in the time of
Henry the Eighth, but I find no account of the orange-
tree being cultivated in England prior to Queen EHza-
beth's reign. The Seville orange-tree appears to have
been first planted the year before the East India Company
was incorporated, and two years previous to the return
of Sir Francis Drake, our first circumnavio-ator. It is
said to have been introduced by Sir Francis Carew, and
first planted at his seat at Beddington in Surrey. Evelyn
says, in his Diary, 27th September 1658, " I went to
Beddington, (Surry,) that ancient seat of the Carews,
famous for the first-orange gardens in England, being
now overgrown trees planted in y* ground, and secured
in winter with a wooden tabernacle and stoves." In Sep-
tember 1700, the same author notes, that he again visited
Beddington, and that " the orange- trees, which had then
been standing 120 years, large and goodly trees, and
laden with fruit, were now in decay, the estate being
fallen to a child under age, and kept only by a servant
or two from utter dilapidation." This would make the
introduction of orange-trees to this country about the
year 1580.

These trees were entirely killed by the great frost in
1 739-40. They had been enclosed by a permanent build-
ing only the year before, and it is supposed that the
dampness of the new building, or the want of a sufficient
air and light, might have assisted in destroying these vene-
rable trees, which, according to the account of Mr. Henry
Day, the gardener, were about fourteen feet high, and
the girth of the stem twenty-nine inches, with branches
that spread from ten to twelve feet each way.

Lord Bacon, mentions the housing of orange and
lemon-trees in this country to keep them in the winter.
-He also states, that if the seeds of oranges be sown in
April, they produce an agreeable salad.

270 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles the First, had an
orange-house and orange-garden at her mansion, Wim-
bleton Hall, in the parish of Wimbleton, in the county
of Surrey ; and by an estimate and survey which was
made in the month of November 1649, for the sale of
that property, by order of the Parliament, we find how
highly orange-trees were estimated even in those turbulent
days. It is described as follows : —

•• In the north side of which sayd oringe-garden, there
stands one large garden-house; the outwalls of brick,
fitted for the keepinge of oringe-trees, neatly covered
with blue slate^ and ridged and guttered with lead ; the
materials of which house, with the greate doores, and
the iron thereof, with a certeine stone pavement lying
before these doores, in nature of a little walke, four
foote broad, and seventy-nine foote long, wee valew to
bee worth 66/. 13s. Ad.

** In which sayd garden-house there are now standing,
in squared boxes fitted for that purpose, fortie-two
oringe trees bearing fayre and large cringes, which trees,
with the boxes, and the earth and materials therein feed-
ing the same, wee valew at ten poundes a tree, one tree
with another, in toto, amounting unto 420/.

** In the bayd garden-house there now allsoe is one
lemon-tree, bearing greate and very large lemons, which,
together with the box that it grows in, and the earth and
materialls therein feeding the same, wee valew at 20/.

*' In the sayd garden-house there now allsoe is one
pome-citron-tree, which, togeather with the box that it
growes in, and the earth and materialls feeding the same,
wee valew at 10/.

"There are also belonginge to the said oringe-garden
six pomegranet-trees, bearing faire and large fruits,
which, togeather with the square boxes they growe in.

ORANGF. 271

and the earth and materialls therein feeding the same,
wee valew at three poundes a tree, one with another, in
toto, 18/.''

There were also eighteen orange-trees that had not
borne fruit, which, with their boxes, were valued at 5/.
a tree, one witli another, 90/. .^Aanfi

A white marble fountain, with a statue of Diana upon
it, and " a fayer led cestern belonging to it, and a cha-
nelled pavement," were esteemed to be worth 71.

" Another fountain of white marble, with a statue of
a mermaid, with the cestern, &c." were valued at 10/.

Evelyn notes, in his Diary, 25th September 1679.
" Mr. Slingsby and Sig. Veriis came to dine with me, to
whom I gave China oranges off my owne trees, as good,
I think, as ever were eaten." He also notes, ** March
24, 1687, went to Kew to visit Sir Henry Capell's, whose
Orangerie and Myrtelum are most beautiful and perfectly
well kept. He was contriving very high palisados of reeds
to shade his oranges during the summer, and painting
those reeds in oil."

Orange-trees have been grown in the southern parts of
Devonshire for more than 100 years past. When trained
to walls, they produce large, handsome fruit, but not of
equal value to the lemons grown in the same situation.
Most of these were raised in this country from seeds, and
they are thought to be more hardy than trees imported ;
but the orange-trees which are brought every year from
Italy, and sold principally at the Italian warehouses in
London, are as large as those of our own growth would
be in twenty years. With proper care, these trees will
have good heads, and produce fruit in about three years.

The Mandarin orange, (citrus nobilis,) which is so
called in China on account of its superiority to other
oranges, was first introduced to this country by Sir

ii^

272^ HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Abraham Hume, in the year 1805. It has not yet been
cultivated in the countries that supply us with oranges,
but we may hope to meet with it in our markets ere many
years, as this variety of the orange appears as hardy as
other kinds ; and from those that have been ripened by
the late Sir Joseph Banks, and other gentlemen in this
country, the fruit has been found to be most delicious.
The rind is of a deep saffron colour, or rather between an
orange-colour and scarlet: the large variety often mea-
sures five inches in diameter; but the Chinese greatly
prefer the smaller variety of this orange, which the Bota-
nical Register states to be an entirely distinct species from
the common China orange. Citrus Auruntium. It is a na-
tive of Cochin China, and is cultivated at Canton.

We have lately seen orange-trees imported from the
south of France, which have arrived in small tubs ; and so
well packed, that the fruit and blossoms remained on the
trees when they reached the neighbourhood of London.

In the Philosophical Transactions, No. 114, there is a
very remarkable account of a tree standing in a grove
near Florence, having an orange stock, which had been
so grafted on, that it became in its branches, leaves,
flowers, and fruit, three-formed ; some emulating the
orange, some the lemon or citron, and some partaking of
both forms in one. These mixed fruits never produce any
perfect seeds : sometimes there are no seeds at all in them,
and sometimes only a few empty ones.

Oranges require the same attention as apples or peaches
in grafting ; for in the most favourable climates, if suf-
fered to grow wild, the fruit is flat, and rather bitter.

The Maltese graft their orange-trees on the pomegra-
nate stock, which causes the juice to be of a red colour,
and the flavour to be more esteemed. The Rev. Mr.
Hughes, in his Natural History of Barbadoes, mentions
the golden orange as growing in that island. He describes

ORANGE. 273

the fruit as a large fine orange, of a deep colour within,
from whence it derives the name Golden Orange. He
adds, "This fruit is neither of the Seville nor China kind,
though it partakes of both, having the sweetness of the
China mixed with the agreeable bitterness and flavour of
the Seville orange."

Oranges may be eaten without injury to the health,
even when a person is overheated ; but in the evening or
at night, they are not thought so wholesome.

The juice of oranges is a pleasing acid, and good in
inflammatory and putrid disorders, both acute and chro-
nical. The juice contains an essential acid salt, mixed
with much mucilage. The salt may be obtained in crys-
tals, by diluting the juice, clarifying it with whites of
eggs, and using evaporation. In this way a saline extract
may be made, capable of being preserved, and possessed
of the same medicinal qualities as the juice, which is said
to be very powerful in the scurvy. When Commodore
Anson sailed round the world, his men, who were afflicted
with the scurvy, were surprisingly recovered from that dis-
order by the oranges they found in the island of Tinian.

Orangeade, an agreeable drink made of orange-juice,
water, and sugar, may be given, says Lemery, to people
in the height of a fever.

The Seville orange is esteemed far preferable for medi-
cinal purposes, and the blossoms of this species are the
most odoriferous : the leaves are also used in medicine.
The yellow rind of these oranges, separated from the white
fungous matter under it, is a grateful, warm, aromatic
bitter, often used as a stomachic and corroborant. It is
warmer than the peel of lemons, of a more durable flavour,
abounds more with a light, fragrant, essential oil, which
is lodged in distinct cells on the surface of the peel, The
rind of the China orange has a weak smell, and is seldom
employed for medicinal purposes. Seville oranges also

T

274 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

produce the best marmalade, and the richest wine : it i»
from the flowers of this kind of orange, that orange-flower
water is distilled. These oranges are often preserved whole
as a sweetmeat, and are justly admired.

The seeds of the orange kind will be found, on nice
examination, different from the seed of any other fruit.
They have been anatomized by the curious, and, with the
aid of a good microscope, are found to be almost as won-
derful, in their formation, as the human frame when dis-
sected.

When these trees are removed from the conservatory,
they should be so placed as to receive the morning and
evening sun, but not the full tide of the meridian rays,
from which they are best sheltered by trees, provided the
drip is avoided. If laurels are well arranged in the plant-
ing, so as partly to form a back-ground, and occasionally
to admit room for an orange-tub, a small number of these
trees may be contrived to make a fine appearance in the
windings of the shrubbery.

Oranges and lemons may be preserved in the highest
perfection by freezing, and placing them in an ice-house.
When intended to be used, they should be previously put
into a vessel of cold water till they are thawed. Those
who have not the advantage of ice vaults, may keep them
for a considerable time, by choosing such as are not
quite ripe, and procuring some fine dry sand, which
should be heated in the sun, or over a fire ; when cold,
put it in a large earthen vessel, and then a layer of
oranges or lemons with their stalk-ends downwards, ob-
serving they do not touch each other ; cover them with
sand, and form another layer in the same manner, until the
vessel is full, then cover them two or three inches deep
with sand, and place them in a cold and dry room,

275

PEACH.— PERSICA, or AMYGDALUS.

Natural order, PomacecB. A genus of the Icosandria
Monogynia class.

" Myself will search our planted grounds at home,
For downy peaches and the glossy plum."

Virgil.
The Greeks called this fruit *A/x,uyaX>j and 'AjxyySaXov ;
from the lines or furrows on the stone, from which the
Latins derived the name of Amygdalus.

The Italians call this fruit Persiche, the French Peche,
from which the English name seems derived.

All the ancient authors agree that the peach-tree is a
native of Persia; and it appears that the fruit was
thought to be of a poisonous nature. It is evident that
there had formerly been traditionary tales of this fruit
having been sent into Egypt to poison the inhabitants.
Columella says, in his 10th book : —

" And apples, which most barbarous Persia sent,
With native poison arm'd (as fame relates) :
But now they Ve lost their pow'r to kill, and yield
Ambrosial juice, and have forgot to hurt ;
And of their country still retain the name."

The peaches which grow in the province of Ghilan in
Persia, are still said to be very unwholesome and injuri-
ous, from the great moisture of the earth.

Pliny, in his 15th book, chap. 13, mentions, that they
had been stated to possess venomous qualities; and that it

276 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

had been asserted that this fruit was sent into Egypt by
the kings of Persia, by way of revenge, to plague the
natives ; but he treats this story as a mere fable, adding,
that the name Persica evidently bespeaks them a Per-
sian fruit. Cato has not mentioned them ; and Pliny
adds, that it was not long since peaches were known in
Rome, and there was great difficulty in rearing them.
He informs us they were brought from Egypt to the isle
of Rhodes, where they could never be made to produce
fruit ; and from thence to Italy. -He says, moreover, that
it was not a common fruit in Greece or in Natolia. This
author states again, in book 23, chap. 7, that he con-
sidered it the most harmless fruit in the world ; that it
had the most juice with the least smell of any fruit, and
yet caused thirst in those who ate of it.

Peaches were evidently cultivated in France at an early
period, as Columella continues his account of this fruit,
by stating, —

" Those of small size to ripen make great haste ;
Such as great Gaul bestows observe due time
And season, not too early, nor too late."

Pliny says, book 15, chap. 12, "as for the French and
Asiatic peaches, they bear the name of the regions and
nations from whence they come."

It is stated that the peach-tree was not cultivated in
England before the year 1562; and by whom it was first
introduced, or from what country it was procured, we
have no authentic account, although in Gerard's work
(1597) he describes the white peach, the red peach, the
yellow peach, and the d'avant peach, and adds, " I have
them all in my garden, with many other sorts."

The peach-tree, he continues, " soone commeth vp ; it
beareth fruit the third or fourth yeer after it is planted,
and it soone decaieth; and is not of long continuance."

PEACH. 277

From this account, and finding it in the list of fruits,
published in the year 1557, by Thomas Tusser, who men-
tions peaches, white and red, there can be little doubt but
that it was introduced as early as the reign of Henry the
Eighth. We are decidedly of opinion that it was
brought into England, from Italy, by Wolf, the king's
gardener, in the year 1524, as at this time we find that
he brought the apricot from the latter country.

Of this deliciously melting fruit we have now a great
variety, from the small nutmeg peach, which ripens in
July, to the large October peach, which is more agree-
able to the sight than to the palate. This fruit has been
almost equally multiplied in its varieties with the apple,
by sowing the stones, and lately by the ingenious method
of impregnating the blossoms. T. A. Knight, Esq. Presi-
dent of the Horticultural Society, has procured a new
peach by this operation : he impregnated the pistillum of
the blossom on an almond-tree, with the pollen of the
peach-flower; and this almond, when planted, produced
a peach-tree instead of one of its own kind, and has since
ripened peaches.

The peach varies so much in quality, that many sorts
are not worth the growing : it is therefore to be hoped
that we shall soon have them exploded, and the better
varieties cultivated in situations most congenial to their
tender nature. At Montreuil, a village near Paris, the
whole population is exclusively employed in the cul-
tivation of peaches, which has maintained the inha-
bitants for several ages; and the consequence is, that
they raise better peaches there than any other part of
France affords.

We have often observed, that the finest-flavoured
peaches have been gathered from trees of the greatest
age ; and we have met with many instances of these trees
bearing amply when they have been from forty to sixty

278 HISTORY OF FRUITS,

years old. These trees generally yield a crop, when
younger ones fail.

Father Hennepin, a religious missionary, who first de-
scribed the regions of Louisiana in his voyage down the
Mississippi, gives an account of the numerous peach-trees
which he observed in every direction in that part of Ame-
rica ; and as the latitude is the same as that part of Asia,
of which these trees are the natural production, there can
be no doubt but they are indigenous to Louisiana as well
as to Persia, although in many parts of America the
peach is regarded as a foreign fruit, it having been intro-
duced from Europe before Louisiana had been explored.

This fruit is now cultivated with such success in some
parts of North America, that it is not uncommon to see
orchards containing one thousand standard peach-trees,
which are so productive, that the fruit is used to fatten
swine : from a single orchard have been procured, after the
pulp is fermented and distilled, one hundred barrels of
peach brandy.

Peaches grow so rapidly in New South Wales, that if
a stone is set, in three years an abundant crop is pro-
duced.

Peaches are forced with considerable success. These,
of necessity, must bear a high price in the market, so long
as glass continues an object of heavy taxation. The ex-
pense of fuel, it appears, will not be so excessive, since
the heating of flues by steam promises to answer.

Mr. Kirk, of Old Brompton, has lately introduced an
entire new variety of the peach, which he obtained from
Java. It was ripened in the summer of 1820, by John
Braddick, Esq. of Thames Ditton, and it proves to be the
Chinese Flat Peach. The fruit is of a singular form,
being quite flat, and the eye large, and bearing the ap-
pearance of the crown of a medlar, of a yellow colour,
speckled with red on the part exposed to the sun, and

PEACH. 279

covered with a fine down. The flesh is pale yellow, havino-
a beautiful radiated circle of fine red surrounding the
stone, and extending far into the fruit, which is of a good
flavour, and both sweet and juicy.

The Rosanne Peach, which is a variety of the Yellow
Alberge, but of a superior flavour, is thought to be the
best for standard trees, as, when planted in favourable
situations, it ripens its fruit well, and acquires a fine
colour.

It is^ observed, that the best peaches of eveiy kind are
red next the sun, and of a yellowish cast towards the
wall : the pulp should also be of a yellowish tint, and
juicy ; the skin thin, and the stone small. To have them
in perfection, they should not be gathered until they will
fall into the hand by the slightest touch of the finger.

This is one of the fruits in particular which is recom-
mended to be eaten in the morning, in preference to the
usual time of dessert. Brookes says, " peaches agree
well with persons of hot constitutions and costive habits,
especially if they are eaten in a morning fasting."

The flowers of the peach-tree are used in medicine :
when made into a syrup, they are given as an aperient to
children, and are recommended as a great destroyer of
worms.

It should be observed not to get the flowers from those
peach-trees that have been grafted upon almond-stocks,
as the flowers partake of the property of the stock, which
greatly alters their virtue. The plum is a purgative, the
almond not at all so.

Gerard also says, " the leaves of the peach-tree boiled
in milk, will destroy the worms in young children."

The young leaves are used by cooks to flavour blanc-
mange, custards, puddings, &c. ; and a liquor resembling
noyau is made by steeping peach-leaves in white brandy,
and, when sweetened with sugar-candy, and fined with

280 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

milk, it is difficult to distinguish it from the flavoured
cordial of Martinique.

Michaelmas is the time recommended for the winter
pruning of the nectarine, as well as the peach-tree, when,
with little attention, the blossom-buds will be known from
the wood-buds; the latter being less turgid, longer, and
narrower, than the blossom-buds. In shortening the
branches, observe to leave a wood-bud at the end instead
of the fruit-bud. Care should be taken to nip off the ends
of the strong shoots in the month of May, which will
cause them to throw out new boughs in every part of the
tree, as it produces its fruit from the young wood, either
of the same, or at the most of the former year's shoot.

Peach-trees are often injured by a desire to retain too
full a crop on the branches, which not only prevents the
present fruit from coming to maturity, but, by exhausting
the tree, prevents its fruiting in future years. When the
peach has attained the size of a small gooseberry, the trees
should be carefully thinned, leaving the fruit not nearer
than from four to six inches to each other.

In dry summers, when the branches are well set with
fruit, these trees necessarily require moisture. We ob-
serve, in' general, too little attention paid to the watering
of fruit-trees : we recommend trenches to be thrown up
round the stems, and these trenches to be filled up with
bean-stalks, half-decayed leaves, sticks, or any litter of
that nature that will break the fall of the water, and keep
the ground moist for a longer period.

From the wood of the peach-tree the colour called rose-
pink is procured.

281

PEAR.— PYRUS.

Natural order, Pomacetc. A genus of the Icosandria
Pentagynia class.

" Now let me graft my pears, and prune the vine ;
The fruit is theirs, the labour only mine."

Virgil.
The Latin name is supposed to be from trvp, fire, and
which we consider was given it from the growth of the
tree, which is generally in the shape of a flame, and not
from the pyramidical form of the fruit, as is commonly
stated.

