Our common fruits; a descriptive account of those ordinarily cultivated or consumed in Great Britain

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OUR

30MMON FRUITS

A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT

OF THOSE

OEDINAEILY CULTIVATED OE CONSUMED IN
GEEAT BEITAIN.

*7ft>L£ ..*£*x**\
BY MRS. BAYLE BERNARD.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

" Fruit of all kinds, in coat
Rough, cr smooth rind, or bearded husk, or shell."

Milton.

LONDON :
FREDERICK WARNE AND CO,

BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1866.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THIS book,, while it can hardly fail to possess some
interest for the botanist and the gardener, is yet
intended less for them than for the general public ;
for that large class who neither grow plants nor
scientifically study them, but who yet may be glad
to learn something of the nature and history of
objects daily brought before them to please their
eyes and delight their palates. While, therefore, a
plain description of the structure and mode of growth
of the various fruits which appear at our tables has
been added to the account of their origin or intro-
duction to us, technical language has been studiously
avoided, and the primary aim has been to convey in
simple and intelligible terms all the information on
the subject which would be likely to possess any
general interest.

CONTENTS.

Page

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER . . . Vli
TABLE OE FRUITS . . . XIV
THE APPLE . . . .1
THE PEAR . . . 29
THE QUINCE . . . .41
THE MEDLAR . . . 46
THE PLUM . . . .60
CHERRY RIPE . . . 65
THE PEACH . . . .80
THE DATE .' . . . 94
THE GRAPE . . . .109
THE GOOSEBERRY AND CURRANT . 135
THE BARBERRY . . . .150
THE CRANBERRY AND ITS ALLIES, THE WHORTLE-
BERRY AND BILBERRY . . 156
THE ORANGE AND ITS ALLIES, THE LEMON, CIT-
RON, AND SHADDOCK . . . 162
THE POMEGRANATE . . 184
THE RASPBERRY AND ITS ALLIES, THE BLACK-
BERRY, DEWBERRY, ETC. . . .189
STRAWBERRIES . . . 197
THE MELON . . . .211
THE MULBERRY . .225
THE FIG .... 232
THE PINE-APPLE . . 251
NUTS 264

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

WHEN the Goddess of Wisdom competed with the
other divinities as to which should produce the most
perfect work, she is said to have triumphed over her
rivals by calling into existence a fruit-tree. And
well did the ancient Greek in estimating so highly,
as this legend shows him to have done, the gifts with
which his soil had been enriched, for there can be
little question of the truth that, as an American
author remarks, " Fruit is the most perfect union of
the useful and the beautiful that the earth knows."
Yet in these days, when our cornucopia overflows
with treasures more lovely and delicious than Greek
imagination ever even conceived, appreciation of them,
except at the very moment when they are before

Vlll INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

us, seems rather to have declined than otherwise,,
for of the multitudes who enjoy the banquet thus
spread for them, how few ever make any effort to
acquaint themselves with the structure or history of
the objects which afford them so much pleasure ! It
has happened occasionally to the writer to hear some
more inquiring disposition express at the dessert-
table a wonder how dates grew, or what sort of fruit
it was from which French plums were prepared ; but
although when once such questions were raised a
general interest has mostly become excited, rarely
indeed has any information been elicited on even the
simplest points, while persons who were thoroughly
well informed on most subjects of every-day life have
been found utterly at a loss when asked from what
plant Brazil nuts were gathered, or what kind of
blossom preceded the fig or the pine-apple. It is
true that facilities for acquiring such knowledge have
been but limited, for the only work on the subject
written in a popular style, viz., Phillip's Pomarium
Britannicum, published in 1821, has not only been
long since out of print, but much of the brief in-
formation it afforded has since then become quite

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. IX

obsolete; so that only from works chiefly filled with
either the repelling technicalities of professed botan-
ists, or dull details intended for the guidance of the
cultivator, could the general reader hope to glean
what he required, and such therefore might well feel
deterred from wading through voluminous treatises
only to gather, amid many pages of uninteresting
matter, here and there a fact which he might wish
to know and remember. Objects possessing far less
claim to attention — shells and seaweeds, ferns and
fungi — have all been repeatedly the theme of the
popular writer, while Nature's favourite children,
fruits, with all their rich endowments of beauty and
utility, have been passed by and neglected. The
writer desires that what has long since been done
for Common Objects of the Country and Common
Objects of the Sea Shore, should in the present
volume be effected for the Common Objects of our
daily Dessert; and this not only with a view to
show that there is something to be told respecting
them which may interest all, but, by indicating
how much yet remains to be discovered, to, perhaps,
lead a few to direct their attention to them for

X INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

the future, and by closer observation and deeper
study enlarge our hitherto very limited knowledge
of Pomology.

One great desideratum yet to be supplied is a satis-
factory classification of fruits. The great German
pomologist, Dochnahl, remarks, " Minerals, insects,
flowers, are all described and classed, but Pomology
remains a class without order or aid to gain a know-
ledge of it. As Botany was before the days of
Linnseus, so now stands Pomology." The lack of
more harmonious relations between the theorist and
the man of practice seems to be one grand cause of
this, for he continues, " its parent, Botany, has been
to it but a step-mother; and what the cultivator
looks on as constant and prizes as a valuable variety,
the botanist calls a mere accident." Now, however,
that gardeners more and more cultivate themselves
as well as their soil, and the same hand which plants
the tree can write all that is to be learnt about it,
they are likely to form more correct opinions, while
the professedly scientific are on the other hand likely
to allow more weight to their opinions, and thus a
better agreement may be arrived at. In our own

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. XI

country various attempts have been made, the latest
and best being those of Mr. Hogg, to reduce the
classification of some fruits at least to something like
a system ; but the difficulties are enormous, varieties
being so numerous, while the differences between
them is so trifling; and while the present general
ignorance on the subject prevails, the evil is likely
not only to continue but to increase, because worth-
less varieties are needlessly multiplied, and fresh
names continually given by persons unacquainted
with those already bestowed. Some judgment on
this point may be formed from the fact that the
catalogue of the Horticultural Society recorded some
years ago as many as 897 varieties of apples, many
of them with numerous synonyms (the Golden Pippin
alone bears sixteen different titles) , yet, says Glennie,
" a good judge will discriminate each, and recognize
the new varieties which are continually * arising."
Still it is much to be desired that, without burdening
the memory with such a load as this, some broad
marks of distinction could be discovered in every
fruit, which would enable any one who chose to devote
a little attention to the subject to assign at once any

Xll INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

which, he might see for the first time to at least
some general and well-defined division of the family.
It is encouraging to find that in one fruit-tree, where
marks of this kind were detected, they were first
observed by an amateur who only gave his leisure to
such observations.* It is possible that the dissection
of fruits might lend some aid in leading to the
establishment of means of classifying them; it is
certain that they would no more be found to consist
of ' ' nothing but skin and squash " than the cater-
pillar with the anatomy of which the Rev. J. G.
Wood so astonished the old gentleman referred to in
the fc Common Objects of the Country."

A great practical benefit arising from a more
extended knowledge of Pomology would probably be
the gradual disappearance and eventual extirpation of
inferior kinds of fruits, and the exclusive cultivation
of superior sorts, when, as is often the case, the latter
can just as readily be raised as the former. A first-
rate strawberry is a delicate nursling, which none
need attempt to rear who cannot devote time and

Vide "The Peach," page 80.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. Xlll

thought to its culture, but a fine pear or apple is as
easily obtained as a poor one, takes no more room,
and needs no more attention. Well, therefore, may
Downing exclaim, " He who owns a rood of proper
land in this country, and, in the face of all the pomonal
riches of the day, only raises crabs and choke-pears,
deserves to lose the respect of all sensible men ; " and
what he thus says concerning America is certainly at
least as applicable in our more limited territory, where
we have not even quantity to atone in some degree
for any deficiencies in point of quality.

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OUR COMMON FRUITS.

CHAPTEE I.
THE APPLE.

FIEST mentioned of fruits in the most ancient of all
records, and holding, too, as the Apple does, so prominent
a place in the earliest history of our race, the very sound
of its name seerns an echo of Eden and the first age ; and
even in this nineteenth century, Art at least still links
that name to the old familiar form, and presents us in pic-
torial allegory with the lineaments of common orchard pro-
duce, rather than with citron, or shaddock, or pommeloe,
however literary criticism may insist on rather seeking
among these to find " forbidden fruit." And however its
right may be disputed to personate the subjects of Eastern
or classical story, yet when we come to the cold Norse
regions, far from " the land where the citron blows," we
can have no doubts as to the real pippinism of those apples
of immortality kept by the fair Iduna, by regaling on
which the gods of the Edda were wont to renew their
youth, until the wicked Loke stole and hid away both
the maiden and her fruit, leaving the bereaved. divinities
to pine away, losing their vigour both of mind and body
and neglecting the affairs of heaven and earth, until mor-
tals, deprived of celestial supervision, fell into all manner
of evil, and it almost happened that for "want of an apple
the world was lost." Well was it that at last, summon-
ing all that remained of their expiring energies, they
succeeded in forcing the robber to restore those precious
pomes on which the welfare of both realms depended.
The tree, connected with so many legends of remote

1

OUR fcfrMjQN FRUITS.

to ; the ; genus Pomece of the great
natural order Rosacece, o£ which the rose is the type or
head of the family, and the chief characteristic of which
is, that the ovary, or part which contains the future seed
— the hip of the rose or • apple of the apple-tree — is
situated below the flower, seeming like an enlargement
of the stalk where it meets the calyx. In most flowers
of this order the numerous stamens remain for a time
after the five petals have fallen, and the traces of the
five-cleft calyx are still to be seen upon the summit of
the fruit even when it has reached maturity. The family
likeness to the plant from which the order is named is
most apparent in the loveliest blossom of the apple tribe,
the Chinese Crab, which may rival in beauty the very
queen of flowers, when, in early spring, it puts forth its
deep red buds and large semi-double flowers of tenderest
texture, and flushed with a tint of pure though pale
carmine, the charm of its rosy clusters all enhanced by
their setting of freshest vernal green. And even the
ordinary apple-blossom is of no mean beauty. The pear
may boast of nobler form and loftier growth as a tree,
but its white and scentless bloom cannot compare with
that which glorifies the crooked stem and irregularly
jutting branches of its orchard neighbour with such
delicate fragrance and tender hue, "less than that of
roses, and more than that of violets," as Dante describes
it, and which won from the keenest living observer of
Nature's varying beauties (Mr. Ruskin) the testimony,
that " of all the lovely things which grace the spring-
time in this our fair temperate zone, I am not sure but
this blossoming of the apple-tree is the fairest."

Nearly related as is the blossom to the loveliest of
flowers, that which succeeds it is undoubtedly one of the
most useful of fruits ; for as the earliest sorts ripen about
the end of June, and the latest can be kept until that
period, the apple may almost be said to be in season " all
the year round;" while, scarcely beyond reach of the
poorest, it is a. universal luxury in the favoured regions
where it thrives ; and though the noble's dessert were
incomplete without it, yet moistening, too, the dry bread

THE APPLE. 3

of poverty, it forms no uncommon part of the peasant's
dinner. This pome, as it is called by botanists, consists
of a succulent fleshy pulp, enclosed in a thin outer skin,
and surrounding the cells in which, protected by inner
walls of cartilage, the seeds of future trees lie ensconced.
It is well that they are thus strongly entrenched, for
"somehow or other," writes an author in the Entomo-
logical Magazine, " the pips of an apple are connected
with its growth, as the heart of an animal with its life :
injure the heart, an animal dies; injure the pips, an
apple falls j" and thus, whenever any of its insect foes do
succeed in piercing through all these strongholds and
storming the kernels in their inmost citadel, the poor
fruit, a living thing no longer, drops down at once to seek
a grave in the earth. An unimportant event, truly ! and
yet, once at least in the world's history, the fall of an
apple proved of greater import than the fall of a kingdom,
when in the quiet garden at "Woolsthorpe, a busily de-
vouring grub penetrated to the centre of the codlin he
was consuming, snapped its connexion with the parent
branch, and brought it to the feet of the sage, whose
resulting speculations on ".why an apple falls " resolved
the question of how worlds are sustained. But this was
an accident in apple life, and it was doubtless for hum-
bler purposes and more direct uses than to furnish philo-
sophers with food for reflection, that the pomea are
scattered over the world.

Growing spontaneously almost throughout Europe, and
in most other temperate climes, just where that warmth
ceases which enables the vine to bring forth .good fruit,
there, by a kind provision of Providence, begins the cli-
mate most suitable to the apple ; and the celebrated tra-
veller Von Buch has remarked that it will grow in the
open air wherever the oak thrives, thus extending its
range to 60° N. latitude, beyond which it is scarcely
known. Linnaeus, indeed, was told in Lapland that one
apple-tree at least was growing there — a fruitless one, it
was admitted, but its barrenness only due to its having
been cursed by a beggar woman to whom the owner had
refused a taste of its produce ; but on asking to be shown

1 — 2

4 OUR COMMON FBUITS.

this marvellous growth, he found it to be an elm, a tree
rare in those high latitudes, and which the ignorance of
the inhabitants, unfamiliar with the real aspect of either,
had invested with the name of the apple, superstition
stepping in afterwards with a myth to account for all
discrepancies. Of the two extremes which it can endure,
the apple seems to prefer warmth to cold, for the Apples
of Astrachan, if transplanted southwards, improve, while
the Malo di Carlo of Italy, when removed farther north,
deteriorates ; and though few apples are grown south of
Paris, yet the Departments of France which lie north of
that city form a district more favorable to them than even
England can afford.

The tree is likewise found in some parts of India, and
an attempt was made some years ago to introduce its
culture into the northern part of that continent, when a
single tree, in consequence of being the only one which
survived, cost upwards of £70 before it was planted. In
S. America, too, Humboldt found excellent apples abun-
dant in the markets at Caracas in Venezuela, and was
assured that they were the growth of trees which had
never been grafted.

The apple-tree asks for little depth of earth, for, having
no tap root, a single foot of soil will suffice it, and twice
this quantity gives it ample scope; but it is necessary
that this little should be of a certain quality, so that its
appearance may always be looked on as a mark of at
least a tolerably good soil. Like most fruit-trees, it pre-
fers calcareous earth, and geologists have noticed that the
orchard counties of England follow the track of the red
sandstone. Its shade is so kindly that, in the Surrey
nurseries, tender evergreens which would be injured by
spring frosts are always planted under its protecting
branches, and in the spaces between the trees in American
orchards, maize and every other kind of corn is grown,
except rye, a grain so very injurious to the apple-tree,
especially in its youth, that an eminent cultivator has
stated it to be his opinion that three successive crops of
it would quite destroy any orchard of younger growth
than twenty years.

THE APPLE. 5

Cultivation not only improves the fruit, changing the
Crab into the apple in all its numerous varieties, but also
causes the leaves to become larger, thicker, and more
downy ; indeed, it is a common practice among those who
raise seedlings, to select, in the second or third year of
their growth, those plants which have large broad round-
ish leaves, throwing all the rest away; experience having
shown that these are much more likely to yield better, or
at least larger, fruit than trees with small narrow pointed
leaves ; for Mr. Knight affirms that the width of the leaf
generally indicates the size of the future fruit, but admits
that it does not convey a very correct idea of its merit,
since it may prove to be large and insipid. In its wild
state, too, the tree is seldom more than 20 ft. high, be-
sides being very crooked and distorted in its growth ; but
domesticated by man, it assumes a somewhat more regu-
lar form and attains a loftier height. In Scotland, how-
ever, 25 ft. is still considered high, but near London 30 ft.
is a fair standard. In Herefordshire 40 ft. is attained,
and in N. America, where it reaches its greatest perfec-
tion, a famous Pear main, in Homney in Virginia, is de-
scribed as being 45 ft. high, and the trunk upwards of
3 ft. in diameter, while the produce in one year amounted
to no less than 200 bushels, whereas the greatest amount
on record in England as having been gathered from one
tree is but 100 pecks. This American giant was a seed-
ling, and, though 40 years old, was still continuing to
grow larger; and others in that country are specially
mentioned by Downing, which, spending their energies
in expanding rather than aspiring, had attained enormous
bulk, the girth of one growing in Rhode Island exceeding
13 ft., the tree, too, having attained the remarkable age
of 130 years ; for though the wild plant is very long-
lived, fine garden sorts usually live but from 50 to 80
years. "With care, however, they may be maintained in
health and productiveness for very long periods, and at
Horton in Buckinghamshire, where Milton spent some
of his earlier years, an apple-tree was still growing quite
recently, which tradition asserted the poet had often
been accustomed to sit under. Among our Transatlantic

6 OTTE COMMON FETJITS.

brethren, too, the individual fruits sometimes attain im-
mense size, the " Beauty of Kent," it is said, being found
there frequently measuring 16 or 18 in. in circumference ;
and Ernest Seyd, in his California and its Resources, men-
tions an apple measuring 15£ in. each way, and weighing
23 ozs., having been grown in an orchard in that country.
In Siberia it reaches its opposite limit of smallness,
and though the wild apple, indigenous to milder Europe,
cannot endure the keen blasts of that region of frost, the
diminutive cherry-like Crab, named after its native land,
and which is so common in our gardens, is found widely
distributed, holding the place, too, of a " triton among
minnows," when compared with its compatriot the Cur-
rant Crab, the tiny red mealy-fleshed fruits of which are
not more than ~ in. in diameter, or about the size of
currants, and are borne like them in clusters.

Leaving out of question the fruits of doubtful nature,
figuring in ancient history or fable under the name of
apple, once indiscriminately bestowed on almost every
large solid roundish fruit, it is held to be proved that the
Pyrus mala of botany, which in modern days exclusively
owns that title, was known to very remote ages. Among
the Thebans it was offered to Hercules, a custom derived
from the circumstance of a river having once so over-
flowed its ordinary limits as to prevent a sheep being
carried across it for a sacrifice to the labour-loving god,
when some youths, on the strength of the Greek word
melon signifying both a sheep and an apple, stuck four
wooden pegs into the fruit to represent legs, and brought
the vegetable quadruped thus extemporized as a substi-
tute for the usual offering, after which the apple was
always looked on as specially devoted to Hercules. The
same fruit is said to have been the favourite dessert of
Philip of Macedon, and also of his son Alexander, at all
of whose meals it was served ; and it was so common a
close to Roman repasts as to have given rise to the pro-
verbial expression, "from the egg to the apple," implying
the whole course of a meal, eggs being usually the first
dish brought to table. . It is, of course, descanted upon
by Pliny. " Of apples," says he, " that is to say, of fruits

THE APPLE. 7

that have tender skins to be pared off, there are many
sorts ;" and many indeed we might expect, if so liberal a
definition of the name were accepted ; yet, in giving a list
of the fruits known in his day, he describes only about
20 different varieties of apples, adding, nevertheless, in
the pride of a little knowledge, — " So as in this point
verily the world is grown already to the highest pitch,
insomuch as there is not a fruit but men have made trial
and many experiments with, for even in Virgil's days the
device of graffing strange fruits was very rife, consider-
ing that he speaks of the arbute-tree graffed on nut-
trees, the plane upon apple-trees, and the elm upon
cherry stocks, in such sort as I see not how men can.
devise to proceed further. And certainly for this long
time there hath not been a new kind of apple or of other
fruit heard of." In spite of the philosopher's inability
to conceive such a thing, Pomology has somewhat pro-
gressed since those Plinian days of " highest pitch," seeing
that more than 1,400 varieties of apples are now enu-
merated in the catalogue of the London Horticultural
Society.

As the tree grows wild throughout almost the whole
of Britain, and as the name, Apple (in Celtic AbJial), is
considered by the best authorities to be derived from the
pure Celtic ball, signifying a round body, it is more pro-
bable that it is indigenous to this country than that it
was introduced, as some have thought, by the Romans.
From time immemorial it has been the badge of the
Highland clan Lament, and in the earliest times a branch
of apple was the mark of distinction conferred on the
Welsh bards who most excelled in minstrelsy.

In Saxon times we find "William of Malmesbury dis-
tinguishing that it was under a wild apple-tree that King
Edgar once, in the year 973, lay down to sleep, which
would seem to imply the existence of a domesticated
kind also ; and after the Conquest, traces of its culture
soon appear ; for a bull of Pope Alexander, bearing the
date 1175, confirms to the monastery of Winchcombe, in
Gloucestershire, their claims on the town of Twining,
" with all its lands and orchards." In the course of time

8 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

varieties were probably introduced from Normandy and
other parts of the Continent, though little information on
the subject is to be gathered from early writers on fruit
cultivation ; but the oldest existing variety on record in
England is that which Phillips apostrophizes as

"the fair Pearmaine,
Tempered, like comeliest nymph, with white aud red."

a tenure in the county of Norfolk, dated A.D. 1200,
having been held by the yearly payments of " two hun-
dred Pear-maines and four hogsheads of Pear-maine
cyder." The derivation of this name, according to Hogg,
is similar to that of Charlemagne (sometimes written
Charlemaine), meaning, therefore, Pyrus magnus, or the
great pear-apple, the shape bearing some resemblance to
that of a pear. By the time of Henry III., "Worcester
had become famous for its fruit-trees, and cyder orchards
in Herefordshire date from the days of Henry VIII. ;
when also, as Fuller informs us, one Leonard Maschal
brought " pippins " from over sea, and planted them at
Plumstead in Sussex ; while so important had their culture
become, that in the 37th year of the same king the bark-
ing of apple-trees was declared to be felony.

It was not, however, till the time of Charles I. that
" orcharding," as it was called, became general through-
out this country, and the 17th century may be looked on
as the Golden Age of apples. Evelyn published an ap-
pendix to his Sylva, under the title of " Pomona," which
did much to bring the subject under public attention ;
and by the exertions of the first Lord Scudamore, Here-
fordshire in particular became, as it has been expressed,
" one entire orchard." This gentleman, being in the com-
pany of the Duke of Buckingham when he was assassi-
nated by Eelton, received such a shock from witnessing
this catastrophe, that he retired into private life and de-
voted all his energies to the culture of fruit. That kind
to which he gave most attention was a variety believed to
have originated during the 17th century, and which was
at first called the " Scudamore Crab," but afterwards the
" Eedstreak." It was Evelyn's favourite also ; and, indeed,

THE .APPLE.

so much was said and written about it during that cen-
tury, that a modern author, leaving out of view evidently
the fatal gift of Paris and all that grew therefrom, ven-
tures the bold remark concerning it, that " perhaps there
is no apple which at any period created such a sensation."
Phillips, of Splendid Shilling celebrity, who wrote an en-
tire poem in Virgilian measure upon " Cyder," which had
also the honour of being translated into Italian, in this
very apotheosis of apples thus exalts this idol of the day :

" Let every tree in every garden own
The Redstreak as supreme, whose pulpous frui
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 I perceive
Her sacred virtue. See ! the numbers flow
Easy, whilst cheered with her nectareous juice,
Hers and my country's praises I exalt."

Alas for the power of fashion, even in the matter of
apples ! The Redstreak is now held but in slight esteem.

After this period Pomology declined, until some years
ago a new impetus was given to it by the first President
of the London Horticultural Society, T. A. Knight, Esq.,
who first practically and systematically applied the dis-
covery of the sexes of plants, and by hybridization, or
transferring the pollen of one kind of blossom to the
stigmas of another, succeeded in producing many new and
valuable varieties. It is a singular fact, however, that all
efforts have failed to fecundate an apple by a pear-tree, it
being found that they will not produce a hybrid.

Many attempts have been made by pomologists to es-
tablish a regular classification of apples, the method-loving
and labour-despising Germans, in particular, having de-
voted very great attention to the subject. The system of
Diel, usually considered the best, has been almost univer-
sally adopted by his countrymen ; but in 1847 Dochnahl,
another eminent pornologist, published a modification of
it, superior in some respects, as being easier of applica-
tion. The fruits are mostly classed according to shape,
whether globular, oval, cylindric, conical, oblate, angular

10 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

(i.e. having the circumference flattened into distinct faces) ;
ribbed, or having ridges with hollows between ; or oblique,
a term applied when the stalk and the eye, or blossom
end, are not exactly opposite ; and are again subdivided
according to colour, though Diel makes a primary class
of " striped " apples. The first American writer on these
fruits merely divides them, according to quality, into the
ranks of good, better, or best. Our own Loudon distin-
guishes them into Pearmaines, or somewhat pear-shaped
fruit ; Rennets, or Queen's ; Colvilles, or white-skinned
fruit ; E-usset, or brown fruit ; speckled fruits ; Pippins,
or such as are grown from seed ; and Burknots, which
can be readily propagated by cuttings ; while Hogg, the
latest, but by no means least, English authority on such
subjects, classes them into summer, autumn, and winter
apples ; dividing them again into sections according to
their form, and sub-sections founded upon their colour, a
classification quite sufficient for ordinary purposes, but
which does not satisfy the author himself, who remarks,
that "a system of classification for apples, founded on
characters at once permanent and well defined, is still a
great desideratum." Perhaps it may not long remain so,
for since expressing the above opinion, the same gentle-
man has announced, in a communication to a horticultural
periodical, that he is himself engaged in elaborating a
system which will reduce apples to a more natural ar-
rangement.

Beauty of form and colour are qualities certainly not
to be despised in choosing apples for the dessert, where
the eye has to be catered for as well as the palate ; but ib
must by no means be expected that the fruit which adds
most to the decoration of the table shall always be the
one also best calculated to gratify gustativeness. These
virtues are, however, sometimes to be found combined, for
no pomological Lavater has arisen to lay down very cer-
tain laws for determining from outward appearance what
may be the inward characteristics of an apple ; but
M'Intosh, in his Book of the Gardenias given one gene-
ral rule which may be of some use in furnishing a cri-
terion, viz., that in yellowish-fleshed apples, or those with

THE APPLE. 11

brownish russety skins, marked with dull yellow and red,
the desirable properties of being crisp, juicy, and well
flavoured are always more likely to be met with than in
fruit displaying one uniform colour of pale yellow, light-
green, or bright red.

The earliest apple to grace Pomona's annual wreath is
the small, roundish, pale yellow Joanneting, termed in
old Latin writings the Joannina, because it became ripe
about St. John's Day (June 24th). Opinions, however,
have been by no means unanimous as to either the ortho-
graphy or the etymology of the Joanneting, Dr. John-
son having written it " Grineting," considering that it
must have been named after some French Janet ; while
some gardeners, giving neither to sanctity nor to gallantry
the credit of having prompted its title, derive the name
from the nature, and write it " Juneating," or " June-
eating." This fruit lasts but for a short time, and is best
eaten fresh gathered, as it very soon becomes dry and
mealy.

The Codlin, a large pale fruit, having the property of
" falling" into a pulp when cooked, even when quite un-
ripe, is another very early apple, and an old variety, de-
riving its name from " coddle," to parboil — codlins and
cream having once been one of the principal dishes of
English cookery. Unlike most other varieties, the Codlin
can be propagated by seeds, its pips almost always grow-
ing into plants exactly similar to the parent, whereas in
other sorts this very rarely occurs.

The Costard, too, now not very often met with, is one
of our oldest English apples, being found mentioned,
under the name of " Poma Costard," in the fruiterers'
bills of Edward I., in 1292, when it was sold for Is. per
100. It is believed to have been very extensively grown ;
and, indeed, it would seem that the " costard-mongers,"
who hawked the fruit about ancient London, must have
outnumbered their congeners who retailed in like manner
other articles, or they would hardly have left their name,
as they have done, to characterize in modern times the
whole tribe of street sellers, or coster mongers. It has-
been confounded by some with

12 OTJB COMMON FETJITS.

" The Catshead's ponderous orb,
Enormous in its growth,"

but which is really a distinct variety, always highly es-
teemed on account of its great size, in which, however,
it is rivalled by the " Beauty of Kent," a kitchen apple,
which has only become common since 1820, but which is
so excellent in every respect, that Hogg describes it as
being " perhaps the most magnificent apple in cultivation."
The Norfolk Beau-fin has a local celebrity from its being
specially fitted for making the well-known "biffins,"
which are prepared by baking the fruit in a very slow
oven, pressing them from time to time with the hand
to reduce them to flatness ; but dearest of all culinary
apples to the housewife is the old Eusset or "Leathercote,"
known since 1597, and in use throughout the winter, from
November to May, for every purpose of cooking. One
of the oldest and most highly esteemed of our dessert
fruits is the little yellow G-olden Pippin, which all agree
is undoubtedly English, though the date of its origin is
not known ; for the diminutive auriferous pippin of to-day
is evidently not the same which bore that name in the
time of Parkinson, since that is described by him as being
" the greatest and best of all pippins." It was first noted
as a cyder apple, a use to which it is still applied, but in
later days has become very popular for dessert purposes.
Mr. Knight, who had formed an idea that no variety of
apple could last longer than two centuries, mourned
specially over the approaching extinction of this little
golden favourite, believing that he could trace already
unmistakeable symptoms of its decline ; but this view
was strongly opposed by his contemporary, Greorge Lind-
ley ; and that eminent authority, Professor De Candolle,
gave it as his opinion that "varieties will endure and
remain permanent so long as man chooses to take care
of them." Experience, that best authority of all, has
happily disproved Mr. Knight's theory ; and though the
old diseased trees he had seen in Herefordshire, and from
the observation of which he deduced his melancholy fore-
bodings, are probably by this time all dead, they have but
yielded their place to younger and healthier plants of the

THE APPLE. 13-

same family, and however individuals may have perished,
the race survives, fine and flourishing as ever.

But perhaps the best known of all our apples at the
present day is the much esteemed Bibstone Pippin, so
easily recognized in its suit of dull green and red patched
with russet, and the genealogy of which has been a sub-
ject of much discussion. In an interesting statement
furnished to the Horticultural Society by Sir H. G-ood-
riche, on whose estate at Bibstone in Yorkshire the
original tree was discovered growing, he states that tra-
ditionary accounts are all we have to guide us in the
history of this tree. It is said that some apple-pips were
brought from. Rouen in Normandy, towards the close of
the 17th century ; that they were sown at Bibstone ; that
five of the pips grew, two of them producing crabs and
the other three apples, one of these latter being the now
famous Bibstone Pippin. It had been suspected that
the fruits might after all have been produced by grafting
(though the name would then have been a misnomer, the
word " pippin " implying that the tree has grown from a
seed or pip) ; and to determine this, some suckers were
taken from the old root and planted in the gardens at
Chiswick, when all doubts were dissipated by their grow-
ing and producing fruits exactly similar to that of the
parent tree. That nothing like it has ever been disco-
vered among all the foreign specimens of apples received
by the society, also tends to prove that the variety is of
native growth. The original tree, supposed to have been
planted in 1688, stood till 1810, when it was blown down
by a violent gale of wind, but being supported by stakes
in a horizontal position, continued to produce fruits until
1835, when it lingered and died. But " e'en in its ashes
lives its wonted fire," for " since then," says Mr. Hogg,
writing in 1851, " a young shoot has been produced about
four inches below the surface of the ground, which with
proper care may became a tree, and thereby preserve the
original of this favourite dessert apple."
~>-^The Bibstone Pippin," says an American writer,
" stands as high in Great Britain as the Bank of Eng-
land, and to say that an apple has a Bibstone flavour is

14 OTJE COMMON FRUITS.

there the highest praise that can be bestowed ; " but in
his country it ranks among but second or third-rate fruits,
owing perhaps to that climate being less suited for it,*
or to the existence there of other sorts naturally superior
to any of ours. Even here, however, it did not " find
itself famous in a single night," for until the end of the
last century it was but little known, an indication of the
gradual growth of its popularity being afforded by the
fact that in 1785, and for some years after, no more than
25 plants per annum of this tree were grown at the
celebrated Brompton Park Nursery, whereas, in 1851,
about 2,500 plants were annually sent out thence. It
has been called a universal apple for these kingdoms,
since it thrives in any part of England or Ireland, and,
with the protection of a wall, will nourish even in Scot-
land. The fruit is in its greatest perfection in Novem-
ber and December, but if well managed can be kept
until March.

Among our more curious apples may be named the
Siberian Bitter-sweet, a variety raised by Knight from
the seeds of a Siberian Crab, the blossom of which had
been impregnated with the pollen of the G-olden Harvey.
The fruit, which is about twice the size of that of the
parent tree, differs from all others of its species in being
always and entirely sweet, no acid being perceptible even
when it is but half grown. When evaporated at a low
temperature, the juice of this fruit becomes a jelly of
intense sweetness, which, when filtered, is quite trans-
parent, and applicable to similar purposes to which the
inspissated juice of the grape is applied in France. It is
believed that it might be kept long unchanged in any
climate, the mucilage being preserved by the antiseptic
powers of the saccharine matter, which is also incapable
of acquiring, as sugar does, a state of crystallization.

As has been already remarked, it is only in their northern
districts that our French neighbours possess an apple

* Some Bibstone Pippins grown in Canada were, however, exhibited here
in 1862. and found to be filler than any of our own, their measurement being
1 ft. in circumference.

THE APPLE. 15

country, and, indeed, the editors of the Nouveau du Hamel>
published in 1835, remark that before travelling in Nor-
mandy they knew of but one sort of sweet apple, the
Fenouittet, but in the north they found many kinds
equally sweet, which were quite unknown in the neigh-
bourhood of Paris. Of course, the increased facilities
of communication in these days has done much to ex-
tend the distribution of provincial growths (though the
production, being dependent in a great measure upon
climate, would be less apt to vary), and therefore a tole-
rable number of apple varieties may now be met with in
the markets of the French capital, though the list is still
far less complete than ours. At the beginning of the
present century much good was effected by the Empress
Josephine's encouragement of horticulture, and its flou-
rishing state during the time that she was on the throne,
compared with the neglect into which it fell afterwards,
has caused a very general feeling of respect and regret
for her to be entertained by French horticulturists ; one
very large and fine apple, of American origin, having
been once called the Josephine Apple, though it had
been known also by other names, this alone by general
consent is now retained ; and Poiteau, in tlms dedicating
it to this honoured memory, only wishes, in order that
the memorial might be more appropriate, " that this were
the best of apples, as she was the best of women."
This Josephine Apple has the peculiarity of approaching
in internal structure to the special characteristic of the
quince, the cells of the core containing each three or
four pips, instead of only one or two, as is usually the
case in apples.*

Another peculiar French kind, the Cceur du Pigeon,
are sometimes called Jerusalem Apples, because the core
usually consists of but four cells instead of five, thus
forming a cross when cut horizontally; while in yet
another, the ~Belle-fleur, the smaller fruits offer nothing
remarkable, but in those which grow to large size the par-
titions of the cells break down and disappear altogether,

* See Plate II., fig. 4.

16 OUE COMMON FKTJITS.

and all the force of the nutritive power being employed
in developing flesh, no seeds are formed, a great empty
pentagonal cavity being thus left in the centre of the
fruits, occupying nearly a third of its diameter. But the
most curious of French apples is the Mains apetala, or
Pomme Figue, so named from the blossoms being so little
apparent that it was thought formerly that the fruit grew,
aa that of the fig seems to do, directly out of the branch,
the flowers, growing in little clusters, being without dis-
tinct petals or stamens, no rose-tinted corolla expanding
above the ovary, but only a miniature calyx divided into
five small sepals alternating with five still smaller, but all
of one dull green, and enclosing five central styles with
10 others forming a circle around them, the whole blossom
no larger than that of a gooseberry.* But poor and plain
as it is compared with the ordinary apple-bloom, this un-
lovely little abortion yet fulfils the main purpose of nature
as well as the largest and most regularly formed of its
charming kindred, the succeeding fruit proving a very
fair ordinary apple. The apple-tree is believed to be in-
digenous to France; but its fruit was little esteemed
there before the 13th century, and so late as the 17th La
Quintinye, after diligent search, could find no more than
25 varieties, of which only seven were thought of much
value. Even now, although many different sorts are grown
in that country, but very few are considered to be really
excellent.

In Germany the fruit holds a far higher position, Po-
mology having of late years attracted a great deal of
attention among the G-ermans, and a vast number of
varieties being cultivated by their growers and described
by their authors. Some idea may be formed of the assi-
duity and perseverance with which those indefatigable
methodizers have sought to distinguish and classify the
vast variety of apples grown in their country, from the
fact of one of their latest writers on the subject, Doch-
nahl, having published a volume in 1855 containing a de-
tailed description of no less than 1,263 different sorts, all

* See Plate II., fig. 2.

THE APPLE. 17

duly assigned to their respective places in Ms system ;
lamenting even then that though for many years past he
had been trying to gain a knowledge of all apples, and
though his collection of examples was now immense, yet
he feared he had still fallen short of the aim he had pro-
posed to himself, viz., to describe every apple, and with
unerring certainty ; since he felt it was probable several
kinds might now be found incorrectly classed, and even
some not included at all in the list. He consoles himself,
however, with the maxim, "Veritas temporis Jilia" All
agree that the finest apple of Fatherland, known and
admired throughout the country, is the noble Winter
Borsdorjfer, called by Dochnahl the " Pride of Germany,"
and marked in his catalogue with three notes of admira-
tion, as of super-excellent quality. Though one of the
earliest varieties on record in Germany, it only became
known here about the close of the last century, probably
on account of its having been a special favourite with the
late Queen Charlotte, who had quantities of this fruit
annually imported from Germany for her own use, whence,
too, it is here sometimes known by the name of the
" Queen," or " George the Third." It is a dessert apple
of rich vinous flavour and pleasant perfume, about 3 in.
broad and 2^- high, having a short calyx set in a shallow
basin, and in colour most usually a golden yellow with a
blood-red cheek, but is sometimes pale yellow, sometimes
brownish or greyish, the appearance varying in some mea-
sure with the soils and situation.

Another notable German apple, which does not seem
yet to have attracted the attention of English growers, is
the Mutter Apfel, a yellow, carmine-cheeked dessert apple,
of fine wine-sour flavour and very juicy, which has the
remarkable peculiarity of keeping in good preservation
for the unwonted period of three years. The tree is
healthy and very fruitful, and inclined too to grow tall,
especially when planted by road-sides.

The prevalence of that mode of planting on the Con-
tinent greatly extends the culture of fruit-trees, vast
numbers being thus grown on ground which would other-
wise be left quite unoccupied and useless, to the great

2

18 CUE, COMMON" FETTITS.

benefit of the proprietor and the community, while the
traveller has the pleasure of journeying along a shady
avenue, charming in due season to every sense, instead of
a bare unsightly highway, exposed to the full power of
sun and wind, and offering nothing of any kind to solace
or refresh. Pity that when legions of English tourists
annually enjoy and admire, none have yet been found to
import here a custom so worthy of imitation. Even there,
though, in some places, the abundance is greatly wasted
and the usefulness of the fruit limited from ignorance of
its capabilities ; for the present writer, struck on one
occasion with the quantities of large fine fruit blown down
in a breezy August, and left to rot under the road-side
trees near Frankfort, asked an inhabitant of the district
why they were not turned to account in some form of
cookery, and whether no use were ever made of them.
A look of astonishment greeted the inquiry. " Cook
them ? why, they are not ripe ! " was the reply, evidently
looked on as an all-sufficient one. " If a pound of sugar
were used to each apple," added the answerer, " it would
not make them fit for food ; and what use could be made
of them when the very pigs would not eat them ? indeed,
they would be poisoned if they did." Thinking it possi-
ble there might be some peculiarity in the fruit to account
for this prejudice, the experiment was tried of consigning
some of these identical fruits to an English cook, when,
made use of in the ordinary way, they proved most ex-
cellent. But of course the range of culinary application
is limited in a land where "A" never yet " was an apple-
pie," and where fruit puddings are an unintelligible
mystery.

The White Spanish Eennet, a beautiful red-aud-yellow-
skinned dessert apple (though its gigantic size rivals the
largest kitchen fruit grown), and a near approach in
flavour to the famous Newtown Pippin, is said to be,
under the name of Camuesar, the national apple of Spain,
where it has been known from the earliest antiquity, but,
though greatly esteemed there, has been little cultivated
in England since its introduction here. The Italians too
have their favourite Ulalo di Carlo, the most celebrated of

THE APPLE. 19

all apples in the South of Europe ; while, re turning north-
wards, we find several varieties peculiar to Kussia, the
most curious being the "White Astrachan, which is dis-
tinguished not only by becoming transparent when ripe,
but by being covered with a copious and delicate bloom,
exactly similar to that waxy secretion which clouds the
plum or grape with its beautiful azure mist, only that in
this case it is a white veil which is thrown over the pale
yellow skin of the fruit. Grown here, the flesh is only
semi-transparent, showing here and there gelatinous
blotches ; but a traveller in Russia, in 1845, describes
having seen them at Revel quite transparent throughout,
so that, when held to the light, the pips could be seen
from every part ; adding, that they were as large as a
fine peach and quite as juicy, the flavour too being very
good. This fruit, he was informed, was grown in a soil
consisting half of pure sand and the other half of manure.
But nowhere in its native Europe does the apple
flourish better than it does in the land of its adoption,
the United States of America. There are, indeed, some
diminutive kinds of Crabs indigenous to that country;
but these have remained still unameliorated by culture,
and it is from the seeds of European kinds, taken over at
different times by colonists, that the fine fruits now grow-
ing in American orchards have been raised. So perfectly,
however, has the fruit become naturalized, that new and
fine kinds often appear quite spontaneously, almost every
district having one or more variety which has originated
there, and is found to be peculiarly adapted to it; so
that, though the same sort will grow with mo-re or less
success in other parts, it is nowhere else quite so fine in
flavour or the tree so productive, unless the soil and
climate should happen to be exactly similar to those of
its native spot. Thus Pennsylvania has its " Belle-fleur"
Massachusetts its " Baldwin," Connecticut its " Seek-no-
Farther," &c., &c. The apple, however, which, say the
Americans, stands at the head of all apples, native or
foreign, and which certainly fetches a higher price at
Covent Garden than any other, is that which has its
special habitat in New York, the world-famous Newtown

2—2

20 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

Pippin. The tree, which originated at Newtown in Long
Island, is rather slender and of slow growth, being
always remarkable, even while quite young, for its pecu-
liarly rough bark ; it is rarely grown largely or success-
fully in New England, but is very much cultivated in
the States of New York and New .Jersey, thousands
of barrels being annually produced on the banks of the
Hudson. The fruit is of medium size, about 3 in. in
diameter, and 2^ deep, roundish, but a little irregular in
outline, owing to two or three obscure ribs on the sides,
and broadest at the base, with a stalk -i in. long, deeply
sunk in a wide cavity, and a small calyx set in a shallow
basin ; the skin of a dull olive green, with faint brownish
blush on one side, dotted with small grey specks, and
with delicate russet rays diverging round the stalk. The
flesh is of a greenish- white tint, very juicy and crisp, of
fine aroma and delicious flavour. The yellow variety,
which is handsomer and has a higher perfume, but is less
juicy, has a smooth skin and livelier red cheek, without
spots, but with the same russet marks at the stalk, the
flavour being equally good with the other, so that it is
not easy to give pre-eminence to either. The fruit is in
perfection in March, but is eaten from December till
May, and has been preserved even till the American day
of days, the 4th July, as it will keep very long without
the least shrivelling. The Newtown Pippin is grown in
England, but the flavour is considered inferior to that of
the imported fruit. Other sorts, however, are not unfre-
quently palmed off upon us in its stead. Another variety
which has been very popular of late years is the pretty
little Lady Apple, or Api, which is usually seen in Covent
Garden tricked out in a gay vestment of coloured tissue
paper. Of very ancient family are these little " Ladies,"
though now generally known as American Apples, and
therefore here described under this head, for it is said
that they were brought from Peloponnesus to Borne by
Appius Claudius, and they are mentioned by the oldest
writers on such subjects as well-known fruits. Worlidge,
in 1676, notices "the Pomme appease, a curious apple
lately propagated : the fruit is small and pleasant, which

THE APPLE. 21

the Madams of Prance carry in their pockets, by reason
they yield no unpleasant scent ; " and Lister, in 1698,
speaking of its being served up in a dessert at Paris,
describes the fruit as being " very beautiful, and very red
on one side, and pale or white on the other, and may
serve the ladies at their toilets as a pattern to paint by ;"
a remark worthy to have been inspired by a Parisian
atmosphere. The susceptibility to light and shade shown
by this contrasted complexion, may be taken advantage
of to form devices on the fruit before it has attained its
full depth of rosiness, by affixing pieces of paper, cut in
the form required, to the side exposed to the sun, when
the parts thus covered will remain of a pale tint. It is
grown now to a large extent in the United States, and
imported here thence, as well as in a smaller proportion
from Trance, with much profit to those concerned, as it
always bears a higher price than almost any other fancy
apple in the market, justifying the title bestowed on it
by De Quintinye, of the " Pomme des Demoiselles et de
bonne Compagnie" It should be eaten without paring, as
it is in the skin that the perfume resides.

In common culture the apple-tree in America, as in
England, bears only in alternate years, producing exces-
sive crops one season and none or scarcely any the next,
the plant so exhausting itself in bringing forth the utmost
possible amount of produce, that a year's repose becomes
necessary in order to recruit its strength before making
fresh efforts ; but if it be preferred to gather a moderate
crop annually, this may be effected by thinning out half
the fruit when young, in the spring of the prolific year.
Should it be desired to combine yearly crops with large
production, even this is not unattainable, if the trees be
furnished with a supply of nutriment proportionate to
the demands made upon them, as has been proved by the
American cultivators ; for in one of the finest orchards in
the New World, situated on the Hudson, and containing
about 2,000 bearing Newtown Pippin trees, the owner,
finding the alternate barren year rather unprofitable, yet
unwilling to diminish his crops, tried the plan of arti-
ficially recruiting the powers of his trees by feeding

22 OUK COMMON FEUITS.

their roots every year, one season with lime and the next
with stable manure, when he found that the trees thus
treated, after furnishing him one autumn with 1,700
barrels of apples, part of which sold in New York for
four dollars, and the rest in London for nine dollars
the barrel, were yet the next year again bending to the
earth with a rich and ample burthen, while the plants
around them, less generously fostered, remained quite
barren each alternate season. The Newtown Pippin,
too, more than any other apple, requires time and high
culture, and where this is denied it is already degenerating
rapidly in some parts of America. This is the more to be
regretted, as the special suitability of that country to its
development, when coupled with due attention to the
fruit, seems calculated to bring the apple to the greatest
possible degree of perfection ; for Downing, alluding to
the fresh varieties which are still being produced there,
says that some of the Southern winter apples are of sur-
passing quality, owing to the complete elaboration of
their juices during the lengthened warm season of that
climate. So plentiful too is the produce in many parts,
that the orchards have overflowed beyond human require-
ments, and it has recently become a practice to employ
the surplus sweet apples in fattening hogs, horses, and
other animals ; and so excellent has the saccharine matter
of the apple been found for this purpose, that whole
orchards are now frequently planted for the purpose of
fattening swine and cattle, which are therefore turned
loose to range them at will.

Nutritive and pleasant as is the apple in its natural
state, the field of its usefulness becomes greatly enlarged
when it is subjected to the processes of cookery. Ellis,
in the Modern Husbandman, particularizes the Catshead
as " a very useful apple to the farmer, because one of
them pared and wrapped up in dough serves with little
trouble for making an apple dumpling, so much in request
with the Kentish farmer, for being part of a ready meal
that in the cheapest manner satiates the keen appetite of
the hungry ploughman, both in the field and at home,
and therefore has now got into such reputation in Hert-

THE APPLE. 23

fordshire and some other counties that it has become the
most common food, with a piece of bacon or pickled pork,
for families." Dr. Johnson mentions having known a
clergyman of small income who brought up a family very
respectably, which he chiefly fed upon apple dumplings ;
and it is to be hoped that they yet kept some relish for
the fare in after days, if there be any truth in the dictum
of Coleridge, that "no man has lost all simplicity of
character who retains a fondness for apple dumplings."
Our forefathers, however, believed that the fruit was
good for something more than either to fill hungry sto-
machs or to please the palate, for " being roasted and
eaten with rose-water and sugar," saith an old English
writer in 1657, " those of the pleasanter kinds, as Pippins
and Pearmaines, are helpful to dissolve melancholy hu-
mours, and to expel heaviness and promote mirth." Truly,
those fruits of the olden time had marvellous properties !
We can. better understand the following remark, that
" the distilled water of good sound apples is of special
good use to expel melancholy," since distillation is a pro-
cess very apt to educe potency of this kind.

While the dumpling is the staple form, of cookery in
this land of solids, on the other side of the Channel our
lighter neighbours delight in a peculiar preparation called
Raisine, consisting of apples stewed down in grape juice
or new wine, which is much used by all classes, and is,
indeed, in France what marmalade is in Scotland. Pom-
mee, too, a pleasant and most inexpensive preserve, worthy
of introduction here, is made in France about the end of
November, by taking all sorts of apples not fit for other
purposes, even including the worm-eaten ones, which,
peeled, cored, and cut in halves or quarters, are put over
a gentle fire with two or three glasses of water. When
the mass begins to melt it is poured out and left till next
day, when the process is repeated, and again on the third
day, after which it is put into pots, placed in ovens after
the withdrawal of the bread, until a crust is formed, which
tends to keep it ; and this preserve is found to be as sweet
as any that is prepared with sugar, while additional flavour
may be imparted if agreeable by adding lemon, cinnamon,

24 OUK COMMON FBUITS.

or quince. "When made in quantities, time is economized
by simply cutting the fruit in pieces and passing the pulp,
after cooking, through a sieve, to separate the skins and
cores. The fruit is also dried whole, in the form so familiar
to us under the name of Normandy Pippins, while in
America it is yet more used in the dried state, after having
been first pared and cut into quarters ; a wholesale " apple-
paring," at which all the neighbours are invited to assist,
being one of the regularly looked-forward-to " frolics " of
American rural life. The famous Yankee apple-sauce, too,
or "apple-butter," as it is often called, so common in
farmers' families at every meal, and often manufactured
by the barrel in Connecticut, is made by stewing pared
and sliced sweet apples in new cyder until they form a
soft pulp, while in some parts the unfermented juice of
the apples is boiled down to make molasses.

But there is a still more important use for apples than
any that has yet been alluded to, for

" A various spirit, fresh, delicious, keen,
Dwells in their gelid pores, and active points
The piercing cyder for the thirsty tongue."

And it is when it appears as a drink that the fruit reaches
its climax of celebrity, and is perhaps more largely con-
sumed too than even as food, at least in England; for
though cyder was made in Normandy before it was known
in our own country, that is the only part of the Conti-
nent where it is now a staple article of commerce. It is
mentioned by Yirgil in the Qcorgicf, and is thought to
have been made in Africa, and introduced by the Cartha-
ginians into Biscay, which was long celebrated for its
production. It was thence received by the Normans, who
in turn taught the manufacture to the English, with whom
in the course of time it has found such acceptance, that
throughout a large tract of this country it is the ordinary
beverage of the whole population ; and the manufacture,
though almost entirely in the hands of farmers, unaided
by the refinements of machinery, has reached such per-
fection that whereas the inferior sort of French cyder
requires to be drunk as soon as it is made, and the strongest
keeps good but for five or six years, the best Herefordshire

THE APPLE. 25

may be kept for 20 or 30 years, and a single glass of it
will almost suffice to intoxicate. This quality is mainly
derived from the source from which it might least have
been expected, for an experiment having been made in
order to ascertain which part of the fruit contributed
most to the goodness of cyder, one hogshead being manu-
factured entirely from the cores and parings of apples,
and another entirely from the pulp, " the first was found
of extraordinary strength and flavour, while the latter
was sweet and insipid." This being the case, small apples
are of course preferable to large ones for pressing. In.
Ireland, where much cyder is drunk, the popular taste
approves of an unusual degree of acidity, and Crabs are
therefore largely intermixed with the fruits of which it
is made.

In Normandy the principal art in making good cyder
is considered to lie in the choosing and mixing of sorts,
one kind of apple alone, whether good or bad in itself,
making only inferior cyder, which will not keep, and is
too sweet or too sour, or turns black ; but there are no
fixed rules for the combination, the Normans only know-
ing that one sort gives sweetness, another acidity, and so
on, while of the influence of some kinds they are quite
uncertain. In parts where good varieties are not grown,
or little knowledge of their qualities has been attained,
of course the beverage proves very inferior. Though in
general the apples which are best fitted for making cyder
are little fitted for any other use, the rule is by no means
invariable, and the Grolden Pippin and other dessert va-
rieties are equally valued for pressing. The strength of
this liquor is a quality easily experimented upon, since it
can be very correctly estimated beforehand by testing the
specific gravity of the recently expressed apple-juice.
The Newtown Pippin also adds to its other virtues the
property of being an excellent cyder apple, and in New
Jersey many thousands of barrels of cyder are annually
manufactured, in sparkling delicacy so similar to cham-
pagne that many find it difficult to distinguish it from
that wine. Chemically considered, the chief characteristic
in which cyder differs from the juice of the grape is in

26 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

the total absence in the former of tartaric acid, the pecu-
liar flavour and sharpness of the apple being due to an-
other constituent, which, though present in some other
fruits also, yet so specially preponderates in the mains
tribe as to have thence taken the name of malic acid. In
Normandy sometimes the different properties of the fruits
are in some measure combined by making the cyder in
vintage-time, and then pouring it on the refuse grapes,
suffering the whole to ferment again, when the resulting
liquor becomes of the colour of wine, and is considered
more wholesome than pure cyder, while the flavour is not
disagreeable, to some at least, for in few things are tastes
found to vary more than in respect to different sorts of
cyder ; and while the sweet beverage approved in London
or Paris would find little favour in Devonshire or Nor-
mandy, the keen and somewhat harsh draught which
gratifies the rural consumer would be utterly detestable
to a metropolitan palate. The price, too, varies consider-
ably, for while a hogshead of cyder is generally valued at
from £2 to £5, llhind asserts that a first-rate quality has
sometimes been sold as high as £20 per hogshead direct
from the press, a cost equal to that of many good wines.
There is little chance, however, of the juice of the apple
ever becoming a general substitute for the juice of the
grape ; and in these days of revised tariffs and abolished
duties, when even a " French invasion" is welcomed while
the invaders take the form of bottles of claret, and so
much benefit to our population is hoped for from the in-
troduction of the produce of foreign vineyards to replace
native drinks, it is curious to read how 17th-century en-
thusiasm once prognosticated that

" Where'er the British spread
Triumphant banners, or their fame has reached
Diffusive to the utmost bounds of this
Wide universe, Silurian cyder, borne,
Shall please all tastes and triumph o'er the vine."

The apple being at once so common and so important a
fruit, it is not surprising that it should have occupied a
place both in the sports and the superstitions of our fore-
fathers. It was once a not uncommon pastime in Eng-

THE APPLE. 27

land, and also in Ireland, to fasten the fruit at one end of
a suspended beam, a lighted candle being fixed at the
other, while the players, with hands tied, amused them-
selves by attempting with their mouths to

" Catch the illusive apple with a bound,
As with its taper it flew whizzing round."

While in Scotland the game was varied by the apples
being put into a tub of water, and thus " bobbed" for
with the mouth. At the festival of Allhallow Even this
fruit occupied a very prominent position, apples in various
forms affording, in conjunction with nuts, the chief part
of the entertainment, and " lamb's- wool," consisting of
apples roasted on a string until they dropped off into a
bowl of spiced and sugared ale, being the especial drink
for the occasion — not unhaunted by fairy influences, if, as
we have the authority of Shakespeare for affirming, one
of the most potent of elves was wont sometimes to

" Lurk in a gossip's bowl
In very likeness of a roasted crab."

The name of this beverage is said to be a corruption of
La mas abJial (pronounced lamasool), i. e. the day of apple
fruit, the 1st of November having been, it is supposed,
dedicated to the heathen goddess Pomona, and in later
days reconsecrated to the angel presiding over fruits and
seeds. The apple, too, afforded one of the numerous
methods resorted to at that season, in order to gain for
the unmarried a revelation concerning their future part-
ners, the youths or maidens retiring alone with a candle
to eat an apple before a looking-glass, looking intently
meanwhile for the reflection of a bride or bridegroom to
appear peeping over their shoulder. Burns, in his poem
on " Hallowe'en," alludes to this ceremony in the words,

" Wee Jenny to her grannie says,
' Will ye go wi' me, grannie?
I'll eat the apple at the glass
I gat from uncle Johnnie.3"

But it was not on this sacred night alone that the apple
lent its kindly aid to lovers' rites; and Gray, in his
" Spell," describes two kinds of pomaceous divination, in
one of which the paring was thrown over the shoulder,

28 OUR COMMON FRT7ITS.

fancy detecting in the form it then assumed a likeness to
some initial :

" I pare this pippin round and round again,
My shepherd's name to flourish on the plain;
I fling the unbroken paring o'er my head,
Upon the grass a perfect L is read."

In the other magical test an apple-pip was stuck upon
each cheek, and the pair appropriated respectively to rival
suitors, when the one which first fell off indicated that
he whose name it bore would prove a faithless swain.
Thus Gray continues :

"This pippin shall another trial make;
See from the core two kernels brown I take:
This on my cheek for Lubbeikin is worn,
And Booby Clod on t' other side is bo/ne.
But Booby Clod soon drops upon the ground,
A certain token that his love's unsound,
While Lubberkin sticks firmly to the last;
Oh, were his lips to mine but joined as fast ! "

In the "West of England, too, maidens would sometimes
gather Crab Apples in the autumn, and arrange them in
the loft into the initials of their suitors' names, coming
again to examine the letters on Old Michaelmas Day,
when those which were found most perfect or least affected
by decay were thought to indicate who would prove the
most fitting mates.

On Twelfth Night the Devonshire people were formerly
wont to perform a ceremony, supposed to be a relic of
heathenism, first instituted as a sacrifice to Pomona. Car-
rying a pan of cyder, with roasted apples in it, to the or-
chard after supper, the farmer's family and his men each
in turn took one of the apples and a cup of the liquor, of
which he drank a part, then threw the rest at one of the
trees, chanting

" Health to thee, good apple-tree,
Well to bear, pockets full, hats full,
Pecks full, bushel-bags full."

Eut it was only the good bearers that were thus honoured,
the less fruitful trees being passed by. In some counties
a similar custom was observed at New Tear or Christ-
mas ; and in the apple districts of England it is still a
common thing for boys on New Tear's Eve to go " apple

THE PEAE. 29

howling," i. e. gathering in a circle round the trees to
shout in chorus, to the tune of a cow-horn,

"Stand fast, roots; bear well, top;
Pray God send us a good howling crop !
Every twig, apples big;
Every bough, apples enow;
Hats full, caps full, full quarter-sacks full."

Perhaps there is not the faith there once may have been
in the efficacy of this process to secure good crops in the
next season, but, at least, it avails to gain an immediate
harvest of halfpence for the "howlers" from the owners
of the orchards, in whose behalf they have been perform-
ing so innocent an incantation.

CHAPTEE II.
THE PEAE.

SOFT sister of the firmer apple, the Pear displays so
marked a resemblance to its relative that the most un-
observant could scarcely fail to detect their kinship ; yet
is the difference between them sufficiently apparent on
very slight inspection, and sufficiently great to justify
Loudon in his wish that they may not always continue
to be classed together in the same genus, as they are now
by botanists too eminent for their decision to be disputed,
even when it does not give perfect satisfaction. To this
genus the pear has the honour of giving the name, being
termed the Pyrus communis, while the apple bears the
title of Pyrus mains . Albeit alike in some respects, the
trees may be distinguished in a moment by their leaves,
those of the apple being broader, very slightly serrated,
of a yellow-green colour, and hairy underneath, while the
dark green foliage of the pear is illiptical, more serrated,
and smooth on both sides, the upper surface being abso-

30 OUH COMMON FBTJITS.

lutely shining ; and when both are full grown, the low
and spreading apple, often uncouthly irregular in form,
seldom attains more than half the height of the tall, up-
right, shapely pear, always inclining to the pyramidal
form. In spring-time the large, rosy, fragrant blossoms
of the former far outshine the scentless and colourless
bloom of its modest rival, though differing scarcely at all
botanically, the only distinction being that the five cen-
tral styles are in the one case united at the base, in the
other distinct ; while as regards the fruit, though the
tender melting consistency of the best dessert pears is
different indeed from, the crisp solidity of the apple, yet
in some varieties the one species could quite compete
with the other in hardness, and the characteristic dis-
tinction is therefore to be sought rather in the fact that
the former is generally convex at the base, while the
latter is always concave. Both fruits have woody threads
passing from the stalk through the midst of the flesh,
but in the pear these are less distinct, on account of the
gritty concretions commonly found at the core, and which
is caused by the woody matter becoming disseminated
near the centre in small masses. The cells of the core,
too, are pointed at both ends in the apple and only at one
end in the pear, and the latter fruit is more astringent,
less acid, and lighter than the former.