The accounts we have of this fruit are of great anti-
quity, as the pear-tree was consecrated to Minerva pre-
viously to.the olive.

The earliest writers mention it as a fruit growing abun-
dantly in Syria and Egypt, as well as in Greece ; and it
appears to have been brought into Italy from these places
about the time that Sylla made himself master of the
latter country, although there is no doubt but the Romans
had several kinds of this fruit before that time. Virgil
speaks of pears which he had from Cato ; and Columella
mentions a considerable variety of pears. Pliny writes of
them in his 15th book, chap. 2, as being then exceedingly
numerous in Italy : " some have," says he, '* no other
name than the country from whence they came, as the

282 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Syrian, the Alexandrine, the Numidian, the Grecian, the
Picentine, the Numantine, &c. &c. :" but of all the pears,
he mentions the Crustumine as the most delicate and
agreeable ; next to that the Falernian pear was esteemed,
and so called for the abundance of juice it produced,
which he compares to wine. The Tiberian pears were so
named because they were the sort Tiberius the emperor
preferred ; others were named after the persons who had
introduced or cultivated them ; some from the season
when they ripened, as the barley-pear, &c. ; and many
from their odour, as the aromatic and laurel-pears.
" Some are reproached," says he, '* with the name of
proud pears, because they are earliest ripe, and will not
keep :" there were winter-pears, and pears for baking, &c.
" Both pears and apples," continues this author, *' have
the properties of v/ine, on which account physicians are
careful how they give them to their patients ; but when
sodden in wine and water, they are esteemed wholesome."
Again he states, book xxiii. chap. 7, ** all pears whatso-
ever are but a heavy meat, even to those in good health,
and the sick are debarred from eating of them ; and yet,
if they are well boiled or baked, they are exceedingly
pleasant, and moderately wholesome : when sodden or
baked with honey, they agree with the stomach."

Some pears were used as a counterpoison against the
venomous mushrooms ; the ashes of the pear-tree wood
are also used for the same medicinal purpose.

The arms of the city of Worcester are. Argent, a Fess
between three Pears Sable. This, in all probability,
alludes to the early cultivation of this fruit in that neigh-
bourhood.

'* This fruit," says Guillim, in his Display of Heraldry,
" was ordained for the comfort of man ; but as the devil
made use of the apple to the destruction of man, so did

PEAR. 283

the devil's imps use the pear to a wicked end, when the
monks of Swinsted, inviting King John to a banquet,
poisoned him in a dish of pears, though others write it
was in a cup of ale."

From this traditionary tale it may be concluded that
pears had been cultivated prior to the time of King John,
as the wild pear never could have been a dish for the table
of a monarch or a monk.

In an account-book of Henry the Eighth, now remain-
ing in the Exchequer, there are the following charges
among others : — I s d

'* For Medlars and Wardens (Pears) . 0 3 4
" Item, to a woman who gaff the Kyng

Peres . . . .002

The wild pear- tree, as well as the crab-apple, appears
also to be a native of this country, where it is often found
growing, particularly in Somersetshire and Sussex. The
latter county gave names to several varieties that were
esteemed in Worlidge's time (1675), as the Petworth
pear, and the Arundel pear ; but the kinds are now either
lost, or have received new names.

At what period the cultivated pear was first brought
into this country we have no account ; but we may sur-
mise that the Romans did not neglect the propagation of
this fruit when they were masters of Britain. The pear
is mentioned by all our early writers. Swinburn says,
the waste lands near the plains of Puglia, are covered
with wild pear-trees. Gerard says in his time, to write
of pears and apples would require a particular volume :
" every country," says he, ** hath his peculiar fruit ; my-
selfe knowe some one curious, who hath in one peece of
ground, at the point of three score sundrie sorts of pears,
and those exceeding good ; not doubting but, if his minde
had been to seek after multitudes, he might have gotten
togither the like number of those of worsse, kindes.

284 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Master Richard Pointer," he says, " has them all grow-
ino- in his ground at Twicknam, near London, who is a
most cunning and curious grafter and planter of all man-
ner of rare fruits ; and also in the ground of an excellent
grafter and painful planter. Master Henry Banbury, of
Touthill-street, neere vnto Westminster ; and likewise in
the ground of a diligent and most affectionate louer of
plants. Master Warner, neere Hornsey Down, by Lon-
don ; and in divers other grounds about London."

Miller mentions eighty varieties of the pear in his day,
and, at the present time, they are so much increased, that
Mr. Lee, of Hammersmith, assured the author that he
possessed two hundred and thirteen kinds of pear-trees.
At the close of the seventeenth century the French_ gar-
deners reckoned about seven hundred different sorts : of
which, however, scarcely more than fifty were of superior
quality. Thus, few trees, under the guidance of man,
have exhibited so many varieties; and we trust that,
while the Horticultural Society are seeking for new kinds,
those of established fame will not be neglected. It is
desirable to have our orchards planted with a variety, that
we may have some for all seasons and for various pur-
poses; but it is equally to be wished that the best of
each sort should be selected,' not only of the dessert
kinds, but those for baking and preserving, as well as
those for making perry, which is one of the justly-ad-
mired British beverages.

" And taste revived,
The breath of orchard big with bending fruit
Obedient to the breeze and beaten ray,
From the deep-loaded bough a mellow shower
Incessant melts away. The juicy pear
Lies, in a soft profusion, scattered round.
A various sweetness swells the gentle race.

PEAR. 285

By Nature's all-refining hand prepared,
Of tempered sun, and water, earth, and air,
In ever-changing composition mixed."

Thomson.

Perry is considered the best liquor that can be drunk
after a surfeit of mushrooms. An agreeable wine is made
from the wild pears and crab-apples.

In general pears are thought windy, and improper for
weak stomachs ; those are best that are quite ripe, and
have a sweet juice, and then they are seldom noxious,
unless eaten to excess. — (Brooks,)

We know of no fruit that varies in quality more than
the pear, for w^hile some of the kinds are so unpalatable
as not only to be refused by the swine, but even rejected
by idle boys, others are of so delicious a flavour that we
see most of the autumnal fruits give place to them at
the dessert. We shall, therefore, with a hope of meeting
good pears in greater abundance, give such hints as may
lead to their increase, first observing that a bad pear is
injurious to health and brings no price in the market,
while a rich melting pear is eagerly sought after even at
six times the price of oranges or many other imported
fruits, and we never recollect hearing of any person being
injured by eating such pears. Those, therefore, who
have discovered their trees to produce a worthless fruit,
should lose no time in grafting them with a known va-
riety, that both themselves and future generations may be
benefited.

The author having witnessed the advantage of taking
off a ring of bark from the branches of unfruitful pear
trees, particularly recommends the practice, as it has not
been found to injure the trees at Hampton Court Palace^
where it has been repeated for several successive years.
Many persons object to the experiment, fearing to injure

286 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

the branches; but what is the value of unproductive
branches ? Michael Morrah, Esq. of Worthing, made a
most satisfactory proof of the utility of ring barking,
having a large pear-tree in his garden v^^hich had never
even produced blossom. In the month of June 1820, he
took a ring of the bark from two principal branches, the
one of which extended to the east, the other to the west.
In the following spring these two branches were covered
with flowers, although no other part of the tree gave out
a single blossom. The author saw this tree in the autumn,
and counted thirty fine grown pears on one of the ringed
branches. Some gardeners have rejected the plan as
being unnatural, as if it was more unnatural to make a
tree fruitful by stopping the circulation of the sap, than
to make it productive by grafting.

We have already noticed the necessity of watering
fruit-trees, and particularly recommend it to pear-trees
that have large crops on them, as it will both prevent
their falling off, and assist greatly in their size, for the
crops of standard trees cannot well be thinned. Wor-
lidge observes, that

" The pear, when it has room enough to spread,
. "Where it has warmth sufficient over head,
If it be seconded by the wet ground,
With blossoms and swelling fruit will be crown'd,"
The wet summer of 1821, alone would convince us
how much these trees are assisted in their crops by
moisture. The author had a trench thrown round a
standard pear-tree in his garden at Bayswater, for the
purpose of giving it water, but the season turning out
rainy made it unnecessary, and as the trench remained it
received a double portion, the result was that the tree
ripened a full crop, about half-matured a second crop, and
had its branches covered with white blossoms for the
third time in the month of November.

PEAR. 287

In the same summer, a pear-tree of the brown Bury
kind at the White Swan, in Hyde-Street, in the suburbs
of Winchester, blossomed in May, again in June, a third
time in July, and a fourth time in August ; in the month
of October the four progressive crops were hanging on
the branches.

Mr. Worlidge notices a pear-tree that was growing
near Ross in Herefordshire, in 1675, that was, he says,
" as wide in the circumference as three men could encom-
pass with their extended arms, and of so large a head
that the fruit of it yielded seven hogsheads of perry in
one year.

Mr. John Wheeler of Horsham has favoured us with
the particulars of a pear-tree, which he planted at Hill's
Place, near that town, about thirty-eight years back, and
which has been in general very productive ; the tree is
about ten feet in height, and the branches extend fifty-
eight feet, and are only prevented by other trees from a
still greater extension. The pear is of the jargonelle
kind, and the fruit sells in the country at three shillings
per dozen ; a price that ought to induce a farther culti-
vation of pear-trees : besides which, we have often ob-
served, that pear-trees are productive in years when
apples fail.

When we reflect on the labours of the horticulturists who
have, by cultivation, made the pear-tree forget its natural
thorns, and instead of an acerb berry produce us a fruit so
fair and nectareous, we find our warmest gratitude an in-
sufficient return ; while from the nurserymen, whose study
it is to bring to our shores the improved grafts of every
clime to cheer the sense and glad the heart, our warmest
support and fullest approbation cannot be withheld. Let
us hope that those who have a still greater charge, that
of the cultivation of the mind of the rising generation,
will be equally assiduous in engrafting their young stocks

288 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

with principles that must ensure good fruits, *' and give a

god-like joy," to the world at large.

*' Catch then, oh catch, the transient hour,

Improve each moment as it flies :

Life 's a short summer, man a flower ;

He dies ; alas ! how soon he dies."

Johnson.

The pear- tree is liable to be much injured, if pruned
by those who do not understand the nature of it. The
blossoms are commonly produced from buds at the extre-
mity of the last year's shoots, and, as these are often cut
off by the unskilfid pruner, it prevents their producing
fruit, and causes the boughs to send out new branches,
which overfill the tree with wood. The summer is the
best time to look over pear-trees, and to remove all super-
fluous and foreright shoots, which would too much shade
the fruit. If this be carefully done, they will require but
little pruning in the autumn.

Pears that are to be kept for winter use, should hang
as long on the trees as the state of the weather will
allow. They should then be put in a heap, in an open and
dry situation, for about ten days ; then wiped dry with a
woollen cloth, and packed close from the air and moisture.
But to keep this fruit in its greatest perfection, small
earthen jars should be selected, about the size of the
pear, which should be packed separately in clean oat
chaff, and tied down with skin, or brown paper cemented
with pitch. These jars should then be packed in a chest,
or dry closet, with the bottom upwards. Pears are found
more generally productive when grafted on quince stocks,
than upon those of their own kind or the white thorn.

The timber of the pear-tree is of a yellowish colour,
and is used for making carpenters' tools, measuring rulers,
picture-frames, and a variety of purposes. Gerard says,
" the timber of the wild pear is very firm and solid, and

PEAR. 289

good to be cut into moulds." The plates in his book were
cut out of this wood, as were, says he, " breast-plates for
English gentlewomen." Sir William Ouseley tells us that
the Persians make their beautiful Kdshuks, or spoons,
from this wood ; the Mahometan religion prohibiting
them from using at their meals, spoons, or any part of the
table-service, made of gold or silver. This injunction of
their prophet is most religiously observed ; but for this
privation they fully compensate themselves in the luxurious
and splendid equipage of their coffee ; it being no uncom-
mon thing to see their zarph (an outer cup in which the
china cup containing the coffee is put) of enamelled gold,
ornamented with diamonds to the value of from ten thou-
sand to thirty thousand piastres.

290

PINE-APPLE PLANT. -ANANAS.

Natural order, Corumiria. A species of the Bromelia^
and of the class Hexdndria Monogynia.

" What Nalure, alas ! Has denied

To the delicate growth of our isle,
Art has in a measure supplied ;

E'en winter is deck'd with a smile."

Cowper.
These species of plants were named Bromelia in me-
mory of Olaus Bromel, a Swedish author of the seven-
teenth century.

The Brazilians call this delicious fruit Nana, from which
the generic name has been formed.

It takes its name of pine-apple from the resemblance it
bears to the cones of the pine-tree. It is considered the
king of fruits, being second to none in flavour, and always
appearing at table with a crown.

The Ananas is an herbaceous plant, with leaves some-
what resembling those of the aloe. It grows wild, in vast
abundance, in many parts of Africa and South America ;
and is cultivated in the hotter islands of the West Indies,
where it requires but little attention to procure this ele-
gant fruit in perfection and plenty.

That the history of a fruit of so exquisite a flavour, and
so late an introduction, should be so little known to us,
appears extraordinary ; by various ingenious devices, its

PINE-APPLE. 291

cultivation has reached a degree of perfection that could
never have been anticipated by the first growers of the
Ananas in this country. It is said already to have been
brought to a higher state of perfection here than in its
natural soil ; to what farther degree of excellence it may
arrive, under the skilful treatment of the British horticul-
turist, time alone will shew. We consider the principal
cause of the ease with which this fruit is now grown
amongst us, is the liberal and spirited manner by which
the growers have, from time to time, laid their improved
plans before the public by their well-directed pens. The
only return we can make for these national benefits, is to
compile from authentic sources the most accurate infor-
mation respecting this delicacy of the Torrid Zone.

It appears to us to have been indigenous to the new
world only, as the fruits of Africa were well known to the
ancients, and this is not noticed in the works of any of
their authors who wrote on the plants of India.

That it is now found growing wild in many parts of
Africa, is no proof of its being a native of that soil ; it
was never heard of in Europe until the discovery of Ame-
rica, but when once transplanted within its natural lati-
tude, it would necessarily continue to propagate itself, or
be assisted by the birds conveying the seed from place to
place. The Chinese cultivated the ananas to a consider-
able extent, before it was attempted in Europe ; and they
acknowledge to have received it from South America.
Parkinson writes, in 1640, that " it was first brought from
Santa Cruise in Brassill, where it is natural!, into both
West and East Indies, being not natural to either of them,
but is only manured there, and now is growne plentifull."

Father Athanasius Kircher is the oldest author that we
have met with who particularly notices this fruit ; we shall
therefore extract from his work, as the translation stood
in 1669.

u2

292 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

** They have m China a tree called Kagin, yielding
fruit twice a-year, which, by inversion, thrusts forth the
seed or kernels, like werts, or such excrescences, on the
outside of the fruit, and is in common to the East and
West Indies, who call it Ananas ; but the Chinese call it
Fani-polo-Mie ; it groweth in the provinces Quantung,
Kiangsi, and Fokien, and is supposed to have been brought
from Peru ; the tree on which it groweth is not a shrub,
but an herb like unto Carduus ; they call it CartriofoU, on
whose leaf a fruit groweth sticking unto its stalk, of so
pleasant and exquisite a taste, that it may easily obtain
the pre-eminency amongst the most noble fruits of India
and China; the spermatick faculty is innate in all the parts
thereof, for not only the seeds shed on the ground, but
its sprouts and leaves being planted, produce the like
fruits."

Lord Bacon mentions this fruit in his Essay on Planta-
tions or Colonies, but does not notice that it had ever
been brought to Europe in his time ; nor do we meet with
any mention of its having been seen in this country prior
to 1657, when Cromwell the Protector received a present
of pine-apples.

About two years previous to this time, the East India
Company of the United Provinces sent their first embassy
to the Emperor of China; and as they returned in 1657,
it is probable that they were the first who brought both
the fruit and plants to Europe, as John NievhofF, who was
secretary to that embassy, mentions this fruit particularly,
and gives also an engraving of the plant in his History of
the Embassy, and says, " Here grows a well-tasted fruit,
called Ananas, which was at first brought from the West
into the East Indies, where it now is to be had in great
abundance. It is about the bigness of a citron, of a
yellow colour, and well scented ; full of juice, and plea-
sant in taste, if eaten when ripe ; for it is much like unto

PINE-APPLE. 293

strawberries with wine and sugar. Upon the top it is
crowned with a cluster of flowers and leaves, and at a
distance is not unlike an artichoke, but without any pricks
at the corners : the middlemost stalk, being the biggest
upon which the fruit grows, is about two feet high, and
has fifteen or sixteen leaves. Round about this stalk grow
other lesser stalks, with young fruit upon each. Whoso-
ever will eat of this fruit, must first of all take off the
outward skin, and then cut it into pieces, and so infuse
them in wine or water, to draw out the biting quality that
is in it, otherwise it will make blisters upon the tongue :
nor is that all ; for it is very dangerous to eat much of it,
because it is apt to bring on dysentery. And though
this fruit be hot, yet the leaves thereof are cooling, having
a soure and corrosive quality, which is only found in cool-
ing herbs ; and the main hazard is produced by its plea-
santness, which is such, that it will melt in the mouth
like sugar."

In Evelyn's Diary, 9th August, 1661, he says, '* I first
saw y^ famous Queen Pine brought from Barbadoes and
presented to his Ma*'® ; but the first that were ever seen
in England were those sent to Cromwell four years since."

In July 19, 1668, he again observes, " I was at a ban-
quet which the King gave to the French Ambass" Colbert.

'* Standing by his Ma^'** at dinner in the presence, there
was of that rare fruit call'd the Kitig Fine, growing in
Barbados and y^ West Indies, the fruit of them I had
never seen. His Ma*^'® having cut it up, was pleased to
give me a piece off his owne plate to taste of, but in my
opinion it falls short of those ravishing varieties of deli-
ciousness described in Capt. Ligon's History, and others ;
but possibly it might, or certainly was, much impaired in
coming so far. It has yet a grate full acidity, but tastes
more like y® quince and melon than of any other fruit
he mentions."

294 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

It was from the crowns of these pines, most probably,
that Mr. Rose the king's gardener, raised the first pine-
apples that fruited in England, if not in Europe. At
Kensington palace is a curious picture of King Charles
receiving a pine-apple from his gardener Mr. Rose, who
is presenting it on his knees. The earl of Waldegrave
has a similar painting in the breakfast-room of his beau-
tiful residence at Strawberry hill, Twickenham. The
painting represents king Charles the Second, in a garden
before his palace at Ham, attended by two of his fa-
vourite breed of spaniels, and Rose, the royal gardener,
presenting his Majesty with a pine-ap')le. This picture
formed a part of the collection of the celebrated Horace
Walpole, whose descriptive account informs us, that it
was bequeathed by Mr. London to the Rev. Mr. Penni-
cott, of Ditton, by whom it was presented to himself.
He adds, the painting is supposed to be by Daneker.

As forcing-houses had not at that period arrived at
any degree of perfection, the plants were probably by
the severity of the weather, or some accident, lost in this
country, until they were introduced a second time, which,
the Sloanean manuscripts in the British Museum inform
us, was not until the year 1690, when the earl of Port-
land procured plants from Holland.

In the Fitzwilliam Museum, at the University of Cam-
bridge, is a painting by Netscher, of a landscape with
a pine-apple, there stated to be the. first that ever
fruited in England, which was in' Sir Matthew Decker's
garden at Richmond, in Surrey, grandfather to the late
Lord Fitzwilliam. Gough says also, that it was Sir
Matthew Decker, Bart, who first introduced the culture of
the Ananas.

We have not been able to ascertain in what year the
Ananas first fruited in Sir Matthew's garden, but surmise
that it was about the year 1724 or 5, as in the v«^ar 1726

PINE-APPLE. 295

we find there was printed, - An account of the Annunus.
or West Indian Pine-apple, as it now flourishes in Sir
Matthew Decker's garden at Richmond, in Surrey, under
the care of Henry Telende." Ext. in ejusdem lihro : Lon-
don, 1726.

From Lady Mary Montague's remarks, we may also
conclude that it was not much before the time stated, as
on her journey to Constantinople in the year 1716, this
intelligent lady remarks the circumstance of pine-apples
being served up in the dessert, at the electoral table at
Hanover, as a thing she had never before seen or heard
of; and from her ladyship's rank, we may conclude that
she would naturally have met with them, or heard of the
circumstance that excited so much curiosity, had they
been previously ripened at Richmond.

It is stated, that the first pine-apples, raised in Europe,
were by M. La Cout of Leyden ; and this is probable, ex-
cepting those grown by Mr. Rose, in the time of Charles
the Second.

By an engraving of the pine-apple, which was pub-
lished by Robert Furber, gardener, at Kensington, in the
year 1733, we may judge that the raising of pines was
not then brought to any degree of perfection^ as the ffuit
is represented short, having not more than four or five
rows of pips in height ; and the crown appears small and
weak. From the drawings of the other fruits, which
seem to be from fine specimens, it is natural to suppose
that this fruit was also copied from tlie best pine then
produced.

In Jamaica, pine-apples have become so prolific, that
they are often used to flavour rum, and a wine is made
from the fermented juice of the sweeter sorts, nearly
equal to Malmsey. Lunan observes, in his Hortus Ja-
maicensis, that these plants grow most luxuriantly when
they are associated together; and the suckers from them

296 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

are stronger and finer, than when the plants are separated
at a distance from each other: by this their roots are
likewise kept cooler and moister.

Mr. Swinbum observes, that the ananas grows very
well out of doors at Reggio near Naples. The prince of
Scilla was the first that cultivated it in that part of the
world. He treated it in the beginning with great chari-
ness and precaution ; but, upon trial, he found a bolder
management suit it better.

In the month of February 1822, we saw exhibited at
the London Horticultural Society, a moderate-sized pine-
apple, which was grown in a common green-house ; and
Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq. tells us, in the Transactions
of that Society, that, '* in the month of June 1820, he
gave a couple of pine-plants, which had shewn fruit at
six months old, and were of small size, and no value,
to a child, to be placed in a conservatory, in which no
fires were kept during the summer. In July, a storm of
hail destroyed nearly, or fully, half the glass of the con-
servatory ; and its temperature through the summer and
autumn had been so low, that the Chasselas grapes in
it were not ripe in the second week in September. In
the second week of the present month (October) one of
the pine-apples became ripe, having previously swollen
to a most extraordinary size, comparatively with the
size of the plant; and upon measuring accurately the
comparative width of the fruit, and of the stem, he found
the width of the fruit to exceed that of the stem in the
proportion of seven and three quarters to one. The fruit
had of course, been propped during all the latter part
of the summer, the stem being wholly incapable of sup-
porting it. The taste and flavour of this fruit were ex-
cellent, and the appearance of the other, which is not
yet ripe, and is of a larger size, is still more promising.*'

PINE-APPLE, 297

We hope these results will be profitable to those that
have good vine-houses or conservatories-

We have now a considerable variety of this exquisite
fruit, and new kinds are frequently procured by the
curious from the seed, which is very small, of a kidney
shape, and lodged like the seeds of berries in the tuber-
cles ; but the pine is chiefly propagated by planting the
crowns or suckers, which latter come more quickly to
maturity, and are therefore more generally preferred.
The most rare kind is the green pine, which was brought
from Barbadoes ; the black pine is of late introduction.
Of the older varieties, the sugar-loaf pine, with a yellow-
ish flesh, is greatly preferred to the oval-shaped fruit of
a paler colour. The Welbeck-seedling is a pine justly
admired ; as is the blood-pine, a variety grown by Mr.
Wilmot of Isleworth, who makes the following just re-
mark : " like the strawberry," says he, " pines would be
better reduced to four or five varieties."

The heaviest pine-apple, we believe, that has been
grown in this country, weighed eleven pounds ; and the
one exhibited at the London Horticultural Society and
afterwards presented to his Majesty for his coronation
dinner, was the largest ever seen in England, but was
not quite so heavy, weighing ten pounds eight ounces.
There has also been cut in the hot-house of the Right
Hon. Thomas Wallace, of Carlton Hall, a pine-apple,
weighing nine pounds four ounces and a half. It was
brought to this high state of perfection by the skilful
management of Mr. Thomas Todd, gardener.

It is stated by William Bastard, Esq. in the Philoso-
phical Transactions for 1777, that pine-apples raised in
water are larger and finer flavoured than those raised in
bark beds ; the plants are set in pots of earth which are
kept in a pan of water that is kept full, and placed in the
hottest part of the forcing-house.

298 - MisTOiiy OF fkuits.

Dr. Wright says, pines have a detersive quality, and
are better fitted to cleanse the mouth and gums than any
garble whatever.

This fruit was long confined to the tables of the rich
and the luxurious, on account of the expense of raising
it in stoves ; but the cultivation of the pine-apple is now
so well understood in this country, that notwithstanding
the bar made by the high price of glass, and the expense
of fuel, this fruit is seen in our markets, at one-fourth of
the price they produced a few years back : and pine-apple
ices are already become as common as those of raspberry,
in the shops of the London confectioners.

As the heating of pineries by steam is found to answer
to the most sanguine expectation, we have only to hope
that the duty on garden glass will be relinquished, when
we should soon have African gardens of great extent on
the banks of the Thames, and this American fruit cried
through our streets, two for a crown.

The late Sir Joseph Banks says, that it does not re-
quire the foresight of a prophet to foretell, that in less
than half a century we shall have forcing-houses of such
an extent, that our markets will be supplied with the aki, .
and the avocado pear of the West Indies, the flat peaches,
the Mandarine orange, and the Litchi of China; the
mango, (which has already been ripened at Kew, in the
autumn of 1808,) the mangostan, and the durion of the
East Indies, and possibly other valuable fruits.

This fruit was for the first time imported as an
article of commerce from the Bermuda islands, in the
summer of 1820. The importation consisted of about
400 pine-apples of the species called the Green Provi-
dence. These were purchased by Mr. Mart, of Oxford
Street, fruiterer, who informed the author that about two
thirds of the quantity arrived in good condition. As this
experiment has been found to answer, we may in future

PINE-APPLE. 299

expect a regular supply of pine-apples, not only from the
Bermudas, but also from the West India islands. We
observed, that those pines which were packed with the
roots, arrived in a better state than others that were cut
off in the usual manner.

Monsieur Berard, of Montpelier, in a paper of the
French journals. Annates de Chimie for 1821, says, ** that
most fruits, and especially those that do not require to
remain on the tree, may be preserved for some time, and
the pleasure they afford us thus prolonged. The most
simple process consists in placing at the bottom of a
bottle, a paste formed of lime, sulphate of iron, and
water ; and afterwards to introduce the fruit, it having
been pulled a few days before it would have been ripe.
The fruit is to be kept from the bottom of the bottle,
and as much as possible from each other, and the bottle
to be closed by a cork and cement. The fruit is thus
placed in an atmosphere free from oxygen, and may be
preserved for a longer or a shorter time according to their
nature : peaches, plums, and apricots from twenty days
to a month ; pears and apples for three months. If they
are withdrawn after this time, and exposed to the air,
they ripen extremely well ; but if the times mentioned are
much exceeded, they undergo a particular alteration, and
will not ripen at all.

Ripe fruit exposed to the air rots and decays. In this
case it first changes the oxygen of the surrounding air
into carbonic acid, and then liberates from itself a large
quantity of the same acid gas. It appears that the pre-
sence of oxygen gas is necessary to rotting or decay of
fruits ; when it is absent, a different change takes place.

300

PLANTAIN.— MUSA I^ARADISIACA.

Natural order, Scitamenca. A genus of the Folygamia
Monacia class.

" The plantain wide his graceful foliage spreads ;
Where giant palms lift high their tufted heads."

This tree received its generic name in memory of An-
tonius Musa, the freedman and physician of Augustus,
who, for curing his imperial master of a dangerous dis-
ease by the use of the cold bath, was honoured by the
senate with a brazen statue, placed near that of ^scula-
pius. Antonius was a botanist, and is supposed to be the
author of the treatise De Herha Botanka.

The plantain is a native of Guinea, whence it was
brought to the Canary Islands ; and thence it was after-
wards carried to the West Indies ; where it is now culti-
vated with much care in all the islands, the fruit being
regarded as one of the greatest blessings bestowed upon
the inhabitants of that climate. Dr. Wright says, the
island of Jamaica would scarcely be habitable without
this fruit, as no species of provision could supply its
place ; even flour, or wheaten bread itself, would be less
agreeable, and less adapted to support the laborious
negro, so as to enable him to perform his business, or to
keep up his health.

Dampier calls it the king of all fruit, not excepting the
cocoa itself.

The fruit of the plantain-tree is about a foot long, and

PLANTAIN* 301

two or three inches in diameter; it forms a principal part
of the food of the negroes, who either roast or boil it }
and when thus cooked, it is a palatable and strengthening
diet. It is often boiled in their mess of salt beef, pork,
or fish, &c. ; many Europeans, when accustomed to it,
prefer it to bread : and those who settle in America, when
they make a new plantation, generally begin with a good
plantain-walk, enlarging it as their family increases;
some of the trees are always to be found in fruit, and this
is many times the sole food on which a family subsists.
These trees thrive only in a rich flat ground ; they will
not prosper in a poor sandy soil. When ripe, the fruit is
lusciously sweet, and makes good tarts. The Spaniards
dry and preserve it as a sweetmeat, and it is thought to be
the most wholesome of all confectionary. It is one of the
very best foods to fatten domestic animals and fowls,
giving a firmness and exquisite flavour to their flesh.

The plantain is cultivated in Egypt, and most other
hot countries, where it grows to perfection in about ten
months from its first planting, to the ripening of its fruit.
This tree is only perennial by its roots, and dies down to
the ground when it has fruited, after which it is cut down :
several suckers then soon come up from the roots, which
in six or eight months produce fruit, so that by cutting
down the stalks at different times, there is a constant
succession of fruit all the year.

When the plantain is grown to its full height, the
spikes of flowers appear in the centre, which is about
four feet long. The flowers come out in bunches, those
in the lower part of the spike being the largest ; each of
these bunches is covered with a sheath of a fine purple
colour, which drops off when the flowers open. The
upper part of the spike is made up of male flowers, which
are succeeded by the fruit. The plantain is of a pale
yellow colour when ripe, and the spikes of fruit often

302 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

weigh upwards of forty pounds. This plant has been
reared in our stoves ever since the year 1690.

The Banana Tree : Musa Sapientnm. — This tree so
much resembles the plantain, that it is only known at
first by the dark spots on its stem, which the other has
not. It is a wholesome fruit, and is used at desserts. A
pleasant drink, exceeding our cider, is made from it.
When baked in tarts, or boiled in dumplings, this fruit
tastes like the apple : when dried in the sun, it resembles
a delicious fig. It also makes a good marmalade, which
is recommended as a great relief for coughs. The fruit
of the banana-tree is said to comfort the heart ; is cooling,
and refreshes the spirits. Labat states, that when the
natives of the West Indies undertake a voyage, they make
part of their provision to consist of a paste of banana,
which, in case of need, serves them for nourishment and
drink. For this purpose they take ripe bananas, and
having squeezed them through a fine sieve, form the solid
fruit into small loaves, which are dried in the sun, or in
hot ashes, after being previously wrapped in the leaves of
Indian flowering-reed.

..The fruit of the banana-tree is about four or five inches
long, of the size and shape of a middling cucumber ; it
generally grows in bunches, weighing upwards of twelve
pounds. The Spaniards have a conceit, that if you cut
this, or the fruit of the plantain athwart, or crossways,
there appears a cross in the middle of the fruit, and there-
fore they will not cut any, but break them. Lodovicus
Romanus, and Brocard, who wrote a Description of the
Holy Land, call the bananas Adam's Apples, supposing
them to be the fruit that Eve took and gave to Adam ;
which is as erroneous as the account of the Abbe
Poyart and others, who state the leaves to be those of

PLANTAIN. 303

the tree from which our first parents made themselveii
aprons, as from their size, which is from five to seven
feet in length, and from one to two feet in breadth,
they could not have required sewing together for that
purpose. These leaves are said to be as strong as parch-
ment. The leaves of the plantain, as well as the banana,
grow so rapidly, that by placing a thread, they will be
found to grow an inch in an hour. The young leaves are
so soft, that they are employed in dressings for blisters,
&c. When full grown, they are so large that they are
used as substitutes for napkins and table-cloths ; when
dried, they are made into mats and stuffings for mat-
tresses, &c.

If a knife be thrust into a plantain-tree, there will come
out a great quantity of clear water, which is very rough
and astringent, stopping all sorts of fluxes.

The fruit of the banana-tree has been ripened in our
hothouses ; but as the tree grows very tall, the size of the
leaves requires more room than most gardeners are will-
ing to allow it in the stove.

Mr. Swinburn tells us that the Musa grows very well
in the open air at Reggio.

From the rapidity of the growth of the banana, it is of
too porous a nature to merit the name of wood, and the
Indians have ever been accustomed to make cordage, and
a kind of cloth from its fibres. The celebrated circum-
navigator, Dampier, noticed the process more than a
century ago as follows : —

" They take the body of the tree, clear it of its out-
ward bark and leaves, cut it into quarters, put it into the
sun, when the moisture exhales ; they then take hold of
the threads at the ends, and draw them out : they are as
big as brown thread ; and of this they make cloth in
Mindanas, called saggen"

In Jamaica, there have been upwards of two hundred

304 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

pounds given by order of the Assembly, for the best spe-
cimens of this hemp. Dr. Stewart West gained a pre-
mium, and his process may be seen in the Hortus
Jamaicensis.

From experiments tried on the hemp made from the
plantain-tree fibre, which was manufactured into rope at
his Majesty's dock-yard. Port Royal, in Jamaica, the
following results were obtained : —

Cwt. qr. lb.
King's nine-thread inch-rope broke by the

weight of
Dr. West's specimen broke by the weight of
Specimen from the parish of St. Andrew
Do. Do. Portland

Do. Do. St George

The above specimens were all made of the same size as
the king's rope.

6

1 14

6

2 0

6

1 0

4

2 0

3

2 0

305

PLUM.— PRUNUS.

Natural order, Pomaces. A genus of the Icomndria
Monogynia class.

" The mealy plum

Hangs purpling, or displays an amber hue."

Plums are so numerous in their varieties, that to de-
scribe them separately would be endless; as not only
every country, but almost every district, has its peculiar
sorts of this fruit.

The Grecians added to their native plums those of
Syria, Egypt, and Persia; and the Romans not only pos-
sessed themselves of the plums of all the known world,
but employed their ingenuity in making additional va-
rieties. Columella, in his tenth book, speaking of this
fruit, says —

" then are the wicker baskets cramm'd

With Damask and Armenian, and wax plums."'

Pliny states, in his fifteenth book, chap. 13, that
there was a great variety of this fruit in Italy ; and it is
not long, says he, since the country about Grenada and
Andalusia began to graft plums upon apple stocks, which
were called apple plums; others upon almond stocks,
which he calls a clever device, as it produced both fruits,
the stone being like the kernel of an almond. Those
grafted upon nut stocks, he states, retained the form of
the mother graft ; but they got the taste of the stock
wherein they were set.

X

306* HISTORY OF FRUITS.

The wild sloe and bullace are indigenous to this coun-
try, and in all probability the only kinds that are natives ;
but, like the wild crab-apple, they have furnished stocks
for every variety of their own species ; and this fruit ap-
pears to have been attended to in early days, if we may
judge from the variety that Gerard had in his garden at
Holborn, in 1597. ** I have," says he, '' three score
sorts in my garden, and all strange and rare : there be in
other places many more common, and yet yeerely
commeth to our handes others not before knowne. The
greatest varietie of these rare plums are to be found in
the grounds of Master Vincent Pointer, of Twicknam."

The damson, or damascene plum, takes its name from
Damascus, where it grows in great quantities, and from
whence it was brought into Italy about 114 years B. C.
Pliny says, this plum required the warmer sun of Syria :
we may therefore conclude, it is still inferior in our
climate to what it is in Italy.

The Orleans plum takes its name from the part of
France so called. This is a handsome but an indifferent
fruit, and not equal to the common muscle plum in
flavour, although it is more cultivated than even the green-
gage, which is not only the most agreeable, but also the
most wholesome of all the plums. This latter plum was
called the Reine Claude, from having been introduced
into France by Queen Claude, wife to Francis the First
of that country, but it bears various names in different
parts of France. It is often called Damas verd; at Tours
it is named Abricot verd ; at Rouen, where it grows abun-
dantly, they call it (a Verte homie. This plum received
the name of Green-gage from the following accident : —
The Gage family, in the last century, procured from the
monastery of the Chartreuse at Paris, a collection of
fruit-trees. When these trees arrived at the mansion of
Hengrave Hall, the tickets were safely affixed to all of

PLUM. 307

them, excepting only to the Reine Claude, which had
either not been put on, or had been rubbed off in
the package. The gardener, therefore, being ignorant
of the name, called it, when it first bore fruit, the Green
Gage. The compliment was justly due to the family for
the introduction of this excellent plum, which is more
acceptable to the country at large, than the trifling re-
spect can be to the family of Gage.