The pear does not come into bearing so soon as the
apple, seedlings seldom producing any fruit before the
seventh or eighth year after planting ; but, though at-
tacked by the same insects and liable to the same dis-
eases, it is usually found to retain its health and vigour
far better, at least in Britain (for in France and America
this is said not to be the case), and reaches a much greater
age, the longevity of pear trees being often reckoned by
centuries. Usually the largest of our orchard trees, ifc
sometimes attains extraordinary dimensions, one being
recorded to have been 50 ft. high, to Lave had a trunk
18 ft. in circumference, and to have borne in good years
1-|- tons of fruit. Another noted pear-tree, seeming to
" take a leaf" from the Banyan of the East, increased to
an enormous size by sending down its branches to the

THE PEAE. 31

ground, where they took root, and each became a new
tree, in turn similarly producing others.

In Europe, "Western Asia, and China the pear is found
growing wild throughout as wide a range as the apple ;
but as the Crab will never grow except on tolerably good
soil, and its humbler sister is content with far poorer
accommodation, they are not often found in association.
The latter, too, displays a far greater power of adapting
itself to peculiarities of situation, a remarkable example
of which is aiforded by the Notched-leaved Pear, which
grows on the mountains of Upper Nepaul. "Nature
seems," says Dr. Lindley, in describing this plant, "to
have intended it to brave the utmost inclemency of cli-
mate, for in its own country in the earliest spring the
leaves, while still delicate and tender, are clothed with a
thick white coating of wool, and the flowers themselves
are so immersed in an ample covering of the same mate-
rial as to bid defiance to even Tartarean cold. But in
proportion as the extent of the distribution of the plant
descends towards the plains, or as the season of warm
weather advances, it throws off its fleecy coat, and at
length becomes as naked and as glittering with green as
the trees which have never had such rigour to endure."
In England, where it is grown for ornament, this tree
displays scarcely any woolliness, while, on the other hand,
in the woods of Poland and on the steppes of Russia the
leaves of the ordinary pear are mostly white and downy.

The great orchardist, Rivers, remarks that the pear
seems to require a warm, moist climate, and that many
parts of France being too hot, and most parts of England
not hot enough, the island of Jersey, where a happy me-
dium is found, is probably the most favourable situation
for pear's in all Europe ; while it may perhaps be some
surprise to the many who look on vicinity to the metro-
polis as incompatible with flourishing vegetation, to hear
that next in suitability to this sea-girt pyral Paradise are
the low, moist situations immediately around London,
particularly near Rotherhithe, where, he says, the Jar-
gonelle and other fine pears may be said to attain the
highest possible perfection.

32 OUE COMMON FRUITS.

In what points soever the two principal members of
the Pyrus family may resemble each other, most unlike are
they as regards the place they have held in the estimation
of man ; for while poetic fancy in different ages and far-
severed climes has everywhere invested the apple with so
many mystic charms, no extraneous associations diffuse
a halo of borrowed glory around the neglected pear — no
graceful legend plants it in celestial gardens, gives it to
the guardianship of god or goddess, or links its name
with the adventures of the daring heroes or loving nymphs
of antiquity. There are few fruits, indeed, of whose his-
tory so little is known, though it appears to have been
common from time immemorial in Syria, Egypt, and
Greece, passing probably from the latter country into
Italy. Homer names it as forming part of the orchard
of Laertes, and Virgil alludes to having received some
pears from Cato : indeed, 36 varieties were known to the
[Romans, including the singularly -named " Proud Pears,"
so called because they ripened early and would not keep
long; " Libralia" or pound-weight pears, &c., &c. ; but
we may imagine that none could have been fruit of very
fine quality, or they could hardly have merited Pliny's
conclusive assertion that " all pears whatsoever are but
heavy meat unless they be well boiled or baked." But
little mention is made of the fruit in our own history,
and as pear-trees are often found growing wild through-
out the country, it is by some thought to be indigenous,
while others believe it to be only native to more genial
climes, and to have been first brought here by the Romans.
There is no doubt that pears of some sort were eaten by
our remote ancestors, though probably they were of no
very excellent quality, for a very old English writer pro-
nounces upon them a similar verdict to that of Pliny ;
but in the days of Henry VIII. some at least were ad-
mitted to even the royal table, since an item is found in
his accounts of " 2d. to an old woman who gaff the kyng
peres," and another of 3s. 4<d. for " wardens and medlars ;"
the "warden," a baking pear, so named, it is said, from
its keeping property, being one of our oldest known
varieties, once extensively cultivated by " the monks of

THE PEAK. 33

old." An ancient medical authority affirms that "the
red warden is of great virtue conserved, roasted, or baked
to quench choler ; " but as it would be libellous to sup-
pose that cloistered serenity could itself require the fruit
on this account, imagination is free to picture the bene-
volent recluses sending round a basket of pears to any
notedly fiery spirits in the neighbourhood, as modern
good people might distribute a bundle of tracts.

In the time of Gerard, that which stood at the head of
his list as the best of all the " tame pears " then known,
and which he calls the Pyrus superba sive KatJierina, was
no other than the little brilliant-coloured but ill-flavoured
fruit which furnished one of our old poets with so charm-
ing an illustration of his mistress's beauty, when he says
that

"Her cheek was like the Catherine pear,
The side that 's next the sun ; "

but which, though it still holds a place on London street
stalls on account of being so early ripe, has long since
sunk below the appetite of any but children. It might
almost be said that it is only during the last 60 or 70
years that the pear has actually been known in Europe,
so great is the change that has taken place in it from
what it was before that time, when it had hardly begun
to manifest the perfection of which it is capable. It was
in Belgium, which has therefore been prettily termed the
" Eden of the pear-tree," that attention was first attracted
to it, and to a native of that country, M. Van Mons, who
actually devoted his life to pears and their improvement,
we chiefly owe it that the poor varieties which gave a
modicum of enjoyment to our forefathers have disappeared
from all good gardens, and resigned their place to aris-
tocratic races of rich and varied flavour, intensified to a
degree hitherto unimagined. This gentleman was no mere
empiric lighting accidentally on lucky expedients in fruit
growing, but a scientific philosopher, who, having con-
ceived a theory, set resolutely to work to test it by years
of patient experimentalizing ; for believing that originally
there were but few, perhaps but one, species of any genus
of plants, and that while in a wild state Nature only

3

34 CUE COMMON FETJITS.

aimed at preserving these in a healthy condition, and
perfecting seed which should exactly reproduce the parent
from which it sprung, he considered that it must be the
j object of cultivation to refine even by enervating the fruit-
tree, to subdue its coarse exuberance of vegetation, and
while probably lessening the quantity of the foliage, as
well as the size and vigour of the seeds, to improve the
quality of the pulp or flesh surrounding the latter. Find-
ing that wild trees transplanted into gardens altered but
little, or, though their leaves and fruit might grow larger,
that the latter did not become better in quality, and that
suckers, buds, or grafts taken from them did but repro-
duce similar plants, he sought in the seed for means of
improvement, and found that the pips of wild fruit sown
in good soil produced plants which differed somewhat
from the parent (mostly for the better) and from each
other; their seeds replanted advanced another step, and
so on, until a certain ultimate point of perfection was
reached, when a retrograde movement began, and if the
sowing process were still persevered in the descendants
of the good plants became worse and worse, until they
ended, finally, as worthless wildings, much where the
original ancestor began. The coincidence of Dr. Lindley,
in at least the latter part of this theory, seems apparent
from a remark in his works that — " There can be no
doubt that if the arts of cultivation were abandoned for
only a few years, all the annual varieties of plants in
our gardens would disappear and be replaced by original
wild forms." The retrograde tendency seems to be most
strong in old trees, and Van Mons therefore gathered his
first seeds from young trees of common kinds, yet not
absolutely Crabs, and as soon as the trees produced from
them bore fruit, which usually proved to be of very mid-
dling quality, but at least differing from the parent, and
mostly a little in advance of it, he chose out the best, and
again planted their seeds. The next generation was found
to come more quickly into bearing, while their quality
was still more promising ; their offspring showed yet
greater amelioration ; and each succeeding family bring-
ing forth fruit sooner, and producing a greater number

THE PEAE. 35

of valuable varieties, when the fifth generation was reached
the trees began to bear in the third year after planting,
and nearly all had attained great excellence. To use Van
Mon's own words, " I have found," says he, " this art to
consist in regenerating in a direct line of descent and as
rapidly as possible an improving variety, taking care that
there be no interval between the generations. To sow,
to resow, to sow again, to sow perpetually, in short to 'do
nothing but sow, is the practice to be pursued, and which
cannot be departed from ; and this is the whole secret of
the art I have employed."

The constant springing up of fine new varieties of
fruits in the American States is, as the author of The
Fruits of America admits, a confirmation of the Van Mons
theory, for while the colonists, who had taken pains to
bring with them seeds of the very best English fruits,
were doomed to see a grievous falling off in the degene-
rate produce resulting from their planting, the seedlings
proving little better than wild trees, in the course of
years this ebbing tide has turned again, and borne trans-
atlantic growths with onward flow to heights of excel-
lence beyond what had ever been attained by the British
trees from which they are descended ; and had the pro-
cess of continually rearing new generations of seedlings
been uninterruptedly followed, the good result might per-
haps have been much sooner arrived at. Assuredly the
Belgian's theory was founded on an observance of natural
laws, and in practice his system proved a great success, for
having himself raised no less than 80,000 seedlings, from
these, and many thousands of others reared by his disci-
ples in Belgium and elsewhere, an immense number of new
varieties of great excellence have been obtained, among
which the palm is usually given to the Buerre Diel. The
method, however, is attended with several disadvantagesj
for being avowedly an enfeebling process, the trees so /
grown are usually of weak habit, and apt very soon to
decay or become unhealthy ; and being, too, almost abso-
lutely artificial products, they often require an unin-
termittent care and culture never needed by the hardy
children of Nature, so that some of the Flemish pears

3—2

36 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

latest introduced into America have already begun to
show symptoms of decay or disease. Whether it be that
our climate suits them better, or that our cultivators pay
them more attention, the pears of Belgium succeed better
in England, and are found much hardier than those of
either France or Jersey, which seldom thrive here, or at
least are very precarious. Yet though both England and
America have gladly availed themselves of the result of
v Van Mons' labours, the process which he pursued has
never found much favour with us, and still less with our
more impatient and " go-a-head " cousins, so long a time
being required before any result can be expected. Some
have tried raising seedlings without observing any method,
but as a proof of the capriciousness of fortune in such
matters, a celebrated French horticulturist has recorded
that for fifty years he had been in the habit of planting
pear -pips without ever having thus produced a good
variety ; while, on the other hand, Major Esperen, of
Belgium, who simply sowed seeds indiscriminately and
trusted to chance, originated five or six sorts so fine as
to be unsurpassed by any in the Yan Mons collection.
In our country, however, the method introduced by Mr.
Knight of obtaining new kinds by means of hybridization
or cross-breeding, which is far less tedious, and in which,
too, the result can be prognosticated with some degree
of accuracy, has been attended with so much success that
there has been little temptation to resort to any other.
Of course, when fine kinds are once obtained, by what-
ever means they may have been produced, nothing more
is needed to perpetuate them than to continue their pro-
pagation to any extent by grafting ; and as with regard
to the hardier kinds at least Loudon assures us that the
best pears can be grown with no more trouble and expense
than inferior ones, it is to be hoped that eventually the
former will quite supersede the latter, and what is still
too exclusively a luxury for the wealthy at length be freely
open to all classes.

So much attention having been directed to the multi-
plication of varieties, it is not surprising that they should
now be very numerous, and though there are still not

THE PEAE. 37

above 20 or 30 pears which are reckoned really first-class,
Dochnahl's recent work describes above 1,050, and the
Son Jardinier, the chief French horticultural periodical,
says that the catalogue in that country now comprises
3,000 varieties, each of which, too, has about six synonyms.
Attempts have been made to classify these multitudinous
races into families, but no very satisfactory arrangement
has yet been achieved, and the only classification in use in
England is that which divides them into summer, autumn,
and winter pears, with the further distinction into the very
soft or melting pears (in French beurre'es), the crisper
or breaking pears (crevers), and the perry (poire'e) and
baking fruits. According to their forms they are described
as pyriform, like the old Windsor ; oblate, like the Ber-
gamot ; obovate, like the Swan's Egg ; or pyramidal, when
the lines extend upwards nearly uncurved from the broad
base.

Many of our old sorts are extinct, and others are doomed
to the same fate, for even the popular Swan's Egg is
pronounced by eminent horticulturists to be not worth
cultivating in comparison with the more modern sorts ;
but a few are still welcome to our palates as ever they
were to preceding generations, for far from superseded is
our common Bergamot, long as great a favourite among
English pears as the Ribstone Pippin among apples.
Nothing authentic is known of its origin, but its antiquity
is undoubted, and according to Manger the name is not
derived from Bergamo in Italy, as many have supposed,
but from the Turkish word l>eg or bey, a prince, and armoud,
a pear, and was formerly written Begarmoud, the natural
inierence being that it originated in a warmer climate
than that of Europe, and was introduced here from Turkey.
It is to the French that we have owed most of our good
older kinds, for they seem to have had the start of us in
pear culture, since good sorts were known in France as
early as in the 13th century. Foremost among our old
fruits thence derived stands the Jargonelle, long since
pronounced to be the queen of autumn pears, and which,
still scarcely surpassed in flavour and quite unequalled
in productiveness by any of her contemporaries of that

38 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

season, seems hardly likely to be called on to abdicate
her throne in favour of upstart modern rivals. This fruit
consists literally of little more than eau sucree enclosed
in a rind, the analysis of De Candolle showing that when
ripe it contains 83'88 per cent, of water and 11*52 per
cent, of sugar. Though we owe both the fruit and its
title to France, by some strange contretemps the name is
there given to a quite different kind, while our Jargonelle
is called by the extraordinary appellation of Grosse Cuisse
Madame, or Great Ladies' Thighs. The German name,
Frauen Schenkel, has the same meaning.

The Son Chretien is another ancient variety still as
highly in repute as ever, both here and in its native
France. It has many sub-varieties, one of the commonest
in England being the William's Bon Chretien, often
called merely the William Pear. Of the Flemish pears
more lately introduced into this country, one of the chief
in beauty and ..flavour, scarcely owning a superior, is the
Marie Louise, the tree of which is, too, so hardy that it
affords an almost certain crop under the most unfavourble
circumstances. Other noted Flemish pears are the Heurre
Ranee, a misnomer for Ranz, its name being borrowed
from the district in Flanders where it first grew ; and the
Grlou morceau, so called from a Walloon word equivalent
to the French friand, the title meaning therefore delicious
morsel or lit.

Among the Germans the pear is more prized at the
dessert than almost any other fruit, but the one which
ranks highest there, and which ma/ indeed be called their
national fruit, as it originated in Germany, is the pretty
Forelle Truite, or Trout Pear, so named from a fancied
resemblance between its speckled skin and that of the
fish.

In America many of the pears of Europe are grown,
but are rated at a much lower standard than on this con-
tinent, the Jargonelle, though very common, being looked
on as a poor fruit, and even the Marie- Louise and Son
Chretien as but second-rate ; for, as in the case of the
apple, the seeds of most European fruits sown in America
have in the course of time originated new varieties pe-

THE PEAE. 39

culiarly adapted to that country, and far more highly
esteemed there than the sorts from which they were pro-
duced. The prince of American pears, a variety exhibit-
ing a rare combination of virtues, the richest and most
exquisitely flavoured of fruits being borne on the healthiest
and hardiest of trees, is the Seckel Pear, so general a
favourite that no garden is considered complete without
it. Small sized, dumpy in shape, and dull in colour, it;
has been called the ugliest of fruits, but if we may so far
adapt the old saying as to admit that " handsome is that
handsome tastes" no deficiencies in beauty will be per-
ceived when once the palate revels in the honied spicy
richness of the Seckel Pear, its flavour, quite peculiar to
itself, being generally pronounced to be unequalled by any
of its European kindred.

The pear is peculiar in one respect, for, unlike nearly
all other fruits, its being fresh gathered is by no means
a recommendation, most varieties being much finer in
flavour if plucked early in the season and ripened in the
house than if suffered to mature on the tree ; and many
which appear very dry and second-rate when ripened in
the open air, not only keep good much longer but attain
first-rate quality when gathered while unripe and shut up
for weeks in-doors. They, however, require warmth, for
a pear which is of melting consistency after having been
exposed for some time to a temperature of 60° or 70°
would prove quite tough if left until wanted in a cold
apartment. A German writer recommends packing pears ,(
between feather beds as a good mode of ripening them, '
but this would hardly suit English notions, and the Guern-
sey method of exposing them to the sunshine on the
shelves of a greenhouse commends itself as seeming the
most natural and pleasant way of bringing the fruit to
healthy maturity. The chief use of pears is as a des-
sert fruit, but they are also stewed or baked, many of the
hard kinds being appropriated exclusively to this use ; but
most keeping pears, such as the Swan's Egg, &c., are
also excellent for baking, for when simply heaped into a
dish and put in the oven, their own juice forms a rich
syrup, as sweet as though much sugar had been used, and

40 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

even windfalls and damaged fruit may thus be turned to
good account with little trouble and no expense. In
Grermany, Russia, and yet more in France, pears are also
dried ; the common sort, sold about the streets in Paris,
being merely slowly baked on boards in ovens after the
bread has been withdrawn, but their juice being thus
lost, they are far inferior to the more carefully prepared
best sort, which are first boiled until a little soft, then
peeled and put on a dish till the syrup drains from them,
afterwards placed on wicker mats in an oven for twelve
hours, then soaked in this syrup, to which a little sugar
and brandy has been added, till their own juice is thus
reabsorbed, after which they are replaced in the oven
twice or thrice until they become quite firm and of a rich
transparent chestnut colour, when they are packed in
paper-lined boxes for home use or exportation. In hotter
countries fires and ovens are not needed for this purpose,
for the traveller Burchell mentions having, when in the
interior of South Africa, stocked himself before crossing
the desert with dried pears, " the manner of preserving
which consisted in merely drying them whole and un-
peeled in the sun, and afterwards pressing them flat, by
which simple process they keep in perfection for more
than a twelvemonth, as I afterwards learnt by experience,
and therefore can recommend them as a valuable addition
to the stores of a traveller."

As the apple yields its cyder, so too does the pear afford
a special beverage, less wholesome than the former, but
even more agreeable, and therefore scarcely less esteemed,
especially as it is made in far less quantities and has
therefore more claim to the merit of rarity, its manufac-
ture being now chiefly limited to the cyder districts of
England and France. Pears for the press may be either
large or small, but the more austere the taste the better
the liquor ; wild pears are found not unsuitable, and the
fruit which is esteemed best for this use is so unfit for
any other that not only are they quite uneatable by man,
but it is said that even hungry swine will hardly so much
as smell to them ; and it is a curious fact, though not
without its parallel in the annals of vegetable peculiarities,

THE QUINCE. 41

that the unexpressed juice of the perry pear is so harsh
and acrid as to cause great heat and long-continued irri-
tation of the throat if an attempt be made to eat it, yet
no sooner is it separated from the pulp by simple pressure
than it at once becomes rich and sweet, with no more
roughness than is agreeable to most palates. As pears
were deemed by the Romans an antidote against poisonous
fungi, so perry is still reckoned the best thing to be taken
after a surfeit of mushrooms. Though it will not keep
nearly so long as cyder, it yet contains more alcohol, and
also makes better vinegar, while the residue left after
pressure serves very well for fuel, for which purpose that
of cyder is useless. The bark of the pear-tree yields a
yellow dye, and its wood is eminently serviceable to Art,
being much employed not only for making parts of mu-
sical instruments, but also to furnish blocks for wood
engraving. The wood of the wild pear is extremely hard,
that of the cultivated kind much lighter and soft.

CHAPTEE III.
THE QUINCE.

WHAT 's in a name ? " said Shakespeare, and in an-
swering himself he found among the flowers an illustration
of its nothingness, yet do researches among fruits tend
rather to induce the opposite conclusion ; for while the
accumulated glory of traditionary ages has gathered round
one of our orchard fruits, which yet has very limited pre-
tensions thereto, simply because we call it by the vene-
rable name of apple, another, which has far greater claims
to be honoured for the place it holds in the lore of an-
tiquity, is yet commonly passed by, unnoticed and ne-
glected, owing to the disguise of a modern appellation dis-
connecting it from the classical reminiscences with which
it was once associated. Were Venus still surviving, to

42 OUR COMMON FRTJITS.

find herself wholly neglected and all her graces attributed
to some commonplace " pretty girl of England " — were
Hercules still lingering upon earth, to see himself shut
out from the "ring" and all his labours popularly sup-
posed to have been achieved by some puny Ben Gaunt
or Benicia Boy — then might the once renowned Quince
find sympathizing fellow- sufferers in the doom that has
fallen upon it, degraded as it is from its former proud
position as the " golden apple " for which even divinities
contested, to be now the least known and least esteemed
of all the pomal tribe. It does not profess to be the
Scriptural "apple of gold," that being identified with a
more peculiarly Syrian product ; it may not be the Hes-
peridean fruit of the earliest age of Greece, though in
spite of opposing theories some have even attributed to
it this honour ; but there seems every reason to connect
it with some at least of the numerous Greek legends in
which golden apples so prominently figure, for no other
fruit then known answers so well to the description, and
we can scarcely account otherwise for what is known to
be a fact, viz., that among the ancients it was dedicated
to Venus and looked on as the emblem of happiness and
love ; the temples of Cyprus and Paphos were decorated
with it; it was the special ornament of the statues of
Hymen; the figure of Hercules now in the Tuileries
garden is represented with this fruit in his hand ; and ac-
cording to Plutarch, Solon made a law that it should form
the invariable feast of the bridegroom (and some say of
the bride too) before retiring to the nuptial couch. A
native of Greece, it grew most abundantly in the neigh-
bourhood of Cydon in Crete (now Candia), deriving
thence the name Cydonia, which is still continued as its
botanical cognomen, and was thence taken to Rome,
where also, under the name of Cotonea (a reminiscence of
which was preserved in its old English title of Melicotone) ;
it was looked on as a sacred fruit, though, as regards mere
secular uses, it seems to have been more prized for its
scent than its savour, the climate perhaps not bringing it
to such perfection as it had attained in Greece, though
Columella particularly mentions that " Quinces not only

THE QUINCE. 43

yield pleasure, but health," alluding perhaps to their use
in medicine. Pliny says that the varieties were numerous,
and particularizes four sorts, adding that all these " are
kept shut up in the ante-chambers of great men, where
they receive the visits of their courtiers ; they are hung
too upon the statues that pass the night with us in our
chambers." How sad a decline from honours like these,
when a modern writer derives its French name coignas-
sier from the circumstance that its " disagreeable odour "
usually causes it to be banished to a corner (coin) of the
garden ! It is not everywhere, however, that taste has
thus changed, for Professor Targioni, an Italian writer on
horticulture, says that at the present day it is much
prized by the peasantry in some parts of the South of
Europe for perfuming their stores of linen, and in yet
warmer lands it is still found as gratifying to the palate
as to the nostrils, for a recent traveller states that the
quince of Persia ripens on the tree or after gathering,
and losing all its austerity and becoming like a soft ripe
pear, is eaten at the dessert as a much prized delicacy,
and yearly forwarded as presents to Bagdad ; the highly
perfumed odour being so powerful that it is said, with
perhaps a tinge of Oriental exaggeration, that if there be
but a single quince in a caravan, no one who accompanies
it can remain unconscious of its presence.

Spreading from Italy almost throughout Europe, it now
grows spontaneously in most countries of mild tempera-
ture, and, as Gerard informs us, was common in his time
in the hedges of England ; but never ripening here suffi-
ciently to be eaten raw, and having lost, perhaps undeser-
vedly, much of the repute which it enjoyed two or three
centuries ago on account of its medicinal properties, it is
now very seldom met with, and many persons are to be
found, even among those who have been born and brought
up in the country, who have never tasted or perhaps so
much as seen a quince. More generally cultivated, wher-
ever it does still claim the cultivator's attention, as a
stock whereon to graft the pear in order to dwarf the
growth of that tree or to hasten the ripening of its fruit,
than for the sake of its own produce, the latter is yet

44 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

capable of being turned to better account than merely to
be made into preserve or used in minute quantities to
add a flavour to apple pies, for Phillips has left on record
that when he wrote quinces grew so abundantly in some
parts of the Weald of Sussex as to be made into wine by
private families living in that neighbourhood, some even
manufacturing as much as 200 gallons 'in a season. This
wine, for the preparation of which he furnishes a recipe,
was, he adds, of agreeable flavour, improving greatly by
keeping, and of so much efficacy for asthmatic affections
that a gentleman residing at Horsham in Sussex assured
him that he had been completely cured of a long-standing
asthma solely by the use of it. Lord Eacon, too, has
left it as his testimony that "It is certain the use of
quinces is good to strengthen the stomach " (recommend-
ing, however, for this purpose, " quiddeny " of quince, pro-
bably a preserve), and in France at least it still maintains
the reputation of being an admirable tonic and stomachic
when taken medicinally, and made into a compote is
highly recommended as a diet to increase the digestive
power of convalescents. At Paris the fruit never reaches
perfect maturity, and though it ripens after gathering so
far as to acquire a rich golden hue and exhale its powerful
scent, remains so hard as to be quite unfit to be sent to
table, though a forlorn hope of a different future is not
yet abandoned by the sanguine French; for, says the
Son Jardinier of 1860, " we flatter ourselves yet, no doubt
in vain, that time and culture will yet render them eat-
able." In the South of France, on the borders of the
Garonne, quinces are much grown, to be made into a
marmalade called cotignac : indeed, it would seem that
that kind of confection must have been originally made
from this particular fruit, since the word marmalade has
its etymological root in the quince, the Portuguese name
for which is marmelo. The seeds are used in medicine,
though, says Noisette, not so much as they might be, for
the viscous mucilage in which they abound unites with
the softening qualities of gum arabic something of an
unctuous quality, which renders them peculiarly capable
of soothing irritation or inflammation of the most delicate

THE QUINCE. 45

organs, and they are therefore employed to heal sore lips,
inflamed eyes, &c. The same gummy juice, extracted by
simply boiling the seeds in a little water, furnishes the
toilette with that " fixature " which puts a gentle restraint
on the straggling hairs of fair ones with flowing locks.

The delicately tinged blossoms of the quince are similar
in structure to those of the apple and pear, but grow
singly, and are much larger, being about the size of a
wild rose. The fruit varies in form and size, but is
always downy when young and yellow when ripe ; and
offering externally nothing remarkably different from the
two before-mentioned fruits, was confounded by LinnaBus
with these its orchard brethren ; but on cutting it open,
it is found to contain in each of its five cells from 12 to
40 pips,* instead of only one or two, as is the case with
both apple and pearj a peculiarity which has sufficed to
assign it, in later systems of botany, to a separate genus.
Owing probably in part to the little attention paid to it
in modern days, but few varieties have arisen, and only
five sorts are generally grown in either England, Prance,
or America. The Apple-shaped (called by the ancients
the "male") Quince is a tree of weak growth, both the
leaf and fruit of which are small, but as the latter is of
fine colour and becomes very tender when stewed, it is
the most popular of the tribe in America, where the Pear-
shaped Quince in condemned as tough and of bad colour,
though pronounced by the French, on the contrary, to
be in every way preferable to the other. It is much
grown by them as a stock or mere in nurseries, and it
may have been from using it similarly for grafting pur-
poses that the ancients gave it the name of "female."
English nurserymen prefer to graft on the Portugal
Quince, a stronger, handsomer tree, bearing larger and
finer fruit, which when cooked turns a fine crimson or
purple colour, the only and great drawback to its other-
wise incontestable supremacy over the other kinds being
that it bears very scantily. These three varieties, though
cultivators observe great differences in them, are all reck-

See Plate II., fig. 6.

46 OTJR COMMON FETJITS.

oned by botanists to be of one species, to which also be-
longs a new seedling sort, both large and good, recently
raised at New York, and so highly appreciated there that
it has been sold at the rate of nine dollars for about a
bushel.

The Chinese Quince, only introduced into Europe
•during the present century, bears a highly perfumed, red,
barrel-shaped fruit, about 4 in. long, and which will keep
until the spring, whereas the other sorts usually perish
before the end of autumn ; but, unfortunately, whether
eaten raw or cooked, it is found tasteless and insipid, and
is therefore only grown for the sake of its red violet-
scented spring blossoms. The last on the list, the Japan
Quince, or Cydonia (popularly miscalled " Pyrus ") Ja-
ponica, is also only grown for ornament, its dark green
hard fruit being less eatable than even the preceding;
but its blossoms, white, pink tinged, or more usually bril-
liant flaming scarlet, are far more beautiful, and appear
earlier, forming one of the commonest but most favourite
spring adornments of English grounds and gardens.

CHAPTEE IV.
THE MEDLAE.

IN all pomes the calyx, which, immediately surmount-
ing the ovary, first enwraps the flower-bud and then
supports the open blossom, remains in a shrivelled posi-
tion after the petals have fallen and the stamens wi-
thered away, still holding its place, while the fleshy
expansion beneath it swells and ripens, forming to the
last an actual part of the fruit. While, however, in apples,
pears, and quinces this dried-up relic of the blossom dis-
plays itself but as a small spot upon the summit of per-
fected fruit, in the Medlar it spreads over a large part of
the surface, and strikes the eye at once as the most not-
able feature in the object. Resembling in its internal

THE MEDLAE.

structure the apple and the pear, the core consisting of
five cells each, containing usually two pips or seeds, though
so hard is the wrinkled shell which takes the place of the
leathery coating of other "pips" that these might almost
be called stones, the medlar diifers externally from its
pomal brethren in being invariably of a dull russet brown
colour, and in losing rotundity of form, in consequence
of the calyx spreading over the whole top of the fruit,
which therefore presents the truncated appearance to
which it owes its generic name Mespilus, which is com-
posed of two Greek words (mesos pilos) signifying half
ball or cap ; its French title neflier, written by purists
neffiier, being similarly derived from a Celtic word naff]
which means truncated. Its surname Germanica is due
to its being both more common and more appreciated in
Germany than anywhere else.

The medlar does not appear to have been known to
the ancients, though it is indigenous to various parts of
Southern Europe, being common in the woods of Italy
and Sicily, where it grows into a good sized tree with a
straight stem ; while in England, where, though it is occa-
sionally found growing wild, it is generally supposed to
be rather naturalized than a native, it becomes more like
a shrub than a tree, assuming a low spreading form of
very irregular and often even grotesque appearance. The
reddish- coloured wood is hard and very durable, but too
small to be of much use, except that in France the
branches are greatly esteemed for the purpose of making
whip-handles. The short-stalked oblong or oval leaves,
three or four inches long, and smooth edged or but slightly
indented, are in the wild kind often accompanied by
thorns, and the white Eosaceous flowers, characterized
by five styles and about 20 stamens, grow singly at the
end of the branches, which therefore do not admit of
being pruned. They appear about June or July, and the
fruit is not fit for gathering until after the first autumn
frosts, requiring even then to be laid upon straw for some
time, until the first stage of decomposition (technically
called Wetting) begins, when its previous harshness dis-
appears, and it becomes soft and of mild agreeable fla-

48 CUE COMMON FRUITS.

vour. The wild kind are no larger than the top of a
man's thumb ; but culture improves both their size and
flavour, though the largest of garden growth do not exceed
the size of a small apple. These are most commonly
propagated by grafting either on the pear, quince, the
wild medlar, or its first cousin the hawthorn, for if the
seeds be sown, unless they be taken out of the fruit as
soon as ripe and set at once in the ground, they seldom
germinate until the second year after planting. Varieties
are not very numerous, and but three kinds are generally
grown in England — the common or Nottingham sort,
which are of sharp pleasant taste, but small ; the Dutch
or Large German, which are of greater size but more
insipid, yet are more cultivated in this country than
either of the other sorts ; and finally, the Monstrous
Medlar, which combines the magnitude of the latter with
the good flavour of the former, besides possessing the
further virtue of being an abundant bearer. The kind
most esteemed in Italy and France is a seedless sort,
which though small contains a larger amount of eatable
substance, owing to the absence of pips, besides being so
much less austere than the other kinds that it can be
eaten, when once it has attained full ripeness, without
waiting for the "bletting" process, and is therefore wor-
thy to be more generally cultivated than it is at present,
though in England it has not been found to be equal to
other kinds, its keeping longer being here reckoned its
chief virtue. The flowers of this kind abound in stamens
but have no pistil, and it is therefore that the fruit re-
mains seedless, though it still matures, thus proving that
fecundation is not essential to the production of fruit,
although it is to the reproduction of offspring.

The most singular member of this family is the Japan
Medlar, as it is called, which was introduced into Prance
from Canton in 1784, but was there for some years before
it put forth its blossoms in the form of panicles of white
flowers scented like those of the hawthorn, but yet more
fragrant ; and it was not till 1810 that it bore fruit, the
produce proving to be of the size and colour of cherries,
and a sample having been presented to the great patroness

THE MEDLAE. 49

of pomology, Josephine, was pronounced by her to be of
very agreeable flavour. Though an evergreen, with very
fine large leaves, this plant thrives perfectly when grafted
on the deciduous hawthorn, but as it does not blossom
until autumn, rarely perfects fruit in Europe. It is spe-
cially noteworthy as furnishing the connecting link be-
tween what had hitherto been looked on as quite distinct
groups, viz., the Mespilus family and the Az&roUers, ihe
latter being now reckoned by many botanists as only
varieties of the medlar (their blossoms agreeing in every
respect except that the number of styles varies from two
to five), though cultivators still maintain the ancient
distinction between them, and our Loudon includes the
Azeroliers in the family of the Cratcegus or Thorn. Their
little berry-like fruit* bears, indeed, a strong resemblance
to the common "haws" of our hedges, and are in some
sorts hardly larger. Scarcely grown in this country, and
even in France not acquiring much size 'or goodness,
though held in some esteem in Provence and Languedoc,
in Italy and the Levant they are much eaten, the climate
there improving them, while it also renders their sharp-
ness more welcome. They require to be fully ripe, but
do not, like the medlar, need lletting, and are eaten both
raw and in tarts or confections. Five or six sorts are
grown, the best being the Azerolier of Italy, the leaves
of which resemble those of the hawthorn, except that
they are larger and less divided, and the flowers are also
similar, but are larger and more fragrant, while the
roundish yellow fruit is like a very small Siberian Crab.
The natives of Italy are so much finer than those grown
in France that they are exported from the former to the
latter country, being first dipped each one separately into
melted white wax, which, forming a thin shell around
them, preserves them from injury during transport, and
also, by excluding the air, tends to keep them longer
from decay. The Azerole of the Levant differs chiefly in
being red and of longer shape, besides being smaller. The
Scarlet or Canadian Azerole is only of the size of a mus-

See Plate II., fig. 8.

50 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

ket ball, but being of a very pleasant taste, is sought for
in Paris towards the end of September ; while the other
kinds, being no larger, less fleshy, and less agreeable in
flavour, are likely to be rather endured than enjoyed by
those who partake of them.

CHAPTEE V.
THE PLUM.

FROM the wave-hollowed cavern in the cliff to the
Cathedral of St. Peter's; from the wild gorilla of the
woods to the thorough English gentleman ; such are the
analogues that present themselves when we would think
of illustrations of progress equivalent to the stride from
the Sloe to the Greengage — from Nature's thorny stunted
bush, with its puny leaves and harsh, insignificant, berry-
like produce, to Art's shapely tree, with broad ample
foliage and large luscious fruit, fair child of human care
and culture. Yet, the Adam of the race, the Sloe, with-
out which, if the theory of development be true, we
should have had no Greengage, claims the first attention
in a notice of this tribe, the first favourites of autumn,
whose fleshy drupes form so nicely graduated a link be-
tween the juicy berries of summer and those substantial
pomes which accompany us into winter. The plums, as
a family, are native to the greater part of Europe, and
some parts of Asia, Africa, and America ; but the only
member indigenous to England is the Sloe (the Prunus
spinosa, or Thorny Plum) , which is very commonly found
wild in our hedges, usually not farther north than Wales,
though, as it will endure a moister climate, it is some-
times found in Highland valleys, where the more fasti-
dious furze-bush refuses to grow. Grown in open parks
as a single tree, it may be reared to a height of even 30 ft.,
but in hedges is rarely seen more than 20 ft. high ; in

THE PLTJM. 51

France, never above 15 ft., and it is generally far below
that altitude. Its creeping root throws up such nume-
rous suckers that, if left undisturbed, a single plant
would in the course of a few years spread over an acre
of ground — a peculiarity which has led the French to
bestow upon it the title of " Mere du Bois;" for not only
does it thus multiply itself to an enormous extent, but
its suckers affording shelter to any seeds of timber-trees
that may be dropped among them by birds, these too
thrive unusually, and thus, under the direct and indirect
influence of the Sloe, the field, in the course of a few
years, becomes a forest. This encroaching disposition
makes the plant very unsuitable for boundary hedges, as
the limits of neighbouring property may be indefinitely
varied by its growth ; and when once established, it is no
easy task effectually to serve an ejectment upon it, since,
even when grubbed up by the roots, every fibril left in
the soil will spring up again and become a separate plant,
making the very measure taken to extirpate it only a new
means of multiplication. The only sure method of making
head against such pertinacious power of vegetation is to
oppose to it the force of animal voracity; and as all
cattle, and especially sheep and goats, are fond of the
leaves of the Sloe, whether fresh, or dried, by calling in
their aid the stems are gnawed down even to the quick,
the shoots rise next year very feebly, and, again con-
sumed, give up the contest in despair, seldom appearing
again at all in the third year.

The taste for Sloe-leaves is shared in also by beings of
higher nature, though the pleasure they impart is mostly
partaken of in unconsciousness of its source, they being
more often used as an adulteration than avowedly as a
substitute, but really taking the place of tea better than
any other European plant yet known, having a peculiar
aromatic flavour (shared in by the meadow-sweet and
some other plants), which oners some resemblance to the
delicate perfume of China's peerless leaf. Besides its
leaves, the branches are thickly armed with sharp thorns,
the wound from which is so much less easy to heal than
those made by the hawthorn, that "Withering suspects

4—2

52 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

their action is chemical as well as mechanical, and that
there must be something poisonous in their nature.
During the bleak days of March, before any other fruit-
tree has blossomed, and often even before its own leaves
have appeared, the Sloe unfolds its small white flowers,
solitary, so far as that jimplies that they do not grow in
clusters, but thickly strewn over the branches, and con-
sisting of five petals, from 20 to 30 stamens, with orange-
coloured anthers, and generally one, but sometimes two,
central styles. Balfour says that fruits formed like these
by the ovaries alone, are more liable to drop off and to
suffer from unfavourable weather than those in which the
calyx is retained to enter into their composition, as is the
case in the gooseberry, apple, and most other tribes ; but
when their course does run smooth, by September these
blossoms have matured into little violet-skinned azure-
bloomed balls scarcely larger than a fine black currant,
so austere that they can scarcely be eaten until some-
what mellowed by frost, and held in so little esteem even
by omnivorous children, that it is only by courtesy they
can be allowed to rank upon the list of fruits. In France
they are pickled while unripe in salt and vinegar, as a
substitute for olives, and when ripe are fermented with
water, to form a beverage much drunk by the lower
classes, though by no means wholesome to be taken habi-
tually, its acid astringent qualities causing internal ob-
structions. Properly fermented, the Sloe makes a wine
not unlike new port, and contributes occasionally to the
adulteration of that much mystified compound ; while the
schnaps-}oving Germans and Russians put it to the same
use to which they devote almost everything of a fruity
nature which comes in their way, and contrive to distil a
spirit from it. Its juice may further be used as a mark-
ing ink, for it gives a stain to linen or woollen which
cannot be washed out ; and though the plum tribe are
often looked on with terror as the fruitful source of
autumnal diarrhoea, this head of the family is so emi-
nently famed for the contrary effect, that its expressed
juice is used in pharmacy, and its bottled fruit in domes-
tic practice, as almost a specific against that complaint.

THE PLUM. 53

The essential properties of the plant vary strangely at
different stages of growth, for the flowers are moderately
purgative ; the fruit when first ripe extremely astringent,
yet soon lose that character, and when very fully ripe
become decidedly laxative. The bark is used in tanning ;
it affords, in conjunction with alkali, a yellow dye, and
with sulphate of iron a fine black ink, and is also em-
ployed in intermittent fevers as a tolerably efficient sub-
stitute for Peruvian bark. The upright branchless
shoots of the Sloe are more used throughout Europe than
any other wood for walking-sticks, the glossy, horse-
chestnut-coloured bark needing no polish, and the bases
of the thorns variegating it with a beautiful appearance
as of knots.

One Sloe, the double-flowering variety, is exalted above
all others to a well-merited place in the garden, for in
its blossoming season in May it is scarcely surpassed in
beauty by any vernal blooming shrub, its slender shoots,
10 or 12 ft. high, being thickly covered with charming
little white double blossoms about the size of a sixpence,
and resembling miniature roses. It is a special favourite
in China, and, according to Koempfer, is cultivated in
Japan, on account of its flowers, with such success that
they acquire the size of a large double rose, and are so
abundant as to cover the whole tree with a surface of
snowy whiteness speckled with blood red. " These -trees,'*
says he, " are the finest of their ornaments ; .they are
planted in preference around their temples, and are also
cultivated in pots or boxes for private houses, as orange-
trees are in Europe." The beauty of this Sloe is the
more remarkable as the plum tribe in general present no
very ornamental appearance, the double- blossoming plum,
though sometimes bearing a large handsome white flower,
being very prone to degenerate and become single, and
it is always inferior in effect to the former plant.

The next step in plum progress is the Bullace, also a
wild growth in England, Germany, and France, which,
like the Sloe, is armed with spines, and bears a fruit
which is globular in shape, but larger and varied in colour,
being sometimes black, sometimes yellowish tinged with

54 OUR COMMON FBT7ITS.

red, or occasionally quite red ; and, a matter of more im-
portance, it is much less austere, forming very fair pies
and other culinary preparations. When uncooked they
are not very attractive, as may be judged by their having
earned in Provence the name of Prunes sibarelles, because
from their sourness it is impossible to whistle just after
having eaten them.

From the Bullace we rise to the Primus domestica, the
spineless species, including all the numerous varieties
which furnish our autumnal feasts, none of which are
found truly wild in Britain. There is, however, little
record of their introduction, except a mention by Hak-
bergh, in 1582, of the plum called the Perdigwend (now
Perdrigone) being " brought from Italy, with two kinds
more, by Lord Cromwell after his travel;" but Tusser,
in 1573, had already enumerated 10 sorts ; and Johnson,
in 163f3, says, "To write of plums particularly would
require a peculiar volume, and yet the end not to be
attained unto nor the stocke or kindred perfectly known,
neither to be distinguished! apart. The number of the
sorts are not known to any one country ; every climate
hath his own fruit far different from that of other coun-
tries. Myself have three score sorts in my garden, and
all strange and rare : there be in other places many more
common, and yet yearely cometh to our hands others not
before known." The multiplication of new sorts having
begun so early, it is not surprising to find that the third
edition of the Horticultural Society's fruit catalogue con-
tained 127 varieties, to which about 20 more may now
be added, besides fresh American originations. The tree
will grow in almost any soil, though it thrives best in a
strong rich one ; for in sand it is specially liable to be-
come a prey to insects, and in clay the fruit is insipid ;
its shade is considered rather favourable than other-
wise to grass growing beneath it. It begins to bear in
its sixth or seventh year, increasing in productiveness
till the 12th year, after which it continues to bear good
crops in favourable seasons until decrepitude comes on —
a period which varies much in different varieties and
according to soil and circumstances — though it is very

THE PLUM. 55

rare to see a plum-tree more than 150 years old. The
height varies from 6 ft. to 30 ft. ; but as the larger the
tree becomes, the less fruit it bears in proportion to its
size and the space occupied, and the worse in point of
quality, besides the greater difficulty of gathering it, mag-
nitude is by no means desired. Pruning of the roots as
well as the branches is resorted to to check its natural
luxuriance, and the suckers, which it sends forth more
freely than any other fruit-tree, must be removed as soon
as they appear — i. e., five or six times in the course of
the summer — or not only will the harvest be deficient,
but even the life of the tree will be endangered. Some-
times the trees begin to decay internally even when quite
young, yet still continue to bear fruit as abundantly as
those of more healthy appearance. The different varie-
ties are distinguished partly by the surface of the young
woods, which in some is smooth, in some downy or co-
vered with soft hairs ; partly by the fruit being divided,
like Peaches, into those in which the stone adheres firmly
to the flesh, and those in which it parts freely ; and an-
other very decided mark of difference is seen in the suture
or furrow which deeply indents one side of many plums,
while in others it is scarcely visible. Some varieties,
however, have features so individually characteristic as
to be recognized at a glance ; and among these may be
classed the universally familiar Damson, valued by the
poor for its abundance as much as the Greengage is by
the wealthy for its delicacy, growing as it does in every
cottage garden, and bringing often enormous crops, and
lingering later than any other plum. It is mentioned by
Pliny as the Damascene Plum, so called from Damascus
in Syria, but introduced long since into Italy; and he
remarks further that the stone of this fruit is larger than
usual, and the flesh smaller in quality, yet it will never
dry so far as to wrinkle, the sun of its native country
being needed to produce this effect. We have no quar-
rel with it on this ground, and are satisfied to dispense
with its drying while it maintains the character of being
our best baking plum, thousands of bushels being sold
annually both here and in America, to be made into

56 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

winter preserve. The Muscle is also a well-known good
kind for culinary purposes, and the Orleans was formerly
a favourite, but has been almost superseded of late years
by newer sorts. The old-fashioned Magnum Bonum, too,
which long held its station as the largest of our plums, is
equalled in this respect and far surpassed in taste by the
similarly shaped but yellower " Coe's Golden Drop,"
which partakes of the flavour of the Greengage and Apri-
cot, and, if gathered with part of the branch attached,
and hung in a dry room, will keep till near Christmas.

It is, however, in the Greengage that the acme of plum
perfection is reached, this famous fruit being admitted,
even by the Americans, to surpass every other kind that
has been produced in any country. No account seems
to have been preserved of how or where it originated, but
it is said to have been introduced into France by Queen
Claude, wife of Francis I., and is generally known in that
country as the Heine Claude,* though in some parts bear-
ing local epithets, mostly complimentary, such as "Alricot
verd" at Tours, and " la verte bonne" at E-ouen. Its
English title is derived from the Gage family, a member
of which, some time during last century, procured a col-
lection of trees from the Chartreuse monastery at Paris,
on the arrival of which all were found duly marked with
names except the specimen of Heine Claude, from which
the label had been omitted or lost ; whereupon the gar-
dener, assuming the sponsorial office, dutifully bestowed
upon it the name of, his employer, in addition to the
adjective denoting its unusual colour. It sometimes re-
produces itself from its stones, the planting of which,
however, have also given rise to numerous varieties, some
coloured like their parent, while others, under the name
of red or yellow "gages," have striven vainly to rival
their peerless verdant progenitor ; while one base coun-
terfeit, strikingly like the Greengage in appearance,
mocks the eater in being only remarkable, in point of
flavour, for its utter insipidity. Vigorous, but never very

* The Germans, following the sound of these words, give the Greengage
the title of Orunen Renklode.

THE PLUM. 57

tall, the tree both in France and England mostly requires
to be grown against the wall; and the fruit is always
specially prone to burst its tender skin and form splits,
which, however, do not impair its quality any further
than that busy insects are ever found ready to avail them-
selves of the opening, and soon consume the dainty when
once thus laid bare to them. The Purple G-age, a new
variety lately introduced by the French under the name
of Seine Claude Violette, may really be considered an im-
provement on the original, since it is free from this latter
defect of a tendency to crack, and has the further advan-
tage that in a dry climate it will keep good until October,
whereas the Greengage, which it equals in every other
respect, must be eaten almost as soon as gathered. In
1860, too, a new early variety was exhibited by Mr. Rivers,
which has the special virtue of ripening in July, when the
old sort is still quite hard.

But if, among all that are commonly called plums, the
Greengage be pre-eminent, there is one member of the
Prunus family, a distinct species, and bearing in common
parlance quite a distinct name, in which the plum seems
to have risen above itself; for in the Apricot it seems as
though Nature had "tried her 'prentice hand" before
she formed the Peach, as if wishing to see on a small
scale the eiFect of a velvet-like suit before assigning it as
the livery of a new tribe. In spite, however, of its woolly
disguise, it is recognized as really a plum by its white
blossom and smooth stone, though the latter has the
peculiarity of being pointed at but one end, whereas in
the rest of the race it is found sharp at each end. Easily
known by its heart-shaped foliage, the tree is botanically
distinguished as Prunus Armeniaca, the latter title de-
rived from its having been supposed to have come origin-
ally from Armenia ; but there is little authority for the
notion, since, though it covers the slopes of the Caucasus
almost to the margin of the snow, it has never yet been,
found growing wild there. A French traveller, too, quoted
by Mr. Phillips, says, " I was struck with its mode of
growth in Egypt, where it was anciently brought from
latitudes still more south : its leaves have scarcely fallen

58 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

off before the blossoms appear again. The name of leri-
TcokJca, first given to it in Greece, approaches very near
to its Arabian name of lerJcach or lerikach. The inha-
bitants of the fertile parts of the deserts, called oases,
gather and dry large quantities of Apricots, which they
bring down to Egypt for sale. The result of every in-
quiry I made was, that the Apricot-tree grows there
spontaneously, almost without cultivation ; and as it is
not known to grow in the natural state in any part of
Armenia, we may very justly conclude that it is an Arabian
fruit." In Siberia one sort of Apricot is found showing
little affinity with that of Armenia, and Allioria asserts
that it grows naturally in the woods of Montserrat. It
cannot be certainly identified with any of the fruits men-
tioned by the ancients, though we may probably refer to
it what is said by Pliny of an " early [pracocia] kind of
Peach, ripe in the summer," which had only been intro-
duced about 30 years before he wrote, and which was
originally sold at the price of a denarius (7ft?.) apiece,
and could be found only at the first-rate fruiterers' shops.
It appears that it was known in Italy in the time of
Dioscorides under the name G£ pracocia ; and it has been
suggested that, when first introduced here, it was pro-
bably called in Latin a prcecox, and that word being taken
by the ignorant for the plural, and the article becoming
confounded with it, the word " Aprecockes" arose, making
in the singular " Aprecocke," the very form in which it
appears in Gerard and other English horticultural writers,
and really its original Anglicized appellation, the present
genteeler "Apricot," being actually the corruption. Eve-
lyn, writing in 1658, mentions it by the name adopted by
the French, Abricot, their term for the tree being Abri-
cotier, which gave rise to the clever pun, recorded by
Madame de Genlis, of Cotier, head physician to Louis
XL, who, after the death of that monarch, falling into
disgrace under the new regency of Madame de Beaujeu,
withdrew from the court, and had an Apricot-tree sculp-
tured over the door of his house, with the inscription " a
Tabri Cotier."

varieties of this fruit are exceedingly delicious,

THE PLUM. 59

and the best found in Persia, the Apricots of Iran, have
won for themselves the glowing title of" Seed of the Sun."
In Japan the tree attains very large size, but by the Chi-
nese the double-blossoming kind is reduced to a dwarf,
and grown in pots as a favourite ornament for their rooms
in spring. One sort, too, which has little pulp, is culti-
vated only on account of its kernel, which is very large,
sweet, and nut-like. The Wild Apricot in that country,
though admitted into a corner of even the Emperor's gar-
den, needs no culture, will grow in the worst of soil, and
flowers so late in spring as to be in no danger from frost.
The otherwise barren mountains which lie to the west of
Pekin are covered with these trees, and " what, perhaps,"
says G-rosier, " will be hardly believed, is, that the crops
produced by them, and the oil extracted from their ker-
nels, render the peasants who inhabit these mountains as
rich as those who live in the lowlands. The oil is superior
to that from walnuts,* is burnt in lamps and used at table ;
the peasants warm their stoves with what remains of the
stones, and collect the cinders to manure their land." In
China, too, Apricots are generally the earliest fruit of
summer. When fully ripe, the Chinese preserve them in
a conserve, and also take out the stone, dip them several
times in some of their own expressed juice, and then dry
them in the sun to eat during winter, stewed ; or if boiled
till quite dissolved, and honey and vinegar added to the
water, they afford a wholesome and most refreshing drink,
used by all classes. Their expressed juice, too, is formed
into lozenges, also sometimes dissolved in water to make
a beverage.

G-ough records, in his Topographical Anecdotes > that the
Apricot was first brought to England by Wolf, head gar-
dener to Henry VIII. ; and there are now about 20 good
English sorts besides the Peach- Apricot, supposed to be
a hybrid between these two fruits; while from time to

* Oil is also extracted in France and Piedmont from the Briancon Apricot,
the produce of a small tree or shrub, 10 or 12 feet high, which is a native of
the Alps, and bears abundance of small round yellow tmit, in clusters, which
are scarcely eatable, but furnish, when crushed, "huile de marmotte" which
.sells for double the price of olive oil.

60 OUR COMMON FBTJITS.

time new kinds still appear. The Black Apricot, a very
dark kind, but more curious than excellent, is believed to
have arisen from the fecundation of an Apricot-tree with
the pollen of the Myrobalanus, or Cherry Plum, which,
in buds, leaves, and blossoms, greatly resembles the former
tree ; and, indeed, as Loudon observes, " there can be no
doubt but that an endless number of hybrids, varying in
their leaves, blossoms, and fruits, might be produced by
fecundating the blossom of the plum with the pollen of
the Almond, Peach, Apricot, and Cherry ; and though
some may be disposed to assign little value to these kinds
of productions, yet it must not be forgotten that almost
all the cultivated plants of most value to man have been
produced by some kind of artificial process. Experiments
of this kind, therefore, ought never to be discouraged.
What culture has done we know, but what it may yet
accomplish is concealed in the womb of time."

The plum appears always to have existed in France,
but, unlike the Cherry, it is a tree not of the forest, but
of the field ; and Du Hamel disputes the paternity of the
Sloe as contrary to analogy, considering that such of the
domestic kinds as have not been imported from abroad
are more likely to have originated from the black or white
Damask Plum,* or from the Cerisette, all of which are
indigenous to that country, than from the one which we
admit as the type of the race. The two former are rather
larger and rounder than our Damson, and of a sweeter
but more insipid taste ; and the latter, being small, nearly
round, and of a pale violet red, bears a strong resemblance
to a Cherry, in which respect, however, it is surpassed by
the Canadian Plum, brought from Canada to France in
1750, and which has yellow flesh and a fiery red skin,
quite free from bloom, thus forming as decided a link
between the plum and the Cherry as the downy-coated
Apricot does between the plum and the Peach, the dru-
paceous fruits being thus all specially bound in a common
bond of brotherhood.

* The title Damas, or Damask, is Riven by the French to plums which
split easily, and the flesh of which separates freely from the stone.

THE PLUM. (5L

Though large supplies of fresh-gathered plums are im-
ported into England from the other side of the Channel,
as many as 25 tons of this fruit being sometimes brought
thence to London in a single night by the South-Eastern
Railway route alone, yet in France the plum is looked
on far less as an article for immediate consumption than
as a provision for winter — a fact, indeed, so thoroughly
acknowledged here that the very term " French Plum "
seems necessarily to imply a dried fruit. The most
recherche preparation which comes to us under that
title is that made from the large yellow Brignole Plums,
grown chiefly near the town of that name in Provence.
When these are fully ripe, the trees are slightly shaken,
and the rich produce gently descends, Jupiter-like, in a
shower of gold, upon cloths spread to receive it, and is
set aside in a dry place until the next day, when the vic-
tims are condemned to be deprived of their skins. As it
is recorded that one of the Champions of Christendom
meekly accepted his doom of death on condition that it
should be inflicted by the hands of a virgin, we may sup-
pose that if the fate of Marsyas can possibly be made
acceptable, it may be so to these martyrs of Brignole,
when it is ordained that they are to be flayed solely by
the nails of women, who keep constantly dipping their
hands in water in order that they may perform the opera-
tion quite coolly ; for as the rude touch of any iron wea-
pon would mar their delicate colour and transparency,
the use of any such is strictly forbidden. After being
left skinless in the sun for several days, they are then
impaled on pointed osier rods, and exposed for several
successive days to warmth and air, all damp being care-
fully guarded against; their stones are then extracted,
they are pressed into rounded shape, and put away covered
with woollen cloths until required for sale, when they are
duly coffined in little round flat boxes made of willow
and lined with a shroud of white paper cut at the edges,
having, through manifold inflictions, become refined into
a most super-excellent sweetmeat. The more common,
but still very superior ordinary " French Plum," is also
mostly prepared from Provence Plums, which, as being

62 OTJE COMMON FETJITS.

tlie most fleshy and bearing the most bloom, are the finest
for the purpose. In order that the beautiful bloom may
be retained even in their dried state, they are gathered
very carefully before sunrise by taking hold of their stalks
without touching the fruit, and laid one by one, and free
from contact with each other, on vine-leaves placed in
' baskets, being left thus for two or three days, when they
are submitted to the same process as the humbler Prunes.
The latter are made in very many places, but those from
the neighbourhood of Tours are considered the best, and
various kinds are employed ; a nearly black sort, called
the Prune d'Agen, being one of the commonest. When
shaken from the trees, the first which fall are rejected as
being probably worm-eaten; the rest are placed in an
oven slightly heated and shut close for 24 hours, then
taken out, and the next day put in again, the oven having
been heated this time to 80°. After another cooling in-
terval, they are exposed to a temperature of 100° ; then
taken out and left till cold, when, in the case of some
sorts, they are rounded by turning the stone without
breaking the skin, and, after this process, are replaced in
the oven, the heat of which is again reduced to 80° ; and
this time not only is the door closed, but every crevice is
stopped with clay or dried grass. After an hour of this
close confinement they are released, and a cup of cold
water being put into the oven, by the time that this is
just as warm as a finger put into it can bear, they are
once more exposed to the fiery ordeal for another 24
hours, at the end of which period that white dustiness
manifests itself which is to them what the bloom is to the
growing fruit ; and should they now require any more
drying they must receive it at once, for this delicate
efflorescence is lost if they are now re-heated after having
once been suffered to cool ; an artificial bloom, produced
by means of indigo, being then sometimes substituted by
the unprincipled. Those employed judge when the dry-
ing process is complete by the look of the fruit, and sel-
dom are mistaken — a matter of some importance, since if
insufficiently dried the fruit would not keep, and if left
too long becomes hard, and is then little esteemed. In

THE PLUM. 63

some villages an oven for prune-drying is dug in the
earth, which, for one season at least, does as well as a
built one.

"What are known as G-errnan Plums are made from the
Quetsche, a variety largely cultivated in Germany, Bel-
gium, Switzerland, and the North of France, for the pur-
pose of drying ; for though less sweet, and therefore less
fit for this use, than many other kinds, it has the advan-
tage of coming to perfection at a convenient season, when
people are tired of the fresh fruit, and when cultivators
have little else to attend to ; besides that, it will nourish
in colder climates, and is less liable to fail than almost
any other sort. In Lorraine an orchard of these plums
brings four times more profit to the owner, according to
Bosc, than could be derived from any other crop on the
same amount of land ; and the same author bemoans the
ignorance or carelessness of his countrymen in not plant-
ing this kind of plum throughout the length and breadth
of France, so that Prunes might become a hundredfold
more plentiful than they are at present, since he considers
that the sun alone would suffice to dry them 'in warm
provinces, and in others, four days of care, such as the
children of a household could in great part assist in ren-
dering, would suffice to lay in a large stock of wholesome
and pleasant provision for the winter. M'Intosh, too,
laments that his Scotch compatriots make no efforts in
this direction, plums being little used now by the poor,
even for ordinary preserving, whereas drying sorts fit to
be made into Prunes for home use could be well grown in
Scotland, in hedgerows and on banks not available for
anything else, and their produce thus become an article
of common consumption.

There are three species of wild plums indigenous to
America, from none of which, however, has any cultivated
kind been reared ; but our Prunus domestica, early in-
troduced there, found that country so congenial an abiding-
place that it soon became naturalized, and in the Middle
States grows almost spontaneously, sporting continually
into new and fine varieties. Among these the magnificent
Washington Plum holds a pre-eminent place, yielding, it

64 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

is true, to the Greengage in point of flavour, but sur-
passing in size and beauty every plnm that has ever been
grown. The parent tree of the " Washington " grew on
a farm near New York, but, being used as a mere stock
and grafted with another kind, escaped notice, until a
sucker from it was sold by a market woman to Mr. Bolmer,
a merchant, in whose garden it came into bearing in 1818,
and attracted universal attention. One of its descendants
was soon after sent to the Horticultural Society of Lon-
don, and it is now known throughout Europe, and regis-
tered A 1 in all collections. This tree has large broad
glossy foliage quite unlike any other kind, and the fruit
is of a roundish oval form, about 2-L in. diameter by 2£,
with the furrow very slightly marked except just near the
stalk ; and in colour, when fully ripe, is deep yellow, re-
lieved with pale crimson, either suffused in a blush on
the sunny side or scattered in dots upon the cheek. The
stalk, which is a little downy, is scarcely £ in. long; and
on the whole the fruit is not unlike in appearance to its
pomal compatriots, the little American Lady Apples. It
ripens in August, and the flesh is yellow, ifirm, and very
sweet and luscious.

The same influences, however, which foster vegetative
luxuriance, act with equal power upon its great antago-
nism, insect life, and the ardent American sun, which
mellows the fruit to unusual size and savour, also warms
into existence more determined foes than have ever at-
tacked it in our cooler clime. The two great obstacles to
plum culture in the United States, and which prevail in
some districts to so great a degree as almost to destroy
the value of the tree, are the " knots," a disease which
appears in the form of tumours on the bark, and the cause
of which is not yet satisfactorily ascertained, and the far
more deadly curculis, scientifically termed the RJiynclice-
mus Nenuphar, or plum weevil, an insect which is the
special bane of all smooth stone fruit in America. A
week or two after the blossom has fallen, the small newly-
formed fruit begins to show the little half-moon-shaped
mark, which denotes that the destroyer has marked it
for his own, and. if the tree be then struck, down falls a

CHEBE1 EIPE. 65

shower of the insects drawn up as if dead, the frightened
dissimulators looking, while in this state of collapse, merely
like a number of hemp-seeds, but on recovering their na-
tural appearance, they are seen to be little dark brown
spotted beetles, scarcely one-third of an inch long, with
two camel-like humps on their backs, a long curved snout,
which when at rest is bent between their fore legs, and a
pair of wings. These devastators have been employed in
depositing their eggs, one in each plum, from which a
progeny of grubs are hatched, which begin to eat their
way to the stone, and as soon as this is reached — that is to
say, early in July — the cultivator, who has watched the
trees blossom well and the fruit set in abundance and
become half grown, has the mortification of seeing it
nearly all fall to the ground, spoiled and useless, while
the grub enters the soil, and hides there in safety till
ready to emerge again, transformed, and recommence its
attacks. Finding an easy passage through light sandy soils,
it is in such localities that it chiefly abounds, and being
found rarely troublesome in heavy ground, and scarcely
seen in the case of trees planted in well-trodden places,
the plan was tried of paving or spreading hard cement
under the trees, an expedient which proved highly suc-
cessful. It is then only necessary to turn a few swine
into the orchard, to dispose at once of the fallen fruit be-
fore its uninvited tenant quits possession, so that no in-
sects may survive to renew the campaign next year, and
the victory is complete, and the cultivator once more
" worth a plum."

CHAPTER VI.
CHEEEY EIPE.

"See cherries here, ere cherries yet abound,
With thread so white in tempting posies tied,
Scattering, like blooming maid, their glances round."

SHENSTONE.

ABOUT a century B.C., Mithridates the Great, a man
of genius as well as a monarch, conceived the idea of

5

66 OTJE COMMON FRUITS.

freeing Asia from the Roman yoke. Unscrupulous as to
means, a general massacre throughout the country, of
every man, woman, and child of Italian birth or origin,
was planned, the tragedy of Cawnpore rehearsed on a
terribly vaster scale, and the ruthless worker out of a
grand "idea" thus became master of almost the whole of
Asia Minor. Home in wrathful fury sent out Maccus to
execute vengeance ; on his death Lucullus took his place,
and met at first with great success, but being at last
defeated, the command was taken by Pompey, whose vic-
tories, finally terminating a contest which, it is said, had
cost the Armenians 155,000 men, delivered the Roman
republic from the most formidable foe she had ever known.
The fruit of all this mighty conflict of thrones and do-
minions, this strife, and massacre, and bloodshed, was —
a cherry. For this Armenia, deemed by its proud con-
querors half barbarous, possessed a treasure yet unknown
in mighty Rome ; and when Lucullus, notwithstanding
subsequent reverses, was decreed a triumph for the vic-
tories he had gained, amid all the golden spoil, the weep-
ing prisoners and the captured standards, the most striking
object in all that proud procession were the branches of
Pontic cherries with which the victor had wreathed his
triumphal car. And well it might be so, for every other
result of that victory has long since passed away — the
mistress of the world is now not even mistress of herself,
but her cherries at least she still retains, and the credit
too of having introduced them to the rest of Europe ; for,
from the trees planted by Lucullus B.C., " Italy," says
Pliny, " was so well stocked, that in less than 20 years
after they had spread to other lands, even as far as Britain
beyond the ocean." Some have affirmed that we are in-
debted to the great Mithridates personally for this fruit,
and that this famous master of 25 languages, when at the
height of his power, deigned occasionally to vary his
linguistic studies with experiments in gardening, and by
grafts made by his own royal hands perpetuated what
was at first perhaps but an accidental variety. On the
other hand, Theophrastus is quoted to show that it was
in his time that the good cherries, as distinguished from

CHEEEY EIPE. 67

scarcely eatable wildings, passed from lower Asia into
Greece, 228 years before Lucullus found them in the
garden of Mithridates and brought them thence to Rome.
The difference of a century or two would, however, have
no effect in invalidating the argument drawn by Hume,
from this transplantation of the cherry-tree taking place
within the period of historic record, to prove that the
present world could only have been called into existence
at a comparatively recent period.

The cherry, however, was not absolutely " a new thing
under the sun " when the Pontic prize of war was borne
in triumph to Rome, for wild cherry-trees are indigenous
throughout Central Europe ; are found not unfrequently
in England, being ranked by Evelyn among our native
" forest berry-bearing trees " ; are more plentiful in
Scotland and Germany, and abound in France ; as well
as being native to the N. and E. of Asia, and to the IS".
of Africa, where in Barbary the fruit is dignified with
the title of " Berry of the King." It does not thrive in <
tropical climates, even flourishing better in the more
temperate than in the warmer parts of Europe, and it has
long been said to be impossible to rear cherries in Egypt.
The Chinese too do ^ot succeed in raising good fruit of
this kind, though they seem to be specially sensitive to
its attractions, in one form at least, for Abel tells us that
" the embassy found in every part of China cherry brandy
to be the most seducing cordial they could offer to a
Chinese palate." As regards endurance of the other
extreme of temperature, it will ripen in some parts of
Norway, though not a native there, and an ingenious
method has been devised at St. Petersburgh of securing
in that inclement climate a full summer supply even of
the tender Morello, by means of training the trees on
horizontal trellises only 10 or 12 in. from the ground,
so that the heavy snows of winter soon completely bury
the whole plant, and thus protect it from all injury during
frost. In the S. of E/ussia it is said there are "forests
of cherry-trees," but there we are approaching the head-
quarters of the race, for Cerasus or Cerazunty whence
they were first brought, and whence their present bota-

5 — 2

68 OTJR COMMON FEUITS.

nical name Cerasus is derived, was a city on the borders
of the Black Sea. They still linger lovingly in the region
which is looked on as their native place ; for Dr. Walsh
described the gardens on the W. coast of Asia Minor,
as consisting wholly of cherry plantations, into which
strangers may enter freely and eat as many as they please,
being only required to pay about \d. per Ib. for any
which they may wish to take away with them. The trees
are of enormous size, but are exceeded in this respect by
another variety, growing in the woods in the interior of
the country, which were from 90 to 100 ft. high.

All the numerous varieties of cherries which now exist,
and among which it can no longer be told which was the
first improved Mithridatic one, are traced back to two wild
types, the one red and sour, the other black and bitter ;
the former being called by the French Cerisiers, and the
other Meritiers, a contraction of Cerises ameres, still fur-
ther contracted by English provincials into "Merries,"
or sometimes Guigniers, anglicized into " Geans," while
the same admirable methodizers to whom we are indebted
for these distinctive appellations further divide the culti-
vated kind into the firm-fleshed Bigarreaux, from bigarrd,
parti-coloured, these fruits being ^generally variegated
with red and yellow ; and the tender-fleshed Griottiers,
formerly Agriottiers, from aigreur, sourness. It has been
doubted whether the Cerisier be really an indigenous
growth of Europe, for even in Erance it is only in the
vicinity of human habitations that it is found wild ; but
the indubitably native Merisier, growing in the woods as
tall as oaks or beeches, with horizontal branches, and
bearing fruits more or less bitter, abounds more perhaps
than any other fruit-tree. It was so highly prized as sup-
plying food for the poor, that in 1669 a law was passed
for the special protection of all the cherry-trees in the
royal forests, till, left thus unchecked, they multiplied to
such an extent, that there would soon have been little
room left for anything else, when, with a rush to the
other extreme, a new edict was promulgated command-
ing all the rapidly rising race to be ruthlessly destroyed,
except a select number of saplings reserved to secure

CHEEKY BIPE. 69

a supply of timber. This inconsiderate measure was a
great calamity for the poor, for soup made of cherries
with a little butter and bread was their chief sustenance
during a great part of the year, the fruit being not only
put to this use while fresh, but also dried in great quan-
tities by exposing it on boards in the sun, or in ovens,
and an inexpensive provision thus secured for the winter,
the wood-cutters and charcoal-burners contenting them-
selves with little else beyond this frugal fare. In Ger-
many also kirschen-suppe, consisting simply of cherries
stewed with sugar and water, and slightly thickened with
potato flour, is a frequent dish at most tables, either as a
soup to open or a sweet to close the repast. Crushed
and fermented, these wild cherries can also be made into
a wine of agreeable flavour, but so weak that it can hardly
be kept, even when bottled, until the next season, and
has therefore never become an article of commerce, but
is chiefly distilled to make Kirschwasser, some of the
stones being previously broken, in order that the kernels
may also contribute their flavour. It takes 20 pints of
fermented pulp to produce a single pint of this liqueur,
which is clear as water, being valued according as it is
free from any tinge. Even in France it is always sold
dearer than the best brandy, though, as the fruit from
which it is made costs nothing for cultivation, Bosc ob-
serves that it ought to be far cheaper, and would be so,
since it can be made wherever wild cherries grow, were
it not for the ignorance and inertness of the peasantry,
yet further exemplified in the fact, that in 1821 there
were still " many cantons " in France where the cherry
was absolutely " not known." The manufacture of KirscJi-
wasser is chiefly carried on in some parts of Germany
and Switzerland. In Italy, the yet more precious cordial
Maraschino is distilled from the leaves and kernels of a
small Gean pounded in a mortar, mixed with honey, and
slightly fermented. Eresh cherries distilled, and even
dried ones boiled, afford also, it is said, a liquor found very
beneficial in whooping or ordinary coughs ; and Evelyn
says of our own wild black cherry, that " with new wine
and honey they make a conditum of admirable effect to

70 OTJE COMMON FEUITS.

corroborate the stomach," an assertion likely to be taken
little notice of in days when it is statements rather than
stomachs for which the world asks corroboration.

The wood of the cherry-tree is extensively used in Paris
for furniture, being reckoned only second to mahogany.
Yet few cherry-trees are ever planted in France, this office
being left to the birds, who, however, carry it on with suf-
ficent assiduity to secure an unfailing supply, whether for
fruits, timber, or as stock upon which to graft the culti-
vated kinds, the trees being found both to grow better
and to live longer when the stem at least is of the wild
kind. The exterior bark of the cherry-tree having more
circular fibres than other trees, becomes thereby so tough
as sometimes to hinder the growth of the plant, and it is
said that in some places slits are made in the bark as a
remedial measure, but this seems very doubtful, since, if
that part be wounded, the sap exudes in the form of gum,
which is looked on as a disease, as the same effect takes
place from age or deficiency of nourishment. This gum,
which exists in plum-trees also, but is most abundant in
the cherry, resembles gum arabic, but only swells when
placed in cold water, and requires boiling fully to dis-
solve it. It is, however, sometimes used in France for
manufacturing purposes when there is a scarcity of gum
arabic, but as its extravasation is thought to enfeeble the
trees, and the branches must be cut in order to procure
any considerable quantity, it is forbidden for any but the
proprietor of the land to gather it.

The first notice we have of cherries in England, after
Pliny's mention of their being introduced here by the
Romans, occurs in 1415, when Lydgate's verses recount
their being cried for sale in London streets. The culture
of them seems, however, to have rather languished until
the time of Henry VIII., when it received a great impetus
from the efforts made by Eichard Haines, fruiterer to that
monarch, who imported a number of trees from Flanders
and planted them at Tenham in Kent, in which county
tradition asserts that those originally brought by the
Romans had also found their first resting-place. Before
the end of the king's reign they had, in the words of

CHEEKY EIPE. 71

Fuller, " spread into 32 parishes, and were sold at great
rates. I have read," continues that author, " that one of
the orchards of this primitive plantation, consisting but
of 30 acres, produced fruit of one year which sold for
£1,000 ; plenty, it seems, of cherries in that garden, meet-
ing with a scarcity of them in all other places." Most
extravagant prices were indeed sometimes paid for this
fruit', for Mr. Thornbury tells us that in Shakespeare's
days, " the pretty and capricious ate cherries when they
were an angel [7s. Qd.~\ a pound," this too at a time when
the cost of a fat goose was but Is. or Is. 2d. They had
probably become comparatively common in neighbour-
ing countries by this period, for we further learn that
strangers arriving here " brought over things that were
cheap with them and dear in England, as paper, orangesi_/
pippins, cherries, &c.'V~About this time too they were
introduced to a sister land, for according to Dr. Kitchener
they were first planted in Ireland by Sir Walter B/aleigh,
at his estate at Youghal, where some of his cherry-trees
were still lately to be seen. By a near connection of that
great man the same tree was made the subject of one of
the earliest pomological experiments practised in England,
for Sir Hugh Platt, in his " Garden of Eden," thus relates
an anecdote of loyal gallantry quite worthy of the rela-
tive of Ealeigh : " Here I will conclude," says he, " with
a conceit of that delicate knight, Sir Francis Carew, who,
for the better accomplishment of his entertainment of our
late Queen Elizabeth of happy memory, at his house at
Beddington, led her Majesty to a cherry-tree whose fruit
he had of purpose kept back from ripening at the least
one month after all cherries had taken their farewell of
England. This secret he performed by so raising a tent
or cover of canvas over the whole tree, and wetting the
same now and then with a scoop or horn, as the heat of
the weather required ; and so, by withholding the sun-
beams from reflecting on the berries, they grew both great
and were very long before they had gotten their perfect
cherry colour ; and when he was assured of her Majesty's
coming he removed the tent, and a few sunny days brought
them to their full maturity." It is said, too, that a means

72 OUR COMMON FEUITS.

of hastening the ripening of cherries was adopted at
Poitou so early as in the 16th century, hot limestones
being laid upon the ground under the trees, and hot water
poured upon the soil, by which method ripe fruit was
obtained by the 1st of May.

Though cherry-gardens are less numerous than formerly
in Kent, this fruit continues to be its specialite. The
variety for which it is most famous, which is named from
it the " Kentish Cherry," and which is supposed to be
the original sort brought by Haines from Flanders, is dis-
tinguished by the peculiarity that it suffers the stone to
be plucked from within it in much the same style as
Richard "robbed the kingly lion of his heart," the stalk
establishing so firm a hold upon it by means of the fibres
which link them together, that it may be withdrawn by
laying hold of that appendage, leaving the fruit seemingly
whole in the hand of the gatherer, while its extracted
core remains in the tenacious grasp of the stalk. The
Kentish Cherry is one of the best kinds for cooking, and
its application to culinary purposes is greatly facilitated
by this easy removal of what Pliny, in the presumption
of his antique ignorance, ventures to call the " faulty su-
perfluity," which, in the case of cherries, is, as he phrases
it, " environed by the good fruit, whereas fruit otherwise
is ordinarily defended by the said imperfection (!) of the
shell." Yerily censures when cast upon the arrangements
of Nature, like curses, " come home to roost."

The pale, sweet, firm-fleshed Bigarreau is the cherry
most generally seen at the dessert-table, but the one
considered by many to be the most delicious fruit of the
whole tribe is the Elton, an invaluable hybrid variety
raised in 1806 by Mr. Knight. Beautiful in appearance
and rich in flavour, it bears a great resemblance to the
Bigarreau, but is distinguished by its longer stalk, while
it comes into season earlier, and has more tender flesh.

The Morello, so called either from the dark juice
being like that of the morns or mulberry, or from the
French word morelle, a negress, on account of its swarthy
shining skin, is another of our most valuable kinds of
cherries ; and though so austere when exposed to a

CHEEEY EIPE. 73

northern aspect as to be only fit for making preserves or
putting in brandy, when trained against a south wall its
rich juicy fruit, larger than any other of the tribe, is
excellent for the dessert, if left a sufficient time to mature.
It is, however, the small black cherry, which grows wild
in several parts of England, particularly in some places
in Suffolk, where it is commonly called the merry tree,
which is mostly used in the manufacture of cherry brandy.
These black cherries abound also in Bedfordshire and
Herts, and when they are in season give occasion for
" pasty feasts," at which pasties made of them form the
principal feature. At Ely in Cambridgeshire, too, a
special "Cherry Sunday" is observed, on which people
repair to orchards in the neighbourhood, and for a small
payment are allowed to eat as many as they choose. Nor
are such compliments to cherry attractions peculiar to
England, for in some villages in Erfurth, where there are
very extensive plantations of this fruit, the people set
apart a day to celebrate their ripening, and assemble on
the " Cherry Festival" to pass the time in sports and re-
joicing ; while Phillips records a yet more interesting
" Feast of Cherries " as being observed annually at Ham-
burgh, by troops of children carrying branches adorned
with ripe cherries, parading the streets with joyous cries.
In this case, however, the custom originated in a desire
to perpetuate the memory of an event said to have oc-
curred in 1423, when the Hussites having threatened Ham-
burgh with immediate destruction, one of the citizens
proposed that all the children in the city between the
ages of seven and 14 should go, clad in mourning, to
supplicate the enemy's forbearance. The advice was
adopted, and with the happiest result, for Procopius
Nasus, the Hussite chief, was so touched at the sight of
such a band of little sorrowing innocents, that after re-
galing them with a feast of fruit he sent them home laden
with cherries, and uttering shouts of " Victory ! " for
they bore to their parents his promise that the devoted
city should be spared. Throughout Germany, indeed, the
fruit is a general favourite ; trees of it are much planted
on the road-side both in that country and in Switzerland,

74 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

and London mentions one avenue in Moravia from Brunn
to Olmutz as being 60 miles long, while others extend
all the way between Strasburg and Munich. These are
planted by desire of the government ; and though the
main crop when ripe belongs to the proprietors of the
ground, all passengers are allowed to partake of them
freely while growing, so long as they do not hurt the
trees. Should the owner wish to preserve the fruit of
any particular tree untouched, he has only to tie a wisp
of straw round one of the branches, when no one will
think of gathering from it, this mark of "taboo" being
always religiously respected.

" The cherry-tree," observes Pliny, " is one of the first
that yields fruit to his master, in token of thankfulness
and recognizance of his pains all the year." And, indeed,
the appearance of this fruit is still one of London's earliest
signs of summer. Tied carefully in scattered rows on
sticks, or grouped closely into little " posies " as though
they had grown together to form a sort of magnified mul-
berry, they afford the first faint flush of " celestial rosy
red," brightening the street stalls almost as soon as the
fruiterers' windows, glad harbingers of a radiant burst to
come, when full July shall pour out all her crimson trea-
sures and glorify the year with a flood of ruddy ripeness.
Though thus early in developing its produce, the blossoms
only whiten the tree with their pure snowy lustre about
the same time as the later apple and pear put on their
spring vestures. They are like those of most of our fruit-
trees, formed on the type of the rose, a calyx with five
petals surrounding a ring of numerous stamens, the centre
in this case being occupied by a single ovary, which event-
ually becomes the fruit, every trace of the blossom dis-
appearing when this is formed. The perfect fruit is, in
botanical language, a drupe, for the hard or bony part,
which combines with skin and flesh to make up its being,
is not, as in the case of nuts, spread in Crustacesen style
over its exterior, but, after the fashion of superior animals,
is kept as a skeleton within, collected into a central ball
as a foundation for its globose shape. A very pleasant
object to the eye is this round ruddy shining cherry ; and

CHEERY RIPE. 75

what a contrast is presented in its smooth swelling globular
form to that of the flat and pointed leaf, with its sharply-
cut serrations at the edges, even as its fierce flaming
colour is in striking opposition to the cool green of the
foliage ! And yet pleasanter is it to the taste, that morsel
of delicate flesh all oozy with freshening juice. Can any
likeness be found there to the dry crude matter which
fills up the veiny network of the leaves ? Yet, says the
morphologist, this red tasteful ball of juicy pulp is but,
after all, a leaf; altered, it is true — call it perfected or call
it perverted, whichever term may be preferred — but still
a leaf, and nothing more ; and it is a cherry-tree which is
especially pointed to as the triumphant vindication of
this view. The first hint of its being possible that leaves
were gradually transmuted into all the other organs of a
plant appears to have been given by Linnaeus, but it was
the poet G-oethe who wrought out the idea and developed
it into a system, now so generally adopted that there are
few, if any, naturalists who do not admit at least its great
principles, viz., that the laws which regulate vegetable
structure are so simple and uniform that their action in
every part of a plant are exactly similar, and the arrange-
ment of any subsequent development is but a repetition
of that which was observed in the normal germ ; as a
melody may be made the theme of a thousand variations,
yet through all the " linked sweetness long drawn out "
the notes of the original air be still distinctly traced.
According to this theory, then, a flower-bud, being exactly
analogous to a leaf-bud, the object into which it developes
is to be considered as a metamorphosed branch, though,
instead of shooting out into a long twig garnished through-
out its length with scattered leaves all formed upon one
pattern, its energies, compressed within nearer limits,
unfold into a more closely gathered group of objects of
diversified form and texture. In ascending or progressive
metamorphosis the first departure from the regular form
of the leaf is seen in the usually still green and somewhat
leaf-like sepals, or divisions of the calyx ; the next modi-
fication changes these into the petals or divisions of the
corolla ; one more advance contracts these into stamens ;

76 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

and the final step forms a central pistil, the divisions of
which, if more than one leaf enters into its composition,
are termed carpels. Cultivation or other causes will
sometimes " reverse the charm " and induce retrograde
metamorphosis, such as is seen in ordinary double flowers,
where the petals, which in the usual course of nature
would have changed into stamens, are arrested in their
progress and retained in the former stage, the flower thus
spending its whole capital at once merely to obtain the
more showy appearance of a largely increased number of
transitory petals, instead of making a provision for the
future by investing some portion in the formation of sta-
mens, a proceeding which involves its fortune dying with
it, for in the absence of those organs of fertilization the
ovary cannot be fecundated, and can never therefore ma-
ture into a fruit. In the double cherry-blossom, however,
a still more marked retrogression often takes place, an
ultra reactionary movement beginning just when the ex-
tremest point of difference has been reached ; for not only
do extra petals take the place of stamens, but the inner-
most carpels, instead of combining to form a pistil, revert
to the most normal figure and become a group of separate
leafy expansions in the middle of the flower ; as though
a party of princes of the blood who had overcome all
opposition should suddenly resign all thought of monarchy,
and resolving themselves into a democratic convention,
hang out the red flag of egalite from the very throne-room
of the palace. The result is that the withering of the
blossom leaves behind a bunch of leaves instead of a suc-
culent fruit. Even, however, when no such striking proof
of identity of essence in the various parts of the plant
occurs, the morphologist still traces in the ordinary cherry
(the germ of which was seen in the blossom in the form
of the little ovary at the base of the pistil, now swollen
and become pulpy) all the elements of the leaves, and
looks on it as only a leaf bent in upon itself and with its
edges united, the place of their junction being marked by
the furrow seen not only on the surface of the fruit, but
which extends even to the very kernel, always found to
be more or less deeply fluted. The leaf consisted of three

CHEERY RIPE. 77

layers, an inner integument covered on each side by an
epidermis ; and in the cherry these three parts are still
found similarly disposed, the external membrane, some-
what thickened, still remaining outside as the epi-carp
(from epi, upon) ; the moister larger, middle grown vastly
more succulent, is the meso-carp, or middle part ; while
the covering of the under side, become central by the in-
ward turning of the leaf, has hardened into the eudo-earp
or inner part, the woody case which contains the kernel.
Any fruit so formed is technically termed a drupe, a name
which applies therefore to some of the many growths
which popularly share the very indiscriminately-used title
of " berry," as well as to all which in common parlance
are called " stone fruits," of which number the plum is so
strikingly similar in its construction to the cherry that
they were classed together by Linnaeus, but have been
separated by modern botanists on the ground of other
differences in the plants, chiefly seen in the unfolding of
the leaves.

A very remarkable cherry cultivated in France as a cu-
riosity is the Cerise a trochet* also called Cerise a bouqtuet,
the flowers of which consist of from five to seven petals,
30 or 40 stamens, and six to 12 ovaries, some of which
always become abortive through want of nutriment or
room to expand, while the rest mature into a cluster of
cherries all on one stalk. They ripen about the end of
June, but are always smaller than ordinary cherries, and
too acid to be eaten raw.

The foliage of the different varieties of the cherry varies
very much, but it is usually found that trees, where this
is of large growth, bear also the largest flowers and fruit ;
and Loudon makes brief allusion to a certain " tobacco-
leaved cherry," the fruit of which weighs at the rate of
four to the pound, a magnitude which, in spite of wise
saws, would certainly make the proverbial "two bites " a
by no means uncalled-for proceeding. The cherry sports
more into varieties when raised from seed than any other
fruit, but grows larger and lives much longer in that case

* See Plate IV., fig. 2.

78 OTJE, COMMON FRUITS.

than when budding or grafting are resorted to. The
stones must be either planted in autumn or preserved in
sand until the spring, which would seem to betoken no
very tenacious hold upon vitality ; yet one at least of the
cherry tribe, a N. American variety, appears to possess
very great power of lying dormant until circumstances
favourable to its development shall occur, since it is diffi-
cult otherwise to account for the peculiar property which,
according to Michaux, it possesses, in common with the
paper birch, of springing up spontaneously in all places
which have at any time been cultivated, and in parts of
the forests that have been burned, either where accident
has made an extensive clearance, or even merely where a
fire has been once lighted by a passing traveller, as though
some strange sympathy with man induced it only to spring
into existence in spots marked by his footsteps, or where
the element of which man alone is master had at least
prepared the way for his presence.

Speaking of the various uses of the wild cherry in
Prance, Bosc says prettily, that " it is a manna sent by
Heaven for young birds," and cherries of all kinds, ex-
cept the Kentish and ]\lorello, are much preyed upon by
these " light-winged gentry." Eut the feathered race are
not entirely left to compete with zealous man, so apt to
claim " all things for his use," for a share of what he too
can relish ; for the Creator's tender care has even allotted
to them a whole family of the Cerasus tribe for their
special and exclusive use, as far at least as the fruit is con-
cerned, which are thence called " Bird Cherry-trees," and
which grow wild in many parts of Europe and America.
The fruit, which is small, with a very large stone, black,
and growing in racemes like currants, instead of in clusters
as our cherries do, is so nauseous that it is quite unfit for
human use, except that in some places in the North a
spirit is distilled from it, or it is infused in brandy to give
a flavour which some approve ; but is greedily devoured
by birds of all kinds, while the leaves are so peculiarly;
attractive to insects that the tree is often quite laid bare
at the very beginning of summer, when other foliage has
scarcely been attacked. This circumstance led a Bavarian

CHEEBY EIPE. 9

writer to suggest that if a few trees of this kind were
planted in all cherry orchards the moths and butterflies
in the neighbourhood would deposit their eggs upon them,
and though the poor scapegoats would soon present a
hideous appearance, the other trees would be quite safe.

The most noted variety of the Bird Cherry is the Ma-
lialeeb, or perfumed kind, every part of which exhales a
powerful scent, something like that of the clematis, that
of the blossoms being so excessive as to be insupportable
in a room. It specially abounds in Champagne in France,
and, flourishing in the poorest soil, where nothing else
could grow, gives value to large tracts of land which would
otherwise be worthless. The leaves are used, either fresh
or dried, to feed cattle, and are also put into dead game,
to impart a flavour to the flesh. The wood, which is-
brown, beautifully veined, and susceptible of a fine polish,
is much sought after by cabinet makers for ornamental
work, and is sometimes burned for the sake of the per-
fume it sends forth while consuming ; while the hard
shining berries are strung as beads to form bracelets, &c.,
the "cunning perfumers" of two centuries ago bartering
them for John Bull's gold, as imposingly as though that
respectable old gentleman had been a mere Indian savage,
for they were "sold to our curious ladies and gentle-
women for rare and strange pomanders, for great sums of
money." The timber of the Virginian Bird Cherry rivals
mahogany in beauty, and is much used in America for
furniture ; but in England trees of any of the species are
only planted for ornament, or to attract singing birds to
shrubberies.

The cherry claims the honour of near kindred with the
tree of Apollo, being closely related, as the name indicates,
to the Lauro-cerasus family, including both the common
and the Portugal laurel ; and though doubt has some-
times been cast on the assertion of Cowley, when, re-
counting the triumphs achieved by man in the vegetable
kingdom, he adduces as a crowning exploit,

"Ev'n Daphne's coyness he does mock,
And weds the Cherry to her stock ! "

experiment has proved that the alliance is quite possible,.

SO OUB COMMON FRUITS.

and a cherry grafted on a laurel has more than once been
shown at a modern exhibition.

• As regards the properties of cherries there is little to
be said. The fruit is recommended in fevers for its re-
freshiDg qualities, as almost any fruit might be, but even
in days when occult virtues were attributed to nearly
everything in nature, Parkinson concludes his article
upon them, not, as in the case of most of the other fruits,
with a list of the special benefits to be derived from their
use, but simply with the honest avowal that " all these
sorts of cherries serve wholly to please the palate." Dr.
Bulleyn, however, the very earliest English writer on
such subjects, affirms that they " be most excellent against
hotte burning choler," and doubtless were an angry person
always to eat half a pound of cherries before letting out
the irate thought in words, the sun would be less likely
to go down upon his wrath than even were the commonly
recommended expedient resorted to of counting 100 be-
fore giving vent to it, while the virtue would assuredly
have done something more towards securing "its own
reward."

CHAPTEE VII.
THE PEACH.

ITALY rejoices in its vine, Greece in its fig-tree, Eng-
land glories in its " home-made" gooseberry, and, indeed,
almost every country of Europe has some fruit, either
native or adopted, for which it is specially famous ; while
on other continents, Arabia blesses Allah for the date-
palm, as a more than sufficient compensation for every
other deficiency, and South America claims the supreme
honour of having supplied the world with pine-apples.

THE PEACH. 81

But what, then, is left for the other and "better half"
of the New World to wreathe round the staff of its star-
spangled banner ? and wherewith shall the country which
" flogs creation" scourge us into a sense of her superiority
in " fruit notions" as well as in all else beneath the sun ?
An answer is not lacking, for Pomona has vindicated her
impartiality in bestowing upon the "States" one of her
choichest gifts, and though not native to their soil, it has
proved so good a foster-mother to the fruit, that the Peach
is now in America what the orange has become in Spain
or the Azores, at once the commonest and the best of its
fruits.

A true child of the sun, the origin of the peach is dis-
tinctly traced through its ancient title, " Apple of Persia,"
to that land of the far East — a derivation the memory of
which is still preserved in its botanical name Persica, the
generic prefix being the same as the almond, Amygdalus.
An old tradition asserted that being originally of a poi-
sonous nature, causing dreadful tortures to any who ate
it, it was sent from Persia to Egypt with the malicious
view of injuring the inhabitants of that country, who, it
was supposed, would be tempted by the beauty of the new
introduction to partake of what would prove to them a
fatal banquet — a wicked design, which was unexpectedly
frustrated by the beneficent Egyptian soil working so
wondrous a change in the plant that its produce, gathered
there, proved as harmless as delicious. In reference to
this, Dr. Sickler considers that the peach might have been
at least unwholesome in Media, and have become good
and salubrious as it gained increased pulpiness when
transferred to the rich alluvial soil of Egypt; and our
own Knight suggests, as the most probable solution of the
bane having thus become a blessing, that the Median fruit
spoken of might have been really an almond, the flesh of
which contains a considerable quanty of prussic acid, and
is to this day held to be poisonous in some parts of the
Continent, but which, transplanted to Egypt, might have
become modified into a true peach ; indeed, he charac-
terizes the latter fruit as neither more nor less than an
improved or fleshy almond, or rather " an almond swollen

82 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

and become pulpy," considering that " nut," as it is popu-
larly reckoned, to be really to the peach what the crab is
to the apple and the sloe to the plum. This theory he
justified by an experiment in hybridization, which resulted
in an almond-tree fecundated by the pollen of peach
blossoms producing a fruit which combined the flesh of
the latter with the kernel of the former. Du Hamel, too,
speaks of an amandiere-pecJier, the fruit of which mostly
splits at the furrow while on the tree, as does the almond-
husk, the flesh being sometimes quite worthless, sometimes
very tolerable, and the kernel differing little from an
almond ; and that some such effect was known even to
the ancients, though wrongly attributed by them to graft-
ing, may be gathered from the statement of Pliny, that
" the plum-tree grafted on the nut exhibits what we may
call a piece of impudence quite its own, for it produces
a fruit which has all the appearance of the parent stock
together with the juice of the adopted fruit, and in con-
sequence of its being thus compounded of both, it is
known by the name of nuci-pruna, or " nut-plum." Colu-
mella adopts the story of a poisonous gift treacherously
conveyed to Egypt, alluding in his ancient treatise on the
garden to

"Apples which most barbarous Persia sent
With native poison armed (as Fame relates),
Though now they 've lost their power to kill, and yield
Am brosian juice, and have forgot to hurt,
But of their country still retain the name" ;

though some ancient writers affirm that this legend re-
ferred not to the " persica" but the "persa" a very dif-
ferent fruit, not identified with any now known; and
others assert that the peach was really first planted at
Memphis, and assuredly with no bad motive, by Perseus,
on which account Alexander chose it afterwards as the
tree that should supply crowns to the victors in the games
instituted in that city in honour of his dragon- slay ing
ancestor. In the days of Pliny it had only been lately
(during the reign of the Emperor Claudius) and with
considerable difficulty brought into Italy ; and he records
that in the island of Ehodes, its first resting-place on the
way from Egypt, it remained perfectly barren : nor does

THE PEAOH. 83

it seem that it could have been very plentiful in Borne,
considering the price obtained for it, for, being a special
favorite with invalids, and having the reputation of being
a particularly harmless fruit, it was sold sometimes at the
rate of 30 sesterces (about 5s.) apiece, a price beyond that
of any other fruit, although, too, it was of so perishable
a nature that when once plucked it could never be kept
longer than a couple of days, so that by that time, as the
writer remarks, " sold it must be, fetch what it may."
Soyer assigns a yet higher price, and says that the ancient
Eomans sometimes gave as much for their peaches as
£11 13s. 4id. a dozen, or 18s. 9d. each !

There is no authentic record of the introduction of the
peach into England, though it was probably brought
from Italy in 1524, together with the apricot, by Wolf,
the gardener to Henry VIII., for it is mentioned in the
lists of fruits growing in this country, as enumerated by
Tusser, in 1557. Grerard, who mentions several varieties,
recommends the leaves boiled in milk to destroy worms
in children — a prescription which is still considered to be
efficacious, though it needs to be followed with great care,
since an overdose may have the effect of destroying not
only the worms but the children as well ; an effect which
has also occasionally resulted from the use of a syrup
made from the flowers as a purgative, though it is said
that this has only occurred when the flowers had been
imprudently gathered from trees grafted upon almond
stocks, the blossoms in this case partaking of the nature
of the stock, and their virtues being accordingly changed.
A safer use for the leaves is to infuse them in white
brandy, which thus, when sweetened with sugar candy,
makes a fine cordial similar in flavour to noyeau. They
also serve to distinguish the different varieties of the
plant, and the history of the discovery of their being
available for this purpose affords great encouragement to
the general cultivation of habits of observation. It ap-
pears that some means of ascertaining what kind of peach
would be produced without waiting for its actual appear-
ance had- long been desired, when M. Desprez, a judge at
Alen9on, came to Paris in 1810 as deputy to the legisla-

6 — 2

84 OUR COMMON FBUITS.

tive corps, and, being a lover of nature, spent much of his
leisure in the imperial nurser}r-grounds at the Luxem-
bourg, in the study of fruit-trees and of peaches in par-
ticular. Looking often very attentively at the leaves, he
was struck one day with the glands or little red protu-
berances which many of them have on the edges of their
petioles or on their first serrations, and which no one had
yet observed ; and on carefully studying their form, found
that some peach-trees never had any, others had them
always in a regular globular form, and in others again
they were invariably of an irregular or kidney shape. He
mentioned this to Messrs. Poiteau and Turpin, the learned
editors of the new edition of Du Hamel, who also begin-
ning to study them, soon found that he was quite correct
in his observations, and owning with shame that they who
had spent their lives in studying fruit-trees had never
noticed these glands until pointed out to them by the
legal amateur, acknowledged them to be an infallible
mode of distinguishing varieties, most valuable, as it could
be referred to at almost any season, and adopted there-
fore in all subsequent works, even in England, peaches
being now always divided into kinds without glands on
the leaves, and with globular or reniform glands. The
fruits, accordingly as they part from or adhere to the
stone, are divided into free-stones (peches) and cling-
stones (pavies) . The tree flowers very early in the spring,
and its pink rosaceous blossoms, with numerous red
antjiers surrounding a single pistil, even when they escape
the blighting east wind, which is England's vernal bane,
and which too often prematurely wither them, soon drop
oif, leaving the ovary to mature into a large fleshy drupe
covered with a thick velvet-like skin, and containing an
oval stone irregularly furrowed with numerous corruga-
tions, within which is a kernel strongly impregnated with
hydrocyanic or prussic acid. The flesh of this drupe is
so juicy that it is found when ripe to contain 80 per cent,
of water. The fruit varies in size from 14 in. in circum-
ference, to the dwarfs grown in France on tiny trees about
a foot high, which are placed in pots upon the dessert-
table to display their eight or 10 peaches, each about 2 in.

THE PEACH. 85

in diameter, which, however, are mere curiosities, being too
bitter to be eaten. As regards abundant produce in favor-
able seasons, the peach may rival any tree in the teeming
condition of its branches, 32 plants having keen known
to produce in one season 15,184 peaches and nectarines.
The tree is popularly supposed to be particularly short-
lived, for the common custom of grafting the peach upon
almond stocks induces a premature decay, so that they
rarely survive their twentieth year ; but, grown as seed-
lings, or grafted on their own kind, with good manage-
ment they will remain healthy and fruitful at least as
long as the ordinary span of a human life ; while preach-
ing, too, an eloquent lesson to humanity, in the fact that
not only do trees of from 40 to 60 years old bear good
crops when younger ones are found failing, but the fruit
of these veterans is also of finer flavour than that produced
by the rising generation. In England they always require
the protection of a wall, but it was Mr. Knight's opinion
that in successive generations the tree might be so hard-
ened and naturalized to our climate as to be grown suc-
cessfully in its proper form as a standard. That gentleman
originated many of the varieties now grown, impregnating
the pistil of one blossom with the pollen from another :
only three peaches were allowed to mature upon each
tree, the stones of which were then sown the next year,
and new and fine kinds thus obtained.

In France peaches are more plentiful than with us,
but even there they usually require to be grown against
walls ; and though the soft melting sorts thrive admi-
rably near Paris, the firm-fleshed varieties, though they
attain fine flavour, never completely ripen.

In Sierra Leone the peach is reckoned one of the most
valuable of the fruits grown there ; at the Cape it is abun-
dant and cheap ; and we may hope that by this time it is
fast spreading over the interior of Africa, not only adding
an innocent luxury to the scanty fare of the natives, but
quickening them to desire improvement, by displaying
itself as in every sense one of the fruits of civilization,
and calling forth the kindly emotions in reminding them
of the disinterested benevolence of the white brother to

86 OUE COMMON EETJITS.

whom they owe it, the peach having been introduced in
1822 by the enlightened and beneficent traveller Burchell.
In this gentleman's interesting account of S. Africa, he
mentions having distributed peach-stones on several occa-
sions, and particularly when taking leave of the chief of
the Bachepins, to whom he presented a quart bag full,
advising him to send a few to each of his subordinate
chieftains ; assuring him that they had been brought for
no other purpose than to benefit the Bachepin nation, by
introducing into their country a fruit superior to any-
thing they had ever yet known, a few berries being their
only spontaneous growths, and gourds or melons the only
cultivated ones ; and impressing on him their value by
telling him that when once grown, they would continue
year after year, without further trouble, to produce abun-
dance of large fruit of very fine flavour. Judging that
it would be the best pleader of its own cause, the kind-
hearted traveller endeavoured, as a further inducement
to his savage friend to take care of the future trees, to
give him a foretaste of their fruit, and accordingly, having
a few dried peaches among the stores of his waggon, pre-
pared them to the best of his ability, by softening them
in water and adding a little sugar and salt of lemons, to
revive somewhat of the faded flavour, and then set this
" dainty dish " before the chief, whose appreciation of the
foreign novelty was soon shown not only in the strong
approval he expressed, but also in the fact that, contrary
to his usual custom when in public, of offering some por-
tion of what he partook of to those who sat by him, on
this occasion the wild potentate consumed the whole him-
self, except one small piece which he gave to his uncle —
a picture which affords a strange reflex, in ruder colours,
of our Charles II. handing to Evelyn a morsel of the first
king-pine brought to England.

But of all the countries of the Old World, it is in China,
according to Downing, that this fruit reaches the highest
perfection in open orchards ; * and the peaches of Pekin,

* The eminent botanical traveller, Mr. Fortune, does not endorse this Ame-
rican accoui t of the perfection of Chinese peaches, but, on the contrary, in
his Wanderings speaks of them as being curious but of very poor quality.

THE PEACH. 87

double the size of European ones, are considered the finest
in the world. Nor is the superiority of these celestial
growths simply of a material nature, for a spiritual sig-
nificance also attaches to them, undreamed of as regards
the wall-fruit grown by earthly-minded barbarians, the
peach-tree seeming to hold very much the same place in
ancient Chinese writings that the Tree of Knowledge
does in the Hebrew Scriptures, or the golden apples of
Hesperides in the classic mythology ; and it is said that
traditions are preserved in early Chinese books, both of
a Peach-tree of Life, which bore only once in 1,000 years,
but the fruit of which when eaten conferred immortality,
and of a Peach-tree of Knowledge, which had existed in
remote ages on a mountain guarded by 100 demons, and
" whose mortal taste brought death " to those who par-
took of its produce. Whatever may be thought of these
gatherings in the field of fancy, it would seem to be a fact
that the ordinary fruit (for no sucker of those divinely-
gifted trees survives in these degenerate days) is looked
on rather as a food than as an occasional luxury, for
" Tao-yuen " (translated " a peach-tree and a spring ") is a
common byword in China to express philosophical retire-
ment— a saying derived from the history of one of their
sages, who sought solitude in a desert, and found enough
to satisfy all the wants of nature in these two sources of
nourishment, the only ones it afforded. Considering the
large per centage of water shown in the analysis of the
ripe fruit, a carping Diogenes might even then perhaps
have called the spring a luxurious superfluity.

But however abundant peaches may be in China, there
is no country in the world where they are grown in such
quantity as in. the United States, while, as regards quality,
those of America surpass all except the Chinese. In the
Eastern States some artificial aid is generally required,
but in many parts they grow almost spontaneously, and
thousands of acres are devoted to this crop to supply
New York and Philadelphia. Extreme plenty causing
fastidiousness, in seasons of abundance whole sloop-loads
of this fruit, of second quality or slightly decayed, may
be seen thrown into the North River in a single morning.

88 OUE COMMON FETJITS.

The market price of those which are considered worthy
of being sold varies considerably, but as they grow on
lands too light to afford good crops of almost any other
kind, the investment can never be a very bad one ; many
growers in New Jersey have, therefore, orchards of from
10,000 to 20,000 trees, and in the course of a good season
send out about that number of bushels of fruit from such
of the trees as are in bearing. Mr. Downing, as the
enthusiastic champion of the chosen fruit of his native
land, boldly throws down the gauntlet, offering to main-
tain its peerless beauty against all rivals ; but, convinced
that to praise the American peach would be at least as
superfluous an undertaking as " to gild refined gold, or
paint the lily," he proposes to stop the mouth of any one
who may presume to question its excellence by present-
ing him with one of his best growth — " a soft answer,"
indeed, which might well "turn away wrath," but the
prospect of which would be rather calculated to tempt a
provocation of the discussion, for the sake of incurring the
termination of it by so melting an argument.

Besides the immense quantities consumed while fresh,
peach pie being as common fare in an American farm-
house as apple dumpling in an English one, the fruit is
also largely used during the winter in a dried state, being
prepared, either on a small domestic scale by being placed
in ovens after the withdrawal of the bread, or, when for
sale, in small drying-houses heated by a stove and fitted
with drawers formed of laths, with spaces between to allow
the air to circulate; in these the fruit is placed, skin
downwards, being left unpeeled, though cut in halves in
order to extract the stone. After being left thus for a
short time, the drying process is complete ; and in the
South a still simpler one is adopted, the fruit being merely
laid on boards and dried in the sun, after dipping them
first while whole, a basket-full at a time, for a few minutes
in boiling water.

The peach was introduced into America by the early
settlers, somewhere about 1680, and before long was
grown everywhere south of 48° latitude, literally without
cultivation, it being only necessary to plant a stone, and

THE PEACH. 89

in the course of a few years * abundance of fruit was
obtained, the supply continuing for a long future. This
is still the case in the far West, and indeed in all parts
the peach is more easily propagated than any other fruit-
tree ; the stones, buried in heaps in the autumn, being
taken up in spring, cracked, and the kernels set in rows in
prepared soil, wherever they are intended to grow. In
the course of the same spring they vegetate, soon grow 3
or 4 ft. high, and may be budded the following Septem-
ber. In two years from that time, if left undisturbed,
they will usually bear a small crop, and by the next season
an abundant one. In the older States, however, within
the last 50 years two great evils have appeared to obstruct
the former smooth course of the fruit-grower, in the shape
of two diseases of different degrees of injuriousness, but
the combined influence of which has vastly diminished
the natural term of the peach-tree's life and the value of
peach orchards. One of these is caused by a grub, which
devours the bark and thus kills the tree.

Ear more fatal because less understood is the " yellows,"
a malady which affects the peach-tree exclusively, and
seems also to be peculiar to America ; which propagates
itself both by the seed and by grafting, and is also con-
tagious, spreading gradually but certainly through whole
districts. The contagious characteristic is much doubted
in theory, since there is nothing analogous to it in the
whole range of the vegetable kingdom, but, being proved
practically true, has to be taken for granted so far as
acting upon it is concerned, for only where every vestige
of the infected trees has been utterly destroyed has the
plague been stayed and the health of the remainder been
preserved. Perfectly unknown for at least a century after
the introduction of the fruit, it was about the year 1800
that it first appeared,in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia,
and slowly extending its ravages, did not become general
until after the close of the war. The grand cause of this
peach disease is supposed to be the exhaustion of the land

* Seyd, in his California and its Resources, mentions that in that country
peach-trees, in. 28 months from the time when the seed was planted, bore fruit
over 9 in. in circumference, and weighing from 7 to 8i oz.

90 OUE COMMON FETJITS.

by excessive and unintermittent cropping, it having been
found impossible to trace it to any external cause what-
ever ; and as it is well known that the hardier apple-tree
requires a year to recover its strength after having borne
a very full crop, while the great natural luxuriance of the
peach induces it to begin forming new fruit-buds even
while its branches are still laden with the harvest of the
current year, it is only reasonable that the latter should
require a larger supply of nutriment in order to enable
it to maintain such extraordinary activity ; and therefore
its becoming enfeebled when left wholly to itself, un-
pruned and unmanured, is no more than might have been
expected. The injurious effects of this disease are not
confined to impairing the size and quality of the fruit,
but are also manifested in the premature decay of the
tree itself, now proverbially short-lived ; whereas in lands
far less favourable in point of climate, but where art has
lent its kindly aid to the peach, its existence has been
prolonged beyond even the term which Nature seemed
to have assigned to it ; for while the American peach, left
to itself, never lives beyond 20 or 30 years, trees in France
subjected to annual pruning have been found, when up-
wards of 60 years old, still in full health and vigour.
Future peach prosperity in America is therefore considered
to depend on the observance of three requirements — the
extirpation of every diseased plant, the sowing of none
but healthy stones, and the yearly pruning of all new
trees ; and it would certainly be worth while to comply
with harder conditions than these, rather than forego the
advantages afforded by Nature in so well adapting the
climate to this fruit that our best sorts when taken there
become still better, whereas their first-rate ones if trans-
planted here prove but of very inferior quality.

In the Southern and Western States, where imperfect
means of communication prevent the surplus of the
farmers' orchards being sent to regular markets, it is dis-
posed of by being converted into peach brandy, hundreds
of barrels being sometimes supplied from the produce of
a single orchard ; while the refuse of the stills is employed
to fatten hogs — a fact which probably gave rise to an error

THE PEACH. 91

in an English horticultural work, which Mr. Downing
quotes that his compatriots may share his amusement at
learning from this author that "the Americans usually
eat the cling-stones, while they reserve the free-stones for
feeding the pigs ; " while, in fact, not to mention lesser
magnates, the noble late red " Bare-ripe," one of the very
finest of all American peaches, belongs to this very tribe
of " free-stones " thus summarily consigned to the wash-
trough.

The colour of the peach varies from dark reddish violet,
through many shades of crimson, green, or yellow, to the
Snow Peach, a variety of American origin, and which is
all over of a clear beautiful white. It is more usual,
however, for "the side that 's next to the sun" to wear a
ruddier tint than the more shaded cheek. In form there
is no very great diversity, though some peaches (in par-
ticular Persica mammillata) have very decided lemon-like
nipples at one end, some show slight remains of the style
at their extremity, and others have the furrow extending
all round their circumference. The most curious depar-
ture which is seen from the normal figure is that displayed
by the Flat Peach of China, which rather resembles a dried
Normandy pippin in shape, the centre being so compressed
as to leave nothing there but the stone covered on each
side by the skin, the fleshy part surrounding it like a
ring. It has been grown in England and proved of very
good flavour ; the tree, too, having the advantage of our
kinds in being almost an evergreen, and continuing to
grow throughout mild winters.

The Double-blossomed Peach, which Parkinson, in 1629,
says " hath not been seen or known long before the writing
hereof," occasionally seen here, is very common in Ame-
rica, and is one of the most beautiful flowering trees grown
in either country. The blossoms, which are three times
the size of those of the ordinary peach, and which grow
very thickly upon the branches, are of a lovely rose colour,
and nearly double, like a ranunculus. They are succeeded
by a small fruit, which is not of much value.

The most important variety of the peach, however, is
that known by the name of the Nectarine (Persica loevis),

92 OTJR COMMON FETJITS.

a title derived from the " nectar" of the Olympian divini-
ties. The poet Thomson distinguishes the "ruddy fragrant
nectarine ' ' from the " downy peach ; " but it was some time
before it attained the distinction of a separate name ; for
though the former is always smaller, and has a perfectly
smooth and wax-like skin, instead of the velvet coat worn
by the latter, besides being gifted with a special piquancy
of taste, partaking more of the flavour of the kernel, yet
the trees on which they grow are so alike in habit and
appearance that the diiference can scarcely be told. It
is found in Northern India under the name of the Moondla
aroo, or Smooth Peach, but it does not perfectly ripen there,
and it is not known whence it was introduced, though
probably from Cabul. Nectarines are often found grow-
ing on peach-trees, and even sometimes on the same
branch with peaches, and it is now believed that they are
only an accidental variety of the peach, usually, though
not invariably, to be perpetuated by sowing their seeds.
The finest known is the Boston Nectarine, produced ori-
ginally from a peach-stone.

The leaves of the peach are used in the Greek islands
to dye silk green, and the colour called " rose-pink " is
extracted from the wood of the tree. The fruit is noted
rather for its passive than its active virtues ; for while
Pliny, after mentioning that it is more wholesome than
the plum, bursts into the exclamation, " Indeed, what
fruit is there that is more wholesome as an aliment than
this ! " yet no very special power over the human frame
has been attributed to it, and, notwithstanding its whole-
someness, it may become very injurious should its charms
tempt the eater to excess. It did the world good service
once, indeed, through this very characteristic ; and having
had the honour of ridding England of a tyrant, deserves
quite as well to be held in grateful remembrance by the
patriotic as did the " little gentleman in black velvet " to
be immortalized in the toasts of the Jacobites ; for it was
due to no poison in the fruit, but simply because with jaded
body and irritated mind he "tate gluttonously of peaches ""
at his last meal in Swinestead Abbey, that King John
closed so abruptly his inglorious career. A great love of

THE PEACH. 93

this fruit has, however, by no means been confined to mere
voluptuaries, but is specially associated with more than
one man of genius. G-oethe records, in the memorials of
his youth, how, after all the terrors his father held over
him 'had failed to control his childish fear of going to sleep
alone in the dark, his mother's soothing promise of an
unlimited peach-feast on the morrow proved a sufficiently
strong incitement to conquer himself at night in order
that he might not lose the promised reward in the morn-
ing. The best-remembered portrait, too, which his bio-
graphers have given of the Poet of Indolence is that which
represents him as lounging about the Leasowes with his
hands in his pockets, and languidly lifting his head to
bite off the sunny side of a growing peach as it hung upon
the wall. Less dainty, because more greedy, Johnson,
who demanded quantity as well as quality to appease his
luxuriousness, was so fond of this fruit that though, as
Boswell says, " he would eat seven or eight large peaches
of a morning before breakfast began, and treated them
with proportionate attention after dinner again, yet I have
heard him protest that he never had quite as much as he
wished of wall-fruit, except once, in his life." There are
many thousands who might make the same complaint and
who have had far less alleviation of it, for the present state
of its culture in England makes the peach almost exclu-
sively a luxury confined to the wealthy. It is but few,
therefore, who are likely to be practically concerned with
the information that the fruit should not be plucked until
it is so fully ripe that it will fall into the hand at the
slightest touch, and that the flavour is best developed
when it is gathered some time before it is required, and
left for a few hours in a cool place before being eaten ; for
to the majority of the population the only hope that can
be held out of ever being able to partake plentifully of
peaches, involves nothing less than an emigration across
the Atlantic.

94 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

CHAPTER VIII.
THE DATE.

• EVEN after the mild breath of spring has begun to-
kindle a light of blossoms on our boughs, in the gradual
progression of our seasons, yet a long time must elapse
ere summer's warmer smile shall have ripened the flowers
into fruit : while awaiting her slow coming, we are glad
to avail ourselves occasionally of any fractal variety af-
forded by the produce of other lands, and thus the des-
sert can hardly fail sometimes to include a treasure from
the East, which introduces us to a class of vegetation al-
together different from our own. The fruits which have
been hitherto under consideration, if not all the growth
of our own clime, have yet at least been all the produce
of trees formed on the same model as those which daily
appeal to our most casual observation. Such trees sur-
round us everywhere, and if we traverse the whole land,
no other arboreal form appears than this one type, with
tapering stem, diminishing its substance as it ascends by
continually throwing it off to form antlered branches with
endless ramifications, all covered with a coat of separable
bark, and clothed with leaves veined with a network of
interwoven reticulations; for these are the distinguishing
characteristics of the exogens or outward growers of the
temperate zone, which derive this name from their con-
stantly developing their new wood on the outside of that
formed the previous year. To this class all European
fruit-bearing plants belong, from the lordly walnut-tree
to the humble gooseberry -bush, from, the creeping straw-
berry to the upward-climbing vine. The grasses and ce-
reals offer us, indeed, abundant specimens of a miniature
kind of endogenous growth; but it needs the ardour of a
tropical sky to call forth an arboreal endogen — a tree
towering upwards to its loftiest height, unbranched, and
therefore unlessened in magnitude, and terminating at its
extremity in a fountain burst of green spray, its long

THE DATE. 95

downward curving leaves or fronds, as they are called,
marked witli no intricate network, but simply by parallel
veins connected by transverse bars. Developing its new
woody matter in the interior — as its name endogen or
inward grower denotes — yet restricted by Nature from
extending its substance far in a horizontal direction, the
continual internal pressure causes the exterior to become
dense and hard, though surrounded by no distinct separ-
able bark ; and, unable to expand in circumference, it
still presses upward till it reaches an altitude far beyond
the general proportions of its bulkier exogenous brethren,
and stands erect in slender stateliness, a graceful and
virgin-like form.

That it was the nature of palm-trees to grow in this
manner was a fact which Lindley acknowledges to have
been known to Theophrastus, who speaks distinctly of the
difference between exogenous and endogenous wood;
though he was not aware that it extended to a consider-
able part of the vegetable kingdom, separating it, indeed,
into two grand divisions. That particular palm which
bears the date fruit became generally known at a very
early period, for it is the palm of the Scriptures, so early
mentioned in sacred record as the first food found by the
wandering Israelites in the wilderness, when " they came
to Elim, where were twelve wells of water and three score
and ten <^afe-trees," for it is thus that the passage stands
in the old English Bibles of the 16th century, wherein
what is now translated "palm" is constantly rendered by
the term " date "-tree. It was too, in all probability, the
palm earliest known to the Greeks and Bom an s, among
whom it was held sacred to the Muses. The fruit of one
variety " we " says Pliny, " consecrate to the worship of
the gods; but they are called cJiydcei (from the Greek
Icydaios, vulgar or common) by the Jews, a nation re-
markable for the contempt which they manifest of the
divinities " ; a comment which seems to show that the
word must have been used by the Hebrews in this case
in the same sense in which it'was by St. Peter, when he-
objected to eat of anything " common or unclean ; " but it
was probably only when the fruit was polluted by being

96 OUB, COMMON FETJITS.

employed as an idol offering that they thus held it in
abhorrence. The tree was, indeed, so far identified with
their country, that it was looked upon as the symbol of
Judea, as is seen in the well-known [Roman coin bearing
the inscription " Judea capta" though it is thought that
it may not have been thus selected so much on account
of its being peculiarly abundant in Syria, as because it
was there that it would be first met with by the Greeks
and Eomans in proceeding southward.* It holds a place
too in barbaric mythology, for it is said that the Taman-
aguas of South America have a tradition that the human
race sprang again from the fruits of the palm, after the
Mexican " Age of Water ; " a story almost reversed in
Mahomet's account of its origin, which is, that it was
made of the tempered dust which remained after the
formation of Adam, and he therefore calls it the uncle of
mankind, using it too as an illustration of the virtuous
and generous man, w~ho, like it, " stands erect before his
Lord, and devotes his whole life to the welfare of his
fellow-creatures." The inhabitants of Medina say that
at one time the prophet, being asked to testify to the
truth of his mission by working some miracle, placed a
date-stone in the ground, from which, taking root down-
ward and shooting suddenly upward at his bidding, there
arose forthwith a lofty tree in the perfection of fruitful
maturity. On another occasion, when he happened to
pass beneath a date-palm, the conscious tree was so elated
at the privilege of overshadowing the messenger of Allah,
that it broke forth into a spontaneous shout of gladness,
and hailed him with a loud " Salaam Aleikoom" Many
Oriental writers, indeed, assert this palm to be no mere
vegetating insensible plant, but actually a creature par-
taking of the animal nature, adducing, in proof thereof,
that it appears to possess an inherent warmth above all

* The tree was known to the Greeks in the time of Homer, since he makes
Ulysses compare the tall graceful Nausicaa to "the palm by Phoebus' altars,"
and the locality thus assigned to it is explained by the myth, that when
Latonawas in travail of Apollo at Delps, the earth suddenly produced a large
palm-tree, against which she rested in her labour. It is further said that
even in the time of Tully immortality was attributed to this tree, and it was
looked on as one of the greatest wonders in creation.

THE DATE. 97

other trees ; that the cutting off of its head causes it to
die, and that not only are the trees of this race of two
kinds, as breathing creatures are of two sexes, but that,
as they affirm, even particular trees have their individual
partialities, and blossom simultaneously with some chosen
companion, as birds pair off at nesting-time. A curious
example of the influence of this superstition is contained
in an extract given by Beechy from a Moorish horti-
cultural work. "When," says the author, "a palm-tree
refuses to bear, the owner, armed with a hatchet, comes
to visit it in company with another person. He begins
by observing aloud to his friend, in order that the date-
tree may hear him, * I am going to cut down this worthless
tree, since it no longer bears me any fruit.' 'Have a
care what you do,' replies his companion, ' for I predict
that this very year your tree will be covered with dates.'
' No ! no ! ' cries the owner, ' I am very determined to cut
it down, for I am certain it will produce me nothing ; '
and then approaching the tree, he proceeds to give it two
or three strokes with his hatchet. The friend again in-
terferes, and begs him to try one more season ; adding, that
if it does not bear then, he will let him do as he pleases.
The owner at length suffers himself to be persuaded, and
retires without proceeding to further extremities. The
threat, however, and the few strokes inflicted with the
hatchet, have always the desired effect, and the terrified
palm-tree never fails to produce the same year an abun-
dant crop." It is curious matter for speculation what
may be the connection between this strange custom and
the Christian parable of the barren fig-tree.