Lord Cromwell brought several sorts of plums from
Italy into this country, in the reign of Henry the Seventh :
among them was the Perdrigon.

The Bonum Magnum is our largest plum, and greatly
esteemed for preserves and culinary purposes. This ap-
pears to have been originally a Dutch fruit, or rather en-
larged by their culture and soil. A plum of nearly the
same size and sliape, but of a yellower hue, has lately
been introduced by Mr. Coe, of Brompton, and is called
Coe's golden drop. In flavour it partakes both of the
green- gage and the apricot. The author had several
standard trees in his garden at Bayswater, which were
very productive ; and the fruit had the quality of keeping
perfectly sound and good until near Christmas, if gathered
with the stalk or a part of the branch, and suspended in
a dry room.

Plums are now forced in the highest perfection, which
enables the gardener to supply the spring desserts with
the autumnal fruits.

John Townsend Aiton, Esq., of the Royal Gardens,
Windsor, has lately communicated some useful informa-
tion on the forcing of this fruit, in a letter to the Secre-
tary of the Horticultural Society. He says, " The kinds
of plums generally preferred for forcing, are the follow-
ing :— Precoce de Tours, green-gage, blue-gage, white
perdrigon, Orleans, New Orleans, and Morocco.

•* When an early crop is desired, plums are best forced-

x2

308 HISTORY OF FRurrs.

in large pots or tubs, as this method admits of their re-
moval at pleasure into different degrees of temperature
as occasion may require ; but for a general crop to ripen
by the end of May, or beginning of June, it is preferable
to have the trees planted in the forcing-house, and if
they are intended to be forced in the first year, proper
trees for the purpose, furnished with well branching
wood, should be selected and planted early in the autumn,
that they may establish themselves before the winter sets
jn. The soil to be preferred is a moderately rich loam,
without mixture of manure.

" For a crop to ripen in the second week in May the
house must be covered in early in January, commencing
with a temperature of 42^ of Fahrenheit, for the first
fortnight, after which the heat may be gradually raised
to 52^^, at which it may continue until the flowers make
their appearance ; during this time frequent changes of
air must be admitted, to strengthen the bloom, and the
crop will be rendered more certain by keeping the trees
in blossom as long as possible, by light shading when
jiecessary ; and when the petals begin to fall, gentle
jdews may be raised from the surface of the mould.

''As the fruit forms, the thermometer should be raised
io 58® ; this must be done gradually, as the consequence
of a rapid rise may be a casting of the fruit. During the
progress of stoning great care must be taken against
sudden variations of the temperature, water being very
sparingly used, and every check by fumigation, &c. given
to the various insects which will be particularly active at
this period. When the fruit is safely stoned, a moderate
dressing of rotten manure may be spread on the surface
of .the rnould ^ the heat increased to 68^^, and a more
liberal supply of water given. After the fruit has at-
tained a full size, and approaches maturity, air may
he ffjeely admitted, and water should be given in less

PLUM. 309

quantities, and finally discontinued a few days before
gathering."

Dried plums are principally imported from Portugal,
and the neighbourhood of Marseilles in France; from
whence also prunes are brought : this latter variety is
mostly used in medicine, and though the laxative power
is diminished by drying, yet as they contain much of
their acid, they have more effect than other dried fruits.
They are peculiarly useful in costive habits. It is the
pulp of this fruit that forms the principal part of lenitive
electuary.

. Plums of all kinds are considered more agreeable than
wholesome, but, like the pear, they lose their bad qua-
lities by baking. Plums in general are moistening, laxa-
tive, and emollient, except the bullaces and sloes, which
are astringent. They are cooling, quench thirst, and
create an appetite, and therefore agree best with hot con-
stitutions ; but they do not suit weak stomachs: in general,
however, they may not only be eaten with impunity, but
even with advantage, when perfectly ripe, as they tend to
keep the body moderately open. In years when plums
are very plentiful, and consequently much eaten, dysen-
teries generally abound : hence it appears that they ought
always to be eaten very moderately, and then they should
be quite ripe and sound. (Brookes.) The damson plum
produces a tolerably pleasant wine, and an exceedingly
agreeable kind of jelly called damson cheese. The wild
plum was used in medicine by the ancients, and the bark
of the tree is thought to be equal to the Peruvian bark
in cases of intermitting fevers.

Plums should have a middling soil, neither too wet and
heavy, nor over light and dry : in either extreme they
seldom do well ; yet we have known them occasionally
flourish in a cold gravelly soil where apple-trees would
not prosper. An east or south-east aspect is better for

10 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

plum-trees than a full south, on which they are subject
to shrivel, and to be very dry, and often extremely mealy,
if exposed too much~ to the heat of the sun : in planting,
this should be particularly attended to; as it leaves the
better situations of the garden free for those fruits that
require vi^armer suns.

The young pruner must recollect that plums do not
only produce their fruit upon the last year's wood, but
also upon curzons or spurs, which come out of wood that
is many years old ^ therefore it is not necessary to shorten
the branches, in order to obtain new shoots, as is requi-
site with the peach, &c. If plum-trees are much pruned,
they grow too luxuriant to produce fruit, and often gum
and spoil.

Standard plum-trees should have a situation in the
pleasure-grounds, as the snowy petals are next in succes-
sion to the blushing almond, and they fill up a vacancy
before the lilac flowers. We observe this peculiar cha-
racter in the plum-tree, that it always blossoms in cold
weather.

311

POMEGRANATE.— PUNICA.

Natural order, Pomacea. A genus of the Icosandria
Monogj/ma class.

This fruit takes its name from pomum gratiatum, a
kemelled apple.

The generic name is called after a part of Africa, where
ancient Carthage stood, and not after the colour of
the blossoms, as is generally stated ; as Pliny tells us po^
sitively that the colour was named from the flower, —
which seems more reasonable.

The Bible notices the pomegranate as a native of Syria.
It is mentioned as one of the fruits discovered in the Land
of Promise ; previous to which discovery, while the Israel-
ites sojourned in the wilderness, it was selected as the
ornament to the robe of the Ephod.

The sacred history also informs us, that the two large
pillars of brass, made by Hiram for the porch of Solo-
mon's temple, were ornamented with carvings of the
pomegranate; and by the writings of Solomon we may
conclude, that a choice wine was made from it in Judea:

*' I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the
juice of my pomegranates.'*

Again it is mentioned by the Prophet Joel :

*' The vine is dried up, and the fig-tree languisheth ; the
pomegranate-tree, the palm-tree also, and the apple-tree ;
even all the trees of the field are withered."

The Grecians esteemed this fruit, and described it iu

312 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

their fabulous stories as growing in the Elysian Fields.
When Ceres earnestly entreated Jupiter for the restitution
of her daughter Proserpine, who had been carried off by
Pluto, he promised to grant it on condition that she had
tasted no food in the infernal regions. Unfortunately she
had gathered a pomegranate from a tree, and eaten a few
of the seeds, as she was walking in the Elysian Fields.
This was made known by Ascalaphus, who alone had
seen it ; and the enraged mother turned him into an owl
for his unseasonable information.

The pomegranate-tree was first brought to Rome from
Carthage, in the days of the murderous Sylla. Pliny says,
that the territory of Carthage claimed to itself the Punic
apple, which some call pomegranate ; from the flowers of
which is obtained the colour to dye cloth, called Punioeus
(pink or light red.) He speaks of nine varieties; describes
the sweet sort, the sour, the temperate, the styptic or
austere, and one kind tasting of wine. ** The difference,"
he says, ** between the pomegranate of Samos and that
of Egypt, consists in their flowers ; the one being white,
and the other red. The rind of the sour kind is the best
for tanners and curriers to dress their leather with." This
author recommends pomegranates to be divided into
quarters, and steeped in rain-water for three days ; which,
he states, makes a good drink for those who are of weak
habits. The flowers, rind, and every part of the fruit,
were used medicinally by the Romans ; on which subject
he has written at large, book vi. chap. 23.

, Some authors afiirm, that Grenada, in Spain, owes its
name to this fruit, which was brought from Africa, and
planted in that district. The capital of this province has
a split pomegranate for its arms, which is seen on the
gate-posts of the public walks, and is represented in
carving, or by painting, on all the public buildings.

The pomegranate-tree was first cultivated in England

POMKGllANATi:. 3 [3

in the year 1548, during the reign of Henry the Eighth ;
and we find it mentioned among the trees that fruired in
the orange-house of the unfortunate Charles the First.

It blossoms well in the warmer counties of England j
but the fruit seldom comes to perfection in the open air.
The kind generally planted for ornament is the double
scarlet, which is very beautiful when in blossom.

Gerard writes on the medicinal qualities of this tree^
and informs us, that he reared several plants fron* the
seeds previous to 1597.

The pomegranate has been planted in the West India
islands, where the fruit grows larger and finer-flavoured
than in Europe. The French, in the island of St. Vincent,
had a riddle on the pomegranate, on account of the re-
semblance which the calix bears to a crovi^n.

*' Quelle est la reine, qui porte tout son royaume dans
son sein V

Lord Bacon notices this fruit, and recomn^iends the use
of the wine of the sweet pomegranates for complaints of
the liver, or, if that cannot be had, the juice of them
newly expressed. He says, "let it be taken in the morn-
ing, with a little sugar; and into the glass into which the
expression is made, put a small piece of green citron-peel,
and three or four whole cloves : let this be taken from
February till the end of March." The juice of the pome-
granate is preferred even to that of oranges in cases of
fever. The rind of the fruit and the flowers are the parts
directed for medicinal uses : they are both powerful astrin-
gents, and have long been successfully employed as such,
both internally and externally for gargles, and in diar-
rhoeas, 8ic. The dose in substance is from half a dram
to a dram; in infusion or decoction, to half an ounce.
( Woodville.)

As an astringent, the rind of the fruit, boiled in water
with cinnamon, port wine and guada jelly to be added, is
recommended in Dancer's Medical Assistant.

314 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

The Persians make a favourite drink of the rinds of the
pomegranate, with the addition of cinnamon.

The rind also produces as good ink as that made
from galls. ^

Sloane says, that the leaves beaten with oil of roses,
applied to the head, cure its aching. The rind of the
fruit, together with the bark of the tree, is still used in
some parts of Germany, in the preparation and dyeing of
red leather in imitation of Morocco.

These beautiful trees love a strong rich soil. They are
easily propagated by laying down their branches in the
spring, which in one year will make good roots, when they
should be planted before they begin to open their buds.

As these trees are often deprived of blossom by the
ignorance of the pruner, we shall observe that the flowers
always proceed from the extremity of the branches which
are produced the same year. Therefore, all weak branches
of the former year should be cut out, and the strongest
should be shortened in proportion to their strength, in
order to obtain new shoots in every part of the tree. The
best time for this pruning is about Michaelmas.

The Parisians are very fond of this tree, which is to be
seen in every garden in the city and its vicinity.

In Sicily it forms the hedge-rows. Russel notices, in
an account of Aleppo, that ** the nightingale sings from
the pomegranate-groves in the day-time, and from the
loftiest trees at night ;" from which Moore seems to have
taken the idea,

" The nightingale now bends her flight
From the high trees, where all the night

She sang so sweet, with none to listen ;
And hides her from the morning star,

Where thickets of pomegranate glisten.*'

315

PUMPKIN, OR POMPION.—PEPO.

Natural order, CucurhitacecR. A genus of the Monacia
Syngenesia class.

The pompion is a coarse, inferior kind of melon, which
has long been known in Europe, as Pliny mentions it in
liis 19th book, chap. v. where he says, cucumbers of an
exceeding large size are called pompions. Again, in his
20th book, chap. ii. he says, " the fruit called pompions,
or melons, are eaten to cool the body, and the fleshy sub-
stance is applied to the eyes, assuaging their pain," &c.

Aiton states it to be a native of the Levant, and says it
was first introduced into this country in 1570. Gerard
says, "as there is a wild sort of cucumbers, of melons,
citruls, and gourds, so likewise there be certaine wild
pompions, which grow in Barbaric, Africa, and most parts
of the East and West Indies." This author says, "the
pulpe of the pompion is neuer eaten raw ; but boiled in
milk and buttered, is not onely a good wholesome meate
for man's bodie, but, being so prepared, is also a most
phisicall medicine for such as have an hot stomacke, and
the inward parts inflamed :" he continues, ** the flesh or
pulpe of the same sliced, and fried in a pan with butter,
is also a good and wholesome meate :" but he condemns
the method of using it with apples in pies.

This fruit has lately been raised in the neighbourhood
of London to an extraordinary^ size, weighing nearly two
hundred weight. These are sold in the shops of the me-
tropolis, more as a curiosity than for use. I have found

316 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

them, when boiled in their own moisture, viz. without
water, an excellent vegetable with meat, having a taste
resembling artichokes : with the addition of the peel and
juice of lemons, they make an agreeable pudding.

Pompions are used by the Jews in the Feast of Taber-
nacles; when they form a kind of cradles, into which
they put a great number of pompions.

In Hughes's Natural History of Barbadoes, he says,
" Pumpkins make a great part of the food of the poorer
sort, in the summer-time, as well in Asia and Africa as in
America." He adds, that they are distinguished in Bar-
badoes by the names of the White, the Blue, the Marbled,
and the Garden Pumpkin. The latter differs from all the
rest by having no seed, but is propagated by slips. He
says, also, that they are boiled and eaten with flesh meat,
and much used by the poorer sort in soups,

Galiffe tells us that at Venice the poorest class live
almost exclusively on pumpkins, of which there are two
sorts. ** The first and cheapest is that round and insipid
kind, which is known all over Europe ; it is called Zucca
barucca, and a slice of it costs only one centime, equal to
the tenth part of a penny. It is miserable food, but five
or six slices of it during the day, are sufficient to keep
body and soul together. The other sort is called Zucca
Santa; it is more substantial, less insipid, and propor-
tionably dearer : and is the favourite and usual food of
that portion of the lower classes who are just above beg-
ging. Its form is that of a very long pear, its taste is not
unlike that of a carrot, and the rind, when fried, forms a
sort of resinous substance, which is esteemed a great
delicacy by the pumpkin eaters. These pumpkins are
«old ready fried, in three or four different moveable stalls
in every street ; you cannotgo ten paces, without meeting
with some. They afford, perhaps, a less savoury, but
certainly a more wholesome nourishment, than the greasy

PUMPKIN. 317

and dirty fritter, of which the Amsterdam beggars are so
fond."

We are assured that the grooms in India defend their
horses from the flies by rubbing them every morning with
the flowers of the pumpkin.

The Jugglers, or quacks, in some parts of America,
extract the pulp out of pompions, and fill them with flint
stones, with which they make a great noise, and pretend
to frighten away all the complaints of their superstitious
patients.

I

318

QUINCE.— CYDONIA.

Natural order, PomacecB. A genus of' the Icosandria
Pentagynia class.

The Greeks called this fruit M>jXea KuScovia, and the
Latins Cydonia Malus, from Cydon in Crete, now called
Candia. Cato called it Cotonea, from the down which
covers the fruit, and which Fuchsius tells us was called
Cotton, The Spaniards call it Marmello, from whence we
derive the name of Marmalade. The English name of
Quince seems to be a compound of the French Going, and
the German Quittenhaum.

Linnaeus has joined this genus, as well as the apple, to
the pear, while Miller separates it on this account: he
says, " the pear will take upon the quince by grafting or
budding, and so vice versa; but neither of these will take
upon the apple, nor that upon either of these." But we
have a particular account transmitted to us by Pliny, that
quinces were grafted upon apple-stocks in his time (book
XV. chap. 14): he says, ** as for the quince-apples that
come of a quince grafted upon an apple-stock, they are
called Appiana, after Appius, who was of the Claudian
house, and who first devised and practised this mode of
grafting : these apples," continues he, " have the smell of
the quince, are of a red colour, and the size of the Clau-
dian apple."

The Quince is a fruit that the ancients held in high
estimation : they considered it as the emblem of happi-

* QUINCE. 319

ness, of love, and of fruitfulness : it was dedicated to
Venus, and the temples of Cyprus and Paphos were deco-
rated with it. The statues of the gods also who presided
at the nuptial bed, were ornamented with this fruit; and
the bride, before she entered into the marriage-bed, used
to eat of the quinces. Columella says, quinces not only
yield pleasure, but health also : he speaks of three kinds ;
the Struthian, the Must Quince, and the Orange or
Golden Quince.

The learned Goropius maintains that quinces were the
golden apples of the Hesperides, and not oranges, as some
commentators pretend. In support of his argument, he
states, that it was a fruit much revered by the ancients,
and he assures us that there has been discovered at Rome
a statue of Hercules, that held in its hand three quinces ;
this, he says, agrees with the fable which states, that
Hercules stole the golden apples from the gardens of
the Hesperides.

Pliny speaks of quinces in his 15th book, 11th chap,
and says, " There are many kinds of this fruit in Italy,
some growing wild in the hedge-rows, others so large that
they weigh the boughs down to the ground ; some of a
green hue, others inclining to gold colour : these were
called Chrj/somela, which seems to giye authority to the
above account of Goropius. The only kind that was eaten
raw, he states to have been raised by grafting the large
quince upon the stock of a small kind, called Struthea (the
pear-quince). He adds, ** All kinds of this fruit are in
use now-a-days, within the waiting or presence-chambers
of our great personages, where men give attendance to
salute them as they come forth every morning." He also,
states, that they were used to garnish the images which
stand about the bed's head and sides.

The same author, in his 23d book, chap. 6, writes much
on the medicinal qualities of this fruit. " Quinces," says

320 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

he, " when eaten i-aw, if quite ripe, are good for those
who spit blood, or are troubled with hsemorrhage." The
juice of raw quinces, he states to be a sovereign remedy
for the swoln spleen, the dropsy, and difficulty of taking
breath, particularly to those who cannot draw their breath
but in an upright position. The flowers, either fresh or
dried, he tells us, are good for the inflammation of the
eyes. The root of the tree was used more as a charm
than a medicine for those afflicted with the scrofula.

Quince-trees grow wild on the banks of the Danube,
and they are stated to have been brought into this country
from the island of Crete, now called Candia. They have
long been cultivated in this kingdom, as our earliest au-
thors on this subject mention them. Gerard says, they
were often planted in hedges and fences to gardens and
vineyards in his time. By the Hortus Kewensis it appears,
that the quince was first introduced in 4he reign of Henry
the Eighth, 1537, which is evidently an error, from the
circumstance above related by Gerard, who was then an
old man.