Among these people, too, it bears different names at
different stages of its growth, and every part of the tree
is distinguished by some special title, so that it is said
there are actually 300 words in the Arabic language
enlisted in the service of this plant, all used to give ex-
pression, in various ways, to that one idea — the date-
palm; while, according to Gibbon, the native writers
have celebrated in prose and yerse no less than 360 uses
to which it and its products are applied. An anecdote is
related by Sir John Malcolm, that an Arab woman who

98 OTIB COMMON PETJITS.

had been taken to England as an ayah, and remained here
for some years, on her return was eagerly questioned as
to our relative advantages or disadvantages as compared
with Arabia. Her account of the luxuries and elegances
of civilized life spread a cloud of discontent over the
faces of her interrogators, and they were about to retire,
gloomily brooding over Bedouin deficiences, when the
returned traveller recalled them with the remark, " There
is, however, one thing wanting in England." " What is
it ? " was the anxious inquiry. " They have no date-
trees. I looked for them everywhere the whole time I
was there, but never saw a single one." The spell was
broken : envy changed to pity, and the crowd dispersed,
congratulating themselves on being so Hiuch more blest
than the Franks, and wondering how any people could
possibly exist in a country where there were no date-
trees.

It is no great marvel that this tree should be regarded
with rather warm feelings in its native clime, for it seems
to have been kind Heaven's special gift to the inhabitants
of that part of the world ; and as the camel has been
called the "ship of the desert," so the date-palm might
well be termed, in the American sense of that word, the
"store of the desert," furnishing as it does all the neces-
saries, many of the comforts, and several of the luxuries
of Arab life. Affording a house to the settler and a tent
to the wanderer, providing either the one or the other
with forage for his cattle and food and drink of varied
and delicious quality for himself, offering him while
growing a cooling shade, and when cut down a warming
fuel, gladdening his eye with the sole shape of beauty
on which it can rest when gazing over the arid plain,
where its feathery form alone breaks the bare flat soli-
tude, this beacon of the wilderness is yet more endeared
by its association with the most priceless treasure of
these sun-scorched sands, for it is in this green setting
that the "diamond of the desert" sparkles, and where
the palm-tree is, there also will be water. Entwined, too,
must it be with desires and feelings deeper, if not more
engrossing, than those of physical necessity, for the date-

THE DATE. 99

tree is a sort of medium of exchange, and it is in this
currency that the bridegroom often pays the price de-
manded by her father for the damsel who is to be the
light of his tent and the sharer of his lot. In com-
paratively small space, too, can such riches be stowed,
for a full-grown palm occupies but about 4 ft. of space ;
and as they may, therefore, be planted within 8 ft. of
each other, a limited area suffices for a large plantation ;
and as it is reckoned that each tree affords a sequin profit
annually, the owner of 3,000 or 4,000 trees — not an un-
common number for a wealthy Arab to possess — has a
profitable estate within a very contracted ring fence.
Considering all these things, well may it be that the first
question asked by a Bedouin of any passenger he may
chance to meet should invariably be " What is the price
of dates at Mecca or Medina?"

Date paste, called adjoue, and consisting of the ripe
fruit pressed into large baskets, and forming a sort of
cake, is the staple Arab subsistence during the 10 months
of the year when fresh dates are out of season. The
fruit is also eaten boiled, stewed with butter, simmered
to a pulp with honey, in short, Soyerized in so many ways,
that it may be fairly said a date in an Arab tent can even
rival an egg or a potato in a French restaurant, for she
is not reckoned a good housewife who cannot furnish her
husband, every day for a month, with a dish of dates
differently prepared. The young, tender leaves, too, are
eaten with lemon-juice as a salad. The pith of the tree
when cut down — called the "marrow" of the date — though
inferior to true sago, forms yet a sweet and nourishing
diet ; and the " cabbage " or unexpanded central bud,
tastes much like a fresh chestnut ; but as to obtain this
luxury the life of the plant must be sacrificed, it is only
indulged in occasionally, and taken from trees already
condemned to perish for the sake of their sap, for — blest
by Bacchus as well as by Ceres — this tree furnishes drink
in addition to food, and beverages too of various kinds
and qualities. The date paste, simply infused in water,
forms a pleasant and wholesome draught ; incisions, too,
are occasionally made in the tree, and a mild and refresh-

7—2

100 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

ing liquor thus extracted, bearing the name of date milk,
which milk, however, yields a very potent " cream of the
valley " when subjected to the process of distillation ; but
" on weddings and great occasions," says Shaw, " guests
are entertained with what is called the honey of the date."
It is only the older trees which are becoming barren that
are doomed to furnish this vital " honey," the very life-
blood of the plant, the fatal process by which they are
forced to yield it being thus carried out. The head of
the tree (including the dainty " cabbage ") is cut off, and
a basin scooped in the top of the trunk, into which the
sap rises, at first at the rate of several pints a day, but
diminishing gradually in abundance, till in about two
months the exhausted victim is dead and dry. The sap
thus collected can be fermented into toddy or palm wine,
and distilled becomes araky, the general Arabic name for
spirituous liquor of any kind ; and as it was on the juice
of the grape that the Prophet's stern interdict was laid,
the Mussulman Arab rejoices in a good conscience while
partaking of these palmy products, though certainly find-
ing them no bad substitute for the British Christian's
logwood port or peppered brandy.

Eaten in Europe only as a simple fruit, the charms of
the date, unheightened by any elaborate culinary pro-
cesses, have yet been fully appreciated. That they were
so by the ancients is sufficiently seen in the works of
Pliny, who speaks of them indeed as though he had him-
self felt their fascination, and needed his philosophy to
resist being led astray by it, when he says that in a fresh
state " they are so remarkably luscious that there would
be no end to eating them, were it not for fear of the
dangerous consequences;" dangers incident, however,
only to excess, for, partaken of in moderation, they are
peculiarly wholesome. The application of the same epi-
thet to them in the Commedia Ztivina, shows that Italian
taste had not altered in later days in this respect, for an
incidental mention of them occurs in the story of Man-
fred Lord of Fuenzi, who after a life of feud and cruelty
turned friar, and, to celebrate his reconciliation with his
former foes, invited them to a magnificent banquet. At

THE DATE. 101

the end of the dinner a born ble \v, as though fc0 announce
the dessert, but it was in truth a fatal signal appointed
by the dissembling conspirator, and the only fruits served
that day to his too confiding guests were a troop of armed
men, who rushing on the victims, suffered none to escape
alive. The memory of this incident is still preserved in
the Italian proverb, which says concerning any person
who has been treacherously used, that he has eaten of
" the fruit of Brother Alberigo ;" and Dante makes the
traitor use the same metaphor to describe his fitting
punishment in another world :

"The friar Alberigo, answered he,
Am I, who from the evil garden plucked
Its fruitage, and am here repaid the date
More luscious, for my fig."

Considering the Italian fondness for figs, these words
convey a compliment indeed to the date.

When they were first introduced into England does
not seem to be on record, but it was probably at a very
early period, for they were tolerably common in Tudor
days. Among Strutt's collection of the bills for the
funeral of Sir J. Hudstone, who died in 1581, a grocer's
bill is included, wherein occurs the item of " six Ib. dates,
2s." — a very moderate price for so far- travelled a luxury,
at a time, too, when raisins were being sold at 6d. per Ib.
and sugar at 2s. Gd.

The fruit seems afterwards to have risen in price, and
also declined in public favour, for Phillips, writing in 1821,
says that at that time the best sort cost 5s. per Ib. though
inferior kinds could be bought cheaper ''for medicinal
purposes, for which they are chiefly used."

The trunk of the Phoenix dactylifera, as the date-palm
is called by botanists, is a cylindrical column 50 or 60 ft.
high, and from 12 to 18 in. in diameter, its appearance
evidencing plainly its mode of growth, and showing that
it is made up of the remains of former foliage. The pre-
sent fronds which crown its summit, are from 8 to 12 ft.
long, shining, tapering, and of feather-like structure, each
being composed of a long double range of narrow leaflets,
growing alternately from the sides of a central stalk, and

102 OUR COlMMOlN* FKJITS.

forming ail object noi -very obviously suggestive of mili-
tary tactics, yet which, according to Pliny, first gave the
idea of a troop of soldiers presenting face on both sides
at once. These leaflets, near the base end of the stalk,
are sometimes 3 ft. in length, yet do not exceed an inch
in width, and each terminates in a sharp black spine or
thorn. The leaves are at first enveloped in a white smooth
leathery kind of sheath, which decaying after they are
unfolded, and assuming the form of a web of brown fibres,
is carefully collected for the purpose of making cordage.
A tree raised from seed will not bear fruit before its six-
teenth year, but the common mode of propagation is by
taking shoots from the roots of full-grown trees, and in
this case the young plant will begin to bear in the sixth
or even the third year of its growth. The Phosnix is a
diascious tree, having what are called the female organs
of fructification upon one plant, and the male upon an-
other ; but in both cases the flowers, crowded in clusters,
grow in long bunches from the trunk upon a stalk between
the leaves, and are enwrapped in an enormous bract deve-
loped at their base, which is called a spathe, and which
opens when they have reached maturity, and then withers.
A single bunch of male flowers contains about 12,000
small colourless blossoms, supported by little bracts and
composed of three sepals, three petals, and six or some-
times only three stamens ; for trinality is an endogen
characteristic, and three or a multiple of three is the
number on which their organs of fructification are almost
invariably formed, as those of exogens are upon the num-
bers five or four. On fruit-bearing trees the flowers are
still smaller, and in their centre is seen the rudiments of
the dates, about the size of small peas, there being three
ovaries, of which, however, but one ripens. Nature pro-
vides that by some means the wild trees shall become
duly impregnated ; but when under cultivation, although
the trees are still of the same species, and the two kinds
are always planted together, fructification cannot be en-
sured unless the pollen be collected from the one and
deposited on the other, for otherwise, dispersed by the
wind, it does not reach the pistilliferous flowers in suifi-

THE DATE. 103

cient quantity to prove availing. As soon as the blos-
soms on a female tree have emerged from their spathe,
the Arab seeks another, which he knows by experience
to be a stameniferous one, though the distinguishing
flowers have not yet burst their cerement ; for then the
pollen would have become spilled and lost, and it is there-
fore a special point in cultivation to know the exact time
when the cluster is ripe but yet unopened. Tearing away
the enveloping veil, he then takes out the blossomed
spike, gently divides it into pieces, and lays one small
fragment among the little branches of the flower stalk
within the spathe of the pistilliferous tree, completing
the ceremony by carefully covering the whole with a palm-
leaf. The flowers on this detached spray soon shedding
their pollen, then wither away, and about four or five
months after fecundation, the fruit, a one-seeded drupe,
begins to swell. AVhen nearly full grown the heavy
clusters are tied to the base of the tree to prevent injury
from the wind, for the burden of a good tree amounts to
no less than from 15 to 20 clusters of dates, each weigh-
ing from 15 to 201bs., a single tree thus sometimes pro-
ducing a crop of above 2 cwt. of fruit in one year. By
June, the gathering, which occupies two months, is
begun : temporary huts of palm-branches are erected in
the valleys, and crowds of revellers pass the hours in
joyous conviviality, for the harvest-time of the Northern
nations and the vintage of the South are here combined
in one, and the Oriental date-gathering is therefore a fes-
tival indeed, an abundant crop spreading gladness over
the land, while a year of failure becomes truly a year of
gloom.

When left to ripen fully, the fruit is most delicious ;
but in this case it must be eaten almost immediately, as
it cannot be kept long nor carried far without fermenting;
and therefore, when intended for preserving, the dates
are gathered a little before perfect ripeness, but require
no other preparation than merely to be laid on mats and
left in the sun to dry. In Egypt the branches are cut off
with the fruit upon them, and packed into baskets made
for the purpose, with an aperture only just large enough

104 OUR COMMON FET7ITS.

for them to be thrust through ; then boats are laden with
them and dispatched to Cairo, where they ripen in suc-
cession after their arrival. In "Upper Egypt they form
the entire subsistence of a large part of the population,
but in Lower Egypt fewer are eaten on the spot, the
greater quantity being reserved for sale. The fruit is
largely exported to Europe, the quantity sent to England
in 1862 having amounted to 32,262 cwt.

The seed of the date, like that of all endogens, mono-
cotyledonous, or forming one undivided mass, is an oblong
cylindrical stone marked lengthwise down one side with
a ventral indentation or furrow, and looking sufficiently
like a vastly magnified grain of rye to prove its relation-
ship with the cereals, which are also endogens. No soft
kernel lies within its rocky walls, but the substance
throughout is one albuminous solid, save a minute em-
bryo in the midst of the apparent petrifaction, lying
mostly remote from the Jiilum or scar which marks where
the seed was attached to the fruit. In Barbary these
stones are submitted to the lathe, and made into beads
for rosaries. Soaked in water for a couple of days, they
become soft enough to be eaten by camels, cows, and
sheep, and even in this state are said to be a more nutri-
tious food than barley ; while in some parts, under the
influence, perhaps, of some local " Mary Wedlake," they
are made to go through the further improving process of
being bruised or ground. At Medina there are shops
where this seeming refuse is the only article bought and
sold, and in all the main streets diligent beggars eke out
the gains of mendicancy by collecting date-stones as they
are flung away by fruit-eating passengers.

The varieties of the date-palm are almost innumera-
ble, nearly every district having some kind peculiar to
itself, and Burckhardt was informed that above 100 dif-
ferent sorts grew in the immediate neighbourhood of
Medina. The commonest kind, said to have owed its
origin to Mahomet's miracle, bears a fruit not larger
than a mulberry, but extremely sweet. Another variety,
called, according to Crichton, the Birni, was, however,
the Prophet's special favourite, and, taking thought in

THE DATE. 105

his divine benevolence even for the stomachs of the faith-
ful, he recommended every Arab to eat seven of these
most wholesome and digestible fruits each morning be-
fore his breakfast. Yet superior are the Jebeli, which
are real magnum bonums, full 3 in. long, and of very fine
flavour. These dainties, packed in boxes holding about
100, form a specialite of the Holy City, and a customary
present from returning pilgrims to their friends at home.
The monks of Sinai, too, send backsJieesJi yearly to Con-
stantinople, in the shape of large boxes of dates, after
having first, with a gustative cunning worthy of monk-
hood, extracted the inedible stone, and substituted in its
place a toothsome almond.

Except during the season for the fecundating process,
date-trees need little attention beyond occasionally lop-
ping off the old leaves as they wither, only a fragment of
their stalks being usually left projecting from the trunk,
to assist the ascent of the climbing fruit-gatherer. A
little watering, too, is sometimes required. Instead of
being formed, like exogenous timber, of regularly disposed
bundles of woody fibres, radiating from the centre through
a cellular tissue of medullary matter, the substance of
the palm-trunk, composed of longitudinal woody fibres
scattered irregularly through a mass of pith, is hardly to
be called timber. The ends of "the fibres are too hard,
and the medullary matter too soft, to admit of its being
held together by means of giue, and the same causes pre-
vent the surface from taking polish, so that the only way
to preserve it is by the use of varnish. The trunk, how-
ever, makes very good posts and beams for building pur-
poses, and is also employed for fuel. The leaves are
made into baskets and brushes ; their mid-ribs are used
to form garden fences, cages, &c., as a substitute for
wicker ; while the flower spathe and inner barklike fibres
are converted into strong cordage, ropes, and matting.
Unlike the generality of the palm tribe — which rejoice
in the most fervent tropical heat, and scarcely spread be-
yond where this is felt — the date delights in a milder
climate, and may be considered an intermediate between
the fruits of the torrid and of the temperate zones ; by a

106 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

gracious law of Providence its habitat being chiefly where
little else can grow. It will not flourish in southern
latitudes, but attains perfection in the northern parts of
Africa, and forms a border along the margin of the Great
Desert, so abounding where so little other vegetation is
seen as to give a name to the region, called from it " Bile-
dulgeria," or the Land of Dates. The fruifc cannot ripen
beyond a line drawn from Syria to Spain, about 29° or 30C
N. lat., though the tree will vegetate a few degrees far-
ther north ; it abounds in the gardens of Naples and
Sicily; is found in Valencia, Genoa, and the island of
Elba ; and even at Toulon two fine specimens are seen
growing in the Botanical Gardens in the open air. It
has been introduced, too, into Bordighiera, in the south of
[France, for the sake of the leaves, which are made use of
in spring by the Christians, in Palm Sunday ceremonials,
and in autumn by the Jews, during the celebration of the
Eeast of Tabernacles ; and near Elete, in Spain, is a com-
plete wood of no less than 200,000 date palms, the leaves
of which are bound up in mats till they are bleached
almost white, and then gathered and sent in ship-loads to
Italy, for Palm Sunday processions, and to Madrid,
where a house without its blessed palm-branch at Easter
would seem as incomplete as an English dwelling without
a sprig of holly at Christmas.

An attempt once made to cultivate the date-palm in
Jamaica, proved a failure, but it grows in India, though
it does not ripen fruit well in that latitude, and is there-
fore valued chiefly for the sake of the sap, which is manu-
factured into a coarse sort of sugar, that harmless-seeming
but mystic goar, which, as the chosen offering of Kali,
held so prominent a place in the fearful ceremonies of
Thuggee. The juice is extracted by means of tapping
the tree in cold weather ; and Dr. Roxburgh states that
each trees yields annually from 120 to 240 pints, pro-
ducing from 7 to 8 Ibs. of sugar. At the time when Dr.
"Roxburgh wrote, 10,000 cwt. of date sugar was made
yearly in Bengal, whence considerable quantities were ex-
ported to England and elsewhere, date sugar selling for
about one-fourth less than cane sugar,

THE DATE. 107

Palms were introduced into England as green-house
plants about 150 years ago, and the noted Miller, of
Chelsea, is said to have been the first who cultivated them.
The attention they have received of late years has resulted
in great success, and the splendid specimens shown at
Kew form one of the most striking attractions of those
truly royal gardens. Miller says that they grow so slowly,
even in their native climate, as often to make but 2 ft. in
10 years, and mentions some at Chelsea which had been
planted 20 years before he wrote, and then had trunks
but 2 ft. high, though the leaves were 7 ft. long, and they
had even borne fruit. In consequence of their utmost
circumference being soon attained and farther expansion
denied, palms are prevented from attaining any very great
age. At the end of about 70 years the slender cylindrical
column of the Phoenix ceases to aspire any higher ; for
another 70 years it continues in perfection, then begins to
decline, and mostly falls by the end of the second century.
Yet utter extinction does not await the aged tree, for its
grave becomes the cradle of its successor, and from the
withered stump springs forth at least one shoot, which in
time fills the place of the defunct parent, and " keeps its
memory green." It is to this peculiarity that the tree
owes its name of " Phoenix," and it is said to have given
origin to the fable of that bird of the sun whose dying
" resurgam" chant roused a new life out of its own ashes.
The Phoenicians, too, it is considered by some, derived
their name from the number of palm-trees growing in their
country. The specific name dactyliferct, from the Greek
dactylus, a finger, is due to a fancied resemblance between
the clusters of fruit and the human fingers. The Arabic
name, tamr*, signifies straight or upright, and furnishes
also the etymology of Tadmor, that palm-girdled city of
the desert founded by Solomon, the title of which was
translated in later days into Palmyra.

The curious fact of the trees being divided by Nature
into the fruit-bearing and the pollen- supplying kind was

* This word supplies, too, the title of the tamarind, called in the East the
tamr hindee, or Indian date.

108 OUR COMMON TETJITS.

very early noticed; that the former became barren if
" widowed" by the removal of the latter is distinctly men-
tioned by Pliny ; and the Arabs had not only learned ex-
actly that it was in the formation of the blossoms that the
difference lay, a discovery far beyond that of the ancient
writers, but had acted on this knowledge in their fecun-
dating process for centuries before botanists had gained
equal insight into the physiology of plants, and while
what is now an elementary principle of science was gene-
rally looked on as but the dream of poetry. Pontanus, an
Italian poet of the 15th century, embodied in glowing
verse the loves of two palm-trees growing in his time ;
whereof the one, planted in the wood of Otranto, never
bore fruit until it grew, Calypso-like, so to overlook the
neighbouring trees that it could gain a view of the other
tree at Brindisi, 15 leagues distant, when one quickening
glance sufficed to make it burst forth into abundant fruit-
age— an illustration of the " Sentiment of Flowers" now
coolly prosified by the scientific assertion thab it had
simply grown tall enough to catch the Brindisi pollen
borne upon the breeze. Linnaeus mentions another in-
stance of a palm, at Berlin, which had flowered for many
years, but never perfected fruit until some blossoms sent
by post, from a stameniferous tree flowering at the same
time at Leipsic, were applied to it, when fruit was at
once matured, and a specimen of the offspring, raised
from the seed thus obtained, was then flourishing in Lin-
nseus's own garden. The Swedish botanist, Hasselquist,
when travelling in 1749, was so anxious for further infor-
mation upon this subject, that his first question on reach-
ing Smyrna was concerning the nature and the habits of
a plant which, as he expressed it, " botanists do not yet
know ;" but his desire to be shown the distinction between
the trees and the mode of inducing fructification was
thwarted by the perversity of his interpreter. On arriving
next year in Alexandria, he wrote to Linnaeus that the first
thing he had done there had been to visit the date-palms
which form the principal ornament and principal wealth
of the country, and to make inquiries respecting them.
The Arab gardener to whom he applied waa astonished

THE GRAPE. 109

at his being already aware of the distinction of sexes,
saying that all Franks who had hitherto come there had
considered what was told them on this subject as either a
fable or a miracle, and, gratified at such a proof of his
interest in the favourite tree, readily showed him the
whole process of fecundation, as already here detailed.

Pistilliferous trees largely preponderate, one male suf-
ficing for 400 or 500 of the other sort, but perhaps it may
be in some measure to this disproportion that the neces-
sity for human intervention between them is due. That
this is necessary is proved by the fact, that in the year
1800, when the Turks and the French were so busied with
warfare that the only field labour carried on was that of
the field of battle, the neglected palms blossomed, indeed,
as usual, but entirely failed to produce a harvest. But yet
worse evils than mere neglect have occasionally been
suffered by the palms in time of war, for they have some-
times been wantonly cut down by invaders, and an instance
is on record of this having once occurred during a civil
war in Persia, when all the stameniferous trees in one
province were completely destroyed. The inhabitants,
however, had prudently provided against such a contin-
gency by preserving a quantity of pollen in close vessels,
and when they regained possession of their land, after a
lapse of 19 years, this long-hoarded treasure had lost none
of its virtue, and they were thus enabled to impregnate
the pistilliferous plants and obtain the usual crop. It is
still customary to preserve a portion of this farina from
season to season, in case of accident, a scarcity of dates
being about as serious an event as any that can occur in
the chronology of a palm-growing country.

CHAPTEE IX.
THE GEAPE.

WHETHER our first parents in Paradise sat under the
-shade of their own vine as well as of their own fig-tree,

110 OUR COMMON FEUITS.

or whether they were spared a second fractal temptation
by being left in ignorance of charms so powerfully seduc-
tive, we do not know; but if not antediluvian, it is recorded
to have been at any rate one of the first plants that
flourished in the rich mud left by the retiring JSToachian
Deluge, and to have proved to the patriarch and his family
a very " tree of the knowledge of good and evil," even as
it has been since to myriads of his descendants. That it
was a blessing which might readily become a bane may
have been the cause that among the Jews it ranked below
those trees whose produce could be less easily abused;
for in the earliest of fables we find Jotham representing
the sovereignty of the woods as being offered to the olive
and to the fig-tree before application was made to the
vine to assume the arboreal crown. But the etymology
of the name it now bears, derived from the Celtic gwyd,
tree, whence was borrowed (the Celts dropping the g in
pronunciation) the Latin vitis, Spanish vid, French vigne,
and English vine, shows that when later nations became
its sponsers they gave it a rank with regard to other
plants analogous to that which was assigned to the Scrip-
tures with regard to other writings, the vine being the
tree, even as the Eible was the Book. "Wherever it was
found among the Gentile nations of antiquity, its intro-
duction was always traced to a divinity ; and whether the
chubby Bacchus of the Greeks be really identical or not
with the awful Osiris of the Egyptians, in this point, at
least, their history agrees, that each was represented as
being the first vine-grower of his country, Bacchus, too,
being said to have taken the plant to India. Humboldt,
who affirms that the vine is not a native of Europe, says
that it grows wild in Asia Minor. Michaux found it wild
on the borders of the Caspian, and it is now generally
considered to be indigenous to Persia, whence it is thought
to have been taken to Egypt, Greece, and Sicily, and from
the latter place to have reached the other European coun-
tries. " Why did Bacchus go to India ?" asks Dr. Sick-
ler, the great German authority on ancient fruit culture.
" Not, assuredly," he replies, " to take the vine thither,
for it was already there, but rather to fetch it thence, to

THE GEAPE. Ill

spread it in other lands. This India was, however, not
the Hindostan of our day, but the lands on the shores of
the Caspian, probably including Persia." It was probably-
introduced into ancient Italy from Greece, but met with
little attention for some time, the early Romans being
ignorant of the art of wine-making, and only planting the
vine in order to eat the grapes, until the time of Numa,
who, in order to encourage its cultivation, not only per-
mitted libations of wine, which it is said Romulus had
forbidden, but even declared the offering to be sacrilege
unless it were from the produce of a, pruned tree ; though
it was not till the 6th century u.c. that the Romans be-
gan to value their own wines, which, however, eventually
competed with those of Greece. Fearing the risk of per-
mitting women to be exposed to its seductive influence,
the use of wine, when it became general at Rome among
men, was forbidden to the other sex under penalty of
death; one gentle clause, however, in this harsh decree
permitting all male relations on meeting their female
kindred to test whether they had kept the law, only by
the soft trial of a kiss, a form of inquisition which it was
found was always most vigorously put in force in inverse
proportion to the distance of the relationship.

Some believe that the vine was first introduced into
Britain by the Romans, while, according to others, it was
first brought here by the Phoenicians, who have also the
credit of having transplanted it from Palestine to the
islands of the Mediterranean. By whatever means it may
have come, when once here the gift was by no means ne-
glected, and long before French fashions " came over with
the Conqueror" home-made wine shared with ale, mead,
and cyder the honour of being one of our national drinks,
for the earliest English chronicles make mention of Eng-
lish vineyards. Gloucester was famous for them, and one
is known to have existed in the 13th century on that spot
now sacred to the Court Circular, the " Slopes" of Wind-
sor. Thus Jean Vigne, since looked on so jealously as a
foreign rival, was then competing in friendly strife side
by side with his compatriot John Barleycorn, for the
suffrages of their mutual countrymen. Vine culture con-

112 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

tinued to flourish in Britain until about the time of the
[Reformation ; but when the decline of the feudal sys-
tem caused more attention to be directed to corn hus-
bandry, and the introduction of the hop did so much for
the improvement and preservation of malt liquor, little
time or thought was left for grape-gardens ; while in
tracing the cause of their decline, something, too, may
doubtless be attributed to the loss of monkish care which
we may well believe had been ungrudgingly bestowed on
so rich a source of monkish solace. Surrey was at one
time famous for its Champagne, Sussex for its Burgundy,
and at Arundel Castle, in the latter county, so lately as
in 1763, there were 60 pipes of native wine in the cellars
of the Duke of Norfolk. The rebuilding of our obsolete
wine-presses has every now and then been urged by some
enthusiastic supporter of the claims of a British Bacchus,
and one of its latest advocates, Professor Martyn, has
suggested that any disadvantages of climate might be
overcome by training the vines near the ground, as is
done in the north of France, a system which increases
the size of the berries, as well as promotes their earlier
ripening. Whether for wine making or to serve for
humbler uses, it would certainly be well were more general
attention paid to the open-air cultivation of a plant which,
however it may require greenhouse pampering to secure
its full perfection, may yet be made to attain no slight
degree of excellence at the cost of but a little care and
trouble. Many a wall now bare and unsightly might be
turned into an object of beauty and a source of pleasure
and profit were it taken advantage of and dedicated to
the vine, for properly prepared soils and judicious prun-
ing are the chief requisites for the production of good
grapes ; and it is owing to the general ignorance on these
points, rather than to ungenial climate, that this fruit so
rarely ripens in the open air in England. There is an
extra difficulty to be encountered, it is true, to which the
vine planter in regions farther south is not exposed, in
the fact of our short summer being apt to pass away before
the vine has absorbed all the heat which it requires, the
sunshine not lasting long enough, though being quite hot

THE GBAPE. 113

enough while it does last. This, however, may be over-
come by due attention to other circumstances which can
be made to exert a counterbalancing influence, for " one
of the principal causes of grapes not ripening well on
open walls in this country," says the eminent grape-
grower, Clement Hoare, " is the great depth of mould in
which the roots of vines are suffered to run; which,
enticing them to penetrate in search of food below the
influence of the sun's rays, supplies them with too great a
quantity of moisture; vegetation is thereby carried on till
late in the summer, in consequence of which the ripening
process does not commence till the declination of the sun
becomes too rapid to afford a sufficiency of heat to perfect
the fruits." The simple remedy is a supply of loosely
laid dry materials, such as broken bricks, bones, &c., to
the soil, by means of which the roots are also enabled to
obtain air, which is as requisite to them as earth. The
importance of this subject in an economical point of view
may be judged by the declaration of Mr. Hoare, that "it
is not too much to assert that the surface of the walls of
every cottage of a medium size, which is applicable to the
training of vines, is capable of producing annually as many
grapes as would be worth half the amount of its rental."
Thus the English vine might become as serviceable to the
cottager as the Irish pig, while it would certainly be a
more agreeable adjunct to a dwelling.

A system, too, has been lately introduced by the French,
which holds out a fresh hope of our ultimately attaining
general success in open air grape culture, it being strongly
recommended as a very effectual means of hastening the
ripening process, " especially in cold and damp climates."
This method, termed "ringing," first practised by a gen-
tleman residing near Bambouillet, on a cold damp soil,
consists in removing from every branch of the vine, just
below the first bunch of grapes, a ring of bark from -^ to
•j% of an inch wide (the latter width is usually found most
successful), and is performed soon after the flowering of
the vine, when the fruit is just forming. -"When a com-
mittee of the Paris Horticultural Society visited, in 1858,
the scene of M. B.'s operations, to test the effects of his

8

OUK COMMON FBUITS.

process, they found the bunches on ringed vines showed
larger berries and had become ripe a fortnight earlier in
consequence of the treatment to which they had been
subjected, a result analogous to what has taken place in
other fruit-trees so handled, for the method is not a new
invention, but only newly applied to vines.* It has since
been tried in England, and found to have very little effect
on some sorts of vines, while on others the result has been
very promising, but scarcely sufficient time has yet been
afforded to pronounce a decisive opinion as to its probable
influence on English grape cultivation.

Whatever were the virtues of our vintage in the olden
time, its excellence, so far as temperature was concerned,
was solely owing to the unassisted kindliness of our
much-reviled climate ; for it was not until the beginning
of the last century that grapes were fostered by artificial
heat, and 50 years more elapsed before they were culti-
vated under glass. G-lazed vineries are now generally
made use of by all who desire to reckon with tolerable
certainty on an annual crop of grapes, the result being so
much less precarious than when the fruit is exposed quite
unsheltered to every change of temperature ; and the de-
crease in the cost of the material as compared with what
it was a few years ago, together with simplified methods
of erection, render them no very costly luxuries to the
private consumer, while, as a profitable investment, they
have scarcely yet attracted so much attention as they
merit, Mr. Bivers pronouncing it to be " a national dis-
grace " that black Hamburgh grapes are so largely im-
ported annually from Holland, when, with cheap vineries,
they could be well grown in England to sell at a fair
profit for 6d. or Sd. per Ib. Yet, even when a tolerably
mild and equable climate is thus artificially secured,
much still depends upon the soil provided for the vine,
the grapes, for instance, grown at the Oakhill Gardens,
Barnet, having been sold year after year at Covent Gar-

* Or rather to the production of dessert grapes, for in some parts of both
Italy and Franceit has long been occasionally.practisfidju vineyards, iu cold

/J

THE GEAPE. 115

den for 16s. per lb., while the very same variety grown at
Southgate, only a mile from Oakhill, were fetching only
Is. Qd. per lb., the difference in quality being traceable
chiefly to the superior care shown at the former place
in preparing the borders in which the vines are grown.
Formerly the vine was considered to be a very gross
feeder, the coarsest of offal not being thought too strong
or rich for its appetite ; and even so lately as in 1858 a
correspondent of The Gardener's Chronicle (the first
English horticultural periodical), after relating how
Napoleon I., when at a loss for gunpowder, in order to
secure a supply of saltpetre, had " middens " constructed
of " filth, dead animals, offal, and urine, with alternate
layers of turfy loam and old lime mortar," hazarded the
assertion that " his nitre bed was the very pattern of a
vine border," and that, " when the materials had been
turned over and over again for a year or two they were
exactly in a state to yield either gunpowder or grapes,
according as they were manipulated." This opinion,
however, was immediately and strongly controverted in
the same columns by men of science and experience ; and
the general opinion now seems to be, that calcareous ele-
ments in the soil are to be chiefly relied on, and that car-
rion is so unsuitable as a manure that, though the vine
to which it may be applied, if not killed at once (for vines
will bear a great deal of ill-usage, and adapt themselves
to very difficult circumstances), may produce a few crops
of large but coarse fruit, the eventual destruction of the
plant under such a mode of treatment is inevitable. Ano-
ther mode of enriching the soil, which commends itself at
once to reason as a most plausible system, is recommended
in a work published a few years back, which states that, in
most wine countries, all defective ill-formed bunches or
berries, with any superfluous shoots or branches, are re-
moved every year, about the end of June, broken into small
pieces, and buried about a foot deep around the vines.
Committed to the earth in this green state, they are de-
composed in less than 30 days, and return again to the vine
immediately to increase its vigour and maintain the soil in
proper condition, as the trees in a forest flourish for cen-

8—2

116 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

turies on the nutriment afforded by the annual decompo-
sition of their own leaves.

A vineyard once planted requires indeed constant care,
but rarely needs renewal; for the plants are said to
improve in quality until they are 50 years old, and many
are found in full bearing in France and Italy which have
at least not deteriorated during a lapse of three centuries,
while Pliny mentions one patriarchal vine which had
attained even double that age. The size which the
trunk eventually attains is sometimes very considerable,
amounting in one instance in England to 4 ft. in circum-
ference, while the spread of the branches seems almost
unlimited. The giant vine at Cumberland Lodge, Wind-
sor, and its Brobdignagian parent at Hampton Court,
each covers a space of about 147 square yards, and would
extend much farther were they allowed to do so, their
produce amounting respectively to about a ton weight of
fruit annually, in the form of above 2,000 bunches, repre-
senting a money value of upwards of £400. On one
occasion Greorge III., having been greatly pleased with
the performers at Drury Lane Theatre, gave orders that
100 dozen bunches of grapes should be cut off for them
from the Hampton Court vine, if so many could be found
upon it, when, not only was the munificent donation for-
warded as desired, but with it also a message from the
gardener that he could still cut off as many more without
stripping the tree.

Grapes, as they consist chiefly of juice and contain
very little fleshy matter, are one of the least nutritious
of fruits, and are also very laxative, a few fresh gathered
being sometimes eaten fasting as a gentle purgative ;
while, when taken to excess, they often cause dysentery.
In constitutions where the latter danger is not to be
apprehended, they are sometimes found beneficial, eaten
in large quantities, for pulmonary complaints. The leaves,
being astringent, are sometimes used, dried and powdered,
as a medicine to stop dysentery, and are also sometimes
given as food to cows, sheep, and hogs; but when em-
ployed for this purpose, are left till they fall off the plant,
then collected and stored in a dry place, or, if salted,

THE GEAPE. 117

pressed, and left to ferment, are considered all the better
for the process. The leaves are also used in Egypt to
envelope balls of hashed meat, one of the most common
dishes at good tables there, and as for this purpose they
must be used young, they are often sold dearer than even
the grapes. In this country they are similarly employed
in the roasting of wheat-ears. The lees of wine furnish
cream of tartar, the acid of grapes being chiefly tartaric,
though malic acid also exists in them in small quantities ;
while their other chief constituent, the sugar of grapes,
differs from common sugar in containing a smaller quan-
tity of carbon.

Too valuable for its living products ever to be destroyed
for the sake of its mere substance, yet the wood of the
vine is capable of being turned to good account whenever
it does fall into the hands of the carpenter, being both
beautiful and extremely durable; for, though Ezekiel
speaks of it contemptuously as "meet for no work," and
only fit for fuel, classic authors tell of statues and temple
columns formed from it ; Evelyn records, in his Sylva, that
the great doors of the Cathedral of Ravenna were in his
day discovered to be made of vine planks, some of which
were 12 ft. long and 15 in. broad ; and the museum at
Versailles contains a table more than 2 ft: wide, formed
of a single piece of vine wood. From the charred stalks
of old vines, too, is made the " blue black " of the artist
and also the finest printer's ink.

In spring, when the sap rises, the circulation of the
vine is so active, even to its very extremities, that great
care has to be taken to have all the pruning over before
the vernal warmth calls forth this flow in its veins, or
every part touched with the knife would pour out a vital
stream, and the vine would actually " bleed " to death.
This notable sappiness reaches its fullest extent in a
variety called the Vitis Indica, Caribbean Vine, or Inane
des Voyageurs, the branches of which are often 200 ft.
long, and of so dropsical a constitution that, if a wound
be made in one of its limbs (which are about the thick-
ness of a man's arm), and another cut about 3 or 4 ft.
lower down, in less than half a minute nearly a pint of

118 OTJB, COMMON TETJITS.

clear, cool, tasteless — or slightly acidulated — liquid will
drain from the lower incision, a provision of Nature which
has sometimes saved the life of thirst-stricken wanderers
in the woods. Fed by such a flow of liquid life, the
little rounded buds, which have been lying all the winter
wrapped in down so close as to look like mere little
excrescences on the pale brown bark of the branches,
begin rapidly to expand and shoot forth into sprays of
tender green; one leaf from each articulation of the
many-jointed twigs, and mostly a waving tendril too, to
bear it company, these being, according to Carpenter,
developed from supernumerary flower-stalks; and it is
said that curious experimentalists have even sometimes
succeeded in transmuting them into fruitful bunches of
grapes, by cutting the branch immediately above them.
Soon after appears the blossom, little bunches of tiny five-
petaled, five-stamened flowerets of pale yellowish green,
so similar in colour to the leaves and so hidden among
them as to be scarcely discernible without close inspection.
The insignificance of their appearance has furnished
Krummacher with not the least beautiful of his Para-
bles, when he represents the haughty, self-sufficient youth
Adoniah as led by the prophet into a vineyard in spring,
and shown how humble is the forerunner of the noblest
of fruits, that he might learn of the vine in the blossom-
ing time of his youth ; " and Adoniah took all these words
of Samuel to heart, and went on henceforth with a still,
soft spirit." The flowers have the reputation of being
odorous • but the perfume is not very perceptible, except
in an American variety called the " Sweet-scented," which
grows by river-sides in some parts of the United States,
and the 'blossoms of which exhale an exquisite fragrance,
resembling that of mignonette. But ere long these
humble blossoms disappear, the berries which take their
place swell larger and larger, until the little diverging
stalklets on wrhich they grow, together with the central
stem whence these proceed, are altogether hidden by the
clustering mass ; finally the colour changes as they ripen,
and the vine attains its full glory. And a glorious object,
indeed, it is! Whether in the pole-supported plant of

THE GEAPB. 119

Germany, but "a few feet high, the short, thick stock grown
in Spain, or the scrubby bush to which it is dwarfed
in Prance, there is much of beauty manifested in the
elegant form of the triply-pointed, deeply- serrated leaf,
with its strongly-marked network of veins, so dear to
ornamentalists in all ages ; in the wild freedom of its
curving tendrils ; and, above all, in its shapely and rich-
tinted fruit, varying from clear chrysophras green to
semi-lucent amber, or rich bloom-clouded purple, like
violets seen through mist ; each particular berry blending
into one fair cluster, that " bunch of grapes " with which
Titian loved to illustrate a perfect composition, every part
completely finished in itself, yet not obtruding as a part,
but only contributing its share to the completeness of the
whole. How graceful, too, are their growth, and the po-
sitions which their loose suspension on many stalks per-
mits them to assume ! I remember once seeing a cluster
whicli had thrown itself over a large gourd with a fling
so light and free as to recall in a moment to my mind the
attitude of Ariadne on the panther, and prompt almost a
conviction that Dannecker must have been indebted to
such a source for the suggestion of the exquisite pose of
that figure. But it is in Greece or in Italy that the vine
is seen in perfection ; where, with all its other charms, is
combined that of a display of its natural mode of growth,
and, " wedded " to the elm or poplar, it is left free to
wreathe itself as it will round the supporting trunk to
which it clings, and fling its light festoons in wild luxu-
riance from bough to bough. With no dusky rootlets
like those which bear something of earthliness into the
loftiest aspirings of the ivy ; with no tenacious suckers
like the Virginia creeper, adhering with a gripe as of
desperation to the surface it climbs ; but only twining its
slender tendrils with firm yet tender clasp round the
object it embraces, the fertile, loving vine stands forth
the truest, fairest type of womanhood. Well might the
Psalmist make it his metaphor when he recounts among
the chief joys of him whom God hath blessed, " Thy wife
shall be like the fruitful vine by the sides of thine house.''
And how was its typical significance deepened when

120 OUR COMMON FBUITS.

chosen to shadow forth Him in whom, as the representa-
tive of perfect humanity, the woman was blended with
the man, and who, appropriating it as His own special
symbol, declared, in words that have left an aureole of
glory around it for ever, " I am the true Vine."

But to dissect our plant botanically will be an easier
task than to attempt to analyze it aesthetically. The grape
is a true berry, a mass of juicy pulp enclosed in a skin,
and containing loosely floating seeds, which, according to
the most correct principles of vegetation, should be five
in number, one for each stamen of the flower ; but aa
vegetables, like more highly organized beings, do not
always act up to their principles, one or two at least usually
remain abortive: an arrangement of Dame Nature's,
which, however, is rather satisfactory than otherwise,
especially at Christmastide, when the three or four which
she does mature are found quite sufficiently troublesome
to those whose department it is to " stone " the raisins.
In pity perhaps to busy plum pudding preparers, a few
varieties are left quite seedless, as is seen in the Ascalon
or Sultana raisin; and Theophrastus in his antique wisdom
sagely informs us how we might secure any sort becoming
so by simply extracting the pith, with a proper instru-
ment of horn or bone, from a twig, as far as it is to be
set in the ground, then lightly binding it round, and
setting it in moist earth to grow and bring forth a pipless
progeny ; " for," saith he, " if you rob the vine-branch of
the pith, whereof the stones are gendered, you may secure
grapes without stones." The vine in Italy furnishes oil
as well as wine, a kind being extracted from the pips
which is reckoned superior to any other sort either for
eating or burning, as it has no odour and burns without
smoke. The dried fruit furnishes no unimportant item
of commerce, our imports in 1862 amounting to 278,750
cwts. of raisins and 873,529 cwts. of currants (the dried
miniature grapes of the Greek islands), valued together at
£1,227,538.* The Valentia raisins, according to Laborde,

* Our imports of fresh grapes were calculated, some years ago, to amount
to l-»- million Ibs. annually.

THE GBAPE. 121

are dipped in a ley made of ashes of vine-branches and
rosemary, to which a little slaked lime is added, and then
placed on the rocks to dry, while those of Malaga are
simply dried in the sun without any preparation. At the
latter place there are three gatherings in the year, the
first, which takes place in June, furnishing the Muscatel
and bloom raisins, which are exported annually to the
extent of millions of pounds weight, making yet little
perceptible difference in the vintage gatherings, which
are effected in September and October. The Americans,
it is said, import more raisins than all the rest of the
world put together, for great as has been their progress
lately both in growing grapes and in utilizing them, they
have not yet attempted the drying of them for their own
use. But it is by no means absolutely necessary that the
fruit should be dried before it can travel to us, for the
rapid transit afforded by steam permits us to receive many
thousands of pounds' worth of fresh foreign grapes during
the season, brought over packed in sawdust. When grapes
are perfectly ripened they contain the elements of preserva-
tion within themselves, but in a variable degree, depending
upon the proportion of sugar they contain ; fleshy sweet
•berries, such as the Muscatel, having the greatest tendency
to remain unchanged, while juicy subacid sorts, such as
the Elack Hamburgh and Sweet- water, are least fitted for
keeping. In all cases damp promotes decay, and in Spain,
where the finest dried grapes in the world are prepared, it
is found, that if the slightest dew fall on them while they
are in course of preparation, although the kind used is
the sweet fleshy Muscat, the raisins are very apt to become
spoiled, even after they have been packed in boxes. If,
therefore, grapes are left hanging in a vinery after they
are ripe, the interior should be kept as dry as possible.
When it is wished to preserve them after gathering for
any length of time, various means may be resorted to:
the classical mode was to suspend them in jars of wine ;
the Americans prefer to imbed them in cotton wadding ;
and among ourselves they are usually merely hung upon
a line in a dry room. Some invert the bunches, hanging
the stalk end downwards, since the berries then do not

122 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

rest upon each other ; and the favourite plan of one fruit-
grower was to cut off a portion of the stem along with
the bunch (which in any case promotes the preservation
of the fruit), and insert the part below the grapes into a
bottle of water, which was occasionally changed. Others
content themselves with sealing each end of that portion
of the branch to which the fruit is attached.

Tusser, in 1560, speaks only of two kinds of grapes
grown in England, the white and the red ; but so much
have varieties multiplied since then that the list made
by Thompson in 1842 enumerates 99 kinds, and by the
present time a dozen or two more have been added, while
in foreign countries they are numbered by hundreds,
though practically there is but one species grown in
Europe. It was affirmed, however, by London that in
Britain we have not only the best varieties, but that we
grow the fruit to a larger size and of a higher flavour than
anywhere else in the world. This seems a bold assertion,
considering that the climate of Southern Europe must be
so much more congenial to the vine ; but it must be re-
membered that it is of dessert grapes that he is speaking,
and that in wine countries the chief care and attention are
concentrated on vineyard grapes. The opinion, too, is con-
firmed by more recent testimony, for whereas we might
rather expect to be surpassed in this particular by Prance
than perhaps by any other nation, yet a correspondent of
the Gardener's Chronicle, in reporting the great Paris Hor-
ticultural Exhibition of 1858, observes concerning the
grapes, that they consisted of sorts which ripen mostly in
the open air, and, to those who had seen the fine grapes
shown a fortnight before at our own Crystal Palace, had
but a miserable appearance.* The IB on Jardinier, too, for
1864, after giving a rather limited list of the kinds now
in cultivation, concludes with an admission that " many
other dessert sorts might be introduced with advantage."
The English-grown kind, which in the opinion of our

* The result of the great International Exhibition in the gardens of the
London Hort. Soc., in October, 1862, only afforded further proof of the sur-
passing excellence of English hothouse grapes.

THE GEAPE. 123

cultivators is the best of all black grapes and deservedly
the most popular, is the Black Hamburgh, which owes its
name to having been introduced into this country from
Hamburgh in 1724, though it came originally fromPranck-
enthal on the Rhine, and is known all over the Continent
as the Eranckenthal Grape. When in perfection the skin
of the berries is quite black, covered with a thick bloom,
but it will sometimes appear brown or red even on a vine
which has hitherto borne fruit of the most approved hue,
this deterioration being a sure symptom of something
wrong in the soil or temperature of the vinery. This
variety grows better in England, in the open air or under
glass without fire heat, than any other kind ; and when
bunches of seven different sorts, including the Sweet-
water, Muscadine, &c., all grown in orchard-houses, were
sent to the Fruit Committee of the London Horticultural
Society, in 1861, for the purpose of comparing their re-
lative merits, the preference was unanimously given to the
Black Hamburgh, as evidently the best fitted for that mode
of culture. It ripens in October.

What is commonly sold as the "Portugal Grape" is really
the "White Hamburgh, which, keeping for a remarkably
long time after it is ripe, is imported here, chiefly from
Holland, in very vast quantities, it is said to the value of
£10,000 yearly.

The size of the berries is more an object with English
fruit-growers than the size of the bunches ; but these
sometimes attain great magnitude, those on the vines in
the conservatory at Chiswick, in 1860, varying in measure-
ment from 6 in. to 2 ft. in length. The largest bunch ever
grown in England was produced by the Duke of Port-
land's gardener at Welbeck, Mr. Speechley (called " the
very father of vine-growing in England"), and the tree
which bore it was a Syrian vine, which was accustomed to
yield clusters of such large proportions that a single
"shoulder" of one of them was enough to fill a good-
sized dish. This one most famous bunch weighed 19|- Ibs.,
and when transmitted by its noble owner as a present to
a friend at a distance, was carried, suspended to a pole,
on the shoulders of two men, in the style of the spy-

124 OTJK COMMON PETJITS.

borne cluster of Eschol. Tlie latter are supposed to have
been of the kind now grown on Mount Libanus, where
the vines creep along the surface of the ground and bear
grapes as large as plums. InMadeira, too, there is a dessert
grape, the clusters of which are said often to weigh 20 Ibs.
An interesting account is given by the French writer,
Noisette, of the early history of the vine in his country,
now one of its most congenial homes. Among the many
diverse accounts as to who first introduced this tree into
Gaul, he assigns most weight to the authority of Strabo
and Justin, who say that it was brought there by the
Phocians when they founded the colony of Marseilles,
about GOO years B.C. For nearly seven centuries it con-
tinued to nourish, but in A.D. 92, a scarcity of grain
throughout the empire happening to coincide with a very
abundant vintage, the one was thought to have had some
effect in causing the other, and consequently Domitian,
who was then emperor, issued an edict, ordering that a
large proportion of the vines should be everywhere up-
rooted, and that throughout Gaul the plant should be
entirely eradicated — a command which was so ruthlessly
obeyed that the inhabitants of that country were reduced
to resume the use of hydromel and such other poor drinks
as they had been obliged to content themselves with be-
fore the introduction of wine. A Greek distich against
the Goat, having by a slight change been adapted into an
epigram against Domitian, in which the vine, addressing
him, exclaims, " If you should destroy me down to the
very roots, I will still bear fruit enough to furnish a liba-
tion when you are immolated," exciting a fear that the
general dissatisfaction might expose him to the danger of
assassination, induced the tyrant to relax the stringency of
this law in the other provinces ; but in Gaul it continued
in full force even after his death, and it was not till the
year 282 that the Emperor Probus, after having restored
peace to the empire, gave the Gauls permission once more
to plant the vine. An author named Dunod, giving an
account of this event, says that it was a truly delightful
spectacle to see crowds of both sexes and of all ages
joyously assembling to aid in the grand restoration of their

THE GRAPE. 125

beloved vines, all anxious to take some part in it, and not
in vain desiring to do so, for the plant can afford occupa-
tion for all ; and while the men broke the rocks and dug
the trenches, the women and children prepared and carried
the plants, and the aged people, recalling all they had
heard in their youth, went about to point out the
spots where tradition said the plants had formerly best
flourished. The ardour of the people ensured success, and
soon every favourable situation was covered with thriving
vines ; nor was the plant confined, as it had been before, to
the extreme south of the country, but spread through
almost every province ; for during the two centuries of its
banishment forests had been cut down, marshes drained,
and waste places rendered fertile, so that the land had
thus been prepared for it to take possession and nourish.
Perhaps, too, a new system of cultivation may have con-
tributed to the effect, for the Gauls had formerly followed
the Greek mode of culture, and now adopted that of the
Romans. They were not left long to the undisturbed en-
joyment of their recovered treasures, for the attacks of
the Northern barbarians began with the beginning of the
5th century, though their incursions were more hurtful
to the vine-dressers than to the vines, for it was for the
sake of this plant and its produce that the, conquerors
came, and they therefore took care that its culture should
not be neglected. By this time it had extended even to
the vicinity of Paris, and it would appear must have suc-
ceeded there better than it does at the present day, for
the Emperor Julian has left on record a special commen-
dation of the wine of this canton ; and the hill of St.
Genevieve, all that part of the city now known as the
Latin quarter, and even the enclosure of the Louvre, were
all dedicated to the growth of the grape. In the course of
time this extensive multiplication of vineyards drew down a
fresh proscription on the persecuted plant, for a bad har-
vest occurring in 1566, Charles IX., a worthy imitator of
Domitian, attributing the scarcity of corn, as the latter
had done, to the prevalence of vines, commanded that
they should be destroyed, but, somewhat less severe than
the Roman, was content that they should be permitted to

126 DUE COMMON" FEUITS.

occupy in each canton only one-third of the ground which
had hitherto been allotted to them — a decree which even
then fell heavily indeed on districts which had hitherto
been devoted exclusively to vine-growing. Since that
period no later government has been so unwise as to in-
terfere with the natural course of demand and supply in
this particular, and the vine has been suffered to nourish
unmolested wherever Nature has provided it with a fitting
habitat.

Wine grapes are not considered fit for the dessert, the
kinds appropriated for the latter use having firmer flesh
of sweeter and more agreeable flavour, and containing
fewer pips in proportion to their size. The sort most
esteemed in the Paris fruit market is the Chasselas de
Fontainelleau, a grape of fair size, both as regards the
bunches and the berries, which are yellow, tinged with
red on the exposed side, and with skins so thick as to
make a noise when they are crushed by the teeth. The
large family of Muscat grapes — so named, not, as might.
be supposed, on account of the musky flavour which dis-
tinguishes them, but because the berries are particularly
attractive to flies (muscce), a reason which caused the
Romans to name them vitis apiaria — are also very general
in France, and by Du Hamel and many other authors are
ranked as the best of grapes, but they are sweeter and less
refreshing than other kinds, and distinguished too by a
peculiar scent and flavour, which does not allow of their
being partaken of very plentifully, and renders them ab-
solutely unpleasant to many tastes.

A common grape in some parts of France, under the
name of Raisin des dames, is the little Corinthe* the same
species which in the Greek islands furnishes us with the
currants of commerce. Growing in long straight bunches,
of fair medium size, and either white or purple, on very
vigorous and productive trees, the individual grapes are
no larger than peas, but are considered very agreeable in
flavour, and are entirely free from pips ; while in a sub-
variety, the Petite Corinthe, the berries are but half the

* See Plate IV., fig. 3.

THE GEAPE. 127

size of the preceding, and the whole bunch so small aa
to form but a single mouth-full. Another singular kind,
which, however, seldom comes to perfection, is the Cor-
nichon* the berries of which are sometimes three times
as long as they are broad, and very peculiar in form,
having one side convex, so as to resemble capsicums
rather than ordinary grapes.

The varieties of wine grapes grown in the south of Eu-
rope are too numerous for any attempt to be made here
to particularize them, though a passing word may be
given to the Teinturier or Dyer Vine, a few of which are
grown in most vineyards in France in order to give colour
to the wine when other sorts prove deficient in that quality*
The leaves of this variety become quite crimson by the
time that the grapes are ripe, so that it may be distin-
guished at a distance among its verdant kindred, and the
tlesh and juice of the berries are of so deep and engrained
a red that a few of them suffice to tinge a large quantity
of wine. Another kind, the JBourdelas or Verjus, being
intensely sour while green, is never allowed to ripen, but
its large berries are made to yield their juice, to be used
instead of vinegar or lemon-juice for sauces, drinks, and
medical purposes. Other wine grapes are also sometimes
made into verjuice while green, and when ripe are also
eaten by the poorer classes instead of dessert grapes,
being sometimes sold in the streets of Paris as low as
Id. per Ib.

The marc or residue left after wine-pressing is mostly
used to make a thin beverage called piquette, but "before
serving this purpose," says a French author, thus suggest-
ing the delicate idea that the one use would still not pre-
vent the other, "it is often used for baths." Carried at
once to cellars or other places, he describes it as being
left in heaps till as hot as the hand can bear, when a hole
is made, and the patient either gets in entirely, or inserts
the limb which requires bathing if the application is to
be only local. In the former case the bath must only be
taken in a place with a current of air blowing through it,

See Plate IV., fig. 4.

1*28 OTJE, COMMON FRUITS.

and the head must be covered and turned the same way
as the wind, or the alcoholic and carbonic vapour which
rises would cause intoxication, headache, and even syn-
cope and asphyxia. It acts like an ordinary warm bath,
only that, in addition, the vapours also penetrate the pores
and excite the internal organs, so that though never to be
ventured on in inflammatory complaints, it has had marked
success in curing cases of old rheumatics, sciatica, tumours,
&c., &c., and in the wine-growing provinces the vintage
season is impatiently waited for through the course of the
year by all who have become afflicted with chronic ma-
ladies of this description. "It may be," says Noisette,
" that more efficacy than is really due to them may be
attributed to these baths by the inhabitants of the wine
distracts, but they are of sufficient importance to merit
being more widely known." The sap of the vine, too,
though no longer in use as it once was among regular
practitioners, is very popular as a medicine among the
.French peasantry, who are accustomed every spring to
cut a long vine-branch, the end of which is fixed in a
bottle, into which the sap is thus drained at first in a per-
fectly clear state ; it soon becomes turbid, undergoing a
sort of fermentation, after which it again clears, and is
then kept for use, being applied to the skin as a cosmetic
to remove spots or stains, or to cure chilblains or inflamed
eyes, and also taken internally to allay the pain incident
to those who are afflicted with the stone, or to assist in
dissipating the fumes of intoxication.

In Germany, Coblenz on the Rhine is generally looked
on as almost the limit of grape culture, the vine zone in
Europe being considered to extend from the 31st to the
51st° N. latitude ; but a few vineyards are to be found
even near Dresden and in Moravia, and by artificial means
dessert grapes at least may be produced much farther
north, for the hothouses of Stockholm and of St. Peters-
burg furnish very good specimens.

Many as are the varieties of the grape cultivated in
different parts of Europe, they may all be considered as
of one species, the Vitis mnifera ; but, onre across the
Atlantic, we are beyond the dominion of Bacchus, and

THE GEAPE. 129

though certainly a vine abounds in America, it is no
longer the vine, the sacred plant of the son of Semele.
This wild climber, peculiar to the New World, has, as
Humboldt says, given rise to the general error that the
vinifera is common to the two continents, whereas in
truth the Vitis vulpina of America is of another and far
lower caste, long looked upon as a very pariah of vines,
tainted — it was thought indelibly — with a flavour which
could only be described, according to the indication of its
specific name, as " foxy." As the fruit is fine in appear-
ance, and the leaves, which are but very slightly lobed,
are much larger than those of the European vine, it is
sometimes grown in England for ornamental purposes,
but has never been much esteemed on any other ground
either here or, until quite of late years, even in its native
clime, owing to the hardness of pulp and strong disa-
greeable savour by which the grapes were distinguished.
But though it seemed that the fox had thus " spoiled the
vineyards " in a manner unthought of by Solomon, so that
when the manufacture was first attempted, even the wine
made from these native grapes retained a brand of the
" brush " which rendered them far from pleasant to many
palates, later experience would seem to show that this
was only because they were, in the words of an American
writer, " generally but one remove from a wild! state, acci-
dentally improved varieties that sprang up in woods and
fields from wild vines." Por some years past our Trans-
atlantic brethren have laboured not in vain to induce the
rosy god to smile upon them, and eventually crown their
bowl with a native nectar free from vulpine or any other
offensive taint.

The vine of Europe was introduced into America by
colonists within 50 years after their first settlement in
that continent ; but the climate of the States, so favour-
able to almost all other fruits, is singularly inauspicious
to the foreign grape. In any case it requires great atten-
tion, and seldom bears good fruit except when quite
young, and for vineyard cultivation is utterly unsuitable,
experiments having been tried again and again under the
most favourable circumstances by men of capital and prac-

130 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

tical skill, in various parts of tlie country and with diffe-
rent varieties of grapes, but always ending in disappoint-
ment and failure.