Rea's Pomona notices (in 1665), that we then cultivated
in this country, " in addition to the English Quince, the
Portugal Apple-Quince, a large yellow quince, which was
apt to split, but so tender as to be eaten raw. The Por-
tugal Pear-Quince for baking or preserving.

" The Barberry Quince, which was smaller both in fruit
and tree.

** The Lion's Quince, a large fruit of a deep yellow
colour, the sides ribbed with a deep hollow crown.

*' The Brunswick Quince, large and round, but a whiter
fruit than any of the others."

Coles also mentions these varieties in 1657.

Quinces are used in medicine, being of an astringent
and stomachic quality. The expressed juice of this fruit,
in small quantities, as a spoonful or two, is of service in

QUINCE. 321

nausea, vomiting. &c. Lord Bacon says, ** It is certain
that the use of quinces is good to strengthen the stomach;
but we take them to be better, if they be used in that
which they call qniddenij of quinces, than in the bodies of
quinces themselves, because they he heavy in the sto-
mach ; but those quiddenies are best taken after meals
alone; before meals, dipped in vinegar."

Quinces grow in such abundance in some parts of the
wealds of Sussex, as to enable private families to make
quince-wine in quantities of from one to two hundred
gallons in a season. It is an agreeable wine, that im-
proves much by keeping, and is greatly esteemed by
asthmatic persons. A gentleman residing at Horsham,
in Sussex, assured the author that he was not only re-
lieved in an asthmatic complaint of long standing, but
completely restored to his health by the use of this wine,
which was made after the following receipt : —

** Cut large quinces in quarters, and core them, as the
seeds give the wine an unpleasant flavour ; grind them in
the same manner as apples for cider, and put to every
gallon of pummis a gallon of water ; let it stand a day or
two, then strain it off. Should the pummis smell very
strong of the fruit, it will bear a little more water, and to
every gallon put three pounds and a quarter of moist
sugar; tun it, and stop it quite close in the following
March ; rack it off; cleanse the cask from the sedi-
ment, and put it back again ; and in the second year
bottle it off."

Quince-marmalade is greatly admired by those who are
fond of the fruit. It is the most esteemed among the
various comfits which the Greeks and other Christians in
the Levant offer their guests.

The Portugal quince is reckoned the best. In the
pruning of the quince-tree little is required, except to

322 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

keep the stem free from suckers, and to cut all branches
that rub each other.

It was formerly much more in use in this country than
at present. Coles says, " Marmalade of quinces is tooth-
some, as well as wholsome, and therefore I cannot blame
such gentlemen which are seldom without it in their
closets,"

323

RASPBERRY-BUSH.— RUBUS ID^US.

Natural order, Senticosa, A genus of the Icosandria
Polygynia class.

The raspberry was but little noticed by the ancients,
and that principally on account of its medical virtues.
Pliny does not consider it of so much importance as the
bramble, in mentioning which he says, " there is a third
sort of bramble, which the Greeks call Idcea, after Mount
Ida. This fruit is smaller than the other bramble-berries,
with less thorns on the stem, and these not so sharp or
hooked. The flowers of this raspis," he continues,
" being tempered with honey, are good to be laid to
watery and blood-shotten eyes, as also in the Erysipelas.
Being taken inwardly, and drunk with water, it is a com-
fortable medicine to a weak stomach."

The red raspberry is indigenous to this country, and is
often found wild in the northern counties. We have also
seen it in the wild state growing freely in some woods on
the South Downs of Sussex. It is a fruit that appears to
have been much improved by cultivation, as Gerard writes
on it, previous to 1597, as not being equal to the black-
berry, although he says it is planted in gardens. He
calls it Raspis, or Hindberry : " the fruit,'' he adds, " is
in shape and proportion like that of the bramble ; red,
when it is ripe, and covered over with a little downiness,
of taste not very pleasant." He does not mention the
white raspberry ; nor has Tusser, who wrote in the pre-
vious reign.

Y 2

324 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Dr. Turner says, in his Herbal of the year 1568, •* the
raspis is found in many gardines of England ; the berries
are rede."

The large kinds of raspberries, both red and yellow,
were brought from Antwerp to this country.

The yellow, or white raspberry, is most admired at the
dessert : indeed all the white fruits of the berry kind are
sweeter than the coloured, but other fruits that are co-
loured are generally sweeter than the white.

The red raspberry is considered the finest for flavour-
ing ices, jams, 8ic. A third kind is cultivated, which
produces two crops a-year, but we have seldom met with
the October raspberry possessing much flavour.

Raspberries are much cultivated in the neighbourhood
of Isleworth and Brentford ; from whence those are sent
to London in swing carts, which are used by the distillers
for making raspberry brandy, raspberry vinegar, &c. as
also those used by confectioners and pastry-cooks ; but
the raspberries which are intended for the table, are
brought by women on their heads : their load consists of
a round, or basket, containing twelve gallons, of three
pints to a gallon ; and although the distance is ten miles
from Isleworth to Covent-Garden market, they regularly
perform the journey in two hours, for which they are paid
three shillings and sixpence. From Hammersmith these
industrious women will take a load three times a-day, for
which they receive eighteen-pence per load. These fe-
male fruit-porters come to the vicinity of London for the
season, from Wiltshire, Shropshire, and Wales : in their
long journeys they seldom walk at a less pace than five
miles per hour.

The dietetic and medicinal virtues of raspberries being
the same as those of the strawberry, will be noticed in
the history of that fruit.

" Raspberry and strawberry wines," says Dr. Short,

RASPBERRY. 325

** are of all made-wines the most delicious to the taste :
they lightly and pleasantly stimulate the nerves of the
mouth and nose with a most agreeable smell and taste,
which proceeds from a mixture of their essential salt and
fine oil." This author recommends these wines in scor-
butic disorders as a purifier and sweetener of the blood.
** Mixed with water," he says, *' they make a good re-
viving draught in ardent fevers."

The wood of the raspberry-bush produces fruit but one
year, therefore that should be carefully cut down below
the surface of the earth, and the young shoots should be
shortened to about two feet in height ; and we would re-
commend not more than three or four of the shoots to be
left to each root, as these will produce a greater number
-of berries, and larger fruit, than would be obtained if
twice that number of suckers were left. The middle or
end of October is the proper time for this pruning. The
fruit is produced from young branches out of the last
year's shoots or suckers.

The plants raised by layers are much preferred to those
taken from suckers ; they should also have plenty of
room, for when there is not space for the air and light to
pass between the rows, the fruit will be small, and not
ripen well. They require a fresh strong loam, for in warm
light ground they produce but little fruit.

We have seen raspberries make extraordinary strong
wood, and produce abundant crops of fine berries, from
being manured with swine's dung only.

326

STRAWBERRY-PLANT.— FRAGARTA.

Natural order, Senticosac. A genus of the Icosandria
Polygynia class.

" The blushing strawberry
Which lurks, close shrouded from high-looking eyes,
Shewing that sweetness low and hidden lies."

The Latins named this fruit Fragaria, from its fra-
grance. It was also called Morum terrestre, ground mul-
berry, from the similarity in the form of the fruit.

The late Sir J. Banks concludes, that their English
name was derived from the practice of putting straw
under them when the fruit began to swell, as the plant has
no relation to straw in any other way, and no other
European language applies the idea of straw in any other
shape to the name of the berry, or to the plant.

But as we find not only the oldest, but all the English
writers call it by the same name, we are of opinion that
it had this appellation prior to its being cultivated in
our gardens, and. that the name of strawberry originated
from the old practice of threading these berries on straws
of grass, in which shape they were brought from the
woods. It is still practised by children in many country
places where the wild strawberry abounds, who offer you
the fruit, so many straws of berries for a penny.

STRAWBERRY. 327

This most agreeable fruit does not appear to have been
cultivated by the ancients ; and it seems only to have
grown in the mountainous parts of Greece and Italy, the
climate being too warm in the other parts of these coun-
tries. It is slightly mentioned by Virgil, Ovid, and
Pliny, and even the latter author does not speak of the
fruit as a diet or medicine. In speaking of the arbutus
tree, book 15, chap. 24, he says, " the tree is termed the
strawberry-tree ; and there is not any other tree that gives
fruit which resembles the fruit of an herb growing on the
ground." Again he says, speaking of the bramble-berry,
— " as the ground-strawberry differs in carnosity from
the fruit of the arbutus-tree."

The red-wood strawberry is a native of this country ;
and several modern writers state, that the white straw-
berry, as well as the green strawberry, are indigenous to
these kingdoms. The latter is often called the pine-apple
strawberry, from its excellent flavour.

That our native strawberries have long been cultivated
in the gardens of this country, we find from Tusser*s ad-
vice to the Farmer, who, in the work he points out to be
done in the month of September, says,

" Wife, into the garden, and set me a plot

With strawberry-roots, of the best to be got :
Such growing abroad, among thorns in the wood,
Well chosen and pricked, prove excellent good."

Gerard seems to consider only the red strawberry as a
native of this climate. He says, " strawberries do grow
upon hills and valleys, likewise in woods, and other such
places that bee something shadowie. They prosper well
in gardens : the red strawberry euery where ; and the
other two, white and green, more rare, and are not to be
founde saue onely in gardens."

328 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Shakspeare says, in Henry V. —

" The strawberry grows underneath the nettle ;
And wholesome berries thrive, and ripen best,
Neighbour'd by fiiiit of baser quality."

From another of his dramatic pieces we are told how
early they were cultivated in Holborn : —

*' My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn,
I saw good strawberries in your garden there,
I do beseech you send for some of them."

The scarlet strawberry is a native of Virginia, where it
grows wild ; and was brought to this country about the
year 1625. Parkinson observes, in 1629, " it hath been
with us but of late days. Master Quester, the post-
master, first brought them over into our country ; but I
know no man so industrious in the careful planting and
bringing them to perfection in that plentiful manner, as
Master Vincent Sion, on the Bankside, near Paris-garden
stairs, who from seven roots, in one year and a half,
planted half an acre of ground with the increase from
them, besides those he gave away to his friends." This
is the earliest sort, and is the best strawberry for forcing.

The hautboy-strawberry was, according to Miller, pro-
cured also from America ; from which we have raised the
improved kind, called the globe- hautboy.

The Chili strawberry takes its name from the part of
America so called, from whence it was brought by M.
Frazier, engineer to the French king. It was cultivated
in the royal gardens at Paris, from whence some of the
plants were conveyed to Holland, and from the latter
place they were brought to England, by Mr. Miller, in
the first year of the reign of King George the Second^
1727.

The Alpine strawberry is a native of Germany, and was
planted in England in the year 1768.

SlllAWBERRY. 329

The varieties of the strawberry have, like those of other
fruits, been so increased, that, to describe them distinctly,
would be almost impossible, even with the assistance of
coloured drawings. The president of the Horticultural
Society, Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., states, that he
has at this time not less than 400 varieties of this fruit in
his garden. Among those which he has raised, is one
from the white Chili strawberry and the pollen of the
black strawberry.

Mr. Keen of Isleworth, in the county of Middlesex,
who is one of the greatest growers of strawberries for the
London market, has obligingly furnished us with his ob-
servations on the culture of this fruit, which afford a
strong instance of the advantage of botanical knowledge.
Mr. Keen states, that the want of education deprived him
of the benefit of written information ; but it will be found
that he has studied the book of nature to advantage. "I
observed," says Mr. Keen, ** that some of rny strawberry
plants gave out abundance of male blossoms, but pro-
duced no fruit. I therefore, in the year 1809, had all
these plants taken from my beds, and had other beds made
with the fruit-bearing, or female plants only ; but finding
my crop entirely fail, and suspecting the error I had made,
I procured some blossoms of the male plants, which
having put into a bottle of water, I placed on one of my
beds, and in a few days perceived the fruit began to swell
and thrive on all the plants contiguous to the bottle.

" Having tried the same experiment in several parts of
my garden with the like effect, I was convinced of the
necessity of the male plants in producing fruit ; since
which time, I have planted about one male plant to ten
female plants, which I find to be the most profitable pro-/
portion, as my beds have since been so productive, that
it has been scarce possible to gather the fruit without
bruising others. Some strawberry plants have both male

330 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

and female flowers on the same plant. These are not so
profitable ; and I find it more advantageous to raise my
plants from seed than by suckers. When the fruit is
quite ripe, I sow them in a rich moist soil, and in one
year the Alpines produce fruit, but the other kinds re-
quire two years." From the seed, Mr. Keen has pro-
cured a new variety of this fruit, to which he has given
the name of Imperial Strawberry ; it is of a dark ruby
colour, and, in appearance, the most beautiful of all the
strawberries ; but I find the flavour of it is not superior
to that of other kinds. Mr. Keen recommends the month
of March, as the best season for making new beds.

The strawberry is our earliest fruit, and, as the har-
binger of the fructus horcci, its appearance is as welcome,
as its flavour is agreeable.

It has also of late years formed a part of the autumnal
and winter desserts. The alpine variety having been ob-
tained from cold mountains, and the seed sown, is found
to produce abundance of fruit in the open air, even as
late in the season as December; and it is not an uncommon
thing now, to hear them cried through the streets of
London in November. Thus by the improvement in
horticulture, we are now enabled to enjoy these fragrant
berries in every month of the year, the hot-house affording
them from January until the arrival of the earliest varie-
ties in the open garden. The August and September
strawberries are procured, by planting well-rooted runners
of the Roseberry, Wilmot's late Scarlet, or the Common
Scarlet, in beds and in open situations, about the middle
of May.

The treatment of these plants having varied so much
of late years, and the size and quantity, as well as the
quality, having been so much improved, we shall notice
the principal cause, for the information of those who have
not regular gardeners.

STRAWBERRY. 331

It is no uncommon thing, in many parts of the country,
to see strawberry-beds that have not been renewed for
ten or twenty years ; these, of course, will not produce so
much fruit in ten years, as may be obtained in one year
by attention. Strawberries in general prosper in hazelly
loam ; if the soil is too rich, the plants run more to leaves
and suckers than to fruit ; it should also not be too dry,
for watering will not answer so well as a moist mould ;
but the different kinds of strawberries require different
soils. For instance, the Chili strawberry is found to suc-
ceed best in a strong brick earth approaching to clay. The
situation of the beds should be well exposed to the sun
and air, without which, fine-flavoured fruit cannot be
expected ; the crops are too frequently destroyed by an
improper mode and time of watering, as many persons,
without considering how necessary it is that the blossoms
should receive impregnation, wash all the prolific powder
from the flowers, and thus, disabling nature to fulfil its
office, deprive themselves of a crop of fruit. When the
fruit is set, watering may greatly assist the size of the
berry. Should excessive droughts prevail when these
plants are in flower, the ground should be watered with-
out sprinkling the plants, and which will well repay the
extra time and care required.

The Rev. Thomas Gardiner having succeeded in grow-
ing abundant crops of fine strawberries, we shall notice
the information he gives on the subject, as laid before us
in the Transactions of the Horticultural Society. ** The
soil consists of a dark sandy loam, of about two feet in
depth, having a very fine white sand for the sub-soil,
which I take care never to disturb. In preparing the
ground for my crops, I trench it all over two spades deep,
and then lay upon the surface a dressing, about two
inches thick, of rich yellow loam, rotten dung, and bog-
earth, mixed together in equal proportions, and which is

332 HtSTOKY OF FKUITS.

afterwards well dug in with a fork ; I then form the beds
four feet four inches wide, with alleys at least two feet
wide between them. The runners of most varieties are
set out eighteen inches from plant to plant, and the same
distance from row to row : the roseberry and common
scarlet do not require so much room ; I consequently set
them sixteen inches from plant to plant, and only allow a
foot between the rows, which I find quite sufficient for
their growth. The sorts I prefer and cultivate chiefly,
are the Pine, Downton Castle, Hautboy, -Hudson^s Bay,
Wilmot's late Scarlet, Common Scarlet, Keen's Imperial,
and two sorts^of Chili ; but I never suffer any of the va-
rieties to remain in the ground more than one year. Early
in August, as soon as the gathering is over, I destroy all
my beds, and proceed immediately to trench, form, and
manure them in the manner before directed, to receive the
plants for the crop of the ensuing year, taking care to
select for that purpose the strongest and best-rooted run-
ners from the old rejected plants. If at this season the
weather should be particularly hot, and the surface of the
ground much parched, I defer the operation of preparing
ray beds and planting them, till the ground is moistened
by rain."

The covering of strawberry-plants with sea-weed in the
winter, has been found to increase the size of the fruit to
a prodigious degree. This is much practised in the Island
of Jersey.

The old practice of putting clean straw round straw-
berry plants, is still continued in some parts of Suffolk ;
and its utility is very evident, as in dry, parching weather,
it is the means of keeping the plants moist; and in wet,
showery weather, it both keeps the fruit clean, and pre-
vents its rotting so rapidly.

We have found the short grass mowed from lawns an-
swer this purpose, and which has a neater appearance.

STRAWBERRY. 333

As a dietetic fruit, the strawberry affords but little
nourishment; the moderate or even plentiful use of it is
salubrious, and recommended to those of inflammatory
or bilious habits. Boerhaave considers the continued
use of this fruit, as one of the principal remedies in
cases of obstruction and viscidity, and in putrid disor-
ders. Hoffman furnishes instances of some obstinate
diseases being cured by strawberries, and other mild
sweet subacid fruits, and affirms that he has known con-
sumptive people cured by them. Linnaeus informs us,
that by eating plentifully of strawberries every day, he
kept himself free from the gout. They promote perspira-
tion, and dissolve the tartarous incrustations upon the
teeth. Strawberries should be taken sparingly by those
of a cold inactive disposition, where the vessels are lax,
the circulation languid, or digestion weak. Many persons
are fearful of being poisoned by the saliva of toads and
other reptiles which is found on this fruit ; M. Haller
says, there is no animal in Europe whose saliva can
injure, unless instantaneously introduced into the blood.

This fruit is generally sent to dessert in its natural state,
although often with cream and sugar; but it is more
esteemed when Burgundy or claret wine is substituted
for the cream. Strawberry jam is much admired; and
for ice-creams the flavour is generally preferred to that of
raspberries.

The pine strawberries make an agreeable dessert wine,
as rich as mountain ; but possessing greater fragrance and
acidity : the latter quality is generally too predominant
in our English made-wines, which proceeds more from
the want of attention in the making of wines than from
the quality of the fruits.

In the coffee-houses of Paris they make a very agree-
able drink of the juice of strawberries, lemons, sugar, and
water, which is called havaroise a la grecque.