The efforts made to bring the native vines into use
have resulted far more successfully, for, much superior in
hardiness and productiveness to the foreign sorts, though
the more attention they receive the better the fruit be-
comes, yet little more culture is absolutely required than
to* train the branches up poles or along a trellis, when
they will continue from year to year to bring forth fruit
abundantly, and the most improved varieties are therefore
among the most valuable fruits of the Middle States,
since they are easily available to the farmer and common
gardener, to whom the delicately constituted foreign grape,
which needs so much care, would be quite beyond attain-
ment. In the rich alluvial soil of Western America the
plants sometimes attain enormous size, vines having been
found on the banks of the Ohio with a stem measuring
3 ft. in circumference, and branches 200 ft. long ; but the
cultivator must of course repress such exuberance if fine
fruit is to be attained. Still an extraordinary degree of
fertility, as compared with ordinary European vines, is
often manifested by these growths of America, one grow-
ing near New York having been known to yield 12 bushels
of fruit in a single year, while one raised near Baltimore
bore in the course of a season 54,490 bunches, without
reckoning small immature ones, which amounted to about
3,000 more. Downing, in his Fruits of America, gives a
tolerably long list of names and descriptions under the
head of " Native Grapes," which, however, is hardly satis-
factory as proving their unquestionable right to that de-
nomination, when intended to imply that they are of
purely aboriginal descent, for while some are admitted to
IDC probably or even certainly seedlings from foreign sorts,
the others, or at least those which have good characters
assigned to them, are marked as of " uncertain origin,"
and therefore are open to the suspicion of being of similar
parentage. The one most largely cultivated is the Ca-
tawba, which is characterized as being one of the hardiest,
most productive, and excellent of the native varieties,

THE GBAPE. 131

either for wine-making or table use. It probably has its
name from the Catawba Eiver, and was first noticed as a
wild grape in 1802 ; but it was not till 1826 that its
merits were discovered by Major John Adlum. an officer
of the Revolution, who devoted the last years of his life
to vine culture, and in the course of experimenting upon
native vines found this variety growing in a garden in JST.
Carolina, say some, but according to other authorities in
Maryland. After a fair trial he was so convinced of its
value as a wine grape, that on sending some slips to Mr.
Longworth of Cincinnati, he accompanied them with a
letter in which he affirms, " I have done my country a
greater service by introducing this grape to public notice,
than I should have done if I had paid the national debt."
The major soon after died, but the zealous and patient
perseverance of Mr. Longworth for a period of more than
30 years has at length established vine culture on a firm
basis, and seems likely to bring about at last a fulfilment
of his friend's prophetic words. Next in popularity to
the Catawba is the Isabella Vine, a native of Carolina,
first introduced to notice in 1818 by Mrs. Isabella Gribbs,
after whom it is named. In flavour it resembles the Ca-
tawba ; but as it is more hardy and ripens earlier than
that kind, it is more widely disseminated, and is particu-
larly valued in the colder parts of New England, requiring
the least possible care to enable it to perfect its produce.
It was at first generally believed to be of foreign origin,
but the best American botanical writers now assert it to
be an indigenous growth. To the Swiss at Yevay is due
the credit of having first begun wine-making in Western
America ; but the enterprise having been afterwards un-
dertaken by some public-spirited citizens of that part of
the country (including the above-mentioned Mr. Long-
worth) aided by skilful emigrant vine-dressers from France
and Germany, the practicability of profitable vineyard cul-
ture in the valley of the Ohio has now been placed beyond
a doubt, the grapes chiefly grown being the Catawba and
Isabella. The vineyards on the Ohio now cover many
acres, producing regular and very large crops of wine,
offering similar characteristics to Madeira, Hock, and

Q— 2

132 OTJE COMMON FRUITS.

Champagne, while it is said by some that native wine i
beginning to supplant imported Rhenish and Champagn
even at equal prices. Other vineyards, too, being estal
lished, and new varieties of grapes attracting attentioi
which ripen earlier, and are therefore suited to two c
three degrees further N., by 1853 the vine had outstrippe
the tobacco-plant in the relative money value of their re
spective produce within the boundary of the U. States
for in the Patent Office Report that year it was state
that the annual value of the wines grown in the State
amounted to 2,000.000 dollars, whereas the value of th
tobacco was only 1,990,000 ; and as it is said that thes
wines are quite distinct in flavour from any made in En
rope, and have besides the special peculiarity that no spu
rious compound can effectually imitate them, it seems prc
bable that they will in the course of time become yet mor
profitable as an article of export. The American Yea
Book of Agriculture, in giving some details respectin
native beverages, mentions that the most expensive win
in Europe, Tokay, contains also the least amount of alcohc
— 9'85 per. cent ; but that the still Catawba of Americ
shows only a per centage of 9 50, in fact, the lowest pe
centage of spirit to be found in any wine in the work
S. America, too, abounds in vineyards, and wine is mad
both in Paraguay, Brazil, Peru, and Chili.

Although Asia is the native home of the vine, it i
only in some parts of that continent that it thrives, th
uninterrupted heat of Southern India not admitting o
the fruit coming to perfection. It is true that even i]
the north it is often excessively hot, the thermometer i]
May standing at mid-day at 140° in the sun, and 110
even in the soldiers' tents in Cabul and Candahar ; yet ii
no part of the world are grapes more delicious than i
these places. Mr. Atkinson mentions that on the 30t]
June he saw donkeys laden with panniers of fine purpl
grapes, at the very same time that the paper on whici
he was writing was actually curling up with the excea
sive heat as crisply as though before a blazing fire. Di
Lindley, however, explains the phenomenon of the via
thriving in such a climate by the observation that it i

THE GEAPE. 133

during the blossoming-time in spring that it specially re-
quires coolness, and that whatever may be the tempera-
ture in these countries during the day, at night, at least
at that season, it is extremely low, most of our soldiers'
nocturnal marches there being recorded to have taken
place in a cold, bracing, and even frosty air ; a regular
period of rest being thus afforded to the plant during
each 24 hours, compensating for the extreme heat it has
afterwards to endure. But the vine requires not only
the repose of night alternating with day, as necessary
generally to vegetables as to animals, but also the perio-
dical rest of winter after summer ; and Sir Emerson Ten-
nent observes in his Ceylon, that vines taken to that island
grew freely, but, like the peaches, cherries, and other
European fruit-trees introduced there, became evergreens,
and, exhausted by the ceaseless excitement of uninter-
rupted hot weather, bore leaves indeed abundantly, but
never ripened fruit. The government agent in whose
garden they grew conceiving, however, that " the activity
of the plants might be equally checked by exposing them
to an extreme of warmth as by subjecting them to cold,
tried with perfect success the experiment of laying bare
the roots in the strongest heat of the sun. The result
verified his conjecture. The circulation of th,e sap was
arrested, the vines obtained the needful repose, and the
grapes, which before had fallen almost unformed from the
tree, are now brought to thorough maturity," though it
is added that they are still inferior in flavour to those
produced at home. A similar experiment in affording the
vine an artificial winter by laying bare its roots, and which
was equally successful, is recorded in the Transactions of
the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, under
the date of 1824, but the system does not seem to have
been applied anywhere to any practical extent.

On the western coast of Africa the vine produces fruit
twice in the year ; in Morocco grapes abound ; and we
have daily proof of the rapid improvement taking place
both in the quantity and quality of the wine produced in
the British possessions in S. Africa.

As regards Australia, in 1830 specimens of the best

134 OUR COMMON EBTTITS.

varieties of vines were planted on the Camden estate near
Sydney, N. S. Wales, and they have since been also cul-
tivated in some other districts. Several specimens oi
wine manufactured at Camden were sent to the Great
Exhibition in London in 1851. These wines are said to
be very dry, and to have also a tinge of bitterness, which,
however, wears off with age. No less than 30 different
specimens of S. Australian wine were sent to the Inter-
national Exhibition of 1862, and the wine produced in
1863 in Queensland greatly exceeded the quantity ob-
tained the preceding year, while the demand for it was
so rapidly extending that almost all hotels, taverns, and
wine merchants supplied it, and the trade in imported
wines was beginning to be sensibly affected by the con-
sumption of the home-made beverage. The high price,
however, which it still maintained, being retailed at from
30s. to 40s. the dozen, or Is. a tumbler, had been a great
obstacle to its becoming thoroughly popularized.

As far as can yet be judged), therefore, the quality of
the produce of Australian vines seems to be such as to
promise that whenever the colonists may be able and
willing to turn their attention to its extensive culture,
there will be little reason to fear that the climate will
offer any obstacle to their success, and we of this quarter
of the globe need not therefore be under any apprehen-
sion of sharing the fate of ancient Rome, or dread the
invasion of some Brennus of the New World, attracted
from his own grapeless land by the charms of our vines,
and determined no longer to leave us in undisturbed pos-
session of such a luxury. There is every prospect, too,
that as the reign of the vine extends, the grape will more
widely attain its highest glorification, in being dedicated
to the noble service of the wine-press ; for this, after all,
is the grand use of the vine, and that to which all its
other uses are by comparison merely incidental and un-
important. Other fruits may please the palate as well,
but this is serving a mere material purpose: it is the
proud prerogative of the kingly grape to minister to the
mind, and though it is true it does not stand quite alone
in this, yet it is its lofty distinction to reign supreme over

THE GOOSEBEEEY AND CTJEEANT. 135

every other substance to which a portion of th'^j power
is permitted. Let sensuality and intemperance pervert
it as they will, it is in itself a good and not an evil, and
was given by the Source of all good to " cheer the heart
of man " and gladden his spirit. It is too true that the
gift has often been abused, so much so that legislators
have sometimes attempted wholly to interdict it ; and it
is said that the grape has once or twice been entirely
rooted out of the land of China by imperial decree.
Nature, however, cannot be permanently thwarted, and
it has mostly been found that where the vine has been
banished something worse has taken its place, it being a
significant fact that wine-growing countries are really the
least intemperate. Next, indeed, to the corn which sup-
plies our daily bread, we may truly say that by the greater
part of the world no gift of Heaven has been more valued
than the grape. In enumerating the honours of the vine,
we must not forget that it afforded one of the earliest
offerings to the Deity, for " bread and wine " were brought
forth to Abraham by Melchizedek, "the priest of the
Most High G-od." Consecrated too to the most sacred
rite of the religion of Jesus, it has thus been made to us
a link between heaven and earth ; and though we look
not with the heathen or the Mahometan to an actual
quaffing of grape-juice as part of the bliss of eternity, yet
every Christian must feel that there is something hallowed
in the symbol which reminds him of his future hope to
drink hereafter " new wine in his Father's kingdom."

CHAPTER X.

THE GOOSEBEEEY AND CUEEANT.

WHILE every bright-tinted blossom still slept within
its bark-built cell, and only the first faint streaks of spring

136 OUE COMMON FBTJITS.

green we*# yet dawning over the dark bareboughs of winter ,
from among the earliest of leaves crept forth one of the
earliest of flowers ; but flaunting no brilliant hues to mark
it out amid the universal verdure, this hardy little pioneer
was attired, on true rifle brigade principles, in a garb
assimilating closely with its surroundings. Possessed of
neither beauty nor fragrance, it lived out its little life
unnoticed, perhaps, by one eye out of a hundred among
the many eagerly watching for the bloom of spring, but
connecting that idea solely with the snowy vestures of
the cherry and the pear-tree, or the richer glories of the
almond and apple. With the advancing season, however,
the outgrowth of those humble blossoms soon becomes
apparent, and being endowed, while yet immature, with
virtues beyond those of any of our other fruits in a similar
stage of progress, though not yet fit for the dessert, they
grace the dinner- table at least with a charm that has been
long absent, and our^gngKjgh feast of first-fruits is there-
fore always a feast of ,, Gooseberries.

The botanical name JRibes, shared in common by both
gooseberries and currants, is an Arabic title originally be-
stowed on them through a mistake, for the description given
by Arab botanists of the plant to which they had given
this appellation, seemed to apply so well to our fruits that
they were classed with it, and as the Europeans had not
seen the real Hibes, and the Arabians never came in con-
tact with the gooseberry or currant, neither party dis-
covered the error that had been fallen into until it had
continued too long for the name to be altered, though the
distinct nature of the respective plants has been long
since ascertained, and even a cook-maid would hardly now
suspect that rhubarb (the Arab Ribes] had anything in
common with the gooseberry beyond the similarity of
flavour in the tarts made from them. The surname of the
latter species— grossularia — is said to be derived from the
resemblance of the fruit to little unripe figs, called Gros-
suli, whence, too, comes the French Groseille, the Scotch
Grozer or Grozet, and, according to some, our name Goose-
berry also, though the latter is more generally considered
to have been corrupted from ^orse-berry, on account of

THE GOOSEBERRY AND CURRANT. 137

the prickly bush . on which they grow, while some gar-
deners believe that it alludes to the gross or thick skin of
the fruit, and others again trace its etymology in the fact
of its having been formerly much used as a spring sauce
for the goose. In some counties it bears the name of
Eeaberry, contracted from feverberry, the juice having been
considered beneficial in fever.

Before it has opened, the blossom of the gooseberry* in
size, shape, and colour very nearly resembles a grape-
stone. When fully blown it is seen to consist of a green
calyx, slightly tinged perhaps with dull red, and divided
at the edge into five sepals ; at the base of these rise five
tiny colourless scales, which represent petals, and between
these are the five stamens ; the whole arranged upon a
central ovary, situate below the floral part, and looking
like a sudden swelling of the flower-stalk. Ere long this
ovary swells more and more ; it is soon traceable that
there are little seeds within it, arranged in two groups,
and attached to its sides by threads; and when eventually
it has become a large juicy berry, these seeds are still
fettered to its walls and sustained amid the pulp by the
same soft but firm ligatures. And though the blossom
has long since withered, its principal part, the calyx, has
not disappeared, but merely dried up, and, now, brown
and shrivelled, still clings to the object which has so dis-
tended beneath it, and keeps the same place to the last
upon the great berry which it did at first upon the little
ovary — a relic of humble origin retained by the expanded
fruit, like the apron preserved by the ex-blacksmith of
Persia in all the exaltation of royal grandeur. f\j

Even at its best estate this blossom of the gooseberry
had been so small and insignificant — making little more
show while unopened than a leaf-bud, and scarcely dis-
tinguishable in its lair among the leaves even when full
blown — that, comparing it with the great and gorgeous
flowers which kindle the cactus into stars of flame, it
might appear as reasonable for a linnet to claim cousin-
ship with a peacock as for these most opposite-seeming

* See Plate III., fig. 1.

138 OTJB COMMON FBTJITS.

products of the vegetable kingdom to put in a plea of
relationship. Yet it is a botanical fact that the plants are
closely allied, and the cacta are considered as the tropical
representatives of the grossularice of cold climates. Care-
ful inspection will show many points of similarity, for
though the gooseberry has leaves and the cactus has none,
consisting entirely of succulent stems, the former shoots
forth many appendages, which are affirmed to be foliage
in a state of abortion, and therefore tending to disappear-
ance ; the " very sharpe, cruell, crooked (?) thorns, which
no man's hand can well avoid that doth handle them,"
spoken of thus plaintively by an old botanist, being now
looked on as mere mid-ribs without any expansion of fleshy
substance to form them into leaves, and which therefore
harden into mere prickly spines. The ovary, too, swelling
as it does directly out of the stalk, is another feature in
common, and in the matured fruit the resemblance is far
more obvious ; indeed, so much so, that one species of
cactus bears the name of the West Indian Grooseberry.
An ornamental species of grossularia, a native of Califor-
nia and the west coast of America, introduced here in
1829, and now not uncommon, shows a taste more in
affinity with its gaily dressing tropical relatives, by as-
suming a rich robe of crimson, the calyx of the blossom
being large and highly coloured like a fuchsia, making it
a very desirable acquisition in the flower-garden. In
Siberia are several species ofltibes which have the prickles
of the gooseberry, yet bear fruit resembling currants, being,
indeed, the connecting link between the two. These are
not easy for a botanist to class, for the presence or ab-
sence of prickles is the one feature by which the plants
are commonly distinguished from each other, it being a
singular fact, considering how different are the respective
fruits into which the blossoms develope, that the organs of
fructification are so similar as to offer nothing on which
a distinction of genera can be founded. The currant has
more numerous blossoms, it is true, but the gooseberry
produces several in a group, one or two mostly proving
abortive, and in each case they are arranged on a common
stalk, each with its appended bract, while the flowers are

THE GOOSEBEEEY AND CUEEANT. 139

formed of exactly the same number of parts, disposed in
an exactly similar manner. Linnaeus attempted to trace
a distinction in the presence or absence of hair on the
fruit; and were all gooseberries like the little red Esau
selected by housekeepers as making the best preserve, the
difference from the currant would be obvious enough;
but among the former family are to be found Jacobs also,
as smooth-skinned as the subtle supplanter of old, and
trust in this characteristic would therefore by no means
prevent confusion of the tribes, but, on the contrary, only
prove as misleading as it did in the days of the patriarch.
At a loss, then, for some better family cognizance, Tourne-
fort speaks only of thorny and thornless " Groseilles"
and modern science has been unable to improve on the
classification.

The thornless gooseberries, then, if so we must desig-
nate our currant friends, are a widely nourishing race,
native to many parts of Europe, venturing in America to
the very borders of the Arctic circle, and calling up a
vision of cooler climes amid Oriental surroundings in many
places in Asia. There is no evidence of the ancients having
been acquainted with any of the tribe, but Loudon thinks
it hardly probable that they could have been unknown,
though we may be unable to identify them with any of the
plants mentioned by the Greeks and Eomans. It is not
noticed, however, by our own oldest botanical writer,
Grerard, nor does its title imply any very ancient origin,
for it derives the name "currant" from its resemblance
to the imported dried fruit which our forefathers called
Corinthes, or currants, because they were brought from,
Greece, and with which, therefore, they must have been
familiar before making acquaintance with their now natu-
ralized namesake.

Foremost of this branch of the family stands the univer-
sally admired Hibes rubrum, or Red Currant, the flowers*
and fruit of which grow in racemes, i.e., on little stalklets
proceeding from the main stalk, and each supporting but
a single berry, instead of branching so as to bear several,

* See Plate III., fig. 3.

140 OUR COMMON FBITITS.

as in the case of the stalklets of a cluster of grapes. When
found growing wild amoDg rocks or in mountains, situa-
tions where it often springs up from bird-sown seeds,
even in countries where, as in Britain, it is not indigen-
ous, it is a small-leaved bush scarcely a foot high, but
under cultivation attains four or five times that height,
the leaves, too, becoming at least twice as large. The
fruit would seem to attain its greatest size in the North,
for in Anderson's " Sketches of the Russian Empire," it
is affirmed that on the Altaian Mountains the red currants
grow to the size of an ordinary cherry. In the south of
Europe it is little known, nor does it seem to have been
originally a native of France, the name by which it was
formerly known there, Groseille d'outre~mer, evidently
indicating a foreign introduction. At the present day,
however, the fruit occupies a very important position in
Paris, less, however, as -a fruit than as furnishing the
popular sirop de groseille which supplies the lady's petit
verre, and admits her to a privilege unknown to her sister
in London — that of finding, in any place of refreshment
she may visit, wherewith to slake her thirst at trifling cost
and with an innocent and delicious beverage. Besides its
cooling influence, currant-juice has also the property of
diminishing the secretion of bile. Wherever may have
been the birthplace of the plant, it appears to have been
in Holland that attention was first devoted to its improve-
ment, and it is thence that our principal varieties have
been procured ; the English market continuing, too, to be
largely supplied with Dutch currants ready grown and
gathered. The plant, however, thrives here as well as any-
where, and is seen as often as anywhere trained against
a cottage wall, its handsome lobed leaves of rich green and
jewelled clusters of ruby drops beautifying the poor man's
lowly dwelling, while presenting him with a feast whole-
some as refreshing. And though the banquet it spreads
endures but a short period if left entirely to Nature, yet,
by choosing a northern aspect, and covering tthe bushes
with matting, the gathering season may be prolonged from
July even until December.

The White Currant is only a variety of the Eed produced

THE GOOSEBEEEY AND CUBEANT. 141

by cultivation, and offering no further peculiarity than
the colour of the fruit, for the flavour varies according to
the situation in which it is grown, sometimes being less,
sometimes more, acid than its ruddy relative. A pink
variety is also sometimes grown, and there is a sort cul-
tivated in Austria which is marked with alternate stripes
of white and red. The Black Currant is much more de-
cidedly distinct. It has the same geographical range as
the Red, but is more abundant than the latter in the
north, and comparatively scarcer in southern latitudes,
though a few species of Ribes even in India and South
America have black fruit ; and though sometimes found
in British woods and hedges, is not known to be truly in-
digenous to this country. The taste for it, too, seems to
be developed progressively northwards. Du Hamel speaks
of it as simply medicinal, though the virtues he enumerates
as appertaining to it might well induce his countrymen
to endeavour to acquire a relish for it ; and the most recent
Bon Jardinier still only specifies its being used to make
ratifia, without mentioning any possibility of its being
eaten at the dessert. Among ourselves, though one of
our old botanists spoke of the fruit as being " of a stinking
and somewhat loathing savour," and many still dislike it,
this is, perhaps, compensated for by its,, friends being
usually passionately fond of it, for it is one of those
strongly marked characters which can hardly be regarded
with indifference. It is a significant fact, too, that it
usually fetches a higher price in the London market than
currants of any other colour. In Scotland it is yet more
esteemed than with us, and the jelly is considered there
to give an additional charm to whisky and water, as lemon
is added to their grog by South Britons. In the north of
Russia, where it grows wild abundantly, the love for it is
shared by even the bears, who devour it greedily, large
quantities being also gathered by the inhabitants, and
dried in the sun or in ovens to preserve it for winter use,
either in tarts or medicinally. On reaching the utmost
extremity of its Pole-pointing tendency in Siberia, it sup-
plies drink as well as food, the berries being fermented with
honey, and a powerful spirit distilled from them, while the

142 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

leaves form a principal ingredient in the beverage known
by the name of gneiss, and are also put into white spirit
to give it a brown brandy tint. The efficacy of black
currant jam or jelly in affections of the throat is almost
universally known and taken advantage of, though its
virtues are in England too often greatly diminished by
the use of more sugar than is fitting in making the pre-
serve. The leaves of the Black Currant, when dried, are
sometimes used in England and Scotland instead of green
tea, two or three of them imparting an additional zest to
the ordinary Souchong, scarcely to be distinguished, as
some say, from real Hyson, and only needing a Celestial
name to be esteemed equal to any import from the Mowery
Land. It is in the transparent yellow dots at the back of
the leaves that the strong and peculiar odour of the plant
resides. The flowers vary very slightly from those of the
Hed species, being greenish-yellow in colour, sometimes
tipped with red, and closely resembling in formation those
of the gooseberry, but grouped in greater numbers into
racemes. One of its varieties, too, furnishes that brightest
ornament of early spring, the Ribes sanguinwn* which,
though only introduced here from the north-west coast of
America in 1826, is now seen almost everywhere, drooping
its elegant clusters of rosy blossoms, varying from pale pink
to deep red, among its leaves of vivid green, long before the
pale tints of our forefathers' lilacs and laburnums have un-
folded their more delicate beauties. The seeds grow freely
in this country, producing new varieties, but in all of them
it is the flower alone for which they are valued, all the
resources of the plant seeming to be expended in deco-
rating itself with these showy blossoms, for the fruit which
succeeds them is an insipid bluish-black berry, more simi-
lar to a bilberry than either to a currant or a gooseberry,
and as a fruit quite worthless. Having thus glanced at
its kindred, whether among useful or ornamental plants,
we turn once more to the head of the Eibes family, the
gooseberry, "our own, our native " plant, for we may call it
so on double grounds, being not only indigenous to our

* See Plate III., %. 4,

THE GOOSEBERRY AND CTJRRAWT. 143

island, but, in its best estate at least, almost peculiar to
it. It is true that it is a native of other countries : the
picturesque Vierlander offers it to her Hamburgh cus-
tomers ; its bushes may be seen mantling " the castled
crag of Drachenfels" and nourishing on the flat coasts of
the Baltic ; but the best berries brought to market in most
parts of Germany bear about the same relation to our
fruit as a Shetland pony does to a Barclay's dray-horse.
Though unmentioned by ancient French botanists,it grows
wild, too, in various parts of France; but the contemptuous
notice of it in the Nouveau Du Samel, sums up as the
amount of its usefulness that " the bushes make hedges
in the country, the green fruits serve instead of verjuice
to season mackerel (whence its common French name of
Groseille aux maquereaux), and the best are eaten when
ripe, the red and green sorts being mixed by the fruiterers
and sold to children and persons who like such things, by
measure. The English make tarts and preserves of them,
* and,' says M. Laundy, ' a wine which is very tolerable,
or, at least, very renowned amongst them.' " Shade of
Goldsmith ! is it thus that a frog-eating Frenchman dares
to speak of "our own gooseberry," that sparkling native
nectar on which the virtues of the immortal Vicar were
nurtured, and with which he was wont to cheer the hearts
of Wakefield's most honoured guests ? On what trivial
grounds the fastidious French may found a dislike, may
be judged by the further intimation respecting the fruit,
that " on the best sort, the hairy yellow, the hairs are soft,
and cannot produce a disagreeable impression on the most
delicate lips." On the most hirsute kind they would pro-
bably be softer than those which are wont to bristle on a
Frenchman's physiognomy, yet which certainly he would
never think it possible could cause a "disagreeable im-
pression." But it is the partiality manifested by perfidious
Albion for the poor gooseberry which evidently excites
this Gallic scorn of it, and induced the editors of so ela-
borate a work thus to mingle the splenetic with the scien-
tific. The writer continues : " It would seem that tTie
English particularly love the gooseberry, or else that they
chose it as specially fit to show the infinite power of Nature

144 OTJE COMMON" FRUITS.

in the modification of matter, for they have established
societies to give prizes for new or improved sorts. M.
Forsyth devotes so much space and care to it in his
treatise, that it would appear they think as much of its cul-
ture as we do of that of the peach ; but as it is probable it
will with us always hold the very last place on the list of
cultivated fruits, we will not give it more importance than
it merits, as being allowed to occupy a few feet of soil in
our gardens, in order to supply us with fish-sauce ; though
it must be confessed that, thanks to the English, a few
sorts are worthy to grace any table. There is, however,
no French nomenclature to them, and we will not adopt
the English, not from pretension or conservatism, but be-
cause to call one sort Le Roi Georges, another M. Smith,
and another Madame Yong, all names very good and very
beautiful, no doubt, in English, would, in French, be sim-
ply ridiculous." It would certainly be no easy matter for
a foreigner to render the titles often given to prize goose-
berries; for "Jolly Angler," "Crown Bob," &c., &c., would
be rather puzzling to translate, and can scarcely claim to
be, even in English, "very good and very beautiful;"
indeed, the practice of choosing such slang-like denomi-
nations as figure not unfrequently among the 300 varie-
ties recognized by English growers, has been condemned
by the better class of our gardeners ; but even an ill-
chosen name is better than none at all, and in France the
hapless fruit has found no kind sponsor to bestow upon
it any distinctive appellation, and must be content to
share with the currant the common term Grroseille* Con-
sidering the fruit is so decidedly anti-Gallican, it is rather
curious to find that our favourite dish, gooseberry-fool,
must seek its etymology on the other side of the Chan-
nel, the latter word being derived from fouler, to press or
crush.

It is most probable that the French judgment of goose-
berries is influenced in some measure by the same cause
which led the fox to his well-known conclusion concern-
ing another fruit ; for in the native specimens, the magnum
and the bonum seem never to be found in combination :
the one figured in Du Hamel as the largest, though in

THE GOOSEBEEET AND CUEEANT. 145

size but little exceeding a cherry, is so insipid that it is
only brought to table to please the eye, while the one
which is described as the best flavoured, the " Mignone,"
is also the very smallest, and a mere dark, slightly lobed
little pigmy,* less in size than a good black currant, and
burdened with an. appendage of shrivelled calyx twice as
long as itself. The Son Jardinier even, after describing
the plant as "covered with strong numerous thorns, which
make it very fit for impenetrable hedges," only names 11
varieties of the fruit. Nor is indiiference or contempt
for this fruit confined to the French, for a Piedmontese
botanist describes it as being " eatable, but somewhat
astringent," and in Spain and Italy it is hardly known,
the latter having no better name for it than Uva spina, or
the Prickly Grape, a term poetically elevated at Geneva
into Raisin de Mars. As it is always found, too, that the
fruit soon degenerates unless constant attention be be-
stowed on the plant, it is hardly likely that sufficient care
will ever be taken to develop its capabilities in climates
where abundance of fruit, equal or superior to it, can be
obtained from the vine, fig, or pear-tree, at the cost of far
less trouble. Nor, indeed, might any amount of care be
fully successful, for this " cold beauty of the JSTorth" does
not thrive well in warm countries, a low temperature
seeming necessary to brace it to perfection ; and, indeed,
so long as there be just sufficient sunshine to ripen it, the
colder the climate in which it grows the better is its qua-
lity; so that, other things being equal, its flavour will be
found finer in Yorkshire than in Devonshire ; bleaker
Scotland outrivals either, and even there Inverness sur-
passes Edinburgh. It does not even succeed well in the
United States, notwithstanding great pains have been
taken to introduce it there, the heat of the summers prov-
ing too great for it. Mrs. Trollope recorded that at Gin-
cinnati she found "gooseberries very few, and quite
eatable," and in the present day. though in the IS". an
States it thrives very well when planted in good soil, it is
most often seen in humble gardens in a very wretched

* See Plate III., fig. 2 (not. size). '

10

146 OTJE COMMON FETTITS.

state, bearing poor small fruit covered with mildew, partly
from ignorance of the proper mode of culture, and partly
because the inferior sorts mostly grown are always ex-
tremely liable to this disease. In the countries of N.
Europe, however, there is no reason why a fruit which so
amply repays any care that may be devoted to it in a suit-
able climate should not be brought to all the perfection
of which it is capable ; and, accordingly, Germany, in
at least its appreciation of the gooseberry, ranks only
next to England. Dochnahl speaks of it as one of the
most valuable of fruits, and describes no less than 540
sorts, while Dr. von Pausner published, at Jena, in 1852,
a very elaborate monograph of gooseberries. The Danish
Government, too, are so sensible of its merits, that goose-
berry bushes are supplied to gardeners from the national
nurseries in Denmark, at a cost of little more than a
halfpenny per plant, in order to encourage its culture.
In our own country it must have come under cultiva-
tion as early as the 16th century, for Tusser, in 1557,
writes :

" The barberry, respis, and gooseberry too,
Look now to be planted as other things do;"

but does not appear to have been held in very high esteem,
for Gerard, in 1597, after mentioning that the tender
leaves are good for salad — information of some value to
those who could not, like Queen Catherine, send to Hol-
land when they needed herbs for that purpose — and
commending the berries as useful in various culinary
compounds, yet adds that, " if eaten by themselves, they
engender raw and cold blood." Parkinson, however, by
1624, had learned to know better than this, and of the
five kinds, " three red, a blue, and a green," which were
all that were known in his time, says that " all of them
have a pleasant winie taste, acceptable to the stomach of
anie, and none have been distempered by the eating of
them that ever I could hear of." Still they were consi-
dered inferior to almost any other fruit, and, perhaps,
justly so, for they had made but little progress in the
hands of the gardeners ; nor were our gooseberries equal

THE GOOSEBEKKY AND CUBRANT. 147

to some continental ones, for a writer in 1750 says, " they
are nowhere so good as in Holland ;" when, about the end
of last or the beginning of this century, the plant was
adopted as the special favourite of a class of men who
devoted to its culture all the enthusiasm for which their
ordinary occupation afforded no scope, and under the
amateur care of Lancashire weavers the despised berry,
which had been left to rustics and children, was fitted to
take its place at the most aristocratic tables, and earned
the character it now bears, as being " one of our most
valuable table and culinary fruits." Its intrinsic excel-
lence is, doubtless, enhanced by the fact of its being the
first to greet us in spring, as well as one of the last to
leave us in autumn ; for the green gooseberry is in season
from the beginning of May till the middle of July, when
the ripe one succeeds it, and lasts till the end of August,
and some kinds will even, when kept shaded, prolong the
supply till November, or, in a dry season, till Christmas.
Of the various hues assumed by this grape of the North,
the amber colour is, according to Bhind, accompanied by
the richest vinous flavour, as is the case with the more
legitimate, or at least older offspring of Bacchus; the
green is specially noted for sweetness, as is also the green-
gage among plums ; the white are most insipid ; and in
the red, acidity is more predominant than in any of the
others — a fact in accordance with the property possessed
by acids of changing vegetable blues to red. Though only
a bush by nature, the gooseberry sometimes attains al-
most arboreal dimensions, for one at Duffield, known to
be at least 46 years old, measured 12 yards in circumfe-
rence, and two plants trained against a wall in the garden
of Sir Joseph Banks, in Chesterfield, each extended up-
wards of 50 feet from one extremity to the other, and
afforded several pecks of fruit annually.

It is to the attainment of the utmost possible corpu-
lence in a few chosen berries that everything else is
sacrificed by a Lancashire gooseberry grower. Every
shoot not absolutely necessary is pruned away ; every
fruit removed but the three or four carefully selected as
the most promising; and besides "suckling" the plant

10—2

148 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

with copious libations of liquid manure poured at its
roots, the "fancy" partially submerge each berry in a
shallow vessel of water placed immediately beneath it,
thus compelling a continual absorption of moisture until,
under this hydropathic treatment, the most dropsical
dimensions are attained. Screens of paper or canvas are
kept, too, in constant readiness to be put on or off accord-
ing to the degree of sunshine that may be required, and
the most watchful care shown lest the slightest injury
should befall the tenderly fostered darling.

"Lest the sun be glaring,

Or the wind too daring,

What fond fears are shown;

For its welfare caring
Far more than for their own."

Of course the "beauty" is not intended to "blush
unseen" when the perfection so assiduously striven for
shall at length have been attained, and each owner of
promising fruit therefore enters his name as an intend-
ing competitor at some neighbouring " Show," and sub-
scribes a small amount weekly towards the providing of
the silver sugar-tongs, or copper tea-kettle, or sum of
money which will be adjudged to the grower of the most
gigantic of all the fructal giants that may be produced ;
each fruit, however, only competing with others of its
own complexion, red with red, yellow with yellow, &c.,
&c., and the rank of the respective rivals being deter-
mined by their weight. Seventy or 80 years ago it was
thought a grand thing for a gooseberry to outweigh a
guinea, while now a berry would hardly presume to enter
the lists at an exhibition if it could not make at least five
sovereigns kick the beam ; and on one occasion the hero
of the day at Manchester was a red-skinned mammoth,
(for the red fruit always exceed in size any other) weigh-
ing no less than 37 dwts. 7 grs. The parent plant, too,
comes in for a share of the honours achieved by its off-
spring, and brings sometimes no small profit to its owner;
for cuttings from plants of reputation are in great request,
and thus the division of a single bush not unfrequently
secures a sum of 20 guineas, and one has been known to

THE GOOSEBEBRY AND CTTEBANT. 149

produce, when sold in lots, as much as £32. Greater
profit though than can be summed up in pounds or guineas
of any amount must accrue to the worthy weaver whose
monotonous loom-labours are enlivened with verdant
visions of a favourite plant ; who devotes his leisure to
a recreation necessitating the study of vegetable life and
its laws, and who, leaving cruel or debasing sports to
workmen of lower tastes, only vies with his fellows in
the innocent and useful rivalry as to which can bring to
greatest perfection one of the products of their native
land. All honour, then, to the fair fruit whose charms
have proved so powerful an attraction to this class of the
community, and exercised so beneficial an influence upon
them. It has called forth, tooAa literature of its own,
and besides occupying a larger snare of various gardening
publications and local newspapers, a work especially de-
voted to it appears every year, the Gooseberry Book being
one of the regular Manchester " annuals." Nor is the
taste for gooseberry-growing confined to a single county,
but has spread, in company with the weavers, over a large
tract of country, and zealous cultivators may be found
throughout Lancashire, Yorkshire, and Cheshire. And
though weight alone is the al] -important desideratum with
these northern amateurs, and the greatest bulk is hardly
compatible with fulness of flavour, their efforts have
shown the capabilities of the fruit. Through their par-
tiality the attention of others has been drawn to it, and
those who have been willing to sacrifice a little of its
bulk in order to attain excellence in other particulars,
have succeeded in combining greatness with goodness,
and produced that fruit, desirable in every respect, which
now adorns our summer dessert, and the enjoyment of
which may therefore be enhanced by the consideration
that, comparing it with feeble foreign growths, the Eng-
lishman may point to his gooseberry as he does to his
government, and exclaim with honest pride, " I have
made it what it is ! " And if any proud spirit should
think scorn of the work, and deem the object too petty
for attention, the words of the poet may convey to such
a lesson of much-needed wisdom, for though not written

150 OUB COMMON FBTJITS.

with that special intention, to no plant do they apply
more appropriately than to the gooseberry.

"If we would open and intend our eye,
\Ve all, like Moses, should espy
Ev'n in a bush the radiant Deity;
But we despise these His inferior ways,
Though no less full of miracle and praise.

" Upon the flowers of heaven we gaze,
The stars of earth no wonder in us raise,
Though these perhaps do more than they
The life of mankind sway.

" Although no part of mighty Nature be
More stored with beauty, power, and majesty,
Yet, to encourage human industry,
God has so ordered that no other part
Such space and such domiuiou leave for Art."

COWLET.

CHAPTEE XI.
THE BAEBEEEY.

SOMETIMES nestling in the sweet centre of a sugary
comfit — more often garlanding, with serried sprays of
coralline ruddiness, some triumph of confectionery art —
the Barberry appears at our tables, usually only in a very
supplementary kind of manner; yet as it does "enter an
appearance" there in due form, it cannot be denied some
notice, especially as it further claims to be one of the
fruits indigenous to our own country. It is thought by
aome to have come originally from the East, but no record
remains of its having been introduced thence, and it is
now at least found wild in most parts of Europe and also
of America ; while, to endow it with a respectable clas-
sical antiquity, it has been assumed to be the fruit re-
ferred to by Pliny, when he describes " a kind of thorny
bush, called appendix, having red berries hanging from
the branches, which are called appendices." Gerard in-
forms us that in his time (1597) it was very common in
England, and that near Colnbrook especially the hedges
were nothing else but barberry-bushes ; but now, though
still sometimes found wild, it is comparatively rare, though

THE BAEBEEEY. 151

the stiff, sharp, triply-pointed spines which liberally
garnish the branches fit it admirably for a protective
enclosure, while, as regards appearance, it forms one of
the very prettiest of hedges. Spring clothes it first with
a foliage of oval serrated leaves, which, being joined to
the leaf-stalk by a distinct articulation, are reckoned as
compound leaves reduced to a single leaflet ; while the
three spines which shoot out at their base are also consi-
dered as being the skeletons of undeveloped leaves, or, in
the words of Lindley, " a curious state of leaf, in which
the parenchyma is absorbed, and the ribs indurated."
By June the bush has garlanded itself with wreaths of
blossoms, in form, size, and colour not unlike the common
little yellow "everlasting" flower, but more light and
delicate in make, and far more gracefully disposed, hang-
ing in loosely drooping clusters, while the centre of each
flower displays six slender stamens surrounded by six
petals and six sepals, but calyx and corolla scarcely dis-
tinguishable from each other — the whole of the blossom
being tinted with one uniform hue of pale delicate yellow.
By September, another and yet more pleasing variation
has taken place ; for the fruit then begins to ripen, and
the bush appears in its fulness of glory — every spray
hung with elegant pendent clusters of little oval berries,
flushed with the most vivid scarlet. In flavour these are
intensely yet agreeably sharp, owing to the presence of a
powerful acid, which Scheele (according to Downing)
found to be chiefly acetic, but which Koyle asserted to be
malic, and Lindley pronounces to be oxalic. Pickled in
vinegar while green, they form an excellent substitute
for capers ; when ripe they supply a beautiful garnish,
either while fresh or preserved in bunches; and their
juice is beneficial to inflamed gums or tonsils, or, in the
North of Europe, becomes a substitute for lemon-juice
in flavouring punch, &c., while by evaporating it after
fermentation, tartar is procured. Preserved, they make a
pleasant conserve, which strengthens the stomach, creates
appetite, and is useful to check diarrhoea; while even the
leaves partake of the acid of the berries, and therefore
were formerly, and still might be, used as salad ; besides

152 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

which, they are readily eaten by cattle, sheep, or goats.
The bark and roots yield a yellow dye, and possess an
astringent quality so powerful that they are not only used
medicinally, but also, in Poland, in the manufacture of
leather — the skins being tanned and dyed yellow by one
and the same process. It might well, therefore, seem
strange that a plant with so many recommendations, both
as regards use and beauty, should be so seldom met with
in our gardens, and have been almost extirpated from
even our fields ; but better reason can be shown for the
disfavour into which the barberry has fallen than can be
adduced in every case for the neglect of native plants — a
great objection to its being planted near houses being the
very offensive odour of the flowers. Phillips mentions
having had a monster barberry-bush in his garden, which
towered 20ft. high, spreading its branches over a circum-
ference of 60 ft., and which must therefore have presented
a very beautiful appearance when decked with either
flowers or fruit ; but the smell of the blossoms, fragrant
at first as that of cowslips, changed ere they faded into a
putrid kind of scent, so exceedingly disagreeable that for
about a fortnight no one could walk in the shrubbery
anywhere near it. Still, for hedges in the open country
it might have held its place, notwithstanding a temporary
unpleasant odour, but that another and more serious
objection has led the farmer to look on it as a foe to be
carefully rooted out of his domain ; for he bas found that
wherever the barberry grows near corn, there the corn
becomes specially liable to be affected with disease. Du
Hamel treated this belief with scorn, as a mere vulgar
prejudice; other scientific writers have followed in his
wake ; and Dr.. Greville, in an elaborate work on Grypto-
gamia, proved satisfactorily enough that the mildew so
often found on the barberry (and which, under the micro-
scope, presents an extraordinarily beautiful appearance)
is distinctly different from any of the fungi usually found
on disease'd corn; but, nevertheless, practical agricul-
turists, both in this country and in America, still main-
tain the popular notion on the subject to be an incontro-
vertible fact. A most intelligent farmer assured the

THE BARBEERY. 153

writer that on one occasion, when going over his fields
with a friend, they were struck with the odd appearance
of a semicircular patch of wheat being all blighted with
"rust," while the rest of the field was wholly unaffected
by the disease. As it was at the edge of the field, the
friend remarked that it would be as well to examine the
hedge close by, when a barberry-bush, the only one in
the neighbourhood, was discovered growing exactly oppo-
site the centre of the diseased patch. ' It was grubbed
up, and in succeeding years no more "rust" appeared in
the field. Had science, instead of denying this singular
influence of one plant upon another (testified to, as it is,
by many witnesses), addressed itself more carefully to
seeking out the cause of it, we should probably not be
left now to guesses upon the subject ; but as, in the pre-
sent uncertainty, even a "guess at truth" may be of
some interest, the following considerations are adduced.

The barberry is a sensitive plant, endowed apparently
with something analogous to the nervous system of ani-
mals ; for its blossoms offer a noted specimen of vegetable
irritability, easily excited by the insertion of a pin — the
stamens, if lightly touched at their base, springing for-
ward and striking against the stigma, while the petals at
the same time close over them. If the anthers be ripe,
this movement causes them to discharge their pollen upon
the stigma, and then, if touched again, no result is eli-
cited ; but if the blossom be immature, the various parts
soon return to their former position, and another touch
excites a similar commotion again, so that the experiment
may be repeated several times upon the same flower.
Nor is this all ; for it has been further found that if
poison be applied to the plant, should it be of a corrosive
nature (such as arsenic), the filaments stiffen into a
rigidity no longer capable of responding to the touch
which was before so irritating ; whereas if, on the con-
trary, a narcotic such as opium be administered, they
equally lose the power of making an active spring, but
droop in flaccid weakness, easily bent in any direction.
As regards their ordinary condition, however, it would
appear that some external force must be necessary in

154 OTTB COMMON FKUITS.

order to impel the stamens to discharge their office of
fructifying the central organ ; but as experimentalizing
botanists are not always at hand to tickle them into com-
pliance, Nature has provided for their being commonly
urged into fulfilling her behests, by making the flowers
specially attractive to insects — it may be, even by that
very odour so offensive to human nostrils — and the busy
tribes thus drawn to settle on them, in pushing their way
among the irritable stamens, soon vex them into that
violent rush towards the pistil which is requisite to induce
its fructification. Further consequences ensue from this
peculiar endowment; for just as "where the body is,
there the eagles gather together," so, and for like reason,
where insects are, there little birds are sure to flock ; and
though the fruit is too acid to tempt them into making
that an article of diet, singing birds, especially bull and
goldfinches, are especially fond of resorting to the bar-
berry-bush to build their nests in its thorn-protected
branches, and profit by the feast provided in its swarms
of insect visitants. This of itself would suffice to make
the plant unwelcome to those short-sighted cultivators
who hold the feathered race in deadly hatred as devourers
of their grain, hearing in their sweetest songs only the
impudent triumph of successful plunderers ; but this is
a prejudice abandoned by the more enlightened, who re-
cognize the destruction of many insects as a service out-
weighing the consumption of a few seeds. But however
the plant might have been forgiven for harbouring birds
— now acknowledged to be harmless or even useful — it is
less easy to pardon its attractiveness to the lesser winged
guests which allure them, and which are by no means
proved to be innocuous to crops ; for, indeed, it seems no
unplausible theory that, among the atomic crowd drawn
together by the fascinations of the barberry-blossoms,
may be some minute agent of a blight in corn, which,
when it finds itself in proximity to a more congenial
abode, may abandon its first resting-place on the shrub
to effect a more pernicious lodgment in the grain. If
this theory be correct, the old opinion of the barberry
being injurious to corn, scoffed at as a mere superstition

THE BAEBEEEY. 155

when set forth as the subtle and inexplicable working of
a sort of vegetable feud, might be admitted and recog-
nized as the reasonable outcome of a chain of simple
natural causes.

By divesting it of its lower branches and carefully re-
moving all the suckers which it so liberally throws up,
the barberry may be diverted from its natural bush-like
growth, and made to assume a tree-like form; a change
which improves not only its appearance but even its pro-
duce, since, when its strength is spent in sending up many
shoots, the berries are comparatively small and few in
number. Those of the ordinary barberry, of a long oval
in shape, contain two or even sometimes three seeds ; but
a variety, more common in Normandy perhaps than any-
where else, entirely devoid of seeds, and more highly
prized wherever it is grown than any other kind, is made
by the confectioners of Rome into a celebrated sweet-
meat known as Comfiture d^Epine vinette — this French
name for the barberry signifiying acid, or sorrel thorn. As
this seedless sort of fruit is found only as the growth of
poor soil, or on old plants, and even then it does not seem
to be a permanent characteristic — since, though the kind
can be propagated by layers or cuttings, suckers taken
from such bushes always, it is said, produce- the common
seeded berries — it is generally supposed that this sterile
fruit is only a mark of weakness in the plant that bears it,
rather than that its production denotes a distinct natural
variety. Another rarer kind has smaller flowers, and bears
a scantier crop of smaller berries perfectly white. But
there are negroes as well as albinoes of this ordinarily red
race ; and an evergreen sort brought from the Straits of
Magellan has round, sweet, black berries, the size of a
black currant, which are used in America, whether green
or ripe, for baking in pies, and pronounced to be very good
for the purpose. Yet another species, which flourishes
specially at Nepal, displays large violet-coloured berries,
with proportionately large seeds, which in India are dried
like raisins in the sun, and then eaten at dessert. The
Mahonias, or Spiny-leaved Barberries, which bear quite
valueless fruit, were at one time assigned to a distinct

156 OTJE COMMON EETJITS.

genus, but are now included under the general term Ber-
leris. The most esteemed of these is the Aguifolwm, or
holly-leaved, whose glossy evergreen foliage, very similar
in shape to that of holly, but glowing in autumn with the
richest hues of crimson and purple, presents an appear-
ance so attractive that for some years after its first intro-
duction (from N". W. America) in 1823, plants of it were
readily bought at the price of 10 guineas each. It is now
a common ornament of our shrubberies.

Though so different a plant in many respects, an examina-
tion of the flower and fruit shows the barberry to be nearly
akin to the vine, which is therefore in the Natural System
classed as one of the Berleridce, and the one perhaps most
closely allied to the shrub which gives a name to that
family. "Whence its own name is derived seems to be rather
uncertain. It is called by the Arabs Tierberys, and Du
Hamel says the term is derived from an Indian word
signifying mother-of-pearl ; while others, again, seek its
etymology in the Greek berberi, or the Phoenician fiarar —
the former meaning a shell, the latter the lustre of shells,
the allusion being supposed to be either to the hollow
shape or to the glossiness of the leaves ; though the last-
named quality is certainly more -apparent in the berries,
which, at least in the case of the white-fruited sort, may
be compared to some kinds of little shells. The old English
name for the plant (still retained, it is said, in Cambridge-
shire) is the Pipperidge or Piprage-bush.

CHAPTEE XII.

THE CEANBEEEY AND ITS ALLIES, THE WHOETLE-
BEEEY AND BILBEEEY.

DWELLEES in our great cities, the first stage of whose
acquaintance with Cranberries is mostly the discovery of
them as inmates of a barrel, the label of which announces
that it is freshly arrived from Norway, Eussia, or America,

THE CEANBEEEY AND ITS ALLIES. 157

might be expected to feel some surprise on learning, for
the first time, that the fruit thus constantly identified with
foreign associations is not only indigenous to our own
country, but very abundant in many parts of it. The sur-
prise would, however, be mingled perhaps with another
ieeling, not very complimentary to their rural compatriots,
on finding further that our immense imports, amounting,
some years ago, to as much as 30,000 gallons per annum,
paying a duty of Qd. per gallon, are not so much a supple-
ment to native supplies as a substitute for them, and
that while Russian boors and American settlers find a pro-
fitable employment in collecting cranberries for the Eng-
lish markets, our own poor villagers suffer vast quantities
of these berries year by year to rot ungathered on British
bushes. In Scotland especially is this the case, and their
countryman, M'Intosh, justly deplores that some among
the more enlightened class do not direct the attention of
the Scotch peasantry to the wastefully neglected advan-
tages Nature has afforded them with regard to this fruit,
and incite their industry by pointing out the best markets
and easiest mode of transport. How much might be gained
in this way may be judged from an old account of Long-
ton in Cumberland, where cranberry-gathering, being un-
dertaken in earnest, the sale of them amounted ordinarily
to £20 or £30 on each market-day throughout the season,
which extended over five or six weeks, many people there
even making wine from them. It is true that cranberries
(which, therefore, in Gerard's time bore the name of "fen-
berries," and are termed by the Dutch "fen grapes")
thrive only in damp and swampy ground, and that in a
country where population is always increasing and im-
provement progressing, bogs and marshes are by no means
desirable features, nor yet likely to be permanent ones ; but
so long as soil of this kind is in existence, there is so much
the more reason for turning it to the best account by
making use of what it does produce, or, if not brought forth
spontaneously, of planting it with what it is fitted to pro-
duce ; for wherever there is water there cranberries will
thrive, and many witnesses depose to the fact that, with
very little cost or trouble, a cranberry plantation may be

158 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

established on the margin of any pond even in the most
barren waste. All that is necessary is to form round its
border a bed of bog-earth, kept in its place by a few boards
and stakes, for this kind of soil retains moisture longer
than any other, and is so indispensable to the cranberry-
plant that, though it will sometimes grow in bog-earth
away from any pond, not even dwelling beside a pond can
nduce it to thrive unless rooted in bog-earth. A few bushes
planted in such a situation will send out runners, which in
the course of a few years will spread over the whole bed,
and, never requiring any culture or attention,will year after
year bring forth an abundant and regular crop of fruit,
unaffected by bad weather and unspoiled by insect ravages.
Sir Joshua Banks was the first to try this experiment, near
a pond in his grounds at Spring Grove, but though the
result was eminently successful, it has been very little
followed in this country. In New England, however, many
low-lying, rank meadows are turned to very profitable ac-
count by being thus planted, for 20 feet of laud will yield
three or four bushels of fruit annually, the average value
being about 1 dol. per bushel (at New York even 3 or 4
dols.), while a labourer can gather, with the aid of a
" rake," as much as 30 bushels in a day. They grow wild
in great abundance in the neighbourhood of Barnstaple,
United States, and here the gathering is made an annual
festival, a day for it being appointed by the authorities,
when the greater part of the population go forth, armed
with implements called " cranberry-rakes," to collect the
crop, a fixed proportion of which is always made over to
the town as a municipal right.

The generic name of the cranberry, Oxy coccus, is derived
from the Greek oxy, sharp, and TcoTckos, a berry, alluding
to the acidity of the fruit ; and this genus includes several
species, our native English kind being termed palustris,
and the common American sort macrocarpus, but they do
•not differ very strikingly, the chief distinction being that
the berries of the latter are larger, while the flavour of
ours is mostly preferred. That the American kind are
thought inferior may sometimes be due to the damaging in-
fluence of the voyage, but is not always so, since that species

THE CEANBEREY AND ITS ALLIES. 159

has been introduced into England and grown here, so as to
afford the opportunity of fair comparison. Sir J. Banks,
who first planted it, found it easier of culture than even the
native cranberry. To be put into bottles or close barrels
is all that is required in order to preserve cranberries for
winter use, and if a small quantity of more highly flavoured
preserved fruits, such as raspberries, be used with them,
they make an excellent addition to the winter bill of fare.
The ordinary kind abound in Sweden, where, in Lin-
naeus's time, they were chiefly employed as a detergent to
clean plate ; and another species, called Snowberries, on
account of the fruit being white, and which has a flavour
like that of bitter almonds, was brought from Nova Scotia
in 1760, but has not yet been popularized.

The cranberry-plant is a low, trailing, evergreen shrub,
with very small, smooth, unserrated leaves, and bright
rose-coloured flowers,* having a four-toothed calyx and a
corolla deeply cleft into four segments, which curve back-
wards like those of the common nightshade, a flower to
which, in shape and size, they bear much resemblance,
though differing in many other respects. They grow in
small clusters at the ends of the branches, one blossom on
each long curved flower-stalk ; and when, in due course,
they are succeeded by the crimson berries drooping at the
extremity of these slender bending stalks, like the head
of an aquatic bird at the end of its arched neck, the
reason becomes sufficiently apparent why our forefathers
bestowed on them the name of mme-berries. The plant
belongs to the natural order Ericaceae or Heathworts,
as does also its very near relation the Bilberry or Whortle-
berry (Vaccinium), classed with it by Linna3us, and
with which it is still sometimes confused even by writers
of some pretensions ; but though the fruit of some
species of Vaccinium is extremely similar to that of the
Oxy coccus, there is a marked distinction in the flower,
the latter, instead of having divided and recurved petals,
displaying a corolla which looks, at least, like a quite entire
little bell with a large ovary surrounded by 10 stamens in

See Plate IV., fig. 6.

160 OTJE COMMON FRUITS.

its centre, and it is not until the fruit is formed that it is
seen — by the circle of five little scars upon its surface,
beyond the 10 dots * which show where the stamens once
were, and a central mark denoting the place of the style
— that this globular corolla was really composed of five
pieces, though adhering so. closely as to seem but one.
The nearest ally to the cranberry is the Vaccinium vitis
idee, a low-growing evergreen, with foliage very like that
of the box used for bordering garden-beds, and flowers
with a bell-shaped corolla, rather deeply cleft by four
notches, growing in racemes at the end of the branches.
The berries, too, are crimson, and ripening about August
in some parts of England, chiefly in Westmoreland, are
often made into tarts under the name of " cow-berries."
but are more astringent and less pleasant than either the
cranberry or the commonWhortle or Bilberry. In Sweden,
however, large quantities are yearly made into jelly, which
is eaten as a sauce with all kinds of meat, being even pre-
ferred by many to currant jelly. Shut into a close vessel,
and placed in a cellar, they keep well for a long time,
and the wine-makers of Paris preserve them thus from
June until vintage-time, using them then to give colour
to their grape-juice — a practice harmless, at least so long
as they confine themselves to the use of this species ; but
it is said they also resort sometimes to the Vaccinium uli-
ginosum, a larger, darker coloured fruit, with less flavour,
but which, taken in any quantity, causes giddiness and
headache, and which is therefore employed occasionally in
England also to produce an illegitimate " headiness " in
beer. A white-fruited species is also sometimes met with,
chiefly in Lancashire.

The kind most often seen is the Vaccinium myrtillus,
variously named the Whortle, Hurtle, Bil, or Blaeberry, a
small, round, purple or almost black fruit, covered with
a delicate azure bloom. Growing on heaths or waste
places, it is not only indigenous in every county of this
country, from the warm Land's End to the bleak highlands
of Scotland, but is actually so peculiarly at home in this

Plate IV., fig. 5 b.

THE CRANBEKEY A]STD ITS ALLIES. 161

happy land as to be reckoned one of the plants which,
if allowed, would overrun Britain, and form one of the
largest elements in its natural vegetation. Many kinds of
game resort to it in the autumn, to feed on its berries and
find covert among the plants, which, in the pine forests
of Scotland, attain sometimes a height of three feet, and
bear fruit as large as black currants, which the High-
landers make into a jelly, often mixed with whisky, to be
presented to strangers as a special mark of hospitality.
The berries, being very astringent, are used medicinally
in the Western Isles in cases of diarrhoea and dysentery,
and in many places are eaten for pleasure, either un-
cooked, with cream, or made into tarts ; and in Poland,
where they abound, they are considered a great delicacy
when mingled with wood strawberries and new milk.
According to G-erard, Bilberries grew once on Hampstead
Heath and at Finchley and Highgate, but are not to be
met with now in very near vicinity to London, though
very abundant in some parts of Surrey, where they are
gathered by the cottagers' children, and sold at the
nearest market, seldom finding their way so far as to the
metropolis. Nor has the plant been yet introduced into
gardens, though it will grow in sandy peat, kept moist in
any shady place ; and M'Intosh affirms that those who
are fond of adding to their dessert will find several species
of Vaccinium well worthy of cultivation ; while the editors
of the Nouveau du Hamel observe, with almost bitter
sarcasm, concerning the similar neglected fate of the same
plant in France, that had it only had the good fortune to
have been brought from China or New Holland, and been
only obtainable with great difficulty as a costly exotic,
instead of simply growing wild in the forests of Mont-
morency, it would certainly have been very highly valued,
if only for its beautiful little pink blossom.* These charm-
ing little wax-like flowers, which appear in May in the
form of almost globular bells, narrowed at the neck, and
slightly toothed at the edge by five small notches, certainly
rival in elegance many foreign heaths. They grow singly

Plate IY., fig. 5 a.

11

162 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

upon drooping stalks among the small serrated and de-
ciduous leaves ; and, in gathered sprays, the plants inter-
spersed among more showy flowers, would be found to
form a very pleasing feature in a bouquet.

CHAPTEB XIII.

THE ORANGE AND ITS ALLIES, THE LEMON,
CITRON, AND SHADDOCK.

" O that I were an orange-tree,

That busy plant !
Then should I always laden be,

And never want
Some fruit for him that dresseth me."— G. HEKBEKT.

SUMMER'S light fruits have long since fled, and the
more substantial stores of autumn, if lingering still, have
yet lost much of their freshness and their flavour. Where-
with, then, shall we temper the dryness of our dessert ?
"Where seek some natural nectar, pure and cool, which
may allay the ferment of young blood heated by winter's
festivities, and moisten the parched lip of the fever-
stricken sufferer, longing, above all, for the refreshment
only to be found in the dewy juice of newly-gathered
fruits ? A welcome answer is wafted on Atlantic breezes
by a myriad white-winged messengers of commerce ; and,
plentiful as the most abundant of our home-grown pro-
duce, cheap almost as the cheapest berry of English birth,
the healthful and delicious Orange is poured upon our
shores — a luxury grateful to the highest and attainable
by the lowest in the land. With what enthusiasm would
the ancient Greek have hailed such a crowning gift of
Pomona ! — what charming myths would have been in-
vented to account for its origin ! — what lore of legends
would have gathered round it as ages rolled by ! — for, if
the dry coarse-husked walnut was deemed golden and god-
like, and could exercise so much influence on their vivid
imaginations (as shown in Dr. Sickler's Hesperidean hypo-

THE OKANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 163

thesis in the chapter on "Nuts"), what poetic raptures
would surely have been evoked, had they been blest with
possession of the far more really auriferous orange — so
brilliantly tinted a casket concealing such exquisite con-
tents ! But the Greek, alas ! knew it not, nor yet the
Eoman ; and it is sought in vain in Pliny's ample page or
in the records of Apician banquets. It is true that a
contrary opinion long prevailed, for when the Crusaders
invaded Syria they found this fruit so abundant there
that they believed it must be indigenous ; and, dazzled by
its bright hue, concluded at once that it must be the
famous " Golden Apple " of Greek fable and of Hebrew
Scripture imposed a name upon it accordingly; and then,
with supreme disregard to logical consistency, argued from
this very name to prove its identity. It was not until
the year 1811 that its history was first carefully traced,
when Galessio, in his Traite du Citrus, published at Paris
— a work of great learning and research — demonstrated
that the Arabian, Avicenna, who died in 1036, was the
first writer who distinctly mentions the orange. Indis-
putably a native of India, yet unnoticed by JNearchus
among the productions of that part of the country which
was conquered by Alexander the Great, Galessio believes
that the Arabs found it when they penetrated farther into
the interior than the son of Ammon had reached, and in
the 10th century enriched the gardens of Oman with
this new luxury. In 1002, Leon d'Ostie writes, that a
Prince of Salerno sent a present of Poma Citrina, inter-
preted to be a fruit like the Citron rather than the Citron
itself, to the Norman princes who had delivered him
from the Saracens. Avicenna, however, speaks more
plainly, describing unmistakeably the oil of oranges and
of orange seeds as preparations used medicinally. Jacques
Vitry, an historian of the 13th century, who accompanied
the Crusaders in Palestine, after describing the Lemon
and Citron found there, says that in the same country
are seen another species of Citron Apples, of which the
cold part (or pulp, in contradistinction to the "hot" or
acrid rind) is the least considerable, being of an acid and
disagreeable taste. That it was, perhaps, an unripe fruit

11 — 2

164 OTJB, COMMON" FETJITS.

which was submitted to the palate of Maitre Jacques
may account for his pronouncing such a verdict concern-
ing it. " These apples," he continues, " are by the natives
called 'oranges.' " Nicholas Specialis, again, who in the
14th century wrote a history of Sicily, in recounting the
devastations of the Duke of Calabria in the environs of
Palermo, remarks that he did not even spare the trees of
acid apples, called by the people " arangi" which from,
ancient times had embellished the gardens of the royal
palace. The bitter variety, however, now called by us
" Seville Oranges," were at first the widest spread and
most known in Europe ; for, from the 10th to the 15th
century no passage in history refers to the sweet orange,
all writers mentioning the fruit as one more pleasant to
the sight than to the taste ; and Gralessio believes that
the two kinds, originally distinct, travelled by different
routes, and that they were brought by the Arabs through
Egypt and the N". of Africa to Spain, while they trans-
ported the sweet sort tHrough Persia into Syria, and
thence to Italy and the Si of France. Khind, however,
while accepting his statement as to the course of their
journey ings, deduces from it that they were probably de-
rived from one stock, and considers Gralessio's theory of
their transit to be borne out by the fact of the character
of the respective fruits coinciding with the probable in-
fluence of the ways in which they wandered, and that the
one which had been transplanted from one genial climate
to another, as in the case of Persia, Syria, and Italy,
would be likely to remain sweet, while that which had
been borne along the desert to reach Spain might well
have become embittered by such a progress; for, according
to him, there is no absolute reason for supposing that the
sweet and bitter oranges were originally different; and
even now they are not so different as two mushrooms of
the very same variety, the one produced upon a dry and
airy down, and the other upon a marsh. The fruit seems,
indeed, to be very susceptible to the influences of soil
and climate, its flavour depending greatly upon pure air
and a sufficiency of moisture ; a very^ high temperature
increasing its size at the expense of its delicacy. Thus

THE OEANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 165

St. Michael's, fanned by cool Atlantic breezes, produces
a small, pale, thin-skinned fruit, with deliciously sweet
pulp, while Malta, an island also, yet dry and sultry from
its proximity to the African coast, affords a large thick-
rinded orange, with high-coloured red pulp, tasting slightly
bitter. The Chinese claim the orange as a native fruit,
and though there being no reference to it in the travels
of the accurate and observant Marco Polo has led some
to doubt this, yet it is more likely that he may have over-
looked or forgotten it, than that it should have spread so
widely there, and no record remain of its introduction
had it been transplanted thither. So thoroughly, too, was
it formerly indentified with that country, that the sweet
fruit was once universally known in Europe as the China
Orange, and it still bears that name in America and even
in India.

To return, however, to the history of its progress in
this quarter of the globe, it was asserted by Valmont de
Bomare, a Portuguese, that the first sweet orange-tree
brought to Europe was one till lately still preserved at Lis-
bon ; and some other writers even further particularized
that it was brought by Jean de Castro, who voyaged in
1520 ; and was the only survivor of a number of trees sent
as a present from Asia to Conde Mellor, prime .minister of
the King of Portugal. G-allo, however, who published a
work on agriculture in 1569, speaking of the sweet oranges
in the neighbourhood of Salo on Lake Garda, says that
they had been cultivated there from time immemorial;
and even that most decisive personage, the " oldest inha-
bitant," bringing the weight of nonagenarian memory
to bear upon the question, could not remember a time
when the trees had not been these, which shows that the
Lisbon tree could not have been the first or only one
brought to Europe at the time it dates from. To the
Italians, and to the Genoese in particular, Galessio gives
the credit of having been the earliest importers of these
trees from the East : before long they began to cultivate
them, and in the territory of St. Eemo their number soon
became so considerable that in 1520 the municipal council
of that city appointed a magistrate specially to superin-

166 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

tend this branch of commerce, and laid down rules for ita
regulation, by which it is found that the annual exporta-
tion thence amounted to several millions of fruit, and
that nearly all France, Germany, and several other coun-
tries of Europe, were supplied from thence. It is at
Genoa, in the present day, that these plants meet with the
most regular and garden-like culture, so that the orange
orchards in that neighbourhood may be said to supply all
Europe with trees.

The date of the introduction of the orange-tree into our
own country is supposed to have been about 1596, Aubrey,
in his History of Surrey, mentioning the orangery of Bed-
dington, " where are several orange-trees planted in the
open ground,* where they have throve to admiration for
above a whole century, but are preserved during the winter
under a moveable covert. They were brought from Italy
by Sir Francis Carew, knight, and it was the first attempt
of the kind we hear of." The Biographia Britannica, how-
ever, connects the origin of these trees with a more illus-
trious name, asserting that " from a tradition preserved in
the family, they were raised by Sir Francis Carew, from
the seeds of the first oranges which were imported into
England by Sir Walter Baleigh." It has been stated that
in 1690 at least 10,000 oranges were gathered from these
trees ; but after flourishing for above a century, they were
all killed by a great frost. Though generally looked on
as plants only fit for the conservatory, they have for above-
100 years past been grown in gardens in Devonshire,
trained like peach-trees against walls, and sheltered only
with straw mats in winter, yet producing fruit as large
and fine as any from Portugal ; and London asserts very
confidently that in other localities, " with a little care and
without the expense of glass, they could be grown against
hollow walls, heated by flues, and protected by straw
mats." At present, however, even with the advantage
of greenhouses, our gardeners have not been very sue-

* " We know but of one orangery in the open ground at Paris," says the
Bon Jardinier for 1860, " that of M. Lemichez, where they are propagated
with great success."

THE CHANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 167

cessful in this branch of their art, a recent number of
the Gardener's Chronicle admitting that, " in England we
hardly know what a good orange is," i.e., of native growth,
yet, it continues, "there is no reason why we should not
ripen them as well and as easily as grapes," since heated
" orchard houses " are all that are required to effect so
desirable a result. The largest trees now known in Bri-
tain are those of Smorgony in Glamorganshire, said to
have been procured from a wreck on the neighbouring
coast in the time of Henry VII., and which, planted on
the floor of an immense conservatory, bear regularly and
abundantly. Fortunately, though, for "the million,"
orange lovers as they are every one of them, we are not
left to depend upon the efforts of scientific gardeners in
an unsuitable climate for our supply of this universal fa-
vourite, but can obtain a sufficient response to our largest
demands by means of importation. The best oranges as
well as the largest quantity are brought from the Azores,
where they were originally introduced by the Portuguese ;
the imports from St. Michael's having in 1859 amounted
to £84,123, the produce of that year being 252,000,000
oranges, whereof 49,000,000 were consumed on the island.
Spain, Portugal, and other countries, however, contribute
their share to swell the mighty tide which pours into
Britain, and though it is difficult to ascertain the total
quantity with perfect exactitude, as oranges and lemons
are reckoned together in the revenue returns, it has been
computed that the annual imports now actually exceeds
1,000,000 bushels, and is valued at above £600,000 per
annum. A few years ago Carpenter calculated that our
receipts, numerically taken, gave an average of nearly a
dozen oranges to each individual of the population, but
now, assuming each bushel to contain 650 fruits, the
allowance has risen to the very fair proportion of 22 for
each man, woman, and child in the kingdom. They are
brought here in boxes containing 250 or more, and in
chests containing from 500 to 1,000.

The various names applied to the orange — the Citrus
aurantium or Hesperidce of LinnsBan botany — have given
rise to much discussion. Citrum was a name given by the

168 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

Romans to a kind of gourd, still called by the French
Citrouille, and the words citrinus and citrina, as epithets,
were used for many fruits after they had been adopted to
express the pale yellow tint proper to the Citron, a fruit
known in classic days, having been introduced into Italy
10 centuries before the orange, to which it bears a cer-
tain family resemblance. Aurantium seems to be formed
from aureum, alluding to the golden colour of the fruit ;
Malum aureum was looked on as a synonym of the Malum
Hesperidum of the ancients ; and the transition from
aurantium to orange appears plausible enough.* It is
rather fallacious, however, to seek in classic language the
derivation of the names of objects unknown to those who
spoke it. We should rather seek light in the East, and
there we find that lemon and orange-trees are known in
India by the names of Lemoen and Naregan, while Hin-
dostanee dictionaries give the word narendj, as still being
the Hindoo name for our golden-robed friends. Prom
narendj, then, must have come the Latin airangi, after-
wards modified into Aurantium, whence the English and
French derived their Orange, the Spaniards their Naranxa,
and the Italians their Naranzo. The latter people, how-
ever, adopt the word Agrumi as the family name for plants
of this kind — a well chosen title, as it is derived from
agro, acid — acidity being the dominant characteristic of
every species of Citrus ; and Galessio, after imperatively
rejecting the term of Hesperidce, as founded on fable, and
objecting to Citrus as properly the name of a species,
and therefore insufficient to express the genus which com-
prises both that and others as well, expresses his opinion
that it would be advantageous were this word agrumi or
agrumes (with its derivative agronome, denoting the culti-
vator of the plants) adopted into every language. From the
French, unless we could invent a better name, we certainly
might not do ill to borrow the term Bigarade by which they

* The district in Prance which gave its name to the Netherlandish dynasty
was known to the Romans under the name of Aransio, afterwards changed to
Orange; but why it received the former name, or how this came to be altered
in the same way as was the name of the fruit, the writer, after much research,
has been unable to ascertain.

THE ORANGE AtfD ITS ALLIES. 169

distinguish the bitter kind of fruit, for which we have at
present no more suitable title than " Seville Oranges."

The most complete treatise on oranges which has ever
appeared is contained in a folio volume by Eisso, published
at Paris in 1818, which furnishes coloured and life-sized
illustrations of above 100 kinds, with a full description
of every variety grown. This writer was the first to re-
mark the curious fact that a sweet orange may always be
infallibly distinguished at a glance from an acid or bitter
one, however similar in form or colour ; the vesicles con-
taining essential oil being in the former always convex, in
the latter concave. In Limes and insipid varieties the
vesicles are plane, and they become more or less convex
or concave according as the juice of the fruit is sweeter
or sourer. The orange tribe, he says, too, is distinguished
from all other known plants by several curious physiolo-
gical characteristics, which appear to depend on a peculiar
organization ; one of its peculiarities being that the pip
often contains several embryos under one integument, as
many as three or four being found in common oranges
and lemons, while in a Pommeloe Gaertner counted no
less than 20, though the majority were imperfect.

The seed, when planted, germinates in about 10 or 15
days, and develops eventually into an evergreen tree with
greenish-brown bark, sometimes armed with thorns on the
young branches, the full-grown tree often reaching the
height of 25 ft. The leaf is technically considered as a com-
pound one with but a single leaflet, being thus not reckoned
in the same class with such as the plum or laurel, to which
a casual observer would be much more likely to assign it ;
but, on careful inspection, it may be seen that, instead of
the petiole or leaf-stalk being a mere ^uninterrupted con-
tinuation of the mid-rib of the leaf, as with other leaves
of similar shape, and which constitutes their claim to be
called simple, in the case of the orange it is a separate
piece, to which the part therefore called the leaflet is
articulated by a distinct joint, which is the special charac-
teristic of what are called compound leaves.* Though in

* See Plate V., figs. 1,2, 3.

170 OUR COMMON TBUITS.

the Citron, Lemon, and Lime this petiole is a bare stalk, in
the orange and Shaddock it is winged ; that is, it has on
each side an expansion of leafy substance, sometimes so
broad as to make it look like a second leaf growing below
the principal one it supports. The yellow dots upon the
foliage indicate the vesicles of essential oil, and if these
are bruised by rubbing a leaf between the fingers, the
odour becomes much more apparent. The blossom, which
is white, sometimes tinged with pink or violet, appears in
clusters, and is composed of from three to five petals
encircling from 20 to 60 yellow stamens (two or three
times as many as are found in the Citron or Lemon),
grouped together in several distinct little bundles — an
indication that the flower belongs to the Linnaean Poly-
adelpliia polyandria. Every part of the surface of the
orange-tree, except just these stamens, is covered with
vesicles containing an essential oil, and it is a singular
circumstance that no sooner do these manifest the least
disposition to transform themselves into petals, so as to
form double blossoms, than vesicles of oil begin imme-
diately to develop on their surface also. The central
ovary is divided into from five to 15 parts, each containing
from six to 20 ovules ; but, fortunately for orange eaters,
at the utmost not more than three or four in each divi-
sion perfect into pips, and some varieties, both of sweet
and bitter oranges, are entirely seedless. The perfect
fruit is a large berry, with a leathery rind enclosing a
pulp consisting of a number of vesicles containing a fluid
which owes its flavour to a combination of the malic
acid of the apple with the citric acid of the lemon ; and
the divisions of the ovary are still apparent in the form
of the thin membrane dividing the "quarters" of the
fruit. The tough and oil-impregnated skin in which it
is enveloped fits it to endure uninjured both extremes of
temperature; and the aroma of the rind and acidity of
the pulp combining to protect it from insect depredations,
it may be procured fresh in every region of the world to-
which means of transport are available, since, if plucked
before it is fully ripe, it will keep good for a considerable
time, being indeed a treasure ready packed for travelling

THE ORANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 171

by Nature herself. The gathering of "both oranges and
lemons for the English market begins in October, and
does not continue beyond the end of December, while the
fruit would not be perfectly ripe until the following
spring. Another advantage gained from this premature
harvesting is, that the trees from which the fruit is ga-
thered green bear plentifully every year, while it is found
that where the fruit is suffered to ripen they afford abun-
dant crops only on alternate years. The productiveness
of the common orange is enormous, Dr. Lindley informing
us that a single tree at St. Michael's has been known to
produce 20,000 oranges fit for packing, exclusive of the
damaged fruit and the waste, which may be calculated at
one-third more. In hot countries the essential juice of the
ripe orange is reabsorbed by the tree during its blossom-
ing, after which period the fruit becomes sweeter and
more succulent than before.

The fruit takes two years to mature, and as fresh blos-
soms are continually appearing, it may be seen upon the
same tree at once in every stage, from the little green
globule to the perfect golden globe shining luminous
among the rich glossy foliage, all enwreathed with clusters
of pearl and amber flowers, sending forth an odour that
never cloys. Grateful to every sense, no marvel that the
orange-tree is the chosen ornament of courtly halls and
palatial pleasaunces, and that, as Dr. Sickler observes, in
laying out royal or noble gardens an orangery is felt to be
the first necessity, and it is only when this is provided for
that even fountains and statues are thought of.

The tree attains sometimes to a very great age; there
is one probably still in existence at Versailles which was
known by the name of " Erancis I.," having been taken
during the reign of that monarch from the Constable de
Bourbon, on the seizure of his property in 1523, after it
had been in the possession of his family for upwards of
80 years. There are some trees, too, at Cordova, which
are said to be 600 or 700 years old, but which have begun
to decay, and when diseased become encrusted with a
kind of lichen supposed to be peculiar to the orange. The
tree is liable, too, to take disease from other plants, as was

172 OTTR COMMON FRUITS.

unfortunately proved when the orange-trees at Fayal were
attacked, some years ago, by a new and strange insect,
which completely destroyed a large number of them, the
only effectual remedy being to cut down the tree as soon
as the disease showed itself, leaving only the stump
covered with earth, whence new and healthy shoots would
then grow up. It first appeared in the gardens of the
American consul, immediately after he had had an import-
ation of trees from his native country planted there, and
no doubt was entertained of its having been thus intro-
duced ; but it spread so rapidly all over the island that
the other Azores, in great alarm, placed Fayal in a sort of
quarantine, lest it should reach them ; and though very
strenuous efforts were made to overcome the evil, its
effects are by no means yet recovered from. In Florida,
too, the orange-trees were almost exterminated some years
ago by the ravages of the Coccus Hesperidum ; but it is
said that a specific against these insects has been disco-
vered in the common camomile, when either planted at the
root of the tree or even hung in gathered bunches among
its boughs.

Accustomed, from what is seen on every table and in
every street and shop, to associate with the name of
orange only the regular form of that " oblate spheroid "
with which geographers delight to illustrate the figure of
this our earth, any one to whom they were presented for
the first time would be likely to be rather astonished on
being called upon to give that title to many of the curious
objects which figure in the illustrations to M. Bisso's ela-
borate work. Yariegated in colour, and most strangely
diversified in form ; stained, striped, ribbed like the melon,
nippled like the lemon ; horned, as it is called, like no-
thing else in nature ; adhering together and growing upon
each other like the two "halves" of a cottage loaf; or
within each other, and peeping forth like the progeny of
an opossum from the mother's pouch ; some of the oddest
irregularities of Nature are to be found claiming kindred
-with our simple yellow ball, and turning the common ex-
pression "as round as an orange" into a piece of most
contemptuous irony. It may not be uninteresting to

THE OBANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 173

particularize a little more minutely some of these va-
garies.

The Malta Blood Orange offers no visible peculiarity
until it begins to ripen, when a red stain appears within,
spreads over all the pulp, and then comes out upon the
rind, though rarely extending all over it. It has but few
seeds, and these are nearly always barren. Before modern
experiments had demonstrated the fallacies of ancient su-
perstition on gardening subjects, a "graft " was as much
the matter-of-course solution of any singular vegetable
phenomenon as a " spell " was of any extraordinary animal
affection ; and accordingly it was a general belief that this
sanguineous-tinted fruit was the product of an orange
grafted on a pomegranate, a notion now ascertained to be
quite incorrect, though it is still supposed to be a cross,
but only between an Indian and a European species of
aurantium. The Turkish Orange* has a number of nar-
row radiating stripes extending from the top of the fruit
towards and sometimes quite to the stalk, the predomi-
nant colour of the fruit being pale yellow, and the stripes
at first green, afterwards red. The Horned Orange t
grows out into protuberances of different sizes, sometimes
conical, sometimes shaped like the claw of a tiger, giving
the normal sphere a deformed and monstrous appearance.
The cause of this singular eccentricity is traced by Lindley
to a monstrous separation of the carpels, or parts of the
ovary; while another yet more extraordinary variation of
form — in which but half of the fruit is globular, a num-
ber of misshapen prominences completing its figure, and
presenting an appearance very like a bird's nest with a
number of unsightly young ones putting forth their little
heads from it — is considered to arise from the growth of
a supernumerary row of carpels beyond the legitimate
number which form the ordinary ovary, and which deve-
lop into little oranges, deformed, perhaps, owing to not
having room to expand within the larger one. Yet an-
other notable variety of the sweet orange is that which
is known at Paris by the name of " Adam's Apple," having

* See Plate V., fig. 7. t Ib.> fig. 15.

174 OUR COMMON FRTJITS.

received this title in consequence of its being eatable
throughout like an apple, the skin being soft and melting
as the flesh of a peach ; and the latest novelty with which
the family has presented us, the miniature Tangerine
Orange, often not more than an inch in diameter, and which
has been too recently introduced to have been included in
Eisso's list, is also eaten entire; its peculiar perfume
pervading the whole fruit, and rendering the rind almost
as agreeable as the pulp. Though so small, it is far more
expensive in England than its larger brethren (owing to
the limited supply furnished from Tangiers) , being com-
monly sold in Covent Garden at 2s. the dozen. But
however strange the form assumed by some of the sweet
oranges, yet greater singularities are met with when we
come to the tribe of Bigaradiers, our bitter or Seville
Oranges. Trees of this kind are generally less tall than
those which bear sweet fruit, the foliage is thicker, and
the leaf-stalks have larger wings, while the flower is larger
and more odorous, and therefore preferred for the purposes
of the perfumer. The fruit has a more rugged rind and
a redder colour when ripe, every part of the tree, in fact,
being on a sort of stronger scale — " an orange pushed to
excess," as Kisso expresses it. Among the varieties of
the Bigaradier are to be found some which are " horned,"
others which look as though two or three smaller fruits,
more or less formed, were growing out of the summit of
the larger one ; another, the Bicolor* the leaves of which
are variegated with patches of white, while the fruit is
marked with coloured stripes, first green, then red, and
having the further peculiarity that the vesicles of essen-
tial oil upon those stripes are concave, while on the other
part of the fruit they are convex. The Bigaradier violette
has some of its leaves and some of its flowers of a rich
violet hue, the others being of the ordinary colour, the
flowers, which grow from the axil of a green leaf, being
white, while those which spring from the base of a violet
one are violet also. The fruit, too, which proceed from
the latter, partake of this tint, until they have nearly

* See Plate "V. fig. 11.

THE OBANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 175

attained their full growth, when they turn yellow and
ripen like the others. Plants of this species are now not
uncommon at Paris, but they have all been obtained from
cuttings from the original, and for a long time the only
one of the kind, in the Jardin des Plantes ; but though as
easy to cultivate as the common sort, a high price has been
maintained for it by the florists, who reserve it for their
choicest bouquets, and sell it under the name of Herma-
phrodite. An attempt has been made, by nipping the green
leaves as soon as they appeared, to force the whole plant
to become violet-coloured, but it has proved a failure.

But the most curious of all curious oranges — nay, it
might almost be said the most extraordinary production
of the vegetable kingdom — is the Bigaradier bizarrerie,*
the origin of which remained for thirty years a marvel
and a mystery, till Pierre Nato, a Florentine physician,
who made it the subject of a public dissertation at Flo-
rence in 1674, made known that the tree which bore it was
simply a seedling, which the gardener in whose grounds
it had been raised had forgotten or neglected to re-graft,
after his first operation upon it had accidentally failed.
Left thus to itself, the fruit it brought forth was so dif-
ferent to anything that had ever been seen before, that
ere long it attracted its owner's notice : he gained large
sums by selling cuttings from it ; but wishing for fame as
well as fortune, took credit for having produced such
wonderful effects by his own special skill and exertions,
until at last Nato prevailed upon him to disclose the
whole truth. Trees of this strange variety have some of
their branches smooth, some garnished with thorns, violet-
coloured or green ; the leaves are indiscriminately long
and short, smooth-edged or indented, and their petioles
naked or winged ; the flowers are sometimes all white,
sometimes only a portion are white, and the rest pink ;
while in the fruit which follows no less than four or five
species are mingled, the same tree bearing at the same
time sweet oranges, bitter ones, Citrons and Limes, in-
terspersed with fruits made up of some or all of these in

* See Plate V., fig. 16.

176 OUE COMMON FRUITS.

different proportions, one, perhaps, being half orange and
half Bigarade or Citron, another the same mixture in alter-
nate quarters or eighths, and so on in almost endless va-
riety. It seems, in short, as though the elements of several
different species were circulating under the same bark, yet
remaining, like oil and water, without the power to mix,
or at least to blend and unite : each finds distinct and in-
dependent development as it can — not at stated times and
distances, but apparently quite capriciously. Sometimes
branches covered with the leaves, flowers, and fruit of the
Citron will all at once change their nature, and produce
only sweet oranges or bitter ones, or run through the
•whole series alternately. Finally, these freaks will often
suddenly cease, and a plant which has been sporting away
its youth in such coquettish vagaries will sober down into
a staid matronly tree, bearing henceforth but a single kind
of ordinary fruit.

The Bigaradier attains sometimes to a very great age.
There is one in the gardens of the convent of Saint Sa-
bine at Borne which is asserted by tradition to have been
planted by St. Dominic about the year 1200, and which
was certainly spoken of by Augustin Grallo, as far back as
in 1559, as a tree which had been in existence from time
immemorial. Eeing looked on as a miraculous prodigy,
its fruit is reserved to be given, with great ceremony, to
the sick, and some of it was also invariably presented to
the Pope and cardinals on their Ash Wednesday visita-
tion of this church. Age did not impair its fertility, for
in 1806, according to the assurance of the monks, it bore
no less than 2,000 oranges. It was still living a few years
ago, and may probably be so now.

Among the minor uses of the orange- tree, it may be
mentioned that its wood was formerly much employed in
marqueterie work, but since so many new varieties of tim-
ber have been brought from America, orange-wood has
fallen into disuse. The leaves find a place in the Phar-
macopoeia, being sometimes prescribed for hysterical fe-
males instead of tea; and from common oranges, cut
through the middle while green, dried in the air, and
steeped for 40 days in oil, the Arabs, according to Crich-

THE CHANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 177

ton, prepare an essence famous among old women for re-
storing a fresh black colour to grey hairs.

Oil of neroli and napha-water, two delicious perfumes,
are distilled from orange-flowers ; but the blossoms find
their noblest use in being dedicated to the fair brow of
the English bride — the chosen wreath which the maiden
wears but once — during that holy rite in which she bids
adieu to her maidenhood for ever.

" Each other blossom in its hour ,

The maid at will may wear;
Once, only once, the orange-flower
Her wreathed brow may bear."

It is rather singular that the origin of a custom so
general throughout this country as that of appropriating
the orange-blossom to the bride should be involved in so
much obscurity, but nothing positive seems to be known
upon the subject. Some years ago a correspondent of
Notes and Queries made a request in that work for some
information upon the point, but all that was elicited, after
a lapse of more than a year, was that a gentleman had
read " somewhere" that the custom was derived from the
Saracens, and it was believed to have been adopted on
account of the fertility of the orange-plant. It may be
allowed, therefore, to offer the conjecture, since to conjec-
ture we are left, that it might originally have implied a
desire that, as the flowers and fruit appear together upon
this tree, so the bride might retain the graces of maiden-
hood amid the cares of married life.

But though the flowers of the ordinary orange are es-
teemed for their fragrance even more than for their beauty,
the former quality is most powerfully developed in a dis-
tinct variety of the family distinguished as the Bergamot.
The fruit of the common Bergamottier, as the tree is
called, is occasionally round, but more often pyriform,*
and only attains a pale yellow in Paris orangeries, but
beams with a bright golden hue in the gardens of Italy,
where it is chiefly grown in the neighbourhood of Ber-
gamo, whence the name both of the tree and of the scent

See Plate V., fig. 12.

12

178 OTJK COMMON FETJITS.

is derived. It often retains the style at the summit, but
sometimes has, instead, an aperture disclosing six or eight
tiny fruits nestling within the large one, each having its
vesicled outer skin covering pulp within. The white blos-
som, though small, is extremely odoriferous, and the es-
sential oil contained in it, and also in the rind of the fruit,
becomes in the hands of the perfumer a precious essence,
which serves as the base of many delectable preparations.
The whole rind, indeed, is often, after being cleared from
the pulp, dried, and then softened in water, introduced
into a mould, pressed into the form of a box, then adorned
with paintings in brilliant colours, and made thus into a
very popular bonfionniere, gratifying at once to the sight,
the smell, and the taste.

The Bergamot, too, like all its other orange brethren,
has diversities quaint and queer. One variety in parti-
cular has double blossoms, succeeded by a fruit which has
a large circular opening at the flattened top, whence pro-
ceed a number of irregular prominences.* On cutting open
one of these fruits, it is found to be divided into about
20 regular cells around the circumference, besides a num-
ber of irregular ones in the centre corresponding with the
external protuberances, and in each of the 20, in the midst
of the pulp, is seen, instead of seeds, the rudiment of a
little fruit covered with yellow rind.

The same season which brings our ordinary orange into
such demand claims also special service from two other
fruits very nearly allied to it, and which, though not like
the former, blazoned proper upon our tables, yet appear
before us, especially during winter festivities, in a variety
of forms, lending such added attractions to many a deli-
cious compound, that we could ill brook their absence,
and therefore may well add them to this page. "What
would be our British palladium, plum pudding, not to
speak of Puritan- defy ing mince pie, were it deprived of
the subtle influence of Citron ? And how, passing over
many a minor use, could wit-inspiring punch maintain
even existence without Lemon ?

* See Plate V., fig. 14.

THE OBANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 179

The Citron claims priority of notice, as having been
the first of the whole family to become known to Euro-
peans, to whom, indeed, it furnished the botanical name
for all its tribe. Identified with the "apples of gold," to
which Solomon compared the " words of the wise," and
with the fruit wherewith the spouse of the Canticles was
" comforted," it is considered to have been known to most
ancient nations ; and being introduced into Europe from
Media, under the name of Mains medica, Virgil was the
first Latin author who mentioned it in his works, and it
was first cultivated in Italy by Palladius in the 2nd cen-
tury, 1,000 years before the arrival of the orange. Re-
versing the characteristics of the latter fruit, it is the
exceedingly thick skin which is the valuable part of the
Citron, and of which the well-known sweetmeat is made,
the pulp, in which numerous seeds lie embedded, being
very small in quantity and sour in flavour, though less so
than the Lemon, to which, however, it is more nearly
allied than to the orange, it being indeed difficult to de-
cide concerning some varieties whether they should be
called Lemons or Citrons. The flowers of both species,
similar in other respects to the orange-blossom, are dis-
tinguished by being tinged with pink or violet ; and the
fruit of the Citron is also at first of a redcjish purple
colour, changing to green as it enlarges, and finally attain-
ing a fine saffron tint, the outer surface being very un-
even, and one end projecting into a nipple-like protube-
rance. About half a dozen varieties have been cultivated
in Britain, and the tree being for the most part a native
of the woods, is so impatient of sunshine, that it is best
grown by being trained on the back walls of orangeries
or vineries, and even then requires extra shading during
strong sunshine in summer. At Luscombe, the seat of
C. Hoare, Esq., are some remarkably large trees, and also
at Paisley, where the fruit has been known to measure no
less than 18-^ in. by 19^-. In China they have a variety
which attains a very considerable size and is almost solid,
having scarcely any pulp or cells, and which is divided at
the end into five or six long separate cylindrical lobes, on
which account it is called there Phat thu, or the Finger

12 — 2

180 OUE COMMON TETJITS.

Orange: by Bisso, however, this is classed among the
lemons, under the name of Limonia digital The Citron
is laid upon fine vessels of porcelain in the sitting-rooms
of the Chinese for the sake of its agreeable perfume,
and was also carried about by the Hebrew women of
olden time to'serve the purposes of a scent-bottle and
" comfort " the languishing. The Jews in some countries
still attend their synagogues on the Feast of Tabernacles
bearing these fruits in their hands, a custom mentioned
by Josephus, and to which they attach much importance.
It is derived from the passage in Leviticus, xxiii. 40, in
which they are told, " Take you on the first day the
boughs of goodly trees," &c. ; and the Citron being the
" goodliest" tree with which they were acquainted, is sup-
posed to have been the origin of its being thus appro-
priated. The wood of this tree was considered so precious
during the days of Roman tablomania, that Martial says
a table of gold cost less in his time than a table of citron
wood, and this is confirmed by Petronius mentioning that
the Assyrians were astonished at receiving so much gold
in exchange for their wood whenever the planks were of
a size fit to form tables.

The normal shape of the Lemon, like its last-named
larger relative, is that of an ellipse with a protuberance
like a nipple at the extremity, but, as with the other
brethren of its family, from this familiar figure it offers
many diversities, being sometimes lobed or channeled,
ovoid, pear-shaped, spindle-shaped, or even round, while
1'Able Prevost affirms that in the isle of TeneriiFe are
found lemons which contain another smaller fruit within
the outer one which first meets the eye, and which has
thence received the name of Pregnando. A. native of
India, the Lemon was brought westward during the in-
vasions of the caliphs, and being found in Syria by the
Crusaders, was by them introduced into Italy, though it
is believed that it had previously found its way both into

* He says, too, that the same plant often produces still greater monstro-
sities, Ferraris having figured one which resembled two hands clasped to-
gether, and he himself having seen one which was very like a bird in shape,
and another like a crab.

THE OBANGffi AffD ITS ALLIES. 181

Spain and Africa. The Italian " Adam's Apple," really
a lemon, whether judged by form or flavour, was particu-
larly noticed by Jacques Vitry, who describes " a tree
bearing beautiful citron-coloured apples, on which the
marks of a man's teeth could be distinctly perceived ;" and
the skin is indeed covered with little irregular indented
curves, conveying no inapt idea of having been bitten,
whence the miracle-mongering Crusaders very naturally
concluded that it could be no other than that

"Fruit, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world and all our woe."

Another variety, the Limonia lawreola, is remarkable
as being the only hardy plant of the whole orange tribe,
it being found on the tops of cold and lofty mountains,
where for some months of the year it lies buried under
snow. The hill people of India fancy that it is by feeding
on the leaves of this plant that the musk acquires its pe-
culiar odour. What we call the Lime (Citrus acida) is
also only a variety of the lemon, according to Eisso, who
calls it the Limonier sauvage, or Wild Lemon, and the
name is justified by the very thorny character of the tree,
these cruel appendages often distinguishing wild plants
and disappearing under cultivation. It has been long
grown in the West Indies both as a fence and for the
sake of its fruit, which is nearly round, with a nipple at
the summit more distinctly raised on one side than on
the other, a greenish yellow, very odorous rind, and juicy
pulp, extremely acid but of fine flavour. The Lemon in
general is equally valued for its rind and its juice, from
which the citric acid of commerce is prepared, which,
besides its numerous culinary uses, is barrelled in large
quantities to be added to ship stores as the most effica-
cious preventive of sea-scurvy. The tree, which is re-
markably knotty and of vigorous growth, though its
foliage is less thick than that of the orange, was first
grown in England at Oxford, in 1648, and though more
tender than other plants of the family, when duly cared
for it thrives well in this country, some of the lemons
grown at Luscombe measuring from 18 in. in circumfe-
rence, and weighing as much as 14 oz.

182 OTTE, COMMON ERTJITS.

In Prance the Lemon bears the name of Citron, though
the fruit which really claims that title is by no means
unknown there, and though the words limonade and
limonadier have been adopted into the language ever since
they were introduced by the sellers of this drink, who
came into France under the ministry of Cardinal Mazarin,
retaining the same name which they had borne in Italy.
But as French writers would never stoop to use a verna-
cular term whenever it was possible to employ one de-
rived from the Latin, and which must therefore have a
more scientific air, the word limon, eschewed in literature,
could never establish itself, and, as Eisso observes, the
people with strange obstinacy persist in calling the fruit
from which limonadier 's make limonade " un citron" He
himself, however, would not conform to a usage which
gives rise to such confusion, and, with the people of the
S. of Europe, throughout his work uses the terms limon
and limonier for what genteeler Paris would designate as
citron and citronnier.

The fruits which we call Shaddocks, but which are
termed by the French Pompoleones or Pompelmouses, form
another division of the Aurantiwm group, more easily dis-
tinguished than any of the other families, being charac-
terized by large leaves, white flowers, similar to those of
the Orange, Lemon, and Citron, but of greater size than
any of these, and succeeded by large pale roundish fruit,
containing a not very juicy pulp of sweetish or insipid
flavour, the seeds mostly proving abortive. A native of
China, where it bears the name of " Sweet Ball," the larger
Shaddock, or Pompelmouse Chadec, as the French call it
in a rather lame attempt to do honour to our countryman,
was introduced by Captain Shaddock into the W. Indies ;
but the planters propagating it by seeds instead of, as
the Chinese had done, by budding, the fruit soon dete-
riorated and is of little value for eating. The smaller
Shaddock, which is but half the size of the preceding,
seems to have succeeded better, for it is said that its popu-
lar cognomen of "forbidden fruit" was given to it by
the inhabitants of Jamaica on the ground of their fini
ing its peculiar flavour so delicious that they could not

THE OBANGE AND ITS ALLIES. 183

imagine anything more tempting could have grown even
in Eden.

Two other minor divisions of the extensive Hesperidean
family are also distinctly distinguished by B/isso, viz., the
Lumies — reddish-flowered plants, bearing fruit similar in
appearance to lemons, but having sweetish juice — and
Limettiers, resembling the preceding, but having white
flowers, and showing two or three other slight differences.
One variety of the latter bears the name of Goldsmith's
Limettier, its juice being used in India for the cleaning
of gold-work.

It can scarcely be considered as decided whether the
AurantiacecB or Citronworts, as the members of the orange
family are called in the technology of the Natural System,
are indigenous to the New World, though now supera-
bounding there in many parts. Orange-trees laden with
large sweet fruit were found by Humboldt growing wild
on the banks of B-io Cedreno, but in his opinion they
were but the remains of an Indian plantation. In Cuba
they are so numerous that, in the words of the same
mighty traveller, " It would seem as if the whole island
had been originally a forest of palm, lemon, and wild
orange-trees." The two latter, it appears, grow apart,
and the planters distinguish the quality of the soil ac-
cording 'as either is found in it, preferring that which
produces the Naranjal to that where grows the Lemon.
Humboldt believed this wild fruit to have been anterior
to the Agrumi of the gardens, transported thither by Eu-
ropeans, since the best informed inhabitants asserted that
fruit of the cultivated trees brought from Asia preserve
their size and sweetness when they become wild ; and the
Brazilians affirm that the small bitter orange, which is
found wild far from the habitations of man, is of American
origin. Prince Maximilian of Wied Nienwied speaks too
of a wild orange of Brazil, called Laranjas de terra, but
which he thinks must have been introduced. In East
Florida, however, a species of orange of very agreeable
flavour is extremely abundant, which the testimony of the
most scientific authorities pronounces to be decidedly in-
digenous. Yet again, G-arcilassio de la Vega, a descen-

184 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

dant of the Incas, born in Peru soon after the invasion of
the Spaniards, and therefore an authority of great weight
on a subject which must have been so much within his
cognizance, testifies most positively in his history of that
country that " before the Spaniards conquered Peru it is
certain there were no figs, pomegranates, oranges, or se-
veral other fruits which are now so abundant." He further
adds in explanation of this abundance, that, " among the
trees which Europeans have transplanted to America, none
have spread so rapidly as the oranges, lemons, and trees
of that genus. Here are now in some countries woods of
orange-trees. Surprised at the sight, I asked the inha-
bitants in one place, who had filled the fields so full of
these trees ? when they replied that it was due to chance,
for the fallen fruits of the first trees had given rise to an
infiDity of others, and the seeds being carried farther by
the rains, had formed these thick woods."

In Jamaica, too, the orange grows wild so plentifully
that no one cares to cultivate it ; but the fruit is gathered
by the poorer negroes, and brought into town to be sold,
as blackberries are by cottage children in England. The
perfection attained by these uncared-for wildings — for
their fruit is truly delicious — sufficiently proves the truth
of Gralessio's statement, that in a genial climate grafting
is quite unnecessary for plants of this kind, though in
many places where they are cultivated the process is per-
severed in from custom and prejudice. The native cooks
not being initiated into the mysteries of marmalade, the
Bigarades of Jamaica are looked on as of no value ; yet a
use at least is found for them, for whenever they happen
to be handy the negroes are acccustomed to squeeze a few
into their pail of water when about to wash the floor of a
room, the acid having a detergent property, and the de-
lightful scent thus spread abroad rendering the apartment,
for some time after, a very bower of fragrance. Even Irish
" Orangeism " could hardly have got into ill odour had
it adopted so pleasant a mode of diffusing its favourite
symbol !

THE POMEGRANATE. 185

CHAPTEE XIV.
THE POMEGRANATE.

IN days when fortune-telling, so far from being under
the ban of a prosaic Police Act, was actually esteemed as
a highly creditable profession, a lovely Scythian girl,
seeking to know what Pate had in store for her, was
assured by the soothsayers whom she consulted that she
was destined one day to wear a crown. Happening soon
after to be seen by Bacchus, the susceptible god became
deeply enamoured of her, and she, thinking that an alli-
ance, even though an irregular one, with an Olympian
divinity would assuredly prove the most effectual means
of bringing the prophecy to pass, suffered herself to be
beguiled by his ready but delusive promises. Too soon,
alas ! the fickle deity wearied of her and forsook her, and
the hapless maid, finding her dreams of love and ambition
changed into a sad reality of tarnished name and fading
beauty, could not survive the change, and ere long died a
victim of disappointment and despair. Even Bacchus has
his serious moments, and when at length he heard of the
ruin he had wrought, touched with late remorse, he meta-
morphosed the dead maiden into a tree, placing upon the
fruit it bore the crown he had promised but denied to her
while living. Such, according to the Prench poet,* was
the origin of the Pomegranate; the persistent calyx of the
blossom of this tree not only remaining, as in the case of
the apple, gooseberry, &c., but, increasing in size after the
petals have fallen, its tube becomes the outer rind sur-
rounding the berries within, while its segments, sur-
mounting the fruit with a circle of sharply-toothed points,
form thus no inapt resemblance to a crown. This ensign
of sovereignty being, however, a quite useless part of the
fruit, led probably to the plant being adopted as the

* Nicholas Rapiri, in his Plaisirs d 'un Gentillwmme, published in 1583.

186 OUB, COMMON FETJITS.

emblem of democracy, and also to its being chosen by
Anne of Austria as her especial device, the accompanying
motto proudly announcing " My worth is not in my
crown ;" while the French in the isle of St. Vincent put
their comment upon this fructal diadem in the form of a
riddle, asking

" Quelle est la reine
Qui porte sou royaume dans son sein? "

The tree seems to have been abundant in ancient
Egypt, and to have been a favourite delicacy of the
immigrant Jews, their complaint against the desert into
which Moses led them having comprised the charge that
it was " no place of pomegranates," while the answering
promise with which Moses sought to soothe them con-
veyed an explicit assurance that this fruit would form a
part of the delights of the land to which they were jour-
neying. In Canaan, indeed, it proved to be one of the
commonest fruits ; several places were named after it
" B-immon," in consequence of its specially abounding in
their vicinity ; and the inspired artists, who made the
ministry of the beautiful a part of the service of religion,
availed themselves largely of its elegant form, in the
ornamentation of priestly vestment and hallowed fane.
Nor was it altogether overlooked by the heathen ; for in
the isle of Eubcea stood formerly a statue of Juno holding
in one hand a sceptre and in the other a pomegranate ;
and it was reckoned, too, among the growths of the
Elysian Pields, and invested with tender and sacred asso-
ciations in the minds of the ancients by the legend which
told how the sorrowing Ceres, seeking to win back her
beloved Proserpine from the dismal shades whither she
had been whirled by the Plutonian " Coelebs in search of
a wife," was forced at last to resign her to her grim
ravisher because his victim had for one moment so far
forgotten her grief as to eat a few grains of this favourite
fruit. By the Eomans it was called the " Carthaginian
Apple," having been brought to them in the time of Sylla
from the neighbourhood of Carthage, where it greatly
abounded, and whence, too, it is believed to have derived

THE POMEGBANATE. 187

its botanical name, Punica;* the ordinary appellation,
Pomegranate, tracing its etymology to the words Pomum
granatum, or seeded apple, alluding to its structure, which
is very peculiar, combining the characteristics of several
fruits,' from each of which it differs greatly in other par-
ticulars. Externally viewed, its roundish form and adhe-
rent calyx would seem to identify it with the Pomes, but
this outer cas.e, instead of being eatable flesh, ia only a
dry leathery coat, something similar to that of the orange •
yet is the transparent pulp within not collected into large
masses, but a portion of it surrounds each separate seed,
as in the case of the gooseberry, only that here a thin
enveloping skin is also added, forming each into a distinct
little berry, of oval shape, but about the size and colour
of a red currant. These are regularly arranged in a double
tier of compartments, divided horizontally by a sort of
diaphragm, the upper part consisting of from five to nine
cells, the walls of which, whereto the seeds adhere, extend
from the sides of the fruit towards its centre ; while in the
lower range, which is smaller and comprises but three cells,
irregular processes arise from the bottom. In the wild
kind the juice of these berries is very acid, but in the best
cultivated varieties it is sweet and of a most agreeable
flavour ; while a medium or sub-acid sort is also commonly
grown in gardens. In Aleppo, where the fruit ripens
abundantly in August, the seeds, according to Eussel's
account of that place, form an important article of culi-
nary use, the first kind being used as verjuice, and the
others brought to table in the form of conserve or syrup,
or, being taken out of their leathery coats, are served on
little plates uncooked, but strewn with sugar and rose-
water. Wine, too, is sometimes extracted from them, a
use which seems to have been known to the ancient Jews,
as the name " G-ath-Bimmon," given to a spot in Canaan,
means the "Press of Pomegranates ;" and Solomon expli-
citly promises the bride he woos, " I will cause thee to
drink of the spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranates."

* This name is also thought by some to be derived from puniceus, scarlet,
in allusion to the colour of the flower.

188 OUR COMMON FBTTITS.

The simply-expressed juice is so refreshing that it is con-
•sidered superior even to that of oranges in cases of fever,
while Lord Bacon recommends it (preferring, however,
the wine, if attainable) as very efficacious in liver com-
plaints. It is common in Barbary, where Shaw says it
often weighs a pound and -measures 3 or 4 in. in dia-
meter; and a famous kind, bearing seedless berries, is
grown in gardens near Cabul, where too the natives, as we
are told by Royle, employ the bark of the root to expel the
tapeworm, a purpose to which it was applied so long since
as in the days of Dioscorides. The flowers and the rind
of the fruit are also sometimes used medicinally, both
being powerfully astringent ; while from the latter, it is
said, ink can be made equal to that produced from galls ;
and either from it or from the bark of the tree, according
to different authorities, a red or yellow dye is extracted,
still in use in some parts of Germany and elsewhere to
stain leather in imitation of Morocco.

Early introduced into Southern Europe, it is supposed
that Granada in Spain owes its name to this fruit having
been planted there when first brought from Africa, and
the idea is countenanced by the fact of a split pomegra-
nate being displayed in the arms of that province. About
Genoa and Nice it is grown in a bushy form, and hedges
are commonly formed of it, though in many places it is
trained to a height of 15 or 20 ffc., assuming the shape of
a tree with a stem 6 or 8 ft. high, surmounted by a spread-
ing head similar to a hawthorn. The slender branches,
some of which are armed with sharp thorns, are clothed
with opposite leaves, about 3 in. long, of very bright
green, and bear at their extremities, either singly or in
bunches of three or four together, the large and beautiful
blossoms, specially characterized by their thick red calyx
and five to seven petals of bright scarlet, surrounding a
crowd of stamens. These flowers appear in succession
from June to September, the fruit ripening about October,
and sometimes hanging on the tree till the next spring or
summer.

The plant was introduced into England during the reign
of Henry VIII., was cultivated by Gerard, and is men-

THE BASPBERBY AND ITS ALLIES.

tioned among the trees which fruited in tlie orange-house
of Charles I. It will, however, grow well here in the open
air, bearing its beautiful flowers in profusion, though
rarely ripening its fruit ; and the former becoming thus-
the principal object* of the cultivator, the kind most
usually grown is the double-flowered variety, which is
barren, but bears large red; yellow, or variegated blos-
soms, and attains sometimes a very great size, one trained
against the walls of Eulham Palace being at least 40 ft.
high and 50 ft. broad. In Prance the tree thrives well
and lives long, Bisso mentioning that some planted at
Versailles were two or three centuries old, but there they
will not well bear exposure to the open air during early
spring.

A dwarf species of pomegranate, bearing very small
flowers and fruit, is indigenous to S. America and the
West Indies, but the ordinary sort has also been long
since introduced there, and in the latter place produces
larger and better fruit than in Europe ; while in Peru all
the hedges in some parts of the country are composed of
this plant, and are covered in due season with abundance
of beautiful fruit. It has also been introduced into the
States of N. America, and, though in the colder provinces
it requires to be grown on espaliers and protected in the
winter, it flourishes so well in the South that, were it
popularized, the Northern markets might be amply sup-
plied thence ; bat, a taste for it having never been culti-
vated, no demand has yet arisen.

In the Natural System of Botany the pomegranate is
generally placed among the myrtle-blooms, though Lind-
ley is inclined to separate it from them on account of the
singular structure of the fruit, which is almost an indivi-
dual peculiarity. It, however, reckons among its near
relatives the delicious guava and the rose-apple of the-
East, as well as the pimento or allspice and the clove.

190 OUR COMMON FRTJITS.

CHAPTEE XV.

THE RASPBERRY AND ITS ALLIES, THE BLACK-
BERRY, DEWBERRY, ETC.

DIFFERING greatly as regards the place they hold in
the world's estimation, the several species of plants which
bear the botanical name of Rubus (derived from the Celtic
rub, red) are yet all marked by a strong family likeness,
linking in bonds of unmistakeable affinity the much-prized
garden nursling which furnishes preparations deemed
worthy to figure at the most sumptuous banquets, with
the wild straggler of the hedgerow whose fruit is only
plucked by the cottager or the schoolboy. Not only is
the resemblance seen in their lowly growth, their prickly
and usually compound foliage, and spiky clusters of blos-
soms, but as respects their produce, while, in point of
size, there is no very great extent of diversity, in shape
ihere is still less, and all betray at the first glance their
peculiar formation as being what are called collective
fruits. The product of Eosaceous flowers, with five-cleft
calyx, five always crumpled petals, and numerous stamens
and ovaries, the latter develop each into a little distinct
berry containing a single seed ; while the receptacle, or
foundation into which the various parts of the blossom
are inserted, swells into a dry spongy mass, round which
these little berries crowd in such close contact that the
whole group forms but a single fruit, called itself, in
popular parlance, a berry, while the real berries which
compose it are termed its grains. Tet though these so-
-called grains actually press against each other, they are
not absolutely united, but remain so far independent that
it is possible to pick them off singly one by one, this adhe-
sion without union being the grand distinction between
collective fruits, such as those of the Rulus family, and
aggregate fruits such as the Mulberry, between which there
seems at the first glance so great a similarity. It is with
the Strawberry that the former have really the most affi-
nity, both these fruits being marked by the swelling of the

THE BASPBEEEY AND ITS ALLIES. 191

receptacle ; only that in the Strawberry this part becomes
juicy and eatable, forming indeed the bulk of the fruit,
while on the contrary, in the Raspberry and its allies, in-
stead of becoming pulp it only serves as a support to the
pulpy part, remaining itself dry and tasteless, and being
withdrawn with the stalk when the fruit is prepared for
eating. The genus includes several shrub-like plants, and
some of even lesser growth, all more or less of a rough
prickly nature, whence the produce has sometimes been
classed together under the general term of " Bramble-
fruit," but, correctly speaking, Brambles form only one
of the two grand divisions of the Rubus family, Easp-
berries being separated into the other ; the latter being
erect and shrub-like, and propagated by means of suckers,
while Brambles, all more or less prone and trailing, only
need to have their shoots pegged down to the soil, when
they will readily take root and throw out other shoots
like Strawberry runners : indeed, one writer remarks that
they might all " be considered as gigantic Strawberry-
plants."

By far the most aristocratic member of the family at
the present day is undoubtedly the B-aspberry, so called
from the rasp-like roughness of its leaves and branches.
Among the ancients it bore the title of Bramble of Mount
Ida, it having first grown in that classic spot, -and thence
spread over the greater part of the rest of Europe. But
though these worthies were acquainted with the plant,
the fruit, such as we now have it, was a luxury unknown
to them ; for we find a French botanical writer stating
that in France, where they grow wild in many parts,
though even in the 6th century men knew that they were
good to eat, it was not till long after that they were intro-
duced into gardens, having been left with other wild fruit
to schoolboys and peasants ; while in our own country,
notwithstanding old Tusser's distich,

"The barberry, respis, and gooseberry too,
Look now to be planted as other things do,"

Gerard speaks of the " Eespis or Hindberry " as it was
then called, though it was planted in gardens, being not

192 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

equal even to the Blackberry ; and it is therefore entirely
to comparatively modern cultivation that its present ex-
cellence and the number of its varieties is due. Even so
late as in 1729 Langley writes, " We have only three
Easpberries in England — the red, the white, and the pur-
ple ; " but since then not only has the yellow been intro-
duced from Holland, but numerous varieties of all these
colours have been originated by our own gardeners, so
that a list of about 40 may now be reckoned, which differ
considerably in quality.

The native kind, still often found wild in the northern
counties and in the woods of Sussex, was first generally
replaced among cultivators by a much larger sort called
the " Antwerp," because introduced from that place, and
which still maintains as high a position as almost any in
the estimation of market gardeners, in consequence of its
producing an abundance of fruit which ripens early and
bears carriage well. The latter quality is a crowning
virtue without which any others are comparatively use-
less, a very fine variety called the " Barnet Raspberry "
being almost entirely limited to private gardeners, because,
though excellent in every other respect, it is too tender
to bear transit uninjured. The very valuable double-
bearing kind brings forth a first crop in July and another
in September; a double-blossomed sort is grown for
ornament ; and a specially curious variety called the
" Black Raspberry," the fruit of which is of a very dark
purple colour, was obtained by Mr. Eivers by means of
crossing the Raspberry with the common Bramble. The
pale colour is considered by M. Poiteau to be the result
of feeble organization and inferiority, a practised eye
being usually able to tell in mid- winter whether a Rasp-
berry-bush will bear white or red fruit, the white plant
having paler bark, and stalks weaker and shorter than
the red, while it is also less fertile.

Our Raspberry has been naturalized in America, but
the indigenous varieties taken under culture seem to be
preferred there, especially the Catawissa, which was first
found growing in a graveyard in Pennsylvania, and which
is of so prolific a nature that it often bears as many as

THE KASPBEKKY AND ITS ALLIES. 193

50 berries on a single bunch, the fruit too being of very
high flavour, and continuing in perfection for several
months. In order to have their produce in perfection,
Easpberry plantations require to be renewed every three
or four years, as the plants after that time begin to dege-
nerate, owing to their having exhausted the soil ; an effect
which they guard against while in a wild state, by con-
tinually changing their situation by means of their " tra-
velling" or creeping roots, which send up shoots at a
constantly increasing distance from the spot of their
origin. The seeds too afford another means of propa-
gation, and these are so unusually tenacious of vitality
that they have been known to retain their power of ve-
getation after having been boiled with sugar in the pro-
cess of jam-making ; while some, which had been in the
stomach of a man whose skeleton was found 30 ft. under-
ground at the bottom of a barrow opened near Dorchester,
when sown germinated and grew into plants, though, as
they had been buried along with some coins of the Em-
peror Hadrian, it is probable that they had lain thus for
1,600 or 1,700 years.

In Prance Easpberries are very generally eaten, mixed
with Strawberries, at the dessert, and in England also
are sometimes brought fresh gathered to table ; but the
chief purpose for which they are employed is in pro-
cesses of cookery, since — unlike the Strawberry, whose
delicate charms are almost entirely dissipated by heat —
that powerful influence seems only more fully to develop
the richness of the Easpberry ; its being rather less whole-
some than the former while in a raw state being thus
fully compensated for by a far more extended range of
usefulness, raspberry jam holding a place as the very
prince of preserves, and being available anywhere all the
year round. This fruit affords too a rich though not very
potent wine, considered especially good in scorbutic dis-
orders ; and in Poland, where it abounds wild in the
woods, it was formerly largely consumed in this form;
.while in Russia it is commonly dried in ovens for winter
use. Easpberry vinegar, too, made by pouring vinegar
over successive quantities of the fresh fruit, still main-

13

194 OUB COMMON" FBTJITS.

tains a place in every good English housewife's store, on
account of its medicinal virtues in cases of sore throat, as
well as to furnish a peculiarly refreshing summer beve-
rage or fever drink. But though the flavour is not dis-
sipated by exposure to fire, it yields very quickly to time,
for, more evanescent than that of almost any other fruit,
it is found to diminish if the berries be kept but a few
hours, and in a few days to disappear entirely. They
should therefore always be used as soon as possible after
gathering, nor even be left on the bush when once ripe,
as they not only begin immediately to deteriorate, but
very rapidly become maggotty and decay.

Though the Easpberry is the only species of the Riibus
family which as yet has been domesticated by man, that
genus includes, as has been mentioned, another fruit,
which, at present only the nursling of Nature, can yet
claim some notice, as being at once the best and most
abundant of our wild native fruits ; while it possesses the
added interest of having a possible future before it, and
a chance of " achieving greatness " should it ever be per-
mitted the opportunity of developing, by the aid of careful
cultivation, any latent excellences it may possess. There
are many varieties of Brambles both here and abroad, for
they are denizens of most temperate climes, and some
hundreds of different kinds are scattered throughout the
world, America especially boasting a Itubus odorata with
fragrant scented foliage ; a R.spectabilis, or showy-flowered
sort, displaying fine purple blossoms, succeeded by dark
yellow fruit, acceptable for tarfc-making ; and a R. deli-
ciosa, a native of the Eocky Mountains, which owes its
name to its bearing a really delicious fruit.

The most common sorts in England, where, however,
many other varieties are also found, are the Fruticosus or
shrubby, and the Corylifolius or hazel-leaved. The former,
which most abounds, is a large plant with almost ever-
green leaves and dark red or purple stems, the barren
ones arching to the ground, the bearing shoots towering
upwards with erect spikes of delicate pink flowers, deve-
loping into late-ripening, nearly globular, purplish-black
berries, composed of numerous grains, and of a sweet but

THE EASPBEEEY AND ITS ALLIES. 195

mawkish flavour, unsuitable for cooking : indeed, Loudon
considered their taste to be so disagreeable that he affirmed,
" a single berry will spoil a pie." The Corylifolius has trail-
ing stems, green in the shade and purple in the sun, and
bears large, white, early-blossoming flowers, succeeded by
large brownish-black early-ripe fruit, consisting of but
few grains, and tasting slightly acid, which, fits them well
for tarts and preserves. The long bending shoots some-
times take root at the tip, thus forming an arch, through
which superstition was wont formerly to recommend
children to be passed, in order to cure them of the whoop-
ing cough. This sort would probably well repay cultiva-
tion, for Brambles seem very susceptible of the slighest
attention that may be paid them, M'Intosh mentioning
having seen some in Lincolnshire trained against a south
wall, which by this simple expedient had been much im-
proved in both size and flavour.

Another common English kind, the Dewberry, or Grey
Bramble, offers nothing very peculiar in growth or blos-
som, but bears a small berry composed of a very few large
grains, covered with a grey kind of bloom, and which is
by many preferred to any other Bramble produce.

Various parts of the Bramble-plant were formerly sup-
posed to be endowed with great medicinal virtues, but
the only property of the kind now attributed to it is that
jam made of the berries is considered to be very good for
sore throats. In France, where they are called Mures
sauvages, they are used to colour wine, and it is said that
their juice mixed with raisin wine will give to it not only
the colour, but even much of the flavour of claret, while
even alone it can be made into an inferior wine, which
yields on distillation a strong spirit. The green twigs
afford a black dye for woollen, silk, or mohair, and silk-
worms, it is said, will feed on the leaves when those of
the Mulberry are not procurable. Competing here with
so many more refined garden plants, the berries of the
Bramble tribe are but little appreciated, but in frigid
climes, where vegetation is much more restricted, they
occupy a vastly more important place, and by the kind
dispensation of Providence attain also far greater perfec-

13—2

196 OTJE COMMON FRUITS.

tion. The Arctic, or Dwarf Crimson (_S. Arcticus), having
often been the sole refreshment attainable by Linnaeus
during his wanderings in those regions, he prefaces his
account of it by the kindly remark, " I should be ungrate-
ful towards this beneficent plant, which often, when I was
almost prostrate with hunger and fatigue, restored me
with the vinous nectar of its berries, did I not bestow on
it a full description." But the fruit which is reckoned to
be the very best produced by any plant of the species
is that highly-valued Cloudberry, or Rubus cTiamcemorus,
less exclusively Arctic than the preceding, but which still
finds its most congenial home in the far North, in Swe-
den, Norway, &c. A small plant, with large serrated
leaves, it bears at the top of the stem a single berry, at
first scarlet, but afterwards yellow, and which Dr. Clarke
describes as being as big as the top of a man's thumb,
and in taste cooling and delicious, of a flavour like the
large American Hautbois Strawberry ; while he gives, too,
an interesting account of the " blessed effects " he expe-
rienced while suffering from a disorder which had seemed
to be incurable, when, on eating daily a quantity of these
berries, simply gathered by his hostess's children as an
offering to the guest, his fever abated, appetite and spirits
returned, and he was soon restored to perfect health, the
symptoms of amendment, he says, having been "almost
instantaneous after eating of these berries." This valuable
fruit is found in some of the loftier parts of the High-
lands of Scotland, remaining in season about a month,
during which period it not only serves to support various
kinds of game, but is eagerly collected and preserved by
the Highlanders. It became a special object of interest
in that country some years ago, owing to a poem written
by Mr. Archibald Grorrie in the Ossianic style, which met
with many admirers, and which was in the form of a peti-
tion from the Cloudberry to the Caledonian Horticultural
Society, praying that it might be favoured with the ad-
vantages of garden culture, or wedded to the Raspberry,
in order that its progeny at least might be elevated to the
dignity of a dessert fruit. It has, however, been found
very difficult to naturalize, a temperate climate not suit-

STKAWBEREIES. 197

ing its hardy growth so well as the bleak air of its native
wilds ; though London believed it might be made to grow
in England by sowing its seeds for several successive gene-
rations in gardens, and perhaps crossing it with some
native variety of Rubus.