334 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

In the monastery of Bathalla, in Portugal, is the
tomb of Don John, son of King John the First, of Por-
tugal, which is ornamented by the representation of
strawberries ; this prince having chosen them for his crest,
to shew his devotion to St. John the Baptist, who lived
on fruits.

The yellow-flowered strawberry, fragaria indie a, is a
native of the mountains of the Indian continent ; it was
first discovered by Dr. Buchanan on the sand by the sides
of rivers in Nepaul ; and was introduced into this country
by Mr. Charles Grevill, who cultivated it at Paddington
in 1804. We have tasted this fruit in the nursery-
grounds of Mr. Hugh Ronalds at Brentford, but found
the strawberry pithy and still more disagreeable than
insipid ; its only merit as a fruit is novelty : as a plant it
is curious, possessing the bloom of the cinquefoil and the
fruit of the strawberry, which is of a bright poppy colour,
and in shape more like the fruit of the arbutus than that
of the strawberry, being quite globular. In the green-
house it is ornamental, as its red tendrils trail over the
shelves, and embellish them with its bright yellow flowers
and glowing red fruit at the same time.

i

335

SERVICE-TREE.--SORBUS.

Natural order, Pomacece. A genus of the Icosandria
Trigynia class.

This fruit, which is a native of England, is now as
little known, and as rare in the London market, as the
fruits of the most distant parts of the world ; and the
serviceberry-tree is now so tjiinly scattered over the
country, that many farmers are ignorant of its existence.

It is difficult to ascertain whether the English name is
a corruption of the Italian Sorbe, the French Sorbes, or
the Spanish Servas, or like them is derived from the
Latin Sorbus, a sorbendo, quia caro matura sorbetur ; the
pulp being supped or sucked in.

Pliny writes of it as a fruit held in esteem by the Ro-
mans. He mentions four sorts, some round, resembling
apples, others shaped like pears, others like an egg, and
one variety which was only used medicinally. He states,
that Gato would have service-berries preserved, (book xv.
c. 21), and in the 17th chapter of the same book he gives
directions for preserving them in two different ways ;
again he mentions them in his 23d book, 17th chap, and
says, their medicinal virtues are the same as those of the
medlar.

Gerard describes two kinds, and says, " they are found
in woods and groves in most places of England. There
be many small trees thereof, in a little wood a mile
beyond Islington: in Kent it groweth in great abun-
dance, especially about Southfleete and Gravesend."

336 HISTORY OF Fiiuns.

The service-tree is still occasionally to be met with in
the hedge-rows in Kent, and in the wealds of Sussex,
of the size of a moderate oak-tree ; as also in the north
of England and Wales.

The service-berry, which is an umbilicated fruit, par-
takes of the quality of the medlar, both in the green
and in the ripe state. It is gathered in bunches, and put
into, or hung on, a cleft stick of about a yard long,
which becomes a mass of berries : in this state the fruit
is sold by the country people, and then hung up in a
garden to receive the damp air of the night, which
causes it to undergo a kind of putrefactive fermentation,
and in this soft state it is eaten, and has a more agreeable
acid than the medlar. Chancellor Bacon speaks of ser-
vice-berries in his time as a garden fruit. In Italy and
the south of France, they are still served up in the
dessert.

Perhaps the great size of the service-tree has been the
cause of excluding this fruit from our gardens : but it is,
from its beauty, particularly when in blossom, a desira-
ble tree for planting in parks or paddocks ; and as the
timber is so valuable, and now become so rare, we hope
to see it more cultivated. There is a remarkable fine
tree of this kind now growing at Kingsfold farm, in the
parish of Rusper, near Horsham in Sussex.

It is known that many noblemen and gentlemen object
to fruit-bearing trees being planted on their estates, on
the principle that it encourages depredators to injure
their plantations : but this seems but a poor excuse for
depriving themselves and the public of the beauty and
variety which the blossoms give at one season of the
year, and the fruit at another, particularly to those who
have park-keepers or bailiffs on the premises.

A great number of large service-trees grow wild about
Aubigny in France, whence the late Duke of Richmond

SERVICE-TREE. 337

brought a large quantity of the fruit, and from the seeds
raised a considerable number of young plants at Good-
wood in Sussex,

St. Pierre says, he found the service-tree growing be-
tween Sweden and Russia. It is also found in the island
of Jura, where the juice of the fruit is employed as an
acid for punch.

Furber of Kensington, who in 1733 published his
twelve engravings of fruits for the desserts of each month,
gives a representation of the Italian services for October,
and the English maple-leaved service-berries for the
month of November.

This fruit is considered to be very restringeut, and
useful for all kinds of fluxes; but when ripe it is not
altogether so binding.

The timber of the service-tree is of a fine hard grain,
and the variations pleasing when wrought into cabinet
goods ; it is esteemed by the turner and carver, as well
as for the making of gun-stocks. It is used by mill-
wrights for cogs to wheels, &c. in preference to any other
wood : it is also a very durable wood for buildings that
are exposed to a northern aspect. Evelyn says, he saw a
room curiously wainscotted with this wood.

338

- TAMARIND.— TAMARINDUS

'Natural order, Lomentacea. A genus of the MouadelpMa
Triandria class, and not oftheTriandria Monogynia, as
classed by Linnaus.

" Lay me reclined

Beneath the spreading tamarind that shakes,
Fanned by the breeze, its fever-cooling fruit."

This name is derived from Tamar, the Arabic name for
the date ; and it is to the Arabians that we owe a know-
ledge of the use of this fruit in medicine. The ancient
Greeks knew nothing of it, and the first authors who
prescribe the tamarind are Serapion, Mesne, and Avi-
cenna.

The tamarind-tree is a native of both Indies, and
thrives also in Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, and other parts
of Asia; and it appears, by Johnson's edition of Gerard,
to have been cultivated in England previously to 1633.
Miller states, that he has had it grow upwards of three
feet high in one summer, and produce flowers the same
year it was sown ; but this must have been accidental,
for none of his older plants blossomed, although he had
them twelve feet high, and eighteen years old. There is
a fine healthy tree of this species now in the Royal Bo-
tanic Gardens at Kew, which ilowered a few years back
for the first time.

The tree grows to a great size, with large spreading
branches, and a thick and beautiful foliage. The leaves
are pinnate, composed of sixteen or eighteen pairs of

TAMARIND. 339

leaflets, without a single one at the end: they are ovate-
oblong, quite entire, smooth, sessile, of a bright green,
spreading during the day, but closing, so as to lie over
each other in the night: they have an acid taste. The
flowers come out from the sides of the branches, on a
long, upright, common peduncle, six or eight together,
in loose bunches, of a yellow colour, veined with a red-
dish purple.

What we style the fruit of the tamarind is only the
pistil of the flowers, which become pods, that are thick
and compressed, from two to five inches in length, with
from two to four or six seeds ; these pods become of a
reddish brown as they ripen. The fruit is, properly
speaking, composed of two pods : the outer pod is fleshy,
and the inner one thin as the finest parchment; between
these two there is a space of about a quarter of an inch all
the way, which is filled up with a soft pulpy substance, of
a tart but agreeable taste, which is what we use as the
fruit: this, and the stones which are enclosed in the,
inner pod, are fastened together by a great many slender
fibres from the woody stalk which runs through the pod,
and conveys the vinous juice, that afterwards hardens,
into the viscous matter of the pulp. Lunan says, the
tree is exceedingly common in Jamaica, where it grows
to vast bulk ; and he gives the following account of
preparing the fruit. '* The pods are gathered when full
ripe, which is known by their fragility, or easy breaking
on a small pressure between the finger and the thumb.
The fruit is taken out of the pod, cleared from the shelly
fragments, and placed in layers in a cask ; and the boil-
ing syrup from the teache, or first copper in the boiling-
house, just before it begins to granulate, is poured in till
the cask is filled : the syrup pervades every part quite to
the bottom, and, when cool, the cask is headed for sale.
The more elegant method is with sugar, well clarified

z2

340 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

with eggs, till a clear transparent syrup is formed, which
gives the fruit a much pleasanter flavour.

The East-India tamarinds are preserved generally with-
out sugar, and are better adapted for an ingredient in
medical compositions. The best method of preserving
them is said to be by putting alternate layers of tamarinds
and powdered sugar in a stone jar: by this means the
tamarinds preserve their colour and taste more agreeably.

In the Indies, and in some parts of Africa, tamarinds
are used as food, and are made into a sort of confection
with sugar, and eaten as a delicacy, which in the violent
heats of these climates is cooling, and at the same time
keeps the bowels in a proper state of laxity. The fruit is
also frequently made an ingredient in punch, and seldom
fails to open the body. A very agreeable cooling drink
is made by simply mixing water with a few spoonfuls of
it when preserved. Dr. Cullen was of opinion, that it
was best to preserve tamarinds in the pods. They contain
a larger proportion of acid, with saccharine matter, than
is usually found in the acid dulcet fruits, and arje there-
fore not only employed as a laxative, but also for abating
thirst and heat in various inflammatory complaints, and
for correcting putrid disorders, especially those of a
bilious kind, in which the cathartic, antiseptic, and re-
frigerant qualities of the fruit have been found equally
useful. When intended merely as a laxative, it may be
of advantage to join them with manna, or purgatives of a
sweet kind, by which their use is rendered safer and more
effectual. Three drams of the pulp are usually sufficient
to open the body ; but to prove moderately cathartic, one
or two ounces are required. The leaves are sometimes
used in sub-acid infusions ; and Alpinus says, a decoction
of them kills worms in children. (Wright.) Dr. Zim-
merman prescribes tamarinds in putrid dysentery.

The sour taste of tamarinds proves that acid particles

TAMARIND. 341

abound greatly in them, and a chemical analysis gives
farther proof of this. There is indeed no alkali to be
obtained from this fruit, otherwise than by distilling it in
a retort with quicklime. A simple analysis of it yields
no other principle but acid and sulphur.

It is not uncommon to find an essential salt crystallized
on the branches of the tamarind tree, which greatly re-
sembles cream of tartar in all respects, and is no other
than the genuine salt of the plant, formed by the sun's
drying up the accidental extravasated juices.

The leaves of the sycamore, in hot seasons, are often
found thus covered with crystals of their essential salt,
which is sweet, and very much of the nature of sugar.
The lime-tree produces a like saccharine matter, which,
being given to a person to drink, will be found of the
same purgative virtue as manna.

Tamarinds are an ingredient in the well-known medicine
called lenitive electuary.

342

WALNUT.— JUGLANS.

Natural order, Amentacea. A genus of the Monacia
Polyandria class.

The walnut-tree is evidently a native of the northern
parts of Persia and China, where it grows wild ; and the
Grecian names for this fruit, Persicon and Basilicon,
Persian or Koyal Nut, bespeak it to have been brought
from Persia, either by the monarchs of Greece themselves,
or sent thither from the kings of Persia. According to
Pliny's account, book 1 5, chap. 22, " the Greeks after-
wards called them Caryon, on account of the heaviness of
the head which their strong smell caused."

** Walnuts were first brought into Italy by Vitellius, a
little before the death of Tiberius the emperor ; and the
Romans," continues Pliny, ** honoured them with the
name of Jovis-glans, acorn or mast of Jove." Some of the
later Greeks also called them . Aios SoiXcivos, and the Latins
Diu-glans, whence was formed the word Juglans.

These nuts appear to have been first brought to this
country from France, and were therefore called Gaul
nuts; from which by a common transition, the English
formed the word Walnut.

Pliny has written much on the medical virtues of these
nuts, book 23, chap. 18, wherein he says, that " the more
walnuts one eats, with more ease will he drive worms out
of his stomach ; and that, eaten before meals, they lessen
the effects of any poisonous food ; eaten after onions,*'
he states, *' they keep them from rising, and prevent the
disagreeable smell."

WALNUT. 343

The bark of the walnut-tree was considered a sovereign
remedy for the ringworm. The leaves bruised and
stamped with vinegar, and so applied, removed the pain
of the ears.

After Mithridates was vanquished, Cneius Pompeius
found in his secret closet or cabinet, among many pre-
cious jewels, the receipt of a certain antidote against
poison, written in the hand-writing of Mithridates, in his
private note-book, as follows : —

" Take two dry walnut kernels, as many figs, of rue
twenty leaves ; stamp all these together into one mass,
with a grain or corn of salt. Whoever eats of this con-
fection in a morning, fasting, no poison shall hurt him
that day."

Walnuts are considered stomachic : their oil is a good
medicine for the stone and gravel, and is of extraordinary
use to the painter, in mixing white and other delicate
colours, also for gold, size, and varnish. They eat it
instead of butter, at Berry in France, and bum it in
lamps, therefore these trees are cultivated with great care
in that neighbourhood.

The oil of walnuts does not congeal by cold, and
answers the medicinal purpose of the oil of almonds. One
bushel of nuts will yield about fifteen pounds of peeled
and clear kernels, and that half as much oil, which the
sooner it is drawn the more in quantity, though the drier
the nut the better the quality.

The bark of the tree is a strong emetic, either green, or
dried and powdered. The unripe fruit is used in medi-
cine for the destruction of worms, and is administered in
the form of an extract. If the water in which the outside
covering of walnuts has been steeped, be thrown on the
ground, the worms will immediately come out of the
earth : anders often use this means to obtain bait for

o

fishing.

344 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

The ancients considered that walnuts chewed by a per-
son fastina:, would cure the bite of a mad dog.

The green nuts are cordial, alexipharmic, and said to
be of great use in all contagious, malignant distempers,
and the plague itself.

The unripe fruit has long been used as a pickle, and the
vineo-ar in which they are preserved, makes a very useful
gargle.

The kernel of ripe walnuts is similar in qualities to the
Almond ; therefore may be eaten in moderation to ad-
vantage.

The nuts, preserved young, are an excellent sweetmeat,
and are good to be eaten in a morning, in time of pesti*
lential distempers, to prevent infection. We have been
favoured by the following receipt for preserving young
walnuts, by a family who assure me that they have known
them succeed in obstinate costiveness when all other
remedies have failed : even a small part of one of these
sweetmeats will give relief.

Take green walnuts, in the proper state for pickling,
and boil them till tender ; take them out, and stick a
piece of lemon-peel to every nut ; and to every fifth one,
a clove and a small piece of mace. To every pound of
nuts, add one pound of moist sugar with water enough to
make a good syrup ; put in the nuts, and simmer them
till the syrup is thick, and let them stand ten days ; then
clarify half the above quantity of sugar, and boil as be-
fore ; and, when cold, cover them close for use. By
keeping, the syrup will shrink, so that after a year or two
it will be necessary to add a little more syrup.

Gerard says, "the green and tender nuts, boyled in
sugar, and eaten as suckarde, are a most pleasant and
delectable meate, comfort the stomache, and expell
poyson."

The effluvia of walnut-trees is hurtful to the head, on

Walnut. 34^

which account it is not safe to sit uncovered beneath
them, nor is it desirable to plant them too near dwelling-
houses. Pliny says, - the oak will not thrive near the
walnut-tree;" and Mr. Keen, who is so justly celebrated
for growing strawberries, informs me, that the walnut-tree
is so injurious to strawberry beds, that they seldom bear
fruit in the neighbourhood of that tree.

The largest plantation of walnut-trees in England, at
the present time, is in the county of Surrey.

Gerard says, " the walnut-tree groweth in fields neere
common highwaies, in a fat and fruitful ground, and in
orchards." It therefore appears to us, that it must have
been introduced earlier than the date mentioned in the
Hortus Kewensis (1562), as this was only about thirty
years before Gerard wrote his account, when these trees
seem to have been very common in the fields ; and Turner
says in his Herbal of 1564, that it is so common that it
needs no description.

Evelyn says. Burgundy abounds with walnut-trees,
where they stand in the midst of goodly wheat lands, at
sixty and a hundred feet distance; and so far are they
from hurting the crop, that they are looked upon as great
preservers by keeping the ground warm; nor do the roots
hinder the plough. Whenever they fell a tree, which is
only the old and decayed, they always plant a young one
near him. In several places betwixt Hanau and Frank-
fort in Germany, no young farmer is permitted to marry
a wife, till he brings proof that he has planted a stated
number of walnut-trees.

The walnut-tree was formerly cultivated in England for
the sake of the wood, which was in great esteem for cabi-
net goods, before mahogany and other curious woods
were imported from America into this kingdom, which
was about the beginning of the eighteenth century, when
the use of mahogany was discovered by the following

346 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

chance : — Dr. Gibbons, an eminent physician, was build-
ing a house in King-street, Covent Garden. His brother,
who was a West India captain, brought over some planks
of this wood as ballast, which he thought might be of
service in the Doctor's building ; but the carpenters find-
ing the wood too hard for their tools, it was laid aside as
useless. Soon after, Mrs. Gibbons wanting a candle-box, the
Doctor called on his cabinet-maker (Wollaston, in Long
Acre) to make him orie of some wood that lay in his
garden. Wollaston also complained that it was too hard ;
but the Doctor insisted on having it done; and, when
finished, it was so much liked, that the Doctor ordered a
bureau to be made of the same wood, which was accord-
ingly done; and the fine colour, polish, &c. were so
pleasing, that he invited all his friends to see it. Among
them was the Duchess of Buckingham. Her Grace begged
some of the same wood of Dr. Gibbons, and employed
Wollaston to make her a bureau also. On this the fame
of mahogony and Mr. Wollaston was much raised ; and
furniture made of this wood became general.

The timber of the walnut-tree is much esteemed by
coach-builders^ and also for making gun-stocks.

The late long war, which has caused such revolutions in
the customs and manners of the English people, has also
nearly thinned the country of walnut-trees, the great sums
given by the gun and pistol-stock makers for this timber
being an inducement to fell them, and the high price of
all agricultural productions acting at the same time against
replanting ; but surely, while we were reaping so amply
the fruits of our fathers' cultivation, we ought in justice
to have planted for our children.

In the plains of Naples it is customary for a peasant,
on the birth of a daughter, to plant a row of poplar-trees,
which are cut down and sold at the end of seventeen
years, to make up a fortune for her. Were the English

WALNUT. 347

farmer to plant a single walnut-tree on the same occasion,
we should neither want gunstocks for our wars, nor walnuts
for our weddings. Where young trees are not to be pro-
cured easily, let a walnut be planted ; and with what de-
light will the mother watch the progress of her infant's
tree, until the child can take the charge from her.

A walnut-tree, which was planted in the garden of
Mrs. Maxwell, of Terraughtie, by her present gardener
about twelve years ago, produced this last season a pretty
full crop of walnuts, which, for flavour and size, are be-
lieved to be little, if any thing, inferior to the same kind
of fruit grown in the south of England.