CHAPTEE XVI.

STEAWBEEEIES.

ADOPTING the style of Baron Cuvier in his famous
criticism on the French Academy's definition of the crab,
it may be said that there are but two objections to the
title of the Strawberry : the one being that it is not a
berry, and the other that it has nothing to do with straw ;
the theory of botanists establishing the former fact, and
the practice of gardeners deciding the latter. It is true
that some deduce the etymology of the first syllable, not,
as it is generally traced, from the custom formerly adopted
of laying straw beneath the fruit to protect it from sully-
ing contact with the soil, but rather from the spreading
nature of the plant causing it to seem strewn or strawed
upon the ground ; but in this case the name is founded
on a word now obsolete ; or, again, on a corrupted one,
if, as is thought by others who adopt this derivation,
the title was originally $£r#y-berry. As regards the
" berry " clause, whatever dates thus ignorantly from
days of ignorance must at least be in itself a proof of
antiquity, and who that rejoices, in "blue blood" can
doubt the superiority of any misnomer indubitably an-
cient, over the most correct appellation bearing yet on
its face the evidence of having been bestowed but yester-
day ? The strawberry, however, has something more to
vaunt than an English genealogy, however remote, for

198 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

the present Latin title of the species, Fragaria, derived
from its fragrant perfume, identifies it with the fraga
enumerated among the field beauties with which Virgil
twines the verses of his "Third Eclogue;" and Ovid's
huge Polypheme, too, recounting the advantages which
the fair Galatea would derive from a matrimonial alliance
with his giantship, does not omit to adduce as one part
of the " settlement" he is anxious to make, " "With thine
own hands thou shalt thyself gather the soft strawberries
growing beneath .he woodland shade ;" though the imme-
diate addition, " Nor, I being thy husband, will there be
.-wanting to thee the fruit of the arbute-tree," considerably
, qualifies the compliment to the first-named fruit, in attri-
buting to the latter any comparative power of attraction.
It could hardly, however, be expected that the taste which
could enjoy supping oif shipwrecked mariner au naturel
could safely be trusted in the selection of a dessert ; and
at least the Cyclop was not singular in mentioning these
two productions in conjunction, for the philosopher Pliny
also confuses them, only distinguishing the one as the Tree
and the other as the Ground Strawberry, and citing it as
the only instance in which we find a similar fruit growing
upon a tree and also upon a creeping plant, thus strangely
suffering the fact of the two fruits being not very unequal
in size, and both being red and round, to outweigh the
most palpable differences in every other respect ; for nei-
ther in foliage, in blossom, nor, indeed, in its tasteless fruit,
except in the particulars just named, does the arbutus
show the least likeness to the Fragaria, though to this
day it commonly bears the name of the Strawberry-tree.
The ancient botanist does not seem, however, to have
been very familiar with the real strawberry, only speak-
ing of it as a natural production of Italy, but making no
mention of its being cultivated, or of the fruit being
brought to table* : yet^ if we may receive the testimony
of Soyer, it was tended in the gardens of Greece and
Rome, and its produce figured at the banquets of both
nations.

Indigenous almost throughout Europe, and indeed in
most temperate parts of the world, the type of the race,

STEAWBEEEIES. 199

the wild Wood Strawberry, was accepted probably from
the earliest times as a favourite of Nature, needing no
culture because already endowed with every charm that
could delight the senses. JN"o dye could outblush its crim-
son glow, no preparation of the perfumer rival its power-
ful yet delicate scent, no inventions of Apicius surpass
its exquisite flavour ; and if all this excellence were com-
pressed within an object of very small dimensions, its
abundance amply permitted numerical aggregation to com-
pensate for individual littleness. In France, at least, it
was found that by transferring the plants to gardens,
though the richer soil caused the fruit to attain double
size, the fine flavour was diminished in proportion, and
for centuries, therefore, not only was this the only kind
known, but the preference continued to be given to the
little rustics when just fresh from their native wilds. At
length, however, appeared the Montreuil Strawberry, in
which, for the first time, a spirit of equal excellence was
found embodied in a larger frame. The scene of its mani-
festation was Ville du Bois, a place about six leagues
from Paris, which had been formerly covered with woods,
beneath the shade of which the fair little Fragaria had
flourished from time immemorial. But the day came
when the spear of the hunter, at least, was to be beaten
into the pruning-hook : the trees were felled, and the
forest became a plain ; yet the strawberries were still pre-
served, for a village had sprung up in the space cleared
by the axe, and many of its inhabitants had devoted
themselves to the culture of fruit. Nor had the occupa-
tion been adopted without a special incentive. Wood-
cutting had naturally been accompanied by charcoal-burn-
ing, and near the furnaces used for this purpose it has
often been observed that plants grow much finer than
elsewhere, and new kinds which had never been noticed
before not unfrequently manifest themselves, owing, per-
haps, to the soil being stimulated by the salts con-
tained in the ashes scattered upon it. In such a neigh-
bourhood, then, was developed a strawberry much larger
than the ordinary one, yet scarcely, if at all, inferior to
it in any other respect ; and, in order to perpetuate this

200 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

improvement and turn it to the best account, the village
of Yille du Bois became a village of strawberry-growers.
Such is the received tradition concerning the affair, and
all that could be elicited, when, at the request of M. Du-
chesne, the author of the elaborate Histoire Naturelle du
Fraisier, the cure of the place went through every canton,
questioning all the oldest inhabitants as to the particulars;
for as to the exact epoch when or locality where the plant
originated, nothing positive could be ascertained — a fact
not much to be wondered at, seeing that the event took
place about 250 years before. The villagers remained con-
stant to their first love for nearly a century, but in 1780
abandoned it, and turned their attention to the vine, to
which they have ever since devoted themselves. A taste
for strawberry culture had, however, by this time spread
through the neighbourhood ; adjacent villages adopted
the poor plants when thus cast out from their natal place,
and it is still to the nurseries in this vicinity that gar-
deners repair to supply themselves writh the finest plants.
The demand for them is continual ; for, although all old
plants are destroyed every third year and replaced by
their own runners, even these, too, being always trans-
planted to a different spot, yet in the ninth, or even some-
times in the sixth, year, it is found necessary to clear out
every root and branch, and bring in an entirely new stock
fresh from, the original head-quarters of the race. It is
at Montreuil principally that1 fruit of this kind is grown
to supply the Paris market, and it is. therefore from this
place that its best-known name is derived, for the system
of " Every Gardener his own Sponsor " has been carried
in this instance to such an extent that Du Hamel says
the number of synonymes for this variety is "terrible;"
but the Parisian, who knows that the best strawberry he
buys has been brought thence, simply settles the matter
by calling it the Montreuil Strawberry. The largest,
figured in the J^ouveau du Hamel, measures little more
than 1^ in. in diameter.

The lineage of the next notable French strawberry is
less involved in obscurity, for it was not, like that of
Montreuil, an ennobled native gradually risen above its

STBAWEEEBIES. 201

fellows, but a distinguished foreigner, born of an aristo-
cratic race, and arriving in Prance in 1712 in full-blown
honours, and with the additional eclat of having survived
a long and perilous voyage. The introducer was a most
appropriately-named M. Erezier, an engineer who had
been sent to America by the King of France, and who had
been particularly struck, when in Chili, with the beauty of
the strawberries cultivated at the foot of the Cordilleras,
which, he said, usually equalled a walnut, and often even a
hen's egg, in size. He determined to make an attempt
at least to take some of these plants with him when he
returned to Europe, and five roots were accordingly se-
lected ; but, alas ! there were at that time no ingenious
Wardian cases in which such delicate passengers could
fi^td a safe and easy berth when on a voyage, and during
six weary months, and a passage through the torrid zone,
fresh water was a limited treasure not to be lightly spent
in quenching any less than human thirst, so that the poor
parched Fragarias would soon have perished had not the
kind supercargo taken pity on them, and allowed M.
Erezier a few precious drops daily as an extra allowance
to bestow upon his plants. On their arrival, two of the
rescued five were presented to their preserver, as a meed
of gratitude from the owner : of these the fate remained
unknown ; but of the three which were landed with M.
Erezier at Marseilles, one was sent to the Minister,
Souzy, of which also no record remains, and another
given to Jussieu, and planted by him ; but bearing only
female, or enclusively pistilliferous blossoms, and this
peculiarity not being then fully understood, its flowers
were left "withering on the virgin stem," and the
unappreciated plant soon died. But the fifth of this
little family of pilgrims still remained in M. Erezier's
own hands, and destiny, stern sometimes to strawberries
as to men, sated perhaps with its four victims, spared
the last of the race, the Ulysses of a fragarian Odyssey,
and when planted by its owner at Brest, where he resided,
it blossomed and bore and multiplied prodigiously, and
was introduced thence to other parts of Europe, besides
establishing itself throughout the west coast of Erance,

202 OUE COMMON FETJITS.

where it succeeds better than in any other locality. How
this came to pass is not known, for the original hero, or
rather, perhaps, it should be said heroine, was also what
is called a female plant, bearing imperfect blossoms, and
M. Frezier was no botanist to discover this fact himself,
or to notice with what other kinds it was planted, or
whence the fructifying pollen was supplied to its pistils.
Though less known in or near Paris, it continues to be
the strawberry par excellence in many other parts of
[France. The colour is pale red, the shape often deformed,
and it is said that it has been grown at Cherbourg so large
as to be 7-^ in. in circumference.

Another French Fragaria, the date and place of whose
origin is chronicled with minute exactitude in the volume
of Duchesne, is noted for blazoning on its scutcheon of
pretence but a simple single leaf, instead of the ordinary
triple one ; but as this is its chief or only peculiarity,
it need not be further adverted to ; for though our own
fruit may not be able thus to boast a series of biographies,
the race has at least a history, and one sufficiently in-
teresting to claim some space for consideration.

That " Strabery rype" was one of the common cries of
London, at least as early as in the days of Henry VI.,
we learn from the verses of Lydgate, who died in 1483 ;
and that it needed no " Society" in those early times to
mark out its culture as a fitting part of the " Employment
of Women " is shown by the directions issued by Ttisser's
farmer to his dame :

" Wife, into the garden, and set me a plot
With strawberry roots, of the best to be got:
Such growing abroad among thorns of the wood,
Well chosen and picked, prove excellent good."

Though it may be true enough that in its wild state

" The strawberry grows underneath the nettle,"

yet, since among all the hypotheses as to his original
occupation, it has at least not yet been advanced that our
greatest poet was a gardener by profession, we may be

STBAWBEBKIES. 203

permitted to doubt whether the conclusion thence drawn
be not somewhat questionable, that

" Wholesome berries thrive and ripen best,

Neighbour'd by fruits of baser quality."

At least, we find that when removed by the farmer's wife,
probably rather for convenience sake than with any view
to cultivation, then little thought of, it was in far other
company that they grew ; for, speaking of their arrange-
ment when thus transplanted to the garden, Tusser says
that

" The gooseberry, respis, and roses all three,
With strawberries under them fitly agree."

And when we reach those most famous fruits, preserved
even unto immortality by Shakespeare in the scene taken
almost literally from the chronicle of Hollingshead,
wherein the despotic usurper Kichard tells the bishop,

" My Lord of Ely, when I was last in Holborn,
I saw good strawberries in your garden there,"

we find that at least the loveliest of the three com-
panions assigned them by Tusser was still associated with
them, for this said garden at Ely Place was famed for its
roses as for its strawberries.

In 1593, Thomas Hyle informs us that strawberries " be
much eaten at allmen's tables in the summer, and they grow
in gardens unto the bigness of a mulberry ; " nor was open
garden cultivation found in England to deteriorate their
quality, while thus materially increasing their magnitude
from the mere currant-sized growth of the shady woods.
A naturally larger kind, too, was introduced before long ;
for Parkinson, in 1624, speaks of the " Scarlet," the native
Wild Strawberry of North America, then already common
in this country, and still valued by gardeners as being the
earliest to bear fruit unforced, and by confectioners as
making the finest car mine- coloured preserve. He mentions
also, as the only other kind then known, a " Bohemian"
Strawberry, considered to be identical with the Haut-
T)ois of the present day, which is believed to have been

204 OTJE, COMMON

originally a native of Bohemia, and brought to us, as its
name indicates, from Prance, though in that country it is
now called the Capiton, and its fruit, which is not much
esteemed, the Capron. The characteristic from which it
derives its " high-wood" title, is the peculiarly lengthy
stem, which lifts the fruit above even the long-stalked
'leaves. Its flowers, like those of the Chili, are considered
to be of different sexes, for though seldom quite imper-
fect, some have so few stamens, and others so few pistils,
that unless great care be taken to balance the kinds, many
blossoms wither unproductively, and scanty crops in-
evitably result. In days when this kind of floral struc-
ture was less understood than at present, the Hauilois
soon gained a bad character as a scanty bearer, and fell
irrevocably into disrepute, except so far as its name is con-
cerned, for that at least is as regularly appended in the
street cries to strawberries of any and every kind as the
title of " St. Michael's " is indiscriminately applied by the
same popular authorities to all varieties of oranges. The
real Hauibois, the first of our larger varieties, is of very
high flavour, has particularly solid flesh, with no central
-cavity, and adheres firmly to the calyx.

In 1766, the Alpine or Everlasting Strawberry had been
cultivated for three or four years past near London, and
it was believed that the King of England had received the
seeds first from Turin. Though sold at a guinea a pinch,
many purchasers were found anxious to obtain the novelty,
and it soon spread so prodigiously that in the course of
a few years beds of it were to be seen in almost every
garden. It went from our shores to Holland, and thence
to Prance, where, to this day, it is preferred on the whole
to all other kinds. The royal table was always furnished
with it, from the Versailles kitchen garden from June to
October, and during the greater part of the rest of the
year from hotbeds ; but thisV hardy and indefatigable
bearer, even in the open garden, never stops yielding an
ever- renewed harvest until actual frost, with a voice that
must be obeyed, cries sternly, " Hold, enough ! " The
reason is to be traced in the fact of its runners taking
root, and then at once blossoming and bearing fruit even

STBAWBEKBIES. 205

more freely than the parent plants, whereas, in other kinds,
this usually does not take place until the next year.

It was about the close of the last century that the latest
and best of all our foreign settlers, the Pine Strawberry,
made its appearance. Some affirm that it came originally
from Virginia, some from Louisiana, and Miller received
some plants of it from " a curious gentleman of Amster-
dam," who assured him they were sent from Surinam;
but it is not to be found among Madame Merian's famous
illustrations of the natural history of that place ; and
Stedman, in his account of Surinam, distinctly affirms,
"It is well known that no thin-skinned fruit can ever
come to perfection in a. tropical climate, such as grapes,
cherries, strawberries, &c." But whencesoever it may
have been brought, no fruit could better deserve a wel-
come, or be more worthy of the proud title it bears, named
as it is after the royal pine-apple, not only on account of
its conical shape, but from a degree of similarity to that
fruit both in its taste and perfume. Since the beginning of
this century great attention has been devoted to Straw-
berries, and great results attained, about 60 good varieties
being now in cultivation, besides many of lesser worth.
Yet, among them all, the Pine stands unquestionably pre-
eminent— not, it is true, in the state in which it origin-
ally came to us, but as it appears after the careful educa-
tion it has received at the hands of Britith gardeners, in
the perfected form of " Myatt's British Queen," of which
it may be fairly said, that

"All that's rich, and all that's bright,
Meets in her flavour and her form."

Neither tantalizing the appetite by concentrating its
excellence within atomic dimensions, nor yet deceiving
and disappointing it by presenting fair proportions and
proving a mere mass of watery distension, this delicious
strawberry offers all that is exquisite in taste, while in
magnitude often reaching to 7 in. in circumference, and
weighing at least 2 oz. Not that this is the greatest bulk
that the strawberry can attain, for "Myatt's Mammoth"
has been known to weigh nearly twice as much, but then

206 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

this overgrown giant is so greatly inferior in other re-
spects as not to admit of comparison with the former ;
and the "British Queen," therefore, characterized by the
further virtue of being an immense bearer, reigns still,
unrivalled as her namesake. High-bred fruit like this,
however, compares with the original kinds much as the
high-bred cattle of scientific farmers do with the hardy
little herds of the Welsh or Scottish mountains, depend-
ing little on human care, and thriving almost sponta-
neously ; for the creatures, whether animal or vegetable,
which have once been fostered to an extraordinary degree
of perfection, require a continuance of the most unre-
mitting attention in order to maintain not merely their
excellence, but almost their existence. The little rustic
of the woods is therefore by no means superseded by
these pampered aristocrats of the garden; and though
not the handsomest, is still far from being the worst of
the sorts now cultivated, while it will flourish under cir-
cumstances which would be fatal to more delicate kinds ;
and, nurtured by richer soil and a sunnier situation, ma-
tures not only larger but better berries than can be found
in forest growths ; for sunshine seems essential to sweet-
ness, and fruit grown in the shade is generally acid.

Had we never known the luscious outgrowth which
follows them, the strawberry might still have been wel-
comed in our gardens, were it only for the sake of the
fair flowers which so profusely adorn it. Rising from
within a pale green 10-cleft calyx, its five white petals
and ring of numerous stamens — numbering three or four
to each petal in European kinds, and five or six in those
of America — surrounding a little central mound formed
by the ovaries, it presents an appearance very similar to
that of the common buttercup, but on examination proves
to diifer from it in the circumstance of the stamens not
rising directly from the receptacle beneath the ovaries,
but seeming rather to grow out of the sides of the calyx,
a fact which distinguishes it from the often poisonous
Polyandria of Linna3us and Ranunculacece of Lindley,
and classes it with the ever-wholesome Linnsean Icosan-
dria and Lindleyan Rosacece, or rose-like flowers. The

STRAWBERBIES. 207

little convexity occupying the centre consists of a num-
ber of distinct ovaries, sometimes amounting to 100, and
Duchesne had even counted as many as 300, not adhering,
but pressed into close proximity, and all inserted into a
common receptacle. When the snowy petals have fallen
off and the stamens shrivelled away, the [nest-like calyx
closes round this cluster of tender fledgelings, while the
receptacle on which they are pillowed begins to swell
beneath them, gradually bearing them up and apart, wider
and wider as it distends, till they lie scattered in the
form of seeds all over the surface of what has now become
a soft, crimson, juicy mass ; like a band of brethren carried
by the force of changing circumstances far from the
common house of their infancy, and severed to meet no
more till the whole fabric of their world shall dissolve.
The pressure of a human lip can re-unite them, and who
can say that the fulfiller of the tender office is not " twice
blessed" ? Though termed in common parlance a " berry,"
the strawberry therefore, botanically speaking, is merely
"a fleshy receptacle studded with seeds," the green calyx
still remaining at the base, at once an ornament and pro-
tection to the fruit, which, bending downwards with its
own weight, finds the same leafy cover stretched above it
as a shelter which was spread beneath the light upward-
turned flower as a support. J The pulpy mass into which
this receptacle has grown is covered with a thin epider-
mis or skin, pierced under each ovary to afford a passage
to the vessels which oiourish it, and which stretches as
the fruit enlarges ; but as the vessels do not elongate in
proportion, the seeds lie each embedded in a little niche,
with the soft substance of the voluptuous cushion on
which they repose swelling up between and around them.
These seeds (as they are commonly called, though really
seed-vessels) are irregular oval grains, enveloped in two
skins, and divided vertically into two lobes, between
which, at the point, is the embryo, in a reversed position,
with the radicle, or future root, pointing upwards, and
the plantule, or future stem, downwards.

The above description refers of course to the perfect
flower, in which every part essential to fructification is

208 OTTE, COMMON FRUITS.

fully developed ; but, as has been mentioned before, in
some tribes the blossoms are of different sexes upon dif-
ferent plants. They are not considered to be so decidedly
distinct as in the case of the palms, a careful study show-
ing that one part of the organization in the respective
flowers is only rudimentary or imperfectly developed,
rather than entirely absent, though the practical result
is the same as though there were complete deficiency ;
and it is easily to be distinguished by an ordinary ob-
server that some blossoms present a numerous assem-
blage of long, yellow, pollen-bearing stamens, but with-
out the appearance of ovaries in the centre to be fecun-
dated by them, while in others a cluster of ovaries, looking
like a minute green strawberry, is seen in the middle,
with no surrounding stamens to shed upon them the
golden dust of fertilization. The growers of Cincinnati,
according to Dowrning, divide all strawberries into three
classes : the male or staminate, in the blossoms of which
the stamens are chiefly developed ; the female or pistillate,
in which the ovaries form the principal feature ; and the
Hermaphrodite, in which the blossoms are perfect. The
latter are given up to those who are content with a sup-
ply of inferior fruit at the cost of little care or skill in
culture. The first class, to which belongs Myatt's British
Queen, usually in that climate bears very uncertain crops,
only a portion of the blossoms developing into perfect
fruit; while the pistillate kind do not set fruit at all
when planted by themselves, but when grown near a
proper number of staminate plants, so as to be duly fer-
tilized by their pollen, bear larger crops of much finer
berries than can be there produced in any other way.
The market of Cincinnati, where a few years ago Mrs.
Trollope specially noted the poor condition of the straw-
berries, but in which 6,000 bushels of that fruit are now
yearly sold, is supplied with them more regularly and in
greater abundance than perhaps any other in the world,
except our own hydra-mouthed London, and such a result
could only be obtained by this mode of culture.

In our own country the largest quantities and finest
sorts are grown in the neighbourhood of Isleworth and

STEAWBEBEIES. 209

Twickenham, an enduring memorial of this being their
chosen haunt remaining in the name of Horace Walpole's
far-famed Strawberry Hill. Our consumption of them
may be judged by the circumstance of one market gar-
dener at Enfield having been known to send out 1,200
gallons of one kind alone, the Elton Pine, every morning
through the season.

A strange fragarian freak is the Plymouth Strawberry,
so named because first noticed at Plymouth. In the
quaint words of Parkinson, " The flower, if it have any,
is green, or rather it beareth a small head of leaves thickly
set together like a double ruff, in midst whereof stands
the fruit * — when ripe, soft and somewhat reddish, like a
strawberry, but with many small harmless prickles, which
may be chewed without offence, and is somewhat pleasant."
Though no strawberry eater of the present day could find
the least "pleasantness " in such a vegetable stickleback,
this strange abortion has been of service to Science in
throwing light on the metamorphosis of plants, for it is
found that in it the five petals of the ordinary flower are
changed into five distinct leaves with regular lobes, the
stamens become little irregularly-shaped leaves more or
less lobed, while the ovaries elongate and do not change
colour, so that the fruit when ripe resembles a common
strawberry stuck with thorns, for instead of seeds lying
on the surface, it has these green buds standing up thickly
all over it, "like quills upon the fretful porcupine." It
still continues a great rarity.

The strawberry belongs properly to cold climates, and
though well known is comparatively little valued in the
south of Europe ; indeed, if soil and situation be properly
adapted to it, the more cold, or even bleak, the climate,
the more delicious is the berry. It has one quality, how-
ever, which tends to give it a wide geographical range,
namely, a great power of adapting itself to circumstances,
and we find it accordingly spread over a great proportion
of the globe, languidly existing where other fruits are
most abundant, and luxuriating in healthy vigour where

See Plate III., fig. 5.

14

210 OUR COMMON EEUITS.

it reigns almost unrivalled ; its hardihood being so great
as to brave even Arctic temperature, and furnish a rosy
fragrant dessert even amid the snows of Lapland — the
chief fructal blessing left in Nature's cornucopia when
nearly all the rest have dropped out of it as she has passed
on her way to the barren Pole. They are much eaten
there fresh, as a part of the frugal fare of the inhabit-
ants, and enter also into the composition of " Kap-
patialmas," formed of fruit and reindeer cream, mixed
together and dried like a sort of sausage, which as the na-
tional dainty may be called the plum pudding of the Polar
regions.

If strawberries be laid in a heap and left to themselves,
it is found that they decompose and pass through the
various stages of decay without undergoing the acetous
fermentation, nor can their kindly temperament be soured
even by exposure to the more powerful action of the
stomach, where, being composed almost entirely of pecu-
liarly soluble matter, they dissolve, and " leave not a
wreck behind" to cause internal commotion or hinder
digestion. There are few conditions, therefore, of the
human frame in which they are not positively salutary,
fewer still in which they can possibly produce any evil
eifect. They promote perspiration and temper hot blood
in the healthy, and offer such advantages to the diseased
that it is almost wonderful there has been no system of
Eragariopathy yet established, or that they should not at
least have had such a " tide in their affairs" as bore nau-
seous brandy and salt, or yet viler tar-water, on the flood
of public favour for a time, as universally-tried specifics.
Taken internally, they relieve the agonies of gout, and
prevent it also, for Linnaeus kept himself almost free from
his " old enemy" by always eating plentifully of this fruit
whenever it was in season. Erom their action on calca-
reous secretions, they are likewise beneficial to patients
suffering from stone ; and finally, Abercrombie bears wit-
ness that " Hoffman has known consumptive people cured
by them," and assuredly the process must have been
vastly pleasanter than a course of cod-liver oil. Nor are
they less potent as a cosmetic than as a medicine, for it

THE MELON". 211

is a well-known fact that they are a natural dentifrice,
dissolving the tartareous incrustations of the teeth and
sweetening the breath, while Du Harael affirms that their
distilled water clears and embellishes the skin. It is
evident, therefore, that they only need some enterprising
individual to bring them properly before the public, by a
due amount of advertising, in order to supersede half the
nostrums now in vogue, and make at once the pills of
Parr, the oil of Cabburn, and the Odonto and Kalydor
of [Rowland, hide their diminished heads before the glories
of all-healing, all-beautifying strawberries. "We feel,
however, when Parkinson assures us further that " the
water distilled of the berries is good for the passions of
the heart, caused by the perturbation of the spirits, being
either drunk alone or in wine, and maketh the heart
merry," that "drunk alone," the prescription might not
prove quite so efficacious as when taken with the other
ingredient named, especially if mixed according to the
celebrated Van Dunck proportions.

But the fruit is sufficiently attractive to need no know-
ledge of its more occult virtues to recommend it to all
within whose reach it may come. Even the adjuncts
commonly associated with it are but an observance de-
scended from days when strawberries, less mellowed than
those we now gather, almost required the addition of
some blander influence, and may easily be dispensed with
now ; although to some their ruddy charms still gleam
more alluring than ever from beneath the traditional dairy
accompaniment which furnished Herrick's luxuriant
imagination with a moral addressed to ladies too lavish of
their beauties and forgetful of the power of a veil to
enhance them.

Even the leaves of the plant have not passed unho-
noured, having been chosen to adorn the coronets of our
own highest nobles, yea, even to figure on the royal crown
of Spain and the diadem of the once mighty empire of
Germany. The reason, if any there were, why this leaf
in particular was advanced to such dignity, the heralds
have not vouchsafed to inform us, but the ornament is
not the less prized by its possessors from ignorance of

14—2

212 OTJR COMMON FBUITS.

its derivation ; 'and the lower 10 million whose ignobler
heads it can never wreathe, may console themselves for
the deprivation by the reflection that none who can secure
the fruit to eat need envy those who wear the leaves.

CHAPTEE XVII.
THE MELON.

ITS HISTOET AND GKOWTH.

LABGEST of all fruits, yet growing on the lowliest of
fruit-bearing plants, the huge and heavy Melon, attached
to a stem which actually trails upon the ground, must
abase itself to the very earth during the period of growth,
though destined, perhaps, when gathered, to be exalted to
the table of princes. In this country, indeed, it may be
looked on as a more aristocratic kind of luxury than even
the pine-apple, and is likely to remain so, for though
certainly inferior to that most delicious fruit, this very
inferiority tends to keep it exclusive ; since while none,
perhaps, would taste the ananas once without desiring
to partake of it again, comparatively few are partial to the
peculiar flavour of melons, and being, therefore, only re-
quired by a select few, the fruit is not common because it
is not popular, while it is only by becoming common that
it could have a chance of attaining popularity.

The melon is a native of the milder regions of Asia, but
was introduced into Europe before the time of Pliny, as
that writer, when treating of gourds and cucumbers, after
mentioning that " When the cucumber acquires a very
considerable volume it is known to us as the 'pepo' '
(supposed to be the pumpkin), adds — "Only of late a
cucumber of an entirely new shape has been produced in
Campania, having just the form of a quince. The name

THE MELON. 213

given to this variety is 'melopepo.' " This fruit, it is
concluded, must have been the melon, which still bears
the botanical name of Melo cucurbita. The melon had
been known, too, to the Greeks, who were accustomed to
soak the seeds in milk and honey previous to sowing them,
and even put them into the earth surrounded with rose-
leaves, believing that when thus cradled in sweetness the
fruit to which they gave birth could not but be mild and
fragrant. The great Baber has the credit of having
introduced it to his subjects in Hindostan, where it now
abounds, it having been indigenous only to the milder
parts of Asia. How early it was brought to this country
is not known with certainty ; for though Grough, in his
Topography, says that it was grown here in the time of
Edward III. (having only gone out of cultivation, along
with the cucumber, during the troubled time of the Wars
of the Eoses which followed), it is generally supposed
that the object to which he refers was really the pumpkin,
which was called the " melon" by old writers, the fruit to
which that name is now restricted having formerly been
distinguished by the title of Musk Melon. It is most pro-
bable that it was really only brought to England from
Italy in the time of Henry VIII.; for, in 1526, Gerard,
though he had not himself grown it, yet mentions having
seen it at "the Queen's hothouse at St. James's," and
also at Lord Sussex's house at Bermondsey, where, he
says, " from year to year there is great plenty, especially
if the weather be anything temperate." Parkinson, in
1629, says that before his time "melons have been only
eaten by great personages, because the fruit was not only
delicate but rare, and therefore divers were brought from
France, and since were nursed up by kings' and noble-
men's gardeners;" but they were then becoming more
common. Subsequently, the melon became an article
of great though never of very general consumption, the
costliness incidental to artificial production putting it
beyond the means of the majority of people ; but it was
not unusual for market gardeners to tend 300 or 400
"lights" of melons, producing from week to week large
quantities, which were easily disposed of at high prices to

214 OTJE, COMMON FBtTITS.

the wealthy. Now, however, as Grlenny in a recent work
deplores, " it is rarelfco see any quantity grown ; and the
foreign melons, though unfit to eat, seem to usurp at the
market the places of their betters, at a price that would
scarcely pay an English grower for cutting them and
bringing them to market, even if they cost nothing to
grow;" for the facilities afforded by steam communication
have caused a large supply to be imported from abroad,
chiefly from Spain and Portugal, where they can be grown
in the open air, and also from Holland, where large quanti-
ties are raised by artificial means for the London market.
The general public being thus provided for, home-grown
melons, though much preferred to imported ones when
available, are seldom enjoyed except by the rich employ-
ers of highly-paid skilful gardeners; for the authority just
quoted adds further, that the melon " is not worth forcing
by those who have but small means, as it has many chances
against it."

A native of warmer climates, and provided by Nature
with a rind of such thickness that only extreme heat can
penetrate to ripen the pulp within, when grown in this
country it needs, in addition to the artificial heat applied
by the cultivator, as much as our summer sunshine can
supply of a more genial kind of glow, and therefore is
seldom obtained before May or after October ; though
modern improvements in greenhouses, and the intro-
duction of thinner-skinned varieties, have somewhat ex-
tended their season, and in time will probably still further
lengthen it. Occasionally grown from cuttings, as a surer
method of securing an unchanged perpetuation of the
parent plant, the usual mode of propagation is by seeds,
which are tested, like witches of old, by being thrown into
water, when floating on the surface ensures the condem-
nation of a mejon-seed as certainly as it once did that of
an old woman. i Age, too, has much to do with the choice
of them, for, unlike most other seeds, perfect freshness is
so far from being a desideratum that it is not until they are
two years old that they are considered fit for sowing, ^ince
seed in which the exuberant vitality has not l>een checked
and enfeebled by age would give birth to plants too luxu-

THE MELOX. 215

riant in growth for the small space which is all that can be
allotted to them where artificial culture is required. Due
limits, however, must be observed ; for though seeds 40
years old have been known to vegetate and grow into
fruitful plants, their germination becomes doubtful if they
are kept for more than three or four years. Though
sometimes grown in the south of England under hand-
glasses, like cucumbers, they cannot generally be reared
in this country in the open air, since 65° is the least tem-
perature at which the seeds will germinate, and from 75°
to 80° is needed before the fruit can be ripened. A shel-
tered hotbed, therefore, becomes here essential to their
existence.

An annual plant, destined only to exist for the space
of a few months, yet to attain large dimensions in all its
parts, the growth of the melon is very rapid, the newly-
quickened seed soon sending forth tender succulent shoots,
which, as they speedily lengthen, develop numerous large,
alternately-disposed, lobed leaves, accompanied by spiral
tendrils ; and, in the course of the third month after sow-
ing, the pale yellow flowers begin to unfold their soft,
limp, five-cleft corollas, the males encircling three stamens,
on which appear the curiously arranged anthers, in the
form of serpentine lines waved up and down near their
summit, while the females are easily distinguished by the
green ovary swelling out below the blossom, the centre of
which is occupied by a short style with three thick stig-
mas. The male flowers generally appear first, but Dr.
Carpenter affirms that this matter is entirely governed
by the degree of warmth to which the plants are exposed,
and that if the proportion of heat greatly exceeds that of
light, male flowers are produced, whereas if these condi-
tions be reversed only female ones appear. In fine sum-
mer weather, when glasses can be left almost constantly
open, the breeze may waft pollen from this blossom to
that, or honey-seeking bees, brushing past the anthers of
one, may bear off the golden dust to deposit it again just
where it is needed, as they plunge among the stamens of
another ; and thus the flowers become fertilized, and the
fruit will " set" naturally. Our melon-growers, however,

216 OUE COMMON PEUITS.

rarely trust to Nature the fulfilment of so important a
work, but mostly adopt the process imparted as so won-
drous a secret by Crabbe's " Peter Pratt :"

"View that light frame where Cucumis lies spread,
And trace the husbands in their golden bed,
Three powdered anthers ; then no more delay,
But to the stigma's tip their dust convey ;
Then by thyself from prying glance secure,
Twirl the full tip, and make your purpose sure ;
A long-abiding race the deed shall pay,
Nor one unblest abortion pine away."

A sunny day is usually chosen, if possible, for this ope-
ration, and between 10 and 12 o'clock in the morning is
the time prescribed as fittest for its performance.

When it becomes apparent, by the rapid swelling of the
ovaries, that as many fruits are secured upon a plant as is
consistent with its bearing powers,* the future blossoms
which it may put forth are destroyed as soon as they ap-
pear, in order that all its energies may be concentrated
on the perfecting of the embryos, while tepid water is
liberally supplied both to roots and leaves, in order to
supply the drain upon the plant caused by the maturation
of so large and juicy a fruit. If grown upon the ground,
a piece of slate or tile is put under the tender nursling,
to keep it from contact with the damp earth ; and as it
increases in size, the stalk is supported so as to elevate it
into the air and sunshine, which otherwise might be shut
out by the surrounding leaves, though when trained up a
trellis it needs no aid in securing a sufficiently exposed
position. In the course of five or six weeks after the
setting of the blossom, the ponderous produce may be
expected to have finished its rapid course, and reached
maturity, evidenced by its having attained its full size ;
in some sorts, by the gaining also of a yellowish tinge,
but most certainly by the exhalation of a powerful but
pleasant odour ; though many kinds give likewise the un-
mistakeable sign of the stalk cracking in a little circle close
to the fruit. "Winter melons, however, do not display this

Four at one time are usually considered a sufficient progeny.

THE MELON. 217

crack, and their ripening can therefore only be known by
their size and scent : indeed, it is acknowledged that in
general it is rather difficult to discriminate the last stage
of maturity, and that only experience can enable any one
to determine with certainty the exact moment when a
melon has reached, yet not passed, its perfection.

Such experience is sometimes much valued, an anec-
dote in proof of which is related of a certain monastery
into whose fraternity no one was admitted who could not,
by some special qualification, minister to the enjoyment
of the rest of the community. A visitor staying there for
a few days was so struck with the stolid demeanour and
seeming utter stupidity of one of the monks, that he could
not refrain from hinting to the prior his surprise at find-
ing that such a one was allowed a place to which, accord-
ing to the rumoured bye-laws of the society, he seemed
so little entitled, when his doubts were at once dissipated
by the satisfactory rely — " Oh, he is not without his talent:
he is a capital judge of melons !"

When perfectly fine, a melon should have no vacuity —
a fact ascertainable by the sound given forth on gently
knocking the exterior ; and when cut the juice should not
run forth in a stream, but only gently exude to gem the
flesh with dew-like drops of moisture. Small melons, too,
are generally better than large ones, as the treatment
which fosters increase of size tends also to impair flavour ;
and the bulky giants of the race, produced by excessive
manuring, are, therefore, rejected by good judges, who
desire rather to gratify the palate than to please the eye.
The fruit should always be cut from the plant in the
morning, and the majority of the finer sorts should be
eaten the day they are gathered, though, if cut a day or
two before they are ripe, they may be kept for a week in
a cool dark room, and some sorts will even keep for weeks
under these conditions ; for light has a great influence in
facilitating the chemical changes on which maturation
depends, and its deprivation, therefore, tends much to
retard decay. They should also not be laid down, but
suspended in nets, so as to avoid pressure on the surface.
The careful and expensive method of culture required in

218 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

England for the production of melons is not necessary in
the warmer parts of Europe ; for though near Paris they
are raised equally artificially in hotbeds of dung, tan, or
other fermentable material, and under glass or frames of
oiled paper, yet in the south of Prance the ground where
they are grown is merely ploughed, the seed thrown in,
and " Heaven does the rest." . Thus much of care seems to
be necessary even in their native East, for Niebuhr men-
tions that though several sorts of pumpkins and melons
grow naturally in the woods, serving to feed camels, " the
proper melons" are planted in the fields, where a great-
variety of them is to be found, and in such abundance that
the Arabians of all ranks use them for some part of the
year as their principal article of food.

The fact of the male and female flowers of the order
CucurbitcG growing apart from each other, though upon
the same plant, causes great care to be necessary in order
to preserve purity of breed, and G-ourds and Cucumbers
especially must be banished from the vicinity of melons,
since if plants of the same genus as the latter, however
differing in species, should be growing in their neighbour-
hood, the pistilliferous melon-flowers are as likely to be-
come impregnated with pollen from their blossoms as
with that of their own stameniferous ones, and thus some
hybrid, and most probably far inferior kind, be produced.
It is thus that so many varieties have been created as to
have now become almost innumerable, so that, though the
broad distinctions of widely different varieties are easily
recognizable, it has been found quite impossible to reduce
sub-varieties to any sort of order, or give determinate
descriptions of them. The French writer, Noisette, de-
voted himself for some years to the cultivation of every
kind of melon he could procure, with the intention of
publishing drawings and descriptions of them, but was
forced at last to give up the attempt in despair, acknow-
ledging that the further he advanced, the harder he found
the task. A work of the kind, entitled, Monographic
complete du Melon, has indeed been since published in
France by M. Jacquin, but the constancy of the charac-
teristics assigned can never be reckoned on with certainty,.

THE MELON. 219

since, even should the outside of a number of fruits re-
semble that of the parent from which they sprang, it is
very common for the interiors to present great differences,
one perhaps having white flesh, another green, and a third
red. Noisette regrets that a passion for novelty should
have induced growers to encourage a multiplicity of va-
rieties, since, were the culture limited to about twelve
varieties, this number would include every important
diversity, while consumers could then much more easily
identify whichever kind they might have learned to
prefer.

Melons are now generally divided by English cultivators
into four sections: the thick-skinned, soon-perishing sorts,
grouped together under the general name of Cantaloupes ;
the longer-keeping Winter Melons ; Persians ; and Water
Melons. The type of the first-enumerated class was pro-
bably the original old-fashioned Musk Melon, character-
ized by the thick network of grey lines over its surface,
and by possessing very little scent, varying in size from
1 Ib. to 40 Ibs. weight, but being so uncertain in quality
that out of half a dozen fruits but one perhaps would be
found good. This earliest-known sort was almost banished
from good gardens on the introduction of superior kinds.
One of the first to supersede it, and still one of the most
esteemed throughout Europe, though reckoned in America
but second-rate, was the melon which claims in a more
restricted sense, as the original owner of that name, the
title of the Cantaloupe, having been so called from a town
of that name, situate about 15 miles from Home, and
where this fruit has been cultivated ever since the Mith-
ridatic war, having been brought, it is said, by Lucullus
in the last century B.C. from Armenia to Italy, and thence
taken by Charles VIII. into Erance. Usually nearly
round and of middling size, though not constant even in
these particulars ; its exterior, always remarkably rough
and irregular, varies much in colour, being sometimes
orange mottled with green, sometimes green and black, or
some other variegation, the darkest colours being gene-
rally preferred ; while the flesh also assumes different
tints, nearly white, orange, or pinkish. The diversity of

220 OUB COMMON FETJITS.

size among melons classed as Cantaloupes is very great,
but all are characterized by a more or less rough and
thick rind, which considerably reduces the eatable pro-
portion of the fruit ; a defect which seems to increase in
the larger-growing kinds, as in the old Black Bock Melon,
for instance, which often attains a weight of 14 Ibs., about
three parts of it, however, being composed of a rugged
wall of rind studded with carbuncles, and a mass of seeds
within, embedded in the fraction of eatable pulp, small
indeed in quantity and very poor in quality.

The Citron, or Green-fleshed Melon, was brought into
Prance by a monk from Africa in 1777, and has thence
spread into many countries and given birth to numerous
varieties. Frederick the Great was so passionately fond
of a small melon of this sort, that he could not conquer
himself sufficiently to abstain from them, even when his
health was in danger ; for Zimmerman, who attended him
in his last illness, finding him suffering severely from in-
digestion, discovered that he ate three or four of these
fruits daily for breakfast, and on remonstrating with him,
the only reply he could get from the despot was an attempt
to make them their own apology, by promising to send
him some the next day, that he might taste for himself
how excellent they were. It is this Citron Melon, too,
which is the greatest favourite in America, being one of
the finest grown there, and yet peculiarly easy of culture,
the climate of the Middle and Southern States suiting it
better than even any part of Europe, so that it is raised
as a field crop by market gardeners, and sold in August,
in the markets of New York and Philadelphia, at the
price of half a dollar for a basket containing nearly a
bushel, proving even then one of the most profitable of
crops. The warm dry climate of Long Island and New
Jersey is specially suited to the culture of melons of any
kind, but many other sorts require greater care than the
green-fleshed favourite, without compensating for it by
any superiority, and it therefore has few rivals. Melons
flourish too in California, where, however, they command
far higher prices, selling throughout the season (from July
to November) at from 75 cents to one dollar each. " To

THE MELON. 221

those who have never seen melons grown," says the author
of California and its Resources (published in 1858), "it
will seem simply absurd to say, that confident hopes are
entertained of realizing from 15,000 to 20,000 dollars from
one patch of two acres, belonging to Major Barbour, this
present year. But we were assured that 200 to 300 dollars'
worth of melons per day were sold during the first week
of the season."

The distinction which assigns "Winter Melons to a se-
parate class seems due rather to the fruiterer than the
botanist, since, irrespective of other peculiarities, any
melon which will keep long after gathering must belong
as of right to this class. Melons which can be kept till
the winter when hung in a dry room are common in Spain,
and the name of one of our best winter fruits, the Green
Valentia, points to a Spanish origin.

A very distinct variety, comparatively recently intro-
duced into Europe, is the Persian Melon, the seeds of
which were sent here direct from Persia by our ambas-
sador there, Mr. Willock, in 1824, and when sown produced
at once 10 different varieties. Though requiring in their
native country no further attention than a regular and
abundant supply of water, mostly obtained by irrigation,
the meadows in which the plants are grown being flooded
so that the roots are kept absolutely under water, yet
elsewhere they need great care. In England it is by no
means easy to secure the requisite combination of a wet
warm soil and a dry air, the covering used to confine the
heat tending also to cause general moisture by producing
evaporation ; but in spite of these difficulties, our gar-
deners contrive to rear them in great perfection, and as
some may be eaten as soon as gathered, and others must
be kept for months, even quite into winter, they are ob-
tainable during a great portion of the year. In Persia
they attain such magnitude that, according to Malte
Brun, three or four of them form as heavy a load as a
man can carry ; but though their dimensions here are far
more moderate — the Sweet Melon of Ispahan, which is one
of the largest varieties, seldom exceeding 10 Ibs. in weight
— their skin is so much thinner than that of other kinds

222 OUR COMMON FKTJITS.

that they afford nearly twice as much flesh, even when no
larger in size, besides being peculiarly rich in flavour.
Not needing such powerful sunshine as is required to
penetrate the thick hides of their pachyderm brethren,
they can be ripened much later than the latter.

The plant which produces the Water Melon is of a
different species (Melos citrullus), and may be easily dis-
tinguished from the varieties of Melos cucurlita by its
deeply-cut leaves, while the fruit itself shows an equally
marked distinction in its smooth green surface. Round-
ish or oval in form, it is usually rather large sized, some-
times measuring 1^- ft. in length ; the flesh is white, shad-
ing into red or yellow towards the centre, and the seeds
are very dark brown or black. As it could not be raised
in this country except artificially by the aid of glass, and
Parkinson, who wrote in 1629, is the first English writer
on such subjects who gives directions for its culture by
means of hotbeds and bell-glasses, it is not supposed to
have been introduced very long before that time ; and in
a climate where heat rarely becomes very oppressive, its
watery insipidity has never been very highly appreciated ;
but though far inferior to other melons in flavour, it is
yet more prized in very sultry climates on account of its
abundant flow of deliciously cool juice, the central pulp
being, when ripe, almost in a fluid state. Identified with
the "melons" mentioned in Scripture, Water Melons
are said to have originated iu the Levant, but are found
abundantly (and are probably indigenous) in India and
China; and, requiring very little care or attention, im-
mense fields of them are raised annually in the warmer
States of America ; in Southern Europe they are both com-
mon and popular ; and in Africa, in the words of Hassel-
quist, " This fruit serves the Egyptians for meat, drink,
and physic. It is eaten in abundance during the season
even by the richer sort of people ; but the common people,
on whom Providence has bestowed nothing but poverty
and patience, scarcely eat anything but these during their
season, and are obliged to put up with worse fare at other
times." It is one particular and rather rarer kind, the
juice of which, when the fruit is full or almost over-ripe,

THE MELON. 223

is administered in fevers as the only medicine the poorer
Egyptian has within his power.

Later travellers give similar accounts of their great
abundance and utility in Egypt, one recent writer in par-
ticular stating that " Water Melons hold the first rank
among Egyptian fruits," and that, though constituting a
chief item in the diet of the poorest classes, they are also
usually seen at the table of people of rank, it being the
custom to eat slices of Water Melon at dinner in the in-
tervals between each different dish. He adds that " they
certainly come to great perfection in this country, and,
as I myself experienced, may be eaten freely in any quan-
tities without danger." This, however, is .by no means
the case in cooler climates, for they are said to cause
worms if indulged in constantly, and more serious con-
sequences have occasionally ensued from eating them to
excess, sudden death having even been known to follow an
imprudence of this kind. The whole melon tribe, indeed,
are scarcely to be reckoned perfectly wholesome, some
constitutions being quite unable even to taste them with
impunity, though on the majority of people they produce
no bad effect when partaken of with moderation. As a
general rule, it has been found that the hotter the wea-
ther the better are melons, and the less danger is there
in indulging in them freely. In Paris, where they rarely
appear at the dessert, being mostly eaten as a liors d'ceuvre
with salt, which facilitates their digestion, as the tempe-
rature of the season becomes lower towards the 20th of
September, the sale of them is forbidden by the police.
They are less used than perhaps any other fruit in any
culinary process, but in the south of France, preserves,
more or less good, are sometimes made of them, the best
being that known as Ecorce verte de citron. The seeds —
reckoned cooling, diuretic, and anodyne — were formerly
used in medicine for purposes for which sweet almonds
are now preferred ; and, pierced and strung on wire or
thread, they may be formed into pretty bracelets and other
ornaments.

A near but very humble relative of the aristocratic
.melon is our common Pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo\ more

224 OTJE COMMON FETJITS.

familiar to many as the fairy chariot of Cinderella than
as an article of consumption ; and, as it sometimes attains
the size of 4 ft. in circumference, it may, on the memo-
rable occasion of having been thus appropriated, have
needed at least very little enlargement to fit it for the
accommodation of so slender a sylph. A far hardier plant
than the melon, in a rich soil and warm situation, the
Pumpkin, or, as it was formerly and, we are told, still
ought to be called, the Pompion, grows luxuriantly and
ripens its fruit perfectly in the open air in England ; and
in its favourite situation, trailing over a manure-heap, it
is not only useful in assisting to decompose crude mate-
rial, but, veiling the unsightly mass with its large hand-
some leaves, can turn an eyesore into almost an ornament.
Remarkably rapid in its growth, when well supplied with
water it will form shoots 40 or 50 ft. long, so that a single
plant may extend in one season over an eighth of an acre of
ground. The fruit occupied, says Soyer, " a prominent
place in the precious catalogue of Roman dainties, being
stewed or boiled in oil or water, and served with various
seasonings ; " and growing abundantly in the warmer
parts of each quarter of the globe, it is still much used
as food in many countries, though mostly as furnishing
an article of sustenance to the poor, rather than of plea-
sure for the luxuriant. It seems to have been earlier
introduced into this country than either of its allies, the
Cucumber or the Melon, and it is indeed credibly sup-
posed that it was the " melon " of early English writers,
to whom the true fruit of that name was unknown, or who
were accustomed to distinguish it as the "Musk Melon."
Gerard, however, speaks of " Pompions," which are never
eaten raw, but mixed with apples in pies — a use which he
justly condemns — or boiled in milk or fried in butter. To
the latter process it is still often subjected on the Con-
tinent, where too it is yet more commonly made into
soups and stews, a system we should do well to adopt
here, where the worst method of disposing of it is now
almost the only one prevalent ; since soupe a la citrouille
— very easily made by merely stewing sliced pumpkin in
milk, enriched with a little butter or gravy, and seasoned

THE MTTLBEBBY. 225

with pepper and salt * — is a dish few would not relish
and find vastly preferable to the insipid preparation known
as pumpkin pie. Perhaps the best mode of obtaining that
delicacy is the one followed by the villagers in some parts
of England, who cut a hole in the side of their pumpkins,
scoop out the seeds and stringy part, then stuffing the
cavity with apples and spice, bake the whole, and eat the
case and its contents together. Plainly boiled in water,
the Pumpkin may be eaten, like its relative the Vegetable
Marrow, as a vegetable, but the tender tops of the shoots
of the plant, boiled Jike greens, are superior to the fruit
for this purpose. In judging of the latter, mere size and
weight carry the day, for there being very little difference
of quality in a fruit having as its best so little preten-
sions to flavour, quantity becomes the chief consideration.
In this respect the Mammoth Gourd, or large American
Pumpkin, towers supreme over the mightiest of its
brethren, weighing sometimes over 200 Ibs., and which,
exceeding in its vast dimensions the requirements of
any single family consumption, is mostly sold in London
shops in slices at the price of about 2d. per Ib.

In France a ceremony is yearly observed in which the
" King of the Pumpkins," i.e., the largest which has been
brought to market, is promenaded in state like the Bceuf
(jras on Shrove Tuesday. In 1861, His Majesty had
attained the gigantic dimensions of 10 ft. in circumfe-
rence and weighed 242£ Ibs. — a mass beyond anything
ever attained by English growers.

Clumsily bulky in its huge growth, yet offering but few
charms to the taster, the Pumpkin early furnished a com-
parison for persons whose heads were larger than their
intellects ; and which, it would seem, " the world would
not willingly let die," since it has survived from the time
of Tertullian to the present day, the initial letter only
slightly hardening when we now apply to a thick-headed
clown the appellation of a bumpkin.

* The most economical recipe for this excellent soup is as follows : 1 Ib.
pumpkin sliced and boiled in water till soft enough to pulp through a co-
lander into a half-pint of hot milk ; season, stir till smooth, give one boil
and then serve.

15

226 OUR COMMON F1UJITS.

CHAPTEE XVIII.

THE MULBEERY.

WHEtf every other tree in garden, wood, or wold has
donned the green vesture of spring, one still remains in
"naked majesty," an Adam of the Eden. The cold night
winds, nipping so many tender buds which had been too
easily lured forth by transitory noontide sunshine, beat
harmlessly upon the Mulberry's sapless bark, and not till
the last spring frost is over, and cold has finally yielded
to the mild persuasions of approaching summer, does it
abandon its bare-branched security and suffer its young
leaves to venture forth, gladdening the watchful gardener
with an unerring token that his hitherto sheltered nurs-
lings may now be safely trusted in the open parterre.
Nor has this peculiarity escaped the poet's observant eye,
for Cowley describes at length how

"Cautiously the Mulberry did move,
And first tbe temper of the skies would prove,
What sign the sun was in, and if she might
Give credit yet to winter's seeming flight.
She dares not venture on his first retreat,
Nor trusts her fruit and leaves to doubtful heat ;
Her ready sap within her bark confines
Till she of settled warmth has certain signs ;
Then making rich amends for the delay,
With sudden haste she dons her green array."

But though the leaves display such singular reticence as
regards appearing in spring, they might make the same
kind of apology which was tendered by Charles Lamb,
when, on being remonstrated with for coming to business
so late in the morning, he replied, " But then remember
how early I go away in the afternoon ! " for though the
last to put forth in spring, they are the first to leave
in autumn, the least frost bringing them all to the
ground.

Its cautiousness earning for it from the ancients the
title of the wisest of trees, the mulberry was dedicated
by the Greeks to Minerva, while, to account for the fact
of there being both a white and a black-fruited species,

THE MTJLBEEET. 227

they wove the fanciful legend of Pyramus and Thisbe,
more familiar perhaps to many from the burlesque of
Bottom than from the pathetic original of Ovid, who in
sad seriousness celebrates how, when the lover deemed
his lady slain, he threw himself upon his own sword, when
she, returning only to find him dying, slew herself also,
and this Borneo and Juliet of the ancient world thus ex-
pired together at the foot of the mulberry-tree where they
had been accustomed to meet, crimsoning its roots with a
sanguine stream, till

"The berries, stained with blood, began to show
A dark complexion, and forgot their snow,
While, fattened with a flowing gore, the root
Was doomed for ever to a purple fruit.
The prayer which dying Thisbe had preferred
Both gods and parents with compassion heard :
The mulberry found its former whiteness fled,
And rip'ning, saddened in a dusky red."

A native of China ; of Syria, where in very early times
we find David smiting the Philistines under the mulberry-
trees ; and of Persia, this tree is supposed to have been
brought from the latter country into Greece and Eome,
where it was more esteemed than almost any other fruit,
even in the Romans' most luxurious times. Spreading
thence to other parts of Europe, it is believed to have been
brought to England by the monks, arriving in 1548, and
is said to have been first planted in the gardens of Sion
House, where very recently the original trees were still
living, much decayed, but still bearing luxuriant leaves
and fruit. ' A great impetus was given to the culture of
the mulberry in England at the beginning of the 17th
century, in consequence of James I. having conceived the
idea that we might become a silk-growing nation, and, in
consequence, doing all in his power to encourage the
planting of this tree, not only expending his eloquence in
exhorting his subjects to give their attention to it, but
even offering packets of the seed to any who might choose
to apply for them. This seems, however, to have been
but a temporary crotchet of the royal brain, which, though
exciting much enthusiasm during 1605, was in the course
of a few years quite forgotten ; but while it lasted it had

15—2

228 OUB COMMON FRUITS.

the effect of establishing mulberry-trees in the gardens of
most of the gentry of that period, many of which still
survive, having probably in part owed their preservation
to the fact of their regal patron not having been suffi-
ciently well versed in botanical distinctions to discrimi-
nate between the "White Mulberry, which is best fitted to
feed silk -worms, but is good for little else, and the Black
Mulberry, which, though less welcome to the caterpillar,
yet furnishes fruit acceptable to man ; whence it happened
that most of the plants which he had caused to be planted
with a special view to insect nurture, turned out to be of
the latter species, and were therefore still valued even
when the practice of silk-worm rearing had ceased to be
a fashionable pursuit.* This mistake respecting the two
species may, however, have helped to render James's
scheme abortive ; but that the failure of his plan was not
entirely due to it is evident from its having been proved
in later days that, however even the White Mulberry
may seem to thrive in this country, its leaves will not in
our climate acquire that juicy tenderness which in warmer
lands so eminently fits them for the spinner's nutriment ;
for, in the language of the Journal & Agriculture des Pays
Bas, " The mulberry, to produce the best silk, requires
the same soil and exposure as the vine does to produce
the best wine." The dreams, therefore, of minor enthu-
siasts who, since King James's period, have from time to
time taken up his idea of introducing silk-growing as a
branch of our national industry, have always resulted in
equal disappointment.

Though devoured with such avidity by silk- worms, mul-
berry-leaves are eaten by no other kind of insect (although
the fruit is peculiarly liable to the attacks of a very vo-
racious worm) and its unmolested ample foliage of large,
heart-shaped, serrated leaves, sometimes more or less
lobed, yields therefore during the hot months a very

* Shakespeare's famous mulberry- tree, which was planted in 1609, belonged
to the black or common species. A slip from it was planted by Garrick in
the garden of his villa near Hampton Court, and became a tree, which pro-
bably still flourishes.

THE MULBEEET. 229

grateful shade, on which account it is commonly grown
in France in the corners of courtyards, where accumula-
tions of rubbish furnish it with a congenial soil ; and as
it never requires any pruning, beyond disembarrassment
of the dead wood when it becomes aged, a process which
mostly quite rejuvenates it, it gives no trouble to its owner,
and supplies during some months a continual feast to his
poultry, even if he himself be indifferent to the charms of
its fruit. Its leaves too are readily eaten by cattle, but
the wood, which is very light in weight, is fit for little
else than fuel, though the bitter root is sometimes used
medicinally as a vermifuge.

The blossoms,* which appear in June, are not very or-
namental, the male flowers, closely set together in a droop-
ing catkin an inch or two long, consisting only of a four-
sepaled calyx surrounding four stamens ; while the female
ones, comprising 40 or 50 tiny flowers arranged in the
form of an upright spike, present also no gay corolla, but
only a similar calyx encircling an ovary with two styles.
It is this mass of cohering calices and ovaries which, gra-
dually becoming fleshy and juicy,form eventually the fruit,
each ovary maturing in its two-celled interior a single
seed; and as these seeds are therefore "embedded in pulp,"
the appearance of the whole fully answers to the popular
description of a " berry," and has therefore earned for it
the title of Mulberry. A modern botanist, however, would
no more let this suffice to give it a place among berries
than he would consider that a butterfly must be classed
among birds because both have wings ; and though at a
first casual glance it may seem to bear a great resemblance
to some of the berry fruits, especially to the similarly com-
plexioned blackberry, a moment's examination will show
the great difference there is between them. The latter
being the outgrowth of a single flower, the numerous
ovaries of which form each a distinct and separable little
berry, the whole number of these little berries adhering
round a common receptacle, forming together a single

* See Plate VI., fig. 1

230 OTJE COMMON FRUITS.

fruit ; whereas in the mulberry numerous flowers cohere
to make one fruit ; yet, instead of its divisions being more
distinct, as might have been supposed, their union is, on
the contrary, so complete that, though dividing markings
appear upon the surface, they do not extend much deeper,
and the parts therefore are not separable. The real class-
mate of the mulberry is the pine-apple, which is formed
in a similar way by numerous succulent calices cohering
into a single fleshy mass, and different as are these two
fruits in size, colour, and mode of vegetation, traces of
their one great point of affinity may soon be detected on
comparing their external surfaces, marked as both are
with such well-defined but non-separating divisions.

The mulberry when first formed is green ; it then be-
comes red, and finally black, whence the generic name
Morus * (from inauros, " dark"), is derived ; a fact rather
opposed to the romantic Ovidian theory of all mulberries
having been white until after the death of Pyramus and
Thisbe ; and involving, too, a little absurdity in the sur-
names by which the species are distinguished, that of
nigra, affixed to the black-fruited kind, meaning the same
thing, and being therefore but a pleonasm, while alba or
white, the special title of the silk-worm-feeding sort,
though justified by its snowy fruit, is as evidently a para-
dox. When fully ripe, so readily does the inky juice of
the Black Mulberry burst through its tender skin that
it can scarcely be touched without leaving a sable stain
on the fingers ; a circumstance which it appears is some-
times rather prejudicial to its position in society, a French
writer remarking concerning the fruit that "though many
people are very fond of them, they are more often con-
sumed in the country than at city repasts, where elegance
ought to exclude them, as, if not eaten with great care,
they stain the clothes." When they are partaken of in
Prance, they are served at the beginning of the meal, in-
stead of forming part of the dessert.

* Tt is believed that this word has itself furnished an etymology, the
peninsula of the Morea being, it is said, so called on account of its shape
resembling that of a mulberry-leaf,

THE MULBEKRY. 231

Like the strawberry, the mulberry does not undergo
the acetous fermentation in the stomach, and may there-
fore be safely eaten by the most delicate. Among the
E-omans it had further a great medicinal reputation, espe-
cially with regard to diseases of the throat and windpipe,
and its syrup is still thought to be good for sore throats.
It affords an excellent preserve, though not put to this
use so often as it might be ; is capable of being made
into wine, which, however, is never found to keep long ;
and brandy, but of a very weak sort, has also sometimes
been distilled from it. As it falls from the tree (mostly
during September) as soon as it is ripe, it is usual to have
a grass-plot beneath, in order to furnish a carpet on which
the fruit may descend without soil or injury ; but as bare
earth, offeriug a dark surface, causes a greater radiation
of heat, and thus promotes the ripening process, a supe-
rior plan is to sow cress-seed thickly under the tree a few
weeks before its produce is matured, and thus provide a
temporary covering for the ground at the time when it is
needed ; or, better still, a net may be suspended among
the branches, to catch the luscious shower as it drops.
The harvest is usually abundant, and an instance has
been known of as many as 80 quarts a week having been
gathered during the season from a single famous tree at
Greenwich.

The plant ordinarily becomes more prolific as it in-
creases in age, while the fruit also improves in quality ;
a good compensation for its barrenness in youth, for
(unless grafted) it does not usually bear at all until it
has attained a rather advanced age, since, like most plants
which bring forth distinct male and female flowers, only
the former are produced at first, and it is not until Nature's
" 'prentice hand" has been "tried" for some years upon
these, that she proceeds to fashion her vegetable Eves.
Recent experiments, however, have shown that it is pos-
sible to make the mulberry bear fruit when only three
years old. Its propagation is by no means difficult, for a
branch torn off and thrust at once into the ground readily
takes root, and becomes ere long a tree, while so tenacious
is it of life, that roots have been known to send up shoots

232 OUE COMMON EEUITS.

to the surface after having lain dormant in the earth for
24 years. It rarely reaches a height of »SO ft., and though
of a much-branched spreading character, does not usually
attain a very large size. The bark is always rough an'd
thick, but the leaves are subject to so much diversity of
size and shape as to have given rise at one time to the
idea of there being several distinct varieties from the
common sort. Only one, however, is now reckoned, and
that differing so little in essentials that it need scarcely
have been separated ; so that the remark is still applicable
which was made so many centuries ago by Pliny respect-
ing the mulberry, that "it is in this tree that human
ingenuity has effected the least improvement of all : there
are no varieties here, no modifications effected by graft-
ing, nor, in fact, any other improvement, except that
the size of the fruit by careful management has been
increased."

In America the mulberry will scarcely grow farther
north than New York, and it is in no part much cultivated,
since even where apparently fine fruit is abundantly pro-
duced, it is not found equal in flavour to what is grown
in England. A native variety, the Morus rubra, very
common in both North and South America, and which
has larger leaves than M. nigra, bears red fruit, tolerably
palatable, but far inferior to our black.

In common with its near relative the fig, which it
also resembles in the circumstance of its aggregate fruit
being formed by the union of numerous flowers, the mul-
berry contains in every part of the tree a milky juice,
which will coagulate into a coarse sort of India-rubber ;
and as this specially abounds in the white species, it has
been surmised that the tenacity of the filament spun by
the silk-worm may be due to this element of its food. It
is rarely that this White Mulberry, originally a native of
China, is seen in England, its very inferior fruit being
only fit to feed poultry, but it may be readily distinguished
even in winter from its negro brother, by its slender up-
right shape and more numerous white-barked shoots. In
general it grows faster than M. nigra, its leaves are less
rough as well as more juicy, and its bark, macerated and

THE rm. 233

prepared like flax, may be spun into a very fine fabric.
Having become naturalized in many parts of Asia and
Europe, numerous varieties have originated, some of which
bear very tolerable fruit, but none, perhaps, are equal to
the black in this respect.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE FIG.

SOFT prelude to the mighty swell of crinoline, im-
mortal Pig-leaf ! eldest-born of Fashion's countless pro-
geny, and first page of Le Foiled s now innumerable
tomes ! In the tree that bears thee fruit is, indeed, a
merit of supererogation, for would not such foliage have
sufficed to secure it undying renown, even had nought
else ever graced its branches ? Yet, had verdure alone
adorned it — since leafage, however glorious, delights
not our palate — we could not have invited its presence
in pages dedicated inalienably to Pomona ; and it is,
therefore, to the luscious dainties which lurk amid those
leaves, albeit less honoured in the record of history, that
we must look to find its title to admission here. Sole
plant which is known to have flourished in Paradise, the
fig-tree is the first vegetable production specifically men-
tioned in the records of creation ; for the " Tree of Know-
ledge" and the "Tree of Life" were existences of too super-
natural an order to be reckoned as within the scope of bo-
tanical disquisition, or to be submitted to the identification
of a Linnaeus or a Jussieu. Of the estimation in which it
was held by the descendants of Abraham we may judge
by the fact that it being " no place of figs " was one com-
plaint of the Israelites concerning the desert where Moses
led them ; that " the fig-tree shall not blossom " indicated

234 OTJB COMMON TETJITS.

a misfortune occupying a similar place in a list of na-
tional calamities to that which the " lifting " of the cow did
in the domestic disasters of Auld Robin Gray's beloved ;
and that the spot overshadowed by "his own fig-tree"
seems to have been, to the dweller in Judea, just what
" his own fireside " is now to an Englishman. Probably in-
digenous, not only in Asia, but also on both the European
and the African shores of the Mediterranean, it was
known to most of the nations of antiquity, though the
Athenians flattered themselves that it had been first called
into existence in their country and for their benefit,
affirming that it was originally presented by Ceres to
their compatriot Phytalus as a recompense for the hos-
pitality with which he had entertained the goddess, and
it was accordingly planted in the centre of the public
square at Athens, and considered to hallow the spot where
it grew. Unwilling that the fruit of so divine a tree should
be degraded to the level of barbarian palates, its export-
ation was strictly forbidden — a piece of protectionism
which naturally gave rise to a race of smugglers, who in
their turn, equally naturally, called forth a race of excise-
men, designated, from the special nature of their occu-
pation, sylco phantai, or discoverers of jigs, a name per-
petuated in the word sycophant, which in our language
meant originally talebearer, and which is still used by
the French to denote a cheat or liar, rather than the
mere flatterer signified by our modern uses of the term.
Nor was this the only way in which the goddess-given
plant became a fruitful source of evil, for it was said to
have been the fine figs of Athens which tempted Xerxes
to undertake the invasion of Greece. In Lacedaemonia it
seems that even the luxury-condemning Lycurgus looked
tenderly upon this fruit, pardoning its deliciousness per-
haps on the ground of its wholesomeness; for we find that
the few items he bade each Spartan send monthly to the
public dining-hall, as his share of the common consump-
tion, included 2|-lbs. of figs. The athlete, too, following
the traditionary example of their patron Hercules, made
it their staple article of food while " in training," until,
in later days, a flesh diet was introduced in its stead. At

THE FIG. 235

Eome it became a sacred symbol on account of the legen-
dary tale that the wolf-suckled twins had been first found
reposing under a fig-tree ; and beneath its shade, there-
fore, the Romans were accustomed to offer an annual
sacrifice to the shepherdess who had discovered and reared
their founder. Saturn, to whom was attributed the honour
of having first taught agriculture in Italy, was repre-
sented crowned with new figs, and a large fig-tree grew
before his temple in Eome, on the removal of which, to
build a chapel in its place, it was held necessary for the
Vestals to offer an expiatory sacrifice. Another famous
tree had sprung up spontaneously in the centre of the
Forum, on the spot where Curtius consummated his pa-
triotic self-sacrifice. Finally, in Bacchanalian processions
a basket of figs was carried next to a vessel of wine, the
jolly god who presided over both fruits being thought to
owe his jolliness as much to the figs on which he fed as
to the grape-juice which he imbibed. Pliny, who enume-
rates 29 varieties of the fig as known in his day, relates
with much force the anecdote of Cato one day Jbringing a
ripe one into the senate-house, and asking the assembled
council how long ago -they supposed it to have been ga-
thered. Seeing its perfect freshness, it was unanimously
pronounced to have been very lately taken from the tree.
" Know, then," was the rejoinder, "that it was plucked at
Carthage but the day before yesterday : so near is the
enemy to our walls." Where " Delenda est Carthago "
had been reiterated till every one was weary of the sound,
yet the words had been heard in vain, a single glance at
this fruit sufficed to prevail, and the third Punic War was
immediately begun, and ended not until Carthage was no
more. " Thus," as Pliny observes, " did this fig effect that
which neither Trebia nor Thrasymenus — not Cannae it-
self, graced with tne emtombment of the Eoman renown —
not the Punic camp, entrenched within three miles of the
city — not even the disgrace of seeing Hannibal riding up
to the Colline gate — could suggest the means of accom-
plishing. It was left for a fig in the hands of Cato to-
show how near was Carthage to the gates of Eome."
When dried, the fruit was extensively used at Eome in-

236 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

stead of bread, and, indeed, as a general article of pro-
vision, sometimes taking the place of all other kinds, and
probably proving no ineffectual substitute ; for it is said
that on one occasion the army of Philip of Macedon owed
its preservation to the figs brought to it, when nought
else was available, by the Magnesians.

Nor is it only in Scripture or in mythologic lore that
the fig-tree has met with honourable mention, for in later
days the Mussulmans have not been behindhand in ren-
dering their tribute of respect to it, one chapter of the
Koran being entitled " The Fig ;" while Allah himself is
represented as swearing by it and by the olive, because,
say the commentators, of the great uses and virtues of
these two fruits.

In our own country the records of fig cultivation might
almost pass for a page out of ecclesiastical history, so inti-
mately, and almost exclusively, are all early notices of it
connected with clerical names. A couple of trees, which
long enjoyed the credit of having been the first grown in
England, are said to have been brought here from Italy by
Cardinal Pole in 1548, when they were planted against
the walls of the archiepiscopal palace at Lambeth, where
they were still flourishing so lately as in 1817, and though
destroyed soon after, during some repairs of the palace,
cuttings from them are said to be now growing in the
archbishop's kitchen garden. Another very aged tree,
now also destroyed, but growing a few years back in the
garden at Mitcham, the private estate of Archbishop
Cranmer, was said to have been planted by that prelate's
own hand ; and the dean's garden at Winchester was
graced by another veteran, trained against a stone wall, on
which was an inscription testifying that, in 1623, James
I. " tasted of the fruit of this tree with great pleasure."
Again, the first tree of the kind known in Oxford was a
" White Marseilles," brought there by the great Oriental
traveller, Dr. Pocock, and planted in the garden of Christ's
Church College in 1648. It is related of Dr. Kennicott,
the celebrated Hebrew scholar, that being passionately
fond of figs, and seeing on this tree a particularly fine
one which was not yet fully ripe for gathering, to secure

THE FIG. 237

himself, as lie thought, from any chance of being deprived
of the promised treat, he appended a label to the twig on
which it grew, bearing the words " Dr. Kennicott's Fig."
A gownsman, however, who had observed the proceeding,
and who loved a joke even better than the doctor loved figs,
found the opportunity for making one quite irresistible,
and carrying oif both fruit and label, replaced the latter
with another, inscribed " A fig for Dr.Kennicott." Fruit
from this identical tree gained a prize as the best white
figs exhibited at the Oxfordshire Horticultural Society's
meeting in 1838.

The fig-tree is generally trained against walls in this
country, for the sake of warmth and shelter, but in its
native clime assumes the standard form, and in the most
noted plantation of the kind in England, the " Fig Grar-
den" at Tarring, near Worthing, the trees are left to their
natural mode of growth. This fig orchard in 1821 con-
tained above 100 trees, about the size of large apple-trees,
and the proprietor informed an inquirer that he gathered
about 100 dozen a day during the season from August to
October. JSTor had these trees a less orthodox origin than
the clerically-connected celebrities already mentioned, for
the author of Pomarium Britannicum records that the
two oldest were raised in 1745 from some ancient trees
in an adjoining garden, near the ruins of the palace of
Thomas a Becket, and that tradition asserted these to-
have been brought from Italy, and planted there by the
saint himself — a genealogy which reduces Cardinal Pole's
Lambeth plants, generally supposed to have been the
first in England, to the rank of mere parvenus. The glory
of Tarring, however, seems in a great measure to have
departed, for Bhind, describing the Fig G-arden in 1855,
not only reckons but 80 trees, only about 15 ft. high, but
adds that their origin is quite unknown even to the pro-
prietor, who " believed they had been planted about 50
years ago ;" so that the legend associating them with the
blessed Thomas would appear to have died out in its own
neighbourhood.

The name of the fig varies but little in any language :
some derive the Latin Ficus fromfcecundus, on account of

238 OTJB COMMON PETJITS.

the tree's abundant bearing, while others seek its etymo-
logy in the Hebrew name, Fag. Its Greek title Sykos,
derived by Dr. Sickler from Sicyon, is perpetuated in our
Sycamore, a near ally of the fig. The Ficus carica, our
common fig-tree, and the only one which will grow in the
open air in England, is sometimes a mere shrub, some-
times (though rarely) a tree 30 ft. high. Its large leaves
are deeply lobed, sometimes into three, sometimes into
five divisions, and are rough on the upper surface and
hairy beneath, the branches also being clothed with short
hairs. As to the blossom, in describing it the fruit is also'
described, for they are, in fact, one — the fig we gather
being at once both flower and fruit ; and if we would even
see the former we must explore the latter. No bloom of
delicate petals ever appears to deck the branches of this
tree with floral beauty, yet is it not left flowerless, though
its blossoms flourish and fade all unseen by mortal eye, in-
urned within those fleshy green protuberances seen spring-
ing from the axils of the leaves, bearing the appearance
of an unripe fruit, and which, if cut open, disclose a whole
cluster of small unisexual flowers inserted into the inner
surface of this rind-like receptacle, as the florets of the
dandelion are into the part which forms the base of that
flower. A few male blossoms are at the upper part of the
cavity, while numerous female ones fill the remainder of
the space below, each ovary of the latter becoming event-
ually a seed surrounded by pulp, which, together with
the succulent receptacle, forms, when ripe, what may be
called an admirable imitation of a true berry, though
formed in so very different a manner. It may, perhaps,
give a clearer idea of so singular a growth to recur to the
familiar dandelion, and imagine the round white cushion
which supports that flower to spread and rise around
it, until the yellow star should be quite closed over, the
florets thus entombed still flourishing on in their dark
cell, and maturing seeds, surrounding them, however,
with a glutinous pulpy substance, filling up the configu-
ration, in the place of that light feathery down which
forms the airy mass of the dandelion's rounded head.
The shape of this fructal flower or floral fruit is very

THE FIG. 239

similar to that of a pear, more or less rounded; and if the
opinion deduced from experiments by Mr. Monck be cor-
rect, the external figure is a clue to the internal arrange-
ments, for he came to the conclusion that figs are never
produced containing both kinds of florets in an eflicient
state ; that those in which the male flowers only are perfect,
never become eatable ; and that, finally, these male figs
may be known by their being rather squat-shaped, while
the superior female fruit is characterized by the more
elegant form of the pear.* Neither can boast very bril-
liant hues, for the colour is always some rather neutral
tint, the commonest being a brownish purple. One great
peculiarity of the fig-tree consists in the fact of its bear-
ing several crops in succession during the same year.
On the shoots formed by the first flow of sap in the spring,
figs appear at every eye, which ripen during autumn ;
but in July and August, as the sap begins to flow again,
" midsummer shoots," as they are called, are formed, and
these put forth figs also, which remain immature through
the winter, and ripen not till the next year, earlier or later
according to the warmth of the climate, forming the first
crop of the season. Not only do these vernal figs often
differ both in form and colour from those of autumn, but
the midsummer shoots, being to the spring ones only as
one to six or eight, and the produce in proportion, in warm
countries this first crop is held in little esteem, as is seen
by the expression in Hosea, ix. 10, where it is said dis-
paragingly of the Jews, " I saw your fathers as the first
ripe in the fig-tree." In England, however, at least in the
open air, the contrary is the case ; the fruit usually re-
quiring the whole year to mature, and the later growth
mostly perishing at the approach of winter, though at
Tarring the second crop has occasionally ripened, when
the fruit, though smaller, has been very sweet. In Bar-
bary and some other parts a third crop appears, which
often hangs and ripens upon the trees after the leaves are
shed ; and when grown here in stoves three and even four

* See Plate VI., figs. S& 4.

240 OUE, COMMON rKTJITS.

successive harvests are not unfrequently obtained. A
warm climate, however, does not seem to be sufficient of
itself to bring the fruit to perfection, for in China, where
it is called " the flowerless fruit," it seems to be held in
very little estimation ; a Chinese treatise on husbandry,
after stating that " it grows in the hills and wilds, and at
present is also planted in gardens," only adding, with re-
gard to its qualities, that " it may be gathered and eaten."
Sir J. F. Davis, too, says respecting it that " from my own
experience the native fig of China is very poor, and hardly
advanced beyond the wild state. It would be a real bene-
fit to send some of our European figs to Hong Kong."

Not very many kinds of figs are found in this country,
where the climate does not allow of its being generally
naturalized, but the varieties of the common fig in some
parts of the world are almost innumerable, though man
has done little towards producing them, the flowers being
too difficult of access to permit of much experimentalizing
upon them ; yet a botanist, who undertook to catalogue
merely those growing in the south of France, found them
to amount to several hundreds ; and Bosc observed, too,
that all he met with in America differed from any he had
known in France. The prison-like enclosure in which the
blossom is confined, tends also to the exclusion of the
influences it most needs, a circumstance which has given
rise to a singular method, followed from very ancient
times, of promoting fig-ripening by a process — partly na-
tural and partly artificial — called caprification, thus de-
scribed by Pliny : The wild fig, which bears a small dis-
agreeably tasting fruit, nourishes a sort of gnat, one of the
Hymenoptera, and when this wild fruit begins to decay,
the insect generated within it wings its flight to the
kindred cultivated kind, and, beginning to feed on them,
makes apertures, through which air and sunshine penetrate
also, and thus the fig is speedily ripened. Branches of
the wild fig were, therefore, sometimes brought from a
distance and tied upon the cultivated trees, but more
usually a single wild tree was planted among the others
to windward of them, so that the breeze might readily
bear the insect guests to their banquet. He adds, that on

THE ira. 241

a thin soil or a site exposed to the east wind, the skin of
the figs would dry, and thus forming cracks spontaneously,
dispense with insect aid, which was also sometimes re-
placed by planters pricking their fruit with a quill, or, in
the case of Egyptian figs, by making incisions in them
with iron hooks, a plan which acted so effectually that the
fruit would be ripe in four days after submitting to the
operation, and the tree being so speedily relieved of its
produce, would bear no less than seven crops in one year,
though it only bore four if left to nature. Tournefort
gives a similar account of caprification as carried on in
modern days in the Greek Islands, except that the culti-
vators there themselves collected the flies and transferred
them to their trees. " I could not," observes he, " suffi-
ciently admire the patience of the Greeks, busied above
two months in carrying these flies from one tree to an-
other. I was soon told the reason : one of their fig-trees
produces between 200 and 300 Ibs. of figs." This process
was formerly thought to improve the size and flavour of
the fruit, aswell as to hasten its ripening, but is now consi-
dered by many to have the very opposite effect; M. Olivier,
the botanical traveller, concisely stigmatizing adherence
to the custom as " a tribute paid to ignorance and custom,"
while Bosc significantly inquires, " Who would take it
upon him to advise rendering apples worm-eaten, in
order to enjoy the advantage of eating them a fortnight
sooner?"

In Italy and Greece the fig-trees are left to grow,
according to Nature's promptings, as tall upright stems
with branches, but in France they are made to assume a
stunted form. London saw them at Argenteuil, on the
road to St. Denis, cultivated like the vine, and often mixed
with it in the open fields, being only low bushes 6 or 7 ft.
high, the branches divided into bundles, which are bent
down in winter and covered with earth. To bend and
retain them on the surface with stakes, as is done with
the vines in the south of Germany, would be quite suffi-
cient protection ; but human muscle being cheaper here
than anything else, it is preferred to bury them, since
that costs nothing but labour. It was even said that it

16

242 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

would not pay to be at the expense of so much as a
bundle of straw to protect the centre of the plant. In
spring the branches are disinterred and the bundles
untied, when the figs on wood of the past year ripen well,
but those on shoots of the current year are thought to
require artificial aid, afforded them by an old woman with
a phial of oil at her apron-string, and in her hand a wheat-
straw about 5 in. long, which she places in the bottle,
pressing her thumb on the other end of the tube when
full, to prevent the contents flowing out; then with-
drawing it, inserts the tip into the eye of the full-grown
fig, and lifts her thumb for a moment to let one drop of
oil descend, taking a fresh supply into her tube after 10
or 12 figs have been thus treated. This is considered the
least objectionable mode of caprification ; yet, though ren-
dered eatable, the figs are far inferior to those ripened
naturally. About Marseilles the plants are left to grow
for two years, then cut down, and the shoots which spring
forth after this, form, in the third year, a bush which the
next year ripens fruit.

In order to reach perfection, the fig-tree requires so
plentiful a supply of water that it might almost be said
to be partly aquatic; its large leaves and very porous
bark, with but a small epidermis, favours transpiration, so
that extreme heat is as injurious to it as frost. An author
of the 16th century in the S. of France mentions a very
ingenious method adopted in that locality to quench this
plant's perpetual thirst: "We place," says he, "small
cisterns under the fig-trees, and into them we put the
ends of a quantity of worsted threads, and then conduct
them among the branches, bringing the other ends down
to the ground, a little lower than those in the cistern ;
and by this means the capillary attraction is set to work,
diffusing moisture among the branches and also dropping
down upon the roots."

Though only cultivated in the northern provinces of
France to be brought fresh to table, in the south figs are
also grown for drying, though sufficient care is not de-
voted to this operation except just about Marseilles and a
few other parts, so that French figs, excellent when just

THE FIG. 243

gathered, are often useless for keeping, or sell at very in-
ferior prices, owing to not having been properly prepared.
When fully ripe, a state it is ascertained to have reached
by the appearance of a sugary tear in the eye of the fruit,
it should be gathered, and spread out on wicker hurdles
or boards, exposed to the full heat of the sun on a roof or
against a wall, housed during the night or whenever rain
may threaten, and turned at first twice a day and after-
wards once ; finally flattened with the hand, and packed
in rush baskets or in boxes intermixed wibh layers of
laurel-leaves. 3 n some parts of France, in order to harden
their skins, they are dipped, before drying, into a hot ley
made of the ashes of the fig-tree, which are remarkably
rich in alkaline salts. All unsound ones must be care-
fully excluded, and the different varieties should also be
kept apart, as some dry more quickly than others. In
rainy or foggy seasons recourse must be had to artificial
heat; but this so deteriorates the flavour of the fruit
that its value, when thus dried, is diminished by at least
one-third ; and the inferiority of the Greek figs is in a
great measure accounted for by this method being ordi-
narily employed in their preparation, though, where the
system of caprification has been followed, the heating
process has' at least the good effect of killing the eggs
deposited by the insects which had been invited to make
their home in them, and which, if suffered to mature into
worms, would injure the fruit even more seriously than
does the oven. In most places where they are plentiful
they form the principal part of the food of the poorer
classes during a great portion of the year. It is in this
dried form, too, that the fig, which when fresh finds but
few admirers in England, is most familiar to Us, forming
a favourite dish at the winter dessert, as is sufficiently
proved by the fact of our imports, principally sent from
Turkey,* amounting a few years ago to 20,000 cwt., though
the duty then imposed amounted to a guinea per cwt., or
rather more than 100 per cent, addition to the price of figs

* The figs from Smyrna are considered the best : the word " Eletne," often
prefixed to these, is sometimes mistaken by the uninitiated for the name of a
place, but it is really a Turkish term meaning " choice " or " selected."

16 — 2

244 OITII COMMON FBTJITS.

in bond. It was prophesied by Mr. M'Culloch, that were
this duty reduced the import would soon be more than
tripled ; and after the revision of the tariff, fixing the
rate of customs paid on these fruits at the low sum of
only 7s. per cwt., our consumption of figs had risen by
1862 to 95,414 cwt., valued at £123,728.

But the indifference of the British public to fresh figs
is far from being shared by the nations of the Continent,
and throughout the south of Europe they are eaten with
avidity by all classes during five months of the year, not
only at the dessert, but in some places forming part of
the dinner as well, being introduced along with the melon
after soup ; showing a taste in accordance with that of
the ancients, among whom, as Soyer informs us, figs were
served at aristocratic tables with salt, pepper, vinegar, and
some aromatics. The same great culinary authority also
observes that the Greek love for this fruit amounted to
a sort of gastronomic furor which knew no bounds, and
that the wise Plato himself ceased to be a philosopher
when presented with a basket of figs. Zeno the Stoic is
said to have lived exclusively upon them, and by the
Pythagoreans, too, they were highly esteemed ; but we
need not entertain the discreditable suspicion that the
partiality of sages like these was prompted only by a
desire to please their palates, since the authors of anti-
quity have left on record their opinion that the fig being
so easy of digestion as to tax very lightly the powers of
the stomach, it was a food of all others peculiarly fit for
the studious, since, by adopting such diet, the greater
amount of vital force was left to supply the needs of the
active brain. That nevertheless it was not a " caviare "
unappreciated by the multitude is shown by Cato's recom-
mendation to employers to diminish the amount of food
supplied to agricultural labourers whenever ripe figs were
in season, since, whatever else might be given them, they
would be sure to take their share of this fruit. To de-
scend from Plato to the poultry-yard, Bosc affirms that
all birds and beasts have a passion for figs, whether fresh
or dried ; and indeed, with regard to domestic fowls, the
taste of the fruit would seem to have a like effect upon

THE FIG. 245

them to that which the taste of human blood is said to
have upon the lion ; for if once they have been suffered
to fly upon a fig-tree and help themselves to its produce,
the only way, says he, to prevent their attacking the
trees again is to kill them. But the most delicious form
in which the fig can possibly be partaken of is when it
becomes itself animated, for though a feathered flying fig
may seem rather a startling notion, it is nevertheless a
fact, realized, ,to the great felicity of gourmands, in the
Becqfico, a mere animal assimilation of ihefaus, described
by Viellot as " like a small lump of light fat — savoury,
melting, easy of digestion, and, in truth, an extract of the
juice from the delicious fruits it has fed upon." In the
southen parts of France and in Italy almost all little
birds with slender beaks are indiscriminately called JSeca-
Jico, because in the autumn they attack and eat the figs,
whereby even their flesh becomes very fat and well-
flavoured ; but the bird to which that name really and
peculiarly belongs, and which, it would seem, seldom stoops
to any other food, surpasses all in its exquisite delicacy,
and has been prized in all ages as the daintiest morsel of
the bon vivant, having been reckoned by the ancients
among the most refined of dishes, and forming at Rome
the sole exception to that gastronomic theorem which
pronounced that nothing was worth eating in birds but
the leg and lower part of the body, the fig-pecker enjoy-
ing the exclusive privilege of being eaten entire.

To return, however, to the fig proper. In former times
it gained an evil notoriety as a common vehicle for poison,
probably on account of its being so generally a favourite
fruit; and the " fig of Spain" alluded to in Shakespeare
is supposed to have referred to the popular belief in the
prevalence of this custom in the Peninsula; while, in
classic days at least, the " Livian Eig " owed its name to
the assertion that it had been used by Livia, the wife of
the Emperor Augustus, to convey to her husband a fatal
and infallible notice of divorce. It was in a basket of
figs, too, that the asp reposed whose next resting-place
was on the throne that kings had coveted — the fair bosom
of the doomed Cleopatra, with whom this fruit is said to

246 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

have been a special favourite ; a taste easily accounted
for if the enchantress of the Nile were aware of the pro-
perty attributed to it by Pliny of "retarding the forma-
tion of wrinkles." The same authority informs us that
the juice of the tree imparts a fine flavour to meat, by
being steeped in vinegar for the purpose, and then rubbed
upon it. This passage has rather puzzled commentators,
but it may possibly have some connection with a fact
which cannot be accounted for, but which nevertheless
has been ascertained to be indisputably true, viz., that
fresh killed meat hung for a few hours in the shade of
the fig-tree will become as tender as if kept elsewhere for
weeks. A gentleman who had lately made the experi-
ment, assured the author of the JPomarium Uritannicum
that a haunch of venison, hung soon after killing among
the leaves of a fig-tree at about 10 o'clock at night, was
found, when removed before sunrise in the morning, to
be in a perfect state for cooking, and would evidently in
a few hours more have been in a state of putrefaction.
Judging by this, it would certainly be an advantage to
the community were every butcher, at least, able on occa-
sion to " sit under his own fig-tree ;" and it might mate-
rially promote the digestion of the lieges, were the rival
plans for the disposal of Smithfield market to be harmo-
nized— the dead meat market established, and the ground
permitted to be planted also, only on condition that the
trees selected should be of the species^cw.

The virtues of the fig in a medical point of view are
well known, it being most useful externally as well as
internally, having furnished, indeed, the first poultice on
record, applied under the direction of no meaner a phy-
sician than the princely prophet Isaiah, whose prescrip-
tion of " a lump of figs" cured the boil-smitten Hezekiah.
The juice of the tree, too, has a similar property to rennet,
a twig of it put into milk causing it to curdle. The
wood is of little special use, except to form whetstones
for sharpening smiths' tools, its softness and porosity
fitting it to retain the oil and emery required for this
purpose. It was formerly said to have been used by the
Egyptians for their mummy-cases or coffins, on account

THE FIG. 247

of its supposed indestructibility ; but this is now proved
to have been an error.

The fig-tree chiefly spoken of in the New Testament,
sometimes under the name of the " sycamore," was the
JFicus sycomoris, the trunk of which, according to Nor-
den, shoots out little sprigs, at the end of which grows
the clustered fruit. This tree is always green, and bears
fruit several times in the year without observing any
certain seasons, which accounts for the Saviour visiting
the one by the roadside, " lest haply He might find fruit
thereon," notwithstanding " the time of figs was not yet."
The sweet yellow produce of this tree in shape and smell
resembles the fig of the carica, but in taste is far inferior.
It is the kind most prevalent in Egypt, where it often
forms the entire food of the common people, and where
the fruit is made to ripen in half the natural time, with-
out diminution of size or flavour, by means of cutting a
slice off the end, when it has attained a third of its growth,
deep enough to remove all the stamens of the male flowers
before they have had time to mature their pollen, a pro-
cess by the adoption of which the annual produce is con-
siderably increased.

The fig, being nearly allied to the mulberry, which
bears also a compound or aggregate fruit, is included with
it in the Natural System of Botany, under the title of
Moracece, or Morads ; but it has many kindred, which,
sharing yet more closely in its nature, partake with it
the common family name, one of the most remarkable
being the Ficus Indica, or Banyan-tree.* It is to this
tree that Milton assigns the honour of having been the
clothing emporium of Paradise :

"Both together went

Into the thickest shade; there soon they chose
The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renowned,
But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms, >
Branching so broad and long that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade
High over-arched, and echoing walks between."

But the poet offers no reason for endeavouring thus to

* See Plate VI., fig. 5.

248 OUR COMMON PETJITS.

deprive our familiar carica of this glory, ascribed to it by
common tradition, in favour of one quite foreign to us ;
and when we read of Banyan-trees being of such magni-
tude that a single one will cover an area of 1,700 square
feet, it seems questionable whether in the limited space
between the four Edenite rivers a tree would have been
included which required so very large a field for its single
self ; while the shape of the leaf — a simple oval, 5 to 6 in.
long and 3 or 4 in. broad — seems less fitted for the pur-
pose intended than the spreading lobes of the broad-
leaved common fig-tree. The Banyan Figs, which grow in
pairs, are about the size and colour of an ordinary cherry ;
and, being useless as food, except to birds, the tree seems
in every respect less likely than the common species to
have been favoured with a place in Eden. A more for-
midable rival might be found in the JFicus religiosa (or
Pippul-tree), so called because sacred to the idol Vishnu,
and the singular leaves of which are shaped like a heart,
but with the tip drawn out into a slender attenuated
point several inches in length,* an appendage which would
certainly favour their being sewn or interwoven to form
a connected web. While the Banyan is to the Brahmin
much what the oak was to the Druid, being called the
"priest's tree," and always planted in the vicinity of
temples, while to cut or break a twig from it is reckoned
a crime equal in enormity to that of breaking a cow's leg ;
in Ceylon, the stronghold of Buddhism, the Ficus reli-
giosa, called there the Bo-tree, is the tree of trees. It
was while reclining under a tree of this species that Go-
tama, the Messiah of the Cingalese, received Buddha-
hood ; " hence," says Tennent, " its adoption as an object
of reverence by his followers ;" the unceasing tremulous
motion of their slender-stalked foliage being attributed
to an awed reminiscence of this supernatural scene, as
the aspen's quivering was to the tradition of its having
been the wood selected for the " true cross." A branch,
said to be self-detached from this identical tree, was fetched
to Ceylon by special embassy 288 B.C., and, believed to

* See Plate VL, fig. 7.

THE TIG. 249

be the parent of all tlie numerous trees of the kind now
growing in the island, is still flourishing there under the
title of " The Supreme Lord, the Sacred Bo-tree," pro-
bably the oldest historical tree in the world; " for," says
Sir Emerson Tennent, " its identity is not matter of con-
jecture, but of authentic record, its story being preserved
in continuous chronicles." JSTone have ever dared to pluck
so much as a single leaf from what is almost a vegetable
divinity, its leaves or fruit, as soon as they fall, being col-
lected and treasured as hallowed relics by pilgrims from
all parts.

The other most notable variety of the fig is the Ficus
elastica* which furnishes us with caoutchouc ; indeed,
the possession of a milky juice is one of the character-
istics of the whole genus ; and Lindley is of opinion that
India-rubber might even be made in England from our
common fig-tree, the sap of which possesses like proper-
ties. In the ripe fruit the secretion is decomposed and
becomes sweet and harmless, but, if eaten unripe, the
milky juice makes its presence known by corroding the
lips and tongue, causing a burning sensation in the throat,
and even producing dysentery. Yet in some varieties
this milk is perfectly bland and wholesome, most of what
are called " Cow- trees " being really varieties of the fig.
The Ficus d&mona, however, as might be inferred from
its name, yields a virulent poison ; and the famous Upas-
tree of Java is another enfant terrible of the family, whose
claim to cousinship yet cannot be denied.

The most curious specimen in the New World is the
Ficus nymplicefolia, or American Fig-tree, described by
Humboldt as encircled by ligneous excrescences or ridges,
which surround the trunk to a height of about 20 ft., and
sometimes separating from it near the base, when the tree
looks as if supported by flying buttresses. The larger
roots creep along the surface of the ground, and seem to
have a plethora of sap to their very extremities, for, if
cut 20 ft. from the trunk, their milky juice gushes out
immediately.

See Plate VI., fig. 6.

250 OTTE COMMON FBUITS.

The various members of the genus Ficus form a very
striking feature in most tropical scenery, and travellers
reckon the colossal fig-trees of the torrid zone among the
greatest blessings with which Providence has favoured
these burning climes, the shade of their dense foliage
affording an almost impervious shelter. The tenacity of
life, with which some are gifted to a most remarkable ex-
tent, provides against the world being easily deprived of
them, for it is recorded that a specimen of Ficus Australis
lived and grew, suspended in the air without earth, in a
hothouse for eight months without suffering any apparent
inconvenience.

But while fig-trees of every kind, by their powerful
properties for good or ill, have universally commanded
the respect of mankind, it is curious that the name of
the fruit should have become a very synonym for indif-
ference, and be generally associated with ideas of inso-
lence and contempt. "When Shakespeare's Charmian says,
" I love long life better than figs," the expression only
indicates how very much the lady really coveted length
of days ; but its being thus used is a concession to the
spirit of the age in which the scene is laid — those " good
old days," when philosophers feasted on figs and con-
querors contested for them : and when the word occurs
in other parts of his works, it is always with far other
meaning, showing that though the fruit itself was at that
time probably but a newly-arrived stranger in the coun-
try, yet it had already become a familiar practice thus to
take its name in vain. The word may not, however, al-
ways have been used in an ill sense when employed figu-
ratively, for in the case of the first collection of satires
in the English language, published anonymously in 1595
under the name of A Fig for Momus, the title seems
merely to imply an offering, and no disrespectful one, to
the laughter-loving god. Some have thought that the fig
was rather held in horror in this country, because looked
on as a sort of fellow to the stiletto, as a common means
of murder abroad ; while others imagine that the word
became a term of contempt simply on account of the
fruit itself not being generally pleasing to the English

THE PINE -APPLE. 251

taste, perhaps because it is the only one we possess which
is quite free from acidity. To " make the fig," however,
"faire lafigue" is a general mode of insult in many parts
of Europe where figs themselves are held in high esteem,
and is traced back to rather distant times, though its
origin seems involved in obscurity. It consists in thrust-
ing the thumb, inserted between two closed fingers, into
the mouth, and was once a common usage in this country
also, but is now modified into "snapping of fingers,"
after having passed through the transitionary stage of
" biting the thumb," alluded to in Borneo and Juliet, where
the quarrelling servants adopt this mode of venting their
angry feelings towards each other. To show that this
thumb-biting was identical with "fig making," Knight
quotes a passage from Lodge's Wifs Miserie : " Behold,
I see contempt marching forth, giving me the fico with
his thumb in his mouth ! "

But, however sanctioned by the custom of centuries, it
is really so great an injustice to our honourable friend the
fig to make use of its name in any way but respectfully,
that it may be permitted to divert one sentence at least
in which it occurs from the original sense intended to be
conveyed ; and therefore, in the words of Shakespeare, but
with meaning far different to Shakespeare's, we present
to the reader, " Figo for thy friendship."

CHAPTEE XX.
THE PINE-APPLE.

" THE king never dies," is an axiom no less true in the
fructal monarchy than in the monarchy of Britain, for a
fruit of no season, or rather of all seasons, is the regal
Pine, on whose head the crown, held indeed by right

252 OUR COMMON FETJITS.

divine, has been deposited by the all-ordering hand of
Nature herself. Even yet more than the orange is this
fruit entirely a delight of modern days, a joy with which
the ancients intermeddled not ; for it was guarded in a
Transatlantic Hesperides by dragons of the deep, far be-
yond the power of any classic Hercules, till the Genoese
ocean conqueror fought his way through all opposition,
and won for the denizens of the old continents all the
treasures of a new world, and among them this sovereign
glory of all fruitdom. The pine-apple is indeed now so
plentiful in some parts of Asia, and in Africa, even in the
most uncultivated places, that some have thought it must
have been indigenous to the tropical parts of the three
continents, but this idea is negatived by the fact that no
mention of it appears in the works of any author who
wrote before the discovery of America. According to
Beckmann,who dedicates a chapter of his History of In-
ventions and Discoveries to this subject, the first who
described and delineated the fruit was Oviedo, who, in
1535, was Governor of St. Domingo, and who published
a general history of America. This enterprising Spaniard
made great efforts to introduce the new dainty into Eu-
rope, but it could not sustain the long uncertain voyages
of that period : the fruit was always spoiled long before
arrival, and the shoots or slips of the plant also perished
by the way. A French monk, who had resided for some
time in Brazil, next described it under its Peruvian title
of Nanas ; and Jean de Lery, a Huguenot chaplain — who
remarked, on its exhaling so strong a scent, resembling
that of strawberries, that it could be smelt when afar off
in the woods, and being so delicious in taste as to take
rank unquestionably as the best fruit of America — was
the first to use the word Ananas, its present botanical
cognomen. The prefix Bromelia, given to it by Linnaeus,
was derived from Olaf Bromel, a Swedish naturalist, who
died in 1705. Transplanted from Brazil to the West
Indies, it was thus brought a little more within reach of
the longing palates of Europe, and by the middle of the
17th century the interesting stranger reached our shores.
In 1661 Evelyn records that he " saw the famous Queen

THE PINE-APPLE. 253

Pine brought from Barbadoes and presented to his Ma-
jesty ; but the first that were seen in England were those
sent to Cromwell four years since." In 1668 he says
again, " I was at a banquet which the King gave to the
French Ambassador. Standing by his Majesty at dinner,
in the presence, was that rare fruit called the King Pine,
growing in Barbadoes in the West Indies." His Majesty,
after cutting it up, was pleased, in Eastern fashion, to
give a piece off his own plate to this worthiest of his
courtiers, that he might taste as well as feast his eyes
upon a novelty he had never seen before ; but this further
acquaintance only induced disappointment ; for, " in my
opinion," he continues, "it falls far short of those ravish-
ing varieties of deliciousness described in Captain Ligon's
history and others ; but possibly it might be, or certainly
was, much impaired in coming so far." This was a dis-
tressing discovery for the biases gourmands of Charles's
court, in search of a new sensation, for the boldest of them
would hardly have dared to undertake a voyage to the
"West Indies for the sake of getting fresh pine-apples ;
and the need therefore became pressing that some other
means should be tried to secure the enjoyment of charms
so exquisite, yet so fleeting as to be thus dissipated by a
few weeks' voyage. A Dutchman, Le Cour of Leyden,
was the magician who, after many laborious and costly
efforts, succeeded in first devising a spell potent enough
to compel the royal foreigner to bloom beyond his native
tropics, and present himself to European admirers in all
the fulness of his attractions.

A picture at Kensington Palace, in which Eose, the
royal gardener, is represented upon his knees presenting
a pine to Charles II., has led some to think that he was
himself the grower of the fruit ; but it is more probable
that he was only its purveyor, for one of the Sloanean
MSS. distinctly affirms that the Ananas was not intro-
duced into this country until 1690, in which year it was
procured from Holland, as a botanical plant for the Royal
Gardens at Kew. The memory of the first that bore
fruit in England is preserved in a landscape in the Fitz-
•william Museum at Cambridge, in which one is intro-

254* OUR COMMON EETTITS.

duced for which this honour is claimed. It is stated to
have been grown in the garden of Sir Matthew Decker,
at Richmond, where fruit-bearing Ananas were certainly
to be seen flourishing in 1726. Ten years before this
date, Lady Mary Montague had recorded in one of her
lively letters her introduction, at the dessert-table of the
Elector of Hanover, to this noble fruit, but the allega-
tion, often repeated by careless writers, that she had
never even heard of such a thing before, is an error pal-
pable enough to any one taking the trouble of referring
to her own words on the occasion. After expressing her
surprise at the superiority in number and beauty of the
orange-trees in the garden at Herrnhausen to any she
had seen in England, she continues : " But I had more
reason to wonder that night, at the royal table, to see a
present from a gentleman of this country of two large
baskets full of ripe oranges and lemons of different sorts,
many of which were quite new to me ; and, what I thought
worth all the rest, two ripe Ananasses, which to my taste
are a fruit perfectly delicious. You know they are na-
turally the growth of Brazil, and I could not imagine
how they came here, but by enchantment. Upon inquiry,
I learnt that they have brought their stoves to such per-
fection they lengthen their summer as long as they please,
giving to every plant the degree of heat it would receive
from the sun in its native soil. The effect is very near
the same, and I am surprised we do not practise in England
so useful an invention." The deficiency was soon sup-
plied, for by 1730 pine-stoves were established in all the
principal gardens of Europe. Many, however, were ca-
pable of appreciating pine-apples who were quite unable
to indulge in a luxury so costly as these stove-grown
nurslings of art, and an effort was therefore made to ex-
tend their importation, for a pine might be bought in the
"West Indies for sixpence which costs the English grower
almost as many pounds. Phillips, writing in 1821, men-
tions that even while his pages were in progress the fruit
had just been imported, for the first time, as an article of
commerce, from the Bermuda Islands, the consignment
consisting of about 400 ; and the Oxford Street fruiterer

THE PINE-APPLE. 255

who had purchased them informed him that about two-
thirds of the number arrived in good condition, and that
a regular supply might therefore be expected for the fu-
ture. This author was, however, in hopes that forcing
would soon reach such perfection that there would be
"African gardens" on the banks of the Thames, and
looked forward, therefore, to the speedy arrival of the
time when pine-apples would be " cried through our
streets two for a crown " — a hope whose fulfilment is as
much exceeded in one respect as it is fallen short of in
another, by the supply at the present day, street-sold at
a half-penny a slice, but, alas ! of insipid imports, instead
of full-flavoured home growths. These come chiefly from,
the Bahamas, where they are grown as turnips are in our
fields, and with so little care that excellence can hardly
be expected, though probably the great demand excited
by this abundant importation may cause more attention
to be paid to them, and thus eventually improve the
supply ; for Dr. Wynter in his Curiosities of Civilization
informs us that no less than 300,000 are brought yearly
to London, principally from these islands, nine-tenths of
the number being still consigned to Messrs. Keeling and
Hunt, the original importers. A whole fleet of clipper
ships is appropriated to the carriage across the sea of this
single fruit.

The leaves of the Bromelia ananas are very like those
of the aloe, but less thick and succulent, and are mostly
armed with thorns, though in the variety called the King
Pine the foliage is quite smooth and without prickles.
Though the first leaves of seedling pines are very small
and tender, much resembling the smallest blades of grass,
when full grown they are from 2 to 3 ft. long and from
2 to 3 in. broad, and of that dusty bluish-green colour
which mostly characterizes sea shore vegetation. In the
centre of these leaves rises a stem, varying in height from
one to several feet, on which are clustered numerous
small close-sitting flowers, consisting of a three-cornered
calyx and a corolla of three petals, within which are seen
the pistil and six short stamens. Lilac, purple, or bluish
in colour, these flowers, with their accompanying bracts^

256 OUR COMMON FET7ITS.

are scattered upon and half buried in the substance of
the common thick fleshy receptacle which supports them,
and which, after the flowers fall off, increases in size ; and
the calyces, the bracts, the axis itself on which all are
arranged, distended with the same juices, combine to form
a succulent mass denominated the fruit, the points di-
viding the surface into triangular spaces, called by gar-
deners the "pips." It is, on a large scale, what the
mulberry is on a small one, and, equally with that, is
termed by botanists an " aggregate fruit," being formed
of a number of ordinarily distinct parts, all grown to-
gether and fused into one another, forming a single head
or cone. In the species called the " Pinguin " the walnut-
sized fruits into which the flowers develop remain de-
tached, though so close together that at a little distance
the cluster looks much like an ordinary pine-apple. The
" crown " is, in fact, merely the end of the stem or branch
on which the flowers are arranged, finishing in a terminal
cluster of leaves, which, from their position, being thus
above the fruit, form for it a natural diadem. In one
species, never cultivated in England, but which abounds
in China and the Indian Archipelago, each flower on the
spike has a separate branch growing through its centre,
and bearing a pine surmounted by a crown, so that a
whole cluster of separate fruits is thus produced upon a
single stem, and, as an old writer expresses it, " the whole
plant together looks like a father in the middle, and a
dozen children round about him." This plant is grown
very commonly in Jamaica as a fence for pasture lands,
on account of its prickly leaves, which also, when stripped
of their pulp by soaking in water and beating with a
wooden mallet, yield a strong thread, used for twisting
into ropes and whips, and which was also made by the
Spaniards into a very good cloth. Even muslin, of beau-
tifully fine texture, is sometimes manufactured from the
fibres of pine-apple-leaves, but this is a costly curiosity
rarely met with. Within some at least of the conglome-
rate group of united berries or capsules which compose
the cone of the Ananas may perhaps be found its small
oblong and numerous seeds, about the size of a grain of

THE PINE-APPLE. 257

wheat, which are plentifully produced in the wild fruit,
but are rare in cultivated specimens, owing to the extreme
succulence attained by every part. "When present at all,
it is found that the cells which contain seed lie near the
centre of the fruit, while the abortive seed-cells are mostly
situate close to the rind, a fact which led Professor Martyn
to conclude that some of the flowers might be male and
others hermaphrodite.

In the West Indies the Ananas has been commonly
grown from seed, but the ordinary mode of propagation
in this country was by means of planting the crowns,
which, however, are now less in repute than formerly, the
suckers or shoots from the middle of the stem being pre-
ferred. The first great improvement which took place in
their cultivation was the substitution of hotbeds of horse-
dung and tan for fire heat, an increase both in size and
excellence following the adoption of a system recommended
also by the comparative cheapness. The plant, however,
was still looked on as a triennial, a date of duration rather
arbitrarily assigned to it, since, though it is certainly its
nature to bear fruit once only and then to perish in its
native tropics, this aim and end of its existence is not
unfrequently accomplished within the course of a single
year, while all the care bestowed upon it by our gardeners
often failed to obtain the desired consummation before
the lapse of four years. Of late, however, so great has
been the progress of the craft both in knowledge and skill,
that fruit is now produced in fifteen months or less, and
with a comparatively small amount of care and labour,
which a short time ago cost three or four years of con-
tinual toil and expense. Formerly, too, it was considered
impossible to "swell off" a pine in winter, so that if a
plant showed fruit late in the autumn, it was forthwith
consigned to the rubbish-heap, cast out and trodden under
foot as a useless bringer of untimely births. Now, how-
ever, they are at liberty to bear and bring forth when they
will, sure of a glad welcome at any time for the tender
progeny, for it has been found that the grand secret of
fostering them into perfection consists more in the pro-
portioning of heat to light than the unvarying amplitud

17

258 OUR COMMON FEUITS.

of either, and that by lessening the temperature of the
pinery at night, or in dark sunless days, these children of
a land where winter is unknown may brave his frowns with
impunity, and their growth, though it may be retarded,
will still steadily continue, and an uninterrupted succes-
sion of heirs to the crown keep up the glory of the family
through every change of season. They make most pro-
gress, however, in spring and autumn, for, accustomed in
their native climate to grow beneath the shades of loftier
vegetation, they shrink from the unmitigated glow of even
an English summer sun; and, except when the nearly
ripened fruit requires just a few finishing touches of power-
ful solar influence to bring out its fullest tones of colour
and taste, loves best that the bright rays should gleam
into its greenhouse abode only through a leafy screen of
vines trained over the rafters. Too much air, however,
can hardly be given, for though fruit will swell to an un-
healthy corpulence when grown in close pits, the flavour
proves far inferior to that borne by plants more happily
situate in light and airy houses. As regards vegetable as
well as animal life, " the worth of fresh air" is only now
beginning to be generally understood ; but the appearance
of the denizens of such different abodes pleads powerfully
as plainly in favour of the attendance of " the Cheap
Doctor;" for when grown in pits, the leaves of the pine-
apple are long, thin, narrow, and flabby, and the tall slim
fruit-stalk so weak that it cannot without support stand
upright under the weight of its watery tasteless fruit ;
while plants that have been reared in houses ever rejoicing
in the surrounding light and air have short, thick, and
broad leaves, stiif as those of an aloe, and sturdy unbending
fruit-stalk, proudly upbearing its luscious load of sweet
well-flavoured fruit, crowned with a well-proportioned
coronal -of short vigorous leaves seldom exceeding half the
height of the fructal cone, for an over-luxuriant crown
would only betoken an undue drain upon the wearer.
Some of the finest pines, indeed, in point of flavour, that
have ever been grown beneath an English sky, matured
their fruit beneath its full influence, in the free open air.
This experiment was tried in 1847, at Bicton, in Devon-

THE PINE-APPLE. 259

shire, where some plants in pots, to which no fire heat had
at any time been applied, were placed out after they had
blossomed, in the month of May, in beds of leaves in the
open garden ; a bank was thrown up around them to keep
off currents of cold wind, and the whole surface of the
ground, for some distance, covered with charred hay, the
black substance so increasing the heat-absorbing power of
the ground as to repel night frosts and maintain a healthy
growth during the day-time. Though the temperature of
the immediate spot was occasionally below forty degrees,
— some nights had been frosty, and some days quite sun-
less— the fruit matured to an average weight of 4 Ibs., and
in one instance to 6 Ibs., and its flavour was perfect — a re-
sult which could not be attributed to high temperature
or long-continued sunshine, and, therefore, could only be
traced to the free access of air constantly passing over the
plants to nourish and invigorate them. So bold a system
could, however, be hardly relied upon as generally appli-
cable, and the special advantage it offers is combined with
others in one of the newest modes of culture, which con-
sists in heating the pine-pit with pipes of hot water under
its beds of tan, while other pipes, communicating with the
outside at some distance from the pit, keep up a continual
supply of pure air.

So delicate a feeder, subsisting principally upon the
lighter elements, can afford to be very indifferent to the
grosser aliment derivable from soil, and the Ananas is
therefore content to root in the poorest substance that
can form a vehicle for its delicate nourishment. Sandy
soil, taken from heaths or commons, is much used, on
account of its porosity, and one famous pine-grower re-
corded that he had made the experiment of planting it in
mere moss mixed with broken pots, when the plant made
quite as much progress as those in rich compost, an evi-
dent proof that water and air constitute the principal
food of the pine-apple. Dr. Lindley yet further asserts,
that all iheBromeliacece, as plants of this family are termed
under the modern nomenclature, are capable of existing in
a hot dry air without even contact with the earth, on which
account, he says, they are favourites in South American

17 — 2

260 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

gardens, where they are suspended in the buildings or
hung to the balustrades of the balconies, situations in
which they flower abundantly, filling the air with fra-
grance. In accordance with this great botanist's statement
is the testimony of the practical gardener, Spechley, who
wrote a very complete treatise on the pine-apple, in which
it is mentioned that a large sucker will vegetate after
having lain six of the hottest months of the year exposed
to the sun in the hothouse, whereas almost any other plant
of the same size and substance would in that situation lose
its vegetative powers in less than one-tenth of that time.
Successful culture, however, depends greatly upon a pro-
per degree of humidity, and the hygrometer should be
considered as indispensable an instrument in the pinery
as the thermometer ; for, according to the learned author
of the Theory of Horticulture, "the skilful balancing of
the temperature and moisture of the air constitutes the
most complicated and difficult part of the gardener's art."
It affords a pleasant prospect, however, of future increased
popularity for a luxury still only to be enjoyed in perfec-
tion by the comparatively wealthy, to find a professional
pine-grower bearing witness that " this incomparable fruit
is more easily brought to maturity than an early cucum-
ber. Though liable to the attacks of insects, it is less so
than the peach, and is less speedily injured by them than,
the common cabbage. It is also subject to very few dis-
eases ;" the writer's testimony as to the ease with which
it may be cultivated being finally summed up in the ex-
pressive dictum, that " every one that can procure stable
dung may grow pines." Whatever difficulties there may
have been in its management have certainly only sufficed
to call forth all the more energy in contending with and
overcoming them, for to be a successful pine-cultivator
has long been the acme of the British gardener's ambition.
He might be great in grapes and admirable in asparagus,
his flowers might be faultless and his strawberries superb,
but he still held but a second-rate position if with all this
he were still unable to produce a perfect pine, since in
proportion to his ability in this respect were his services
valued by the rich and the noble of the land. Thus in-

THE PINE-APPLE. 261

cited, the triumph has been complete, and gardening art
can now boast that the pine-apple can be procured in
Britain in as high perfection as in almost any tropical
climate, and nearly as rapidly, most kinds being brought
to maturity in from 15 to 18 months, some sorts even,
such as the Queen, being ripened within a year of their
setting. The Providence Pine still requires two or three
years, or even longer if the largest fruit be desired, but
in this case flavour will be sacrificed to size, for the best
fruit rarely weighs more than from 4 to 8 Ibs ; and the
tediously ripened 12 or 14-pounder — for even this weight
is sometimes attained — may, as a showy ornament, please
the eye, but must never be expected to afford much delec-
tation to the palate. These giants are, however, quite
the growth of modern days, for in 1821, when a Provi-
dence Pinegrew to such magnitude as to weigh 10^ Ibs., the
monster was thought a marvel so unique as to be worthy
of being formally presented by the Horticultural Society
to his Majesty the King, at whose coronation banquet it
was served up in state.
Miller, writing in 1737, enumerates but five varieties of

Eines, yet a table compiled a few years ago mentions no
?ss than 52 ; but the Queen (believed to have been the
first sort introduced here), the Providence, and one or two
others, are still the most usually grown and the most
esteemed. One of the most curious is the Striped Suri-
nam, which has leaves beautifully variegated with stripes
of dark green and delicate white, tinged with a fiery red,
and a cylindrical fruit variously marbled with red, green,
yellow, and white. Both leaves and fruit are very beau-
tiful, but the latter is worthless save as a curiosity, for it
has little flavour, and is not produced until the plant is
at least eight or nine years old — nay, sometimes 20 years
elapse, and still it " lives and makes no sign." The Blood-
red Pine, an import from Jamaica, has purplish-red
leaves, lilacflowers, and fruit of a reddish- chocolate colour,
while the variety called the Green Pine, unfit to be eaten
while it remains green, is of an olive colour when fully
ripe.

As regards cultivated pines, reared m countries where

262 OUR COMMON FRTJITS.

they must be regarded as exotics, France stands next to
England in the successful management of her pineries :
the fruit may be obtained in the shops of Paris through
every week of the year, and at Versailles they are equal
in excellence to any that John Bull can produce. In one
or two of the southern provinces of Spain they are grown
in the open air ; but the Italians prizing the dolce far
niente beyond any other sweet in nature, even the nec-
tareous pine cannot compete with it, and London, in his
tour through continental gardens, found this fruit quite
a rarity in their country. A few there were in the royal
gardens at Portici, and a few again in the Pope's gardens,
but even these were but sickly, yellow-leaved monuments
of neglect. Energetic Sardinia, indeed, in this as in all
other things, has been ahead of its fellows, for as long ago
as in 1777 its king sent a gardener to England to study
the culture of the Ananas, who on his return published
a tract detailing what he had learnt, and giving the plan
of a pine-pit ; but the climate is so dry that an extra
supply of water becomes necessary, and sufficient atten-
tion not being paid to this, the plants do not thrive so well,
and the fruit is but small.

In Prussia, most of the best fruits now grown there
were introduced by the Great Frederic, who was pas-
sionately fond of them, as may be judged from his letters,
when Crown Prince, to Voltaire, in which he speaks of
his " dear garden," and says, " I burn with impatience to
see again my vineyards, my cherries, my melons." The
pine being his special favourite, he had large numbers
grown in pits, to keep up a continual supply, and the
state of his pinery was one of the last subjects that -occu-
pied his ever-busy mind before he was himself gathered
by the great Reaper, for on his dying bed he inquired
after the ripening of one of the fruits from which he had
promised himself a farewell feast. In Baden there are
pines on the Grand Duke's table every week throughout
the year, and besides 400 cut annually for the dessert,
about 300 more are used every year for the purpose of
making wine, which is of a very delicious quality. " Car-
dinale" too, which figures at high festivals in some parts

THE PINE-APPLE. 263

of Germany as fit nectar to associate with ambrosial Mar-
zipan, is composed of Champagne mingled with other de-
licate liquors, and poured upon preserved pine-apple.

On the other side of the globe the States of America
derive their chief supplies of pines from the West India
Islands, whence they can be imported at so cheap a rate
that they can be bought in New York for 3d. each. In
our antipodean colonies home-production has been tried
with such good success that in the northern parts of the
occupied portion of Queensland pine-apples are grown in
the open air for the supply of the Sydney market.

In a natural state, the Ananas is peculiarly abundant
in Sierra Leone, where, battening on moist and decayed
vegetable matter, it attains extraordinary size of foliage,
destroying every other plant except the timber trees which
overshadow it, and forming an almost impenetrable thicket,
obstructing the traveller's progress in every direction.
Yet the fruit it matures, even in this savage state, is, in
a climate so suited to it, equally delicious with that which
may have been reared in England at royal cost, under the
watchful care of the most scientific gardener. In Suri-
nam, says Stedman, Ananas grow spontaneously in such
plenty that they are common food for hogs ; a regale suf-
ficient, one might imagine, almost to reverse the charm of
Circe, and endow these privileged porkers with a super-
porcine nature. At Trinidad they are said to attain the
largest size, and at Burmah their greatest excellence ; the
British army, who found them growing wild in the woods
in the latter country, having passed this encomium upon
them, but they have never been brought thence to England.
That high authority, Humboldt, however, pronounced in
favour of quite another locality ; for, after mentioning
that there are certain spots in America, as in Europe,
where different fruits attain their highest perfection, and
indicating what various places are famed for, he proceeds
to add decisively, that " the pine-apple should be eaten at
Esmeralda [in G-uiana] or in the isle of Cuba," where,
growing in parallel rows like agricultural crops, they are
" the ornament of the fields." There is hope then* still
for the " used up." "When all else hath palled by repeti-

264 OUR COMMON FBUITS.

tion ; when steaks beside the very gridiron shall be insipid,
and whitebait