There are at this time seven walnut-trees growing in a
little meadow at Greenwich, not exceeding three quarters
of an acre of land, the fruit of which has been sold, for
some years past, to one person at thirty pounds per annum.
The owner of these trees refused a thousand guineas for
the timber during the late war ; and we observed, that the
grass did not seem in the least injured by the shade of the
trees, which are of a great bulk, but carry their branches
high from the ground. We were somewhat surprised,
and greatly pleased to learn, that these trees, which have
no other fence than an indifferent hedge, have never been
robbed of their fruit by the idle boys of that populous
neighbourhood.

Evelyn says in his Sylva, " How would such plantations
improve the glory and wealth of a nation ! But where
shall we find the spirits among our countiy ? Yes, I will
adventure to instance in those plantations of Sir Richard
Stidolj^h, upon the Down, near Leatherheiad in Surrey ;
Sir Robert Clayton, at Marden, near Godstone, and as
about Cassaulton, where many thousands of these trees
do celebrate the industry of the owners, and will certainly
reward it with infinite improvement, as I am assured they
do already, and that very considerably ; besides the orna-

348 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

ment which they afford to those pleasant tracts, for some
miles in circumference."

The same excellent author, whose desire to benefit his
country and countrymen was only exceeded by his steady
perseverance in his religious duties, to make himself as
acceptable to his Maker as he was to his fellow-creatures,
writes in his Diary, " 27 July, 1655. From Boxhill I
walked to Mickleham (in Surrey) and saw Sir F. Stidolph's
seat environed with elme-trees and walnuts innumerable,
and of which last he told me they received a considerable
revenue." On the 27th September, 1658, he notes,
" Went to Casshalton (Surrey), full planted with walnut
and cherry-trees, which afford a considerable rent." And
on the 16th March, 1683, " T went to see S*^ Josiah
Child's prodigious cost in planting walnut-trees about his
seat," (where Wanstead House now stands.)

Evelyn notices the grafting of walnut-trees in his time ;
and the advantage of this practice is now completely
established by the uniform practice in Dauphiny, Anjou,
the Lower Limousin, Perigord, and Swisserland, the pro-
duce being thus increased about ten-fold.

Worlidge tells us in his Vinetum Britannicum, which
was published in 1675, that Petersfield in Hampshire was
celebrated for its walnuts ; he says, " There is also the
early walnut that ripens above a fortnight before any of
the other, and is of as thin a shell and pleasant a taste as
any of the other. This fruit I have not observed any
where, but at Petersfield in Hampshire. Also there is a
very small sort of this fruit, round, and but little bigger
than a filberd, growing at the same place."

Some specimens of walnuts were exhibited at the Hor-
ticultural Society in 1820, of a long oval shape, with a
shell so very thin, that the slightest pressure of the fingers
crushes it. The kernel is full, white, very tender, and
high-flavoured ; and as it is thought to be by far the best

WALNUT. 349

walnut grown, we hope to see it engrafted on those trees
that at present produce but ill-flavoured nuts. These
walnuts are called the Highjii/er walnuts, and were grown
in a small garden at the back of the house of Mr. Jackson,
a grocer at Thetford ; they seem to have been originally
confined to the neighbourhood of that place, and of Bury
St. Edmund's.

x411 the sorts of walnuts which are propagated for tim-
ber, should be sown in the place where they are to remain;
for the roots of these trees always incline downwards,
which being stopped or broken, prevent their aspiring
upward, so that they afterwards divaricate into branches,
and become low spreading trees ; but such as are propa-
gated for fruit, are greatly mended by transplanting ; for
hereby they are rendered more fruitful; and their fruit is
generally larger and fairer ; it being a common observa-
tion, that downright roots greatly encoi^rage the luxuriant
growth of timber in all sorts of trees; but such trees as
have their roots spreading near the surface of the ground,
are always the most fruitful and best flavoured. (Miller.)
Evelyn says, that those who plant nuts for the sake
of the fruit, should place a tile below the nut, that the
roots may be obliged to spread.

The walnuts that are intended to be planted, should be
preserved in their outer covers in dry sand until February,
when they may be planted with less danger of being in-
jured by vermin, than if planted in the autumn ; but they
will be greatly secured from mice, &c. if chopped furze
is buried with the nut.

In transplanting these trees, care should be taken not
to prune either their roots or large branches, both which
are very injurious to them. These trees require but little
pruning ; and they are often injured by cutting and lop-
ping the branches while growing; but when there is a
necessity for cutting any of their branches ofl*, it should

350 HISTORY OF FRUITS. .

be done early in September (for at that season the trees
are not so subject to bleed), that the wound may heal
over before the cold increases.

The best time for transplanting these trees is just as
they have lost their leaves. The walnut-tree thrives well
in a firm rich loamy soil, or such as is inclinable to chalk
or marl; and will also do very well in stony ground.

Walnuts may be preserved in sand, as we have directed
for oranges ; or they may be put into jars, and buried in
the earth. When this has been omitted, and they are
become very dry and acrid, the best way is, to soak them
for a day or two, when the kernels will swell, and the
brown skin, which causes the acrid taste, may be taken
off; they are then tolerably good.

351

WHORTLE-BERRY.-VACCINIUM ;

Often called Hurts, or Hurtle-Berry, and
Bilberry.

Natural order, Bicornes. A genus of the Octandria
Monogynia class.

This berry was called Vaccinium by Virgil as well as
Pliny, to which modern authors add Mi/rtillus, because
the old German physicians and apothecaries mistook it
for a true species of myrtle.

There are several varieties of this fruit, some of which
are black, others red, and some white. The whortle shrub
is a native of this country, and grows on most of our wild
heathy commons and uncultivated hills : it is found on
Portland heath, the highest spot in Norfolk, and in great
abundance on Leith Hill, which is the most elevated part
of Surrey. The fruit seldom reaches the London market,
although it is much admired by many people either in
tarts or with cream. The berries are gathered by the
children of the cottagers, and by them carried to the
nearest market-towns, and often in quantities that load
several asses.

The Highlanders eat them with milk, and make them
into tarts and jellies, which last they mix with whiskey
to give it a relish to strangers.

The variety with white berries was discovered by the*
Duke of Athol in the woods about midway between his
jtwo seats of Dunkeld and Blair.

352 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

Gerard says, they formerly grew in Finchley Wood,
near Highgate, and on Hampstead Heath. The red kind,
which makes the fine purple dye, is found abundantly in
several parts of Westmoreland, and the white whortle-
berries principally in Lancashire; but most of our northern
hills abound with some of the varieties. From their
growing in high bleak situations, they are often called
wind-berries.

We have never seen this shrub cultivated, although it
is more ornamental than many foreign shrubs that are
raised with difficulty.* The berry, which is a size larger
than that of the juniper, is covered with a fine blue
powder, similar to the bloom of our finest purple plums.

There is also another species of heath-berry, growing
on the mountainous parts of the northern counties, as
well as in Scotland, on which the heathcocks and grouse
feed.

There have been no less than fifteen species of the
whortle-berry brought into this country from North Ame-
rica, between the years 1761 and 1796. (Hortus Kew-
emis,)

* Since the first edition of this work has been published, these
shrubs have been cultivated in Devonshire with success by Robert
Hallet, esq.

353

THE FRUIT OF THE LOTUS-TREE
OF THE ANCIENTS

Has been made so interesting to us, by the inimitable
verses of Homer and Ovid, as well as by the mention
made of it by Herodotus, Strabo, Pliny, and other
authors of antiquity, that we are induced to give their
accounts of this celebrated fruit ; although it is now either
• entirely lost, or so much degenerated, as not to be known
by their descriptions.

Some authors suppose it to have been a fabulous fruit,
and only to be found in the poet's imagination. This
idea is absurd. Ovid has described it as particularly as
any other fruit mentioned in his Metamorphoses.

The Lotus-tree was evidently a native of Africa ; and,
in all probability, was improved by being cultivated on
the sands of the coast, where, not being indigenous, it
has been lost from the neglect of the inhabitants, during
the revolutions which that part of the world has under-
gone. If this fruit has not already been discovered under
some other appellation, we may still expect that our re-
searches in the interior of Africa will restore the lost
treasure. It is now about two thousand seven hundred
years since Homer related the enchanting effects this fruit
had on the followers of Ulysses :

Nine days our fleet th' uncertain tempest bore,
Far in wide ocean, and from sight of shore ;
The tenth we touch'd, by various errors tost,
The land of Lotus and the flowery coast,
2a

354 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

We climb'd the beach, and springs of water found,
Then spread our hasty banquet on the ground.
Three men were sent, deputed from the crew,
(An herald one) the dubious coast to view,
And learn what habitants possess the place.
They went, and found a hospitable race ;
Not prone to ill, nor strange to foreign guest.
They eat, they drink, and nature gives the feast ;
The trees around them all their fruit produce,
Lotos the name, divine, nectareous juice !
(Thence called Lotophagi), which whoso tastes,
Insatiate riots in the sweet repasts.
Nor other home, nor other care intends,
But quits his house, his country, and his friends :
The three we sent from off th' enchanting ground,
We dragg'd reluctant, and by force we bound;
The rest in haste forsook the pleasing shore, '
Qr, the charm tasted, had return'd no more.

Horn. Odyss.

From Ovid*s elegant fable of Dryope, we learn the tra-.
ditional origin of the name of this tree:

Not distant far, a wat'ry lotus grows ;
The spring was new, and all the verdant boughs,
Adorn'd with blossoms, promis'd fruits that vie
In glowing colours with the Tyrian die.

Upon the tree I cast a frightful look.
The trembling tree with sudden horror shook,
Lotis the nymph (if rural tales be true), ,
As from Priapus* lawless lust she flew,
Forsook her form ; and fixing, there became
A flow'ry plant, which still preserves her name^

Theophrastus mentions the lotus fruit in his 4th book,
where he says, that it is of the size of a bean, and changes
its colour as it ripens. This author affirms, that the tree
is by its nature everlasting.

LOTUS. 355

Strabo, in his 17th book, informs us, that Syrtis as well
as Menynx was said to be Lotophagitis. The compass
of the gulf, says this geographer, where the lotus
grows, is almost one thousand six hundred furlongs ; the
breadth of the mouth six hundred : by the capes there
are islands near to the main land. It is thought, con-
tinues he, that Menynx was the country of the Lotophagi,
or those that feed on the lotus-trees, of which country
Homer makes mention ; and there are certain monuments
seen, and Ulysses's altar, as well as abundance of lote-
trees, the fruit of which is exceedingly sweet.

Pliny has furnished us with an account of the lotus-
tree, in his 13th book, c. 17. According to this author,
the finest trees of this kind grew on two large sand-
banks on the Mediterranean coast of Africa, not far from
Leptis and Carthage. He mentions them as being the
size of pear-trees, but states that Cornelius Nepos de-
scribed them as shrubs. The leaves, says Pliny, are
thick, cut, and indented : otherwise they are like those of
the ilex or holm-tree. There are many varieties of this
fruit, but he describes the generality of them as being of
the size of a bean, and of the colour of saffron ; yet, says
he, before it is quite ripe, the fruit changes into a variety
of colours like grapes. It grows thick among the branches
of the tree, in the manner of myrtle-berries, and not,
says he, like cherries. This fruit in Africa, continues
Pliny, is so sweet and pleasant, that it has given the
name both to a nation and country, as the people are
called Lotophagi ; and so welcome are all strangers there,
and so well contented with their entertainment, that they
forget their own native soil, for the love they have for
this fruit, when once they have taken to it. By report,
(adds this author) tliose who eat of it, are free from all
diseases of the stomach.

Those lotuses were accounted the best that had no
2 A 2

356 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

kernels within ; for there is a kind, says Pliny, that has
a kernel as hard as a bone. From this fruit was pressed a
wine similar to mead, which he states, on the authority of
Nepos, would not keep above ten days. The Lotophagi
pressed the berries of this fruit, with wheat or frumenty,
into a paste ; and so put it up in great barrels or vessels
for food. We have heard, says Pliny, that whole armies
passing to and fro through Africa have fed upon it, having
no other food.

The wood of the lotus-tree, according to the account
of Pliny, was of a black colour, and was, says he, much
sought after for making musical pipes. Sliafts of daggers
and knives, &c. were made of the roots. This author
says, ** it is growing in Italy, but with the change of soil
it has changed its nature ;" but in his 16th book, chap. 30,
he says, ** the lotus-tree is planted about the finest houses
in the court-yards, because the boughs spread so large.
Although the body is short and small, it affords much
shade; yet there is not a tree that gives shade for so
short a time, as the leaves fall at the approach of winter,
when it admits the sun." The bark is described as of a
pleasing hue, and was used to colour skins and leather ;
the root to dye wool.

*' The fruit," says he, ** resembles the snouts or muzzles
of wild beasts, and many of the smaller berries seem to
hang to those that are larger."

The same author, in writing on the age of trees, (book
16, chap. 24) says, " At Rome, in the court-yard belong-
ing to the chapel of the goddess Diana Lucina, there is
yet to be seen a lote-tree standing before the chapel
which was built in the year of the Anarchy, when Rome
was desolate of all magistrates, which was three hundred
and sixty-nine years after the foundation of the city ; but
how much more ancient this tree is than the chapel, God
knows ! for older it is without all question, as from the

LOTUS. 357

trees there growing, which the Latins call Lucus, the
goddess Diana took her name Lucina, which was about
four hundred and fifty years back, and doubtless this
tree is so old."

" Another lote-tree there is," says he, " still older, but
the age of it is likewise uncertain : it is known by the
name of Capillata (hairy), and so called, because the hair
of the vestal virgins' heads is usually brought thither to
be consecrated. There is a third lotus at Rome, in the
court-yard and cloister about the temple of Vulcan, which
Romulus built for a perpetual monument and memorial
of a victory, and defrayed the charge out of the tenth of
the pillage and spoil that he obtained from his enemies;
and this tree is at least as old as the city of Rome."

Pliny writes on the medicinal qualities of the lotus,
in his 24th book, chap. 2, and says his countrymen called
it the Greek bean. He says the fruit is sweet, but that
nothing is more bitter than the shavings of the wood.

Mr. Mungo Park discovered what is supposed to be
the lotus of the ancients, and says it abounds in all parts
of the interior of Africa. Agreeably to his account, it
is rather a thorny shrub than a tree. The fruit is a small
farinaceous berry, which being pounded and dried in the
sun, is made into excellent cakes, resembling in flavour
and colour the sweetest gingerbread. This traveller ob-
serves, that a sweet liquor is obtained from the lotus,
which, we may conclude, was reputed to possess the be-
witching qualities described by the ancients.

Desfontaines states, in the Journal de Physique, Octo-
ber 1788, that the lotus of the ancients is a shrub, a
species of the wild jujube-tree, which grows in several
parts of Barbary.

A species of the lotus, or nettle-tree, celtis, has long
been cultivated in this country: as Gerard says, " this is
a rare and stran";e tree in both the Germanies : it was

358 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

brought out of Italy, where there is found store thereof,
as Mathiolus testifieth : I have," says he, " a small tree
in my garden : there is likewise a tree thereof in the gar-
den vnder Londonwall, sometime belonging to M. Gray,
an apothecary of London ; and another great tree in the
garden neere Colman streete, being the garden of the
queen's apothecary, called Mr. Hugh Morgan, a curious
conseruer of rare simples. The lote-tree doth also grow in
AfFricke, but it somewhat differeth from the Italian lote
in fruit." Gerard adds, that the fruit ripens in September :
the berries, he says, are round, and hang on stalks like
cherries, and not like the African lotus. " They are,"
says he, '* of a yellowish white colour at the first, and
afterwards red, but when they be ripe they be somewhat
blaoke."

The lotus-flower, that is now become so fashionable iri
ornamenting furniture, from the circumstance of its
having been selected as the decoration of the superb
Chinese chandeliers made for his majesty's Pavilion at
Brighton, is not the blossom of the lotus-tree, but of the
^ymph(£u Nelumbo, or Chinese water-lotus. This water-
lily is called Ni/mphcBa, from its growing in the water,
which the poets feign to be the residence of the Nymphs.
In China, where it was always held in such high value,
that at length it has become regarded as sacred, it is
called Lien-wha. Puzza, a Chinese divinity, is repre-
sented as seated on the flowers of the lotus. The gods
of Japan, which are exhibited of a gigantic figure, are
also seated on the blossoms of this plant. The ponds in
China are generally covered with this beautiful aquatic
blossom, which is also grown in large vases in the houses
of the Mandarins. The roots and seeds are served up on
ice at their breakfasts as a delicacy, mixed with the ker-
nels of fruits.

Nievhoff says, '*in the province of Huquang, near the

LOTUS. 359

city Tan, in China, is a great cataract which occasions a
mire, wherein grow flowers of a saffron colour, whose
like is no where else to be seen in all those countries.
Several of these flowers grow upon one root ; they are
something bigger than a lily of Europe, and much hand-
somer; for fashion, resembling tulips; the leaves of the
stalks are large and round, and drive upon the water, as
the leaves of some weeds do in Europe, which at their
occasion they gather and dry, and by this means are fit
to be used by shopkeepers instead of paper, to put up
their wares in. There are in some places whole pools
abounding' with these flowers, which, to say truth, grow
not there naturally, but have been sowed by one or other,
for they are in great request amongst them."

Sonnini in speaking of the lotus Ni/mphea in his Travels
in Egypt says, *' this plant is the Nou/ar of the Arabians ;
it is a water lily of white and odoriferous flowers. Its
roots form one of the most common aliments of the
Egyptians, particularly in the neighbourhood of Rosetta,
where the numerous ditches of the fields are covered with
them ; they yield a kind of tubercle, which is gathered
when the waters are withdrawn ; those which are acci-
dentally left are sufficient to reproduce the plant. They are
dried and preserved to be eaten ; boiled like our potatoes,
which they nearly resemble in taste ; but they have less
consistency, and are not so spungy, so that they are
swallowed with difficulty, and it would not be easy to
eat more than one of them without being obliged to
drink, >' '>i ^-a^;^}

** They are sold ready dressed, and at a very low price,
in the streets of Rosetta, where the lower classes eat
them in great quantities, 'aii .isdil' ,(\m-x>ohi\i\l ni.Jn^c'

The Romans made repeated efforts to raise (his plint,
without success, which the ancients have celebrated m
their writings. Homer mentions it with other flowers, as

g60 HISTORY OF FRUITS.

composing the genial bed of Jupiter and Juno ; and the
lotus-herb is said to have formed the green food of
Achilles's horses.

Antiquaries assure us, that they recognise this flower
on the head of Harpocrates.

Belzoni says in his work on Egypt, " At Eduf are the
ruins of a superb temple, which is covered with hiero-
glyphics and figures. On the side wall of the pronaos I
observed the figure of Harpocrates, which is described by
Mr. Hamilton, seated on a full-blown lotus, with his
finger on his lips, as in the minor temple at Tentyra.

Isis has been represented holding a lotus flower in her
left hand.

The Indians, says Pennant, feign that Cupid was first
seen floating down the Ganges on the ^ymphaa ^elumbo,

" Down the blue Ganges laughing glide
Upon a rosy lotus wreath,
Catching new lustre from the tide,
That with his image shone beneath."

T. Moore.

Mrs. Graham notices in her Journal of a Residence in
India, " On the waters float multitudes of the beautiful
red lotus; the flower is larger than that of the white
water-lily, and is the most lovely of the nymphaeas I have
seen.''

" This," says Mr. Maurice, " is the majestic lotus, in
whose consecrated bosom Brahma was born, and Osiris
delights to float."

Sir W. Jones has noticed the veneration paid to this
plant, which was anciently revered in Egypt, as it is at
present in Hindoostan, Tibet, and Nepal.

Pliny describes the Egyptian lotus as a plant which
grows in the marshes of that country, and which came up
in the flats when the waters of the Nile returned to their

LOTUS. 361

natural channel. "They have heads," says he, "like
those of the poppy, within which are seeds resembling
millet, of which the inhabitants make bread." He relates,,
that " it is reported that when the sun goes down, those
heads close up with leaves, and sink under the water,
where they remain shut until the morning, when they ap-
pear above the surface and open, continuing this course
until they are ripe, when the flowers (that are white) fall
off of themselves. This lotus," says he, " has a root as
big as a quince, covered with a black rind or bark, much
like the husk of a chesnut. The substance within is
white, and delicious to eat, particularly boiled in water or
roasted in embers. The bread made from the seeds of
this lotus," says Pliny, " is worked with water or milk.
I There is not any bread in the world (says report) more

[ wholesome and lighter than this, so long as it is hot ; but

once cold, it is hard of digestion, and becomes weighty."
\ This plant was introduced into this countr^'^ by the late

I Sir Joseph Banks, in 1787, and is of the Polyandria Mo-

nogynia class, and natural order of Succulentae.

AN EXPLANATION

OF THE

TECHNICAL TERMS IN BOTANY,

USED IN THIS WORK.*

"The Sexual System, as invented and given to the
world by Linnseus," says Miller, " is built or founded on
the male and female parts oi fructification. By fructifi-
cation is meant flower and fruit ; and it is disposed ac-
cording to the number, proportion, and situation of the
stamens or pistils, or the male and female organs.

" For the sake of brevity of expression, he has had
recourse to the Greek language. Aner, a husband, he
has applied to the stamen ; and Gyne, a wife, to the pistil.
The stamen consists of two parts. The 1 st. Filament, is
that part which elevates the anthera. 2d. The anthera is
the part that bears the pollen, or farina fecundans, that
impregnates the pistillum or germen.

" The pistillum consists of three parts — 1st. The ger-
men, or embryo, of a future fruit. 2d. The style, which
elevates the stigma. 3d. The stigma or summit, which
is covered with a moisture, that dissolvfes the farina fe-
cundans of the anthera ; fitting it for vivification.

" The orders are taken from the females or pistils, as
the classes are from the males or stamens."

See Plates 2 and 3.

TERMS USED IN THIS WORK. 363

Androgynous ;)/««^— Bearing male and female flowers on
the same root, without any mixture of hermaphrodites.

Anther.— A part of the flower, big with pollen or farina,
which it emits or explodes when ripe ; or big with
granulated pollen, and that with favilla. It forms a
part of the stamen, and is placed on the top of the
filament.

Calyx, — The outward covering of the flower, or the first
of the seven parts of fructification.

Chive, — Properly the stamen.

Decandria. — Ten-stamened.

Dicecia. — The twenty-second class in Linnaeus^s system,
comprehending those plants which have no hermaphro-
dite flowers ; but male and female flowers on distinct
plants of the same species.

Favilla, — A fine substance, imperceptible to the naked
eye, exploded by the pollen in the anthers of flowers.

Hermaphrodite Jiowers, — Having both anther and stigma.
An hermaphrodite plant is that which has only her-
maphrodite flowers.

Hexandria, — The name of the sixth class in Linnaeus's
system; comprehending those plants which have her-
maphrodite flowers with six equal stamens. This is a
natural class.

Icosandria, — The name of the twelfth class in the Lin-
naean system ; comprehending those plants which have
hermaphrodite flowers, with twenty or more stamens,
growing on the inside of the calyx, not on the recepta-
cle ; the situation, and not the number of the stamens,
is here to be attended to. The calyx also is monophyl-
lous and concave in this class ; and the claws of the
petals are fixed into the inside of the calyx.

Monacia, — The name of the twenty-first class in the Lin-
naean system ; comprehending the androgynous plants,
or such as produce male and female flowers on the

364 EXPLANATTOy OF THE

same individual, without any mixture of hermaphro-
dites.

Monogynia, — The name of the first order in each of the
thirteen first classes of the Linnaean system ; compre-
hending such plants as have no pistil, or stigma only,
in a flower.

Monophyllum. — A monophyllus, or one-leafed perianth.
All in one; if cut, not separated to the base.

Octandria. — The name of the eighth class in the Linnaean
system; comprehending those plants which have her-
maphrodite flowers with eight stamens.

Pentagynia. — Comprehends those plants which have five
pistils in an hermaphrodite flower.

Pentandria. — The name of the fifth class in Linnaeus's
system ; comprehending those plants which have her-
maphrodite flowers with five stamens.

Pistillum. — Pistil or pointal ; a viscus or organ adhering
to the fruit, for the reception of the pollen. It is
the fourth part of the fructification. Its appearance is
that of a column, or set of columns, in the centre of the
flower ; and when perfect, it consists of three parts, —
1st. Germen, germ, or ovary ; 2d. Stylus, the style ;
3d. Stigma.

Petalum, — A petal : the corollaceous integument of the
flower.

Polyaridria. — The name of the thirteenth class in the Lin-
naean system ; comprehending those plants which bear
hermaphrodite flowers with many stamens (from twenty
to a thousand) growing single on the receptacle.

Polyadelphia. — The name of the eighteenth class in the
Linnaean system; comprehending those plants which
bear hermaphrodite flowers with three or more sets of
united stamens.

Polygamia, — The name of the twenty-third class in the
Linnaean system ; comprehending those plants which

TERMS USED IN THIS WORK. 365

bear hermaphrodite flowers, accompanied with male or
female flowers, or both ; not inclosed within the same
common calyx, but scattered either on the same plant,
or on two, or on three distinct individuals : whence the
three orders of this class, — 1. Monacia, 2. Diacia,
3. Trioecia.

Polygynia. — The name of one of the orders in the fifth,
sixth, twelfth, and thirteenth classes in the Linnaean
system; comprehending those plants which have
flowers with many pistils.

Receptaculum. — A receptacle; the base by which the
other parts of the fructification are connected.

Stamen. — An organ, or viscus, for the preparation of the
pollen; and formed from the wood. It is the third
in the fructification, and consists of the filament and
anther.

Syngenesia. — The name of the nineteenth class in Lin-
naeus's artificial system ; comprehending those plants
which have the anthers united into a cylinder.

The following anecdote, as related by Ray, will prove
how necessary it is for all classes of men to be in some
measure acquainted with botany : the counsellor who
would be a judge, the student who would be a pleader,
the juryman who would give an honest verdict, and the
party who would gain his cause, will, in this instance, see
the importance of botanical information.

** Baal, who was a gardener at Brentford, in Middle-
sex, having cultivated a remarkably fine cabbage, sold a
large quantity of the seeds to several gardeners about
the suburbs of London. They committed them to the
ground after the usual manner; but, instead of the sort
Baal had made them believe would spring up, they proved
to be chiefly the brassica longifolia, instead of the florida.
His incensed customers, in a body, instantly commenced.

366 TERMS USED IN THIS WORK.

in Westminster Hall, a prosecution against him. The
unfortunate man being unable to prove his innocence be-
fore the judges, the Court found him guilty of fraud ; and
he was condemned, not only to restore the price given for
the seeds, but was likewise obliged to pay each gardener
for the loss of time, and for the ground that had been
uselessly occupied. His character and circumstances
were consequently ruined ; which impaired his health, and
caused him to pay an untimely debt to nature. Had the
judges been at all apprized of the sexual hypothesis, or
had this honest man known, from careful observation, the
use of the farina in rendering the pistillum productive,
Baal would not have been found guilty of a crime, but the
accident would have been attributed to the true cause, —
the fortuitous impregnation of the brassica florida by the
farina of the brassica longifolia growing in the neighbour-
hood."

INDEX.

Acorn, anciently used as food, 1. a failure of, caused famine, 3.

beneficial to swine, 3, 4. hurtful to cows, 5. when to plant,

18.
Almond, 26. when introduced, 27. medical qualities, 27, 28.

planted for ornament, 29- their cultivation, 29.
Apple, 31. etymology of the word, 33. grafted on a colewort, 33.

new varieties, how raised from seed in the shortest time, 43.

Chinese culture, 44. the planting of, recommended, 46. how

pruned, 48. disease of, 49' how best preserved, 48. apple

wine, 48.
Apricot, 21, by whom introduced, 23- to retard its ripening, 24.
Banana, 302. its use in making cordage, 304.
Barberry, 51. natural history of, 52. singularities of the

flower, 52. medical qualities, 54.
Beech, 56. the tree revered by the Romans, 5?. its oil, 58.

its shade injurious to plants, 59. tree of Douremy, 59' utility

and durability of timber, 60. Beechen bowls, antiquity of,

61.
Bilberry, 351.
Botanical anecdote, 365.
Botany, studied by the ancients, 76.
Bottle Gourd, 173.

Bramble, 63. berries, their medical qualities, 63.
Brandy, remarks on, 198.
Byzantium-nut, 173.

368 INDEX.

Cacao, 66,
Cashew-nut, 72.
C a to .anecdote of, 151.

Chesuut, 84. from whence brought, 85. used as food, 86. su-
perstition of the Catalonians in eating them, 87.

-trees, remarkable, 85, 90.

, ornamental, 87. the grafting recommende d 91.

properties of the timber, 88.
Cherry, 76, when first introduced, 77, feast of, 83. edible

quahty of the fruit, 81. gardens profitable, 79- its timber, 81.
Chinese, celebrated for horticulture, (Introduction) iii.
Chocolate, 66. its nutritive quality, 67' natural history, 70. its

wood used for flutes, 71.
Cider, antiquity of, 45. remarks on its qualities, 45, 46.
Citron, 222.

Cocoa-nut, 98. its importance to the Indians, 99-
Coffee, 104. by whom made known in Europe, 105. plants, how

obtained, 108. the quantity exported from Jamaica, 109. its

qualities, 111, 114. analysis of, 112. remarks on making,

115.
Coffee-fly, 109. beauty of the tree, 109.
Coffee-house, the first, IO6.
Consumption cured by cucumbers, 126.
Cotier, anecdote of, 25.

Cranberry, II6. how cultivated, 11 7. medical quality, 121.
Cucumber, 122. esteemed by Tiberius, 123. when cultivated in

England, 123. forced by steam, 125, their qualities, 126.

wild, 127. medical properties, 128.
Currant, 130. why so named, 131. medical qualities, 133. wine

made from, 133. how pruned, 135.
Damson-plum, 306.

Date, 136. singularities of the tree, 141, medical qualities, 1 43.
Day, Mr. Daniel, anecdotes of, 12,
Dewberry, 65.

Diet, observations on, 46, 47*
Dodona, the Priestess of, 8.
Druids, their veneration for the oak, 3,
platerium, of what made, 1 27^

INDEX. 369

Elder, 145. its medical qualities, 1 47. wine, 14?. use of the

leaves, 148. the wood useful, 148.
Fig, 149. esteemed by the ancients, 150. when first introduced,

151. how to accelerate the fruit, 158. the caprification of, 158.

how raised in pots, 158. green variety, 151. fig-orchards in

Sussex, 153. fig-house, 15?. singular effect of the tree on

animal food, 159. loves the sea-air, 160.
Filbert, 162. how pruned, l63. how cultivated, 164. used at

weddings by the Romans, l65.
Fruit, when best to be eaten, 1 JO. how preserved, 299.
Gall-nuts, 5.

Gardens, of the Romans, 77- near London, their size and impor-
tance, (Introduction) vii.
German flutes, singularities of, 71.
Gooseberry, 166'. how preserved on the trees, 1 68. observations

on planting, &c. 170. wine recommended, 169.
Gourd, 172. medical properties, I7J.
Grafting, by the Romans, 32.
Grape, 177* when first cultivated in Britain, 1 79. great «ize of,

in Damascus, 180. vines of great dimensions, 182. on the

cultivation of, 203. how retarded, 204. how forwarded, 205-

observations on the pruning of^ 206.
Greengage-plum, why so named, 306.
Gum animi, 223.
Hazel-nut, 208. curiously defended by an old medical writer, 209.

the use of the wood, 210. divining-rods made of, 211.
Horse-chesnut, ()3. good for cattle, 95. starch made from, 95.

singularities of the tree, 97*
Horticultural Society, when established, (Introduction) vii.
Hurtleberry, 351.
Joan of Arc, anecdote of, 59.
Juniper, 212. the wood used by epicures, 213. theberries, 213.

great heat of the coal of, 215.
Kennicott, Dr. anecdote of, 152.
Lemon, 216. by whom first used in food, 217- medical qualities,

219. juice, how preserved, 220.
Lime, 221.

2 B

370 INDEX.

Lockman, anecdote of, 236.

Locust-tree, 223.

Lotus-flower, 358. of the ancients, 353.

Love-apple, 225.

Mahogany, when first used in cabinet goods, 345.

Mahometans, anecdote of, 289.

Mandarin-orange, 271.

Medlar, 228. medical quality, 229.

Melon, 230. of great size, 232. winter variety, 232. how to
choose, 233. water-melons, 234.

Milo of Crotona, anecdote of, 7.

Mithridates, his antidote against poison, 343.

Mulberry, •^37- esteemed by the Romans, 238. when introduced,
239' its culture encouraged by King James, 240. mulberry-
gardens, 241. when cultivated in France. 243. thrives in the
sea-air, 244. peculiarities of the tree, 253. root, medical vir-
tues, 253. how pruned, 254. profitable in Italy, 243.

Nectarine, 255. growing on peach-trees, 256. their decay ac-
counted for, 257.

Oak, 1. medicinal qualities, 5. esteemed a sacred tree, 6. formed
the first temple in Greece, 7- of great size and age, 9» 10, 14.
Fairlop, history of, 11. Fisher's and Hern's, 13. Timber, its
durability and use, 15. table, 17« bark, its use, 17. leaves,
18. remarks on planting, 19.

Oil, the food of plants, 264.

., — of Olives, its virtues, 265.

Olive, 259. sacred to Minerva, 260. cultivated at Kensington,
261. how preserved, 262.

Orange, 266. supposed to be the golden apple of Hesperides, 267.

Orange-trees, when cultivated in England, 269. those of Queen
Henrietta, 270. how cultivated, 274. medical qualities, 273.
how preserved, 274.

Orleans plum, 306.

Palm-tree, 136. how impregnated, 140. form a curious traffic, ~

' 143.

Pawnage, or Pannage, the law when granted, 3.

Peach-tree, 275. when cultivated in England, 276. pruning, 280.
their decay accounted for, 257. leaves used, 297 •

INDEX. 371

Pear, 281. used to poison King John, 282. how preserved, 288 •

trees, made fruitful by ring-barking, 285. when to be pruned,

288.
Perry, 285.

Pine-apple, 2.90. where indigenous, 291. when first seen in Eng-
land, 292. by whom first cultivated, 294. of great size, 297.

grown without artificial heat, 296. imported for sale, 298.
Pippins, when first introduced, 33. why so called, 34. golden

pippins, 34, 37, 39«
Plantain-tree, 300. the fruit, 301.
Plants, what number cultivated, (Introduction) vii.
Plum, 305. bow forced, 307. soil and situation suitable to, 309.

medical qualities, 309* how pruned, 310.
Pomegranate, 311. when brought into Europe, 312. medical

qualities, 313. favourite tree of the nightingale, 314.
Pumpkin, 315. how cooked, 3l6.

v^ueen Elizabeth, encouraged horticulture, (Introduction) v.
Quince, 318. said to be the golden apple of Hesperides, 3 19* from

whence brought, 320.

wine, receipt for making, 321.

Raspberry, 323. its qualities, 325. how pruned, 325.

Heine Claude plum, why so called, 306.

Ring-barking, its utility, 285.

Service-berry, 335.

Seville orange, 273.

Shaddock, 222.

Silk-trade, its origin, 248. when introduced into Greece, 249.

encouraged by Queen Elizabeth, 250.

machine, by whom introduced, 252.

Snowberry, 120.

Squash-gourd, 173.

Strawberry, 326. when cultivated, 327- Keen's experiments on,

329. their culture, 331. on watering, 331. their quahties,

333.
Superstition of the Romans, 128.
Sussex celebrated for oak, 4, 10.
Sycophant, derivation of the word, 1 50.
Sympathy of Plants explained, 80, 156.

372 INDEX.

Tables, expensive ones, 17.

Tamarind, 338.

Tomato, 225.

Tubs, for trees, how to be formed, 258.

Tusser, his work on Husbandry, (Introduction) vi. •

Vegetable Marrow, 174. formation of the flower, I75.

Vineyards in England, 185. why neglected, 188.

Vine-leaves, their use, 202.

Walnuts, 342. how preserved, 350. as a sweetmeat, 344. the
barkmedicinal, 343. timber valuable, 346. the grafting of,
348. when sown and planted, 349.

Water-melon, 234.

Whortleberry, 351.

Wild Cucumber, 127-

Wines, to whom the invention is ascribed, I78. used by the
ancients in the worship of their gods, 178. price of in 1342,
188. the first duty on, 189. difficult to choose well, I9I.

Wines of Portugal, 191. of France, 129. of Switzerland and the
Rhine, 192. of Hungary, 193. of Spain, 193. of Madeira,
194. of Italy, 194. of the Cape, 194. remarks on, 195. how
fined, 198. wine-merchants defended, 196. wine made in
England, 200.
Zante currant, 134.

THE END.

LONDOK :
PRINTED BY S. AND H. ULNTLEY, DORSET STREET.

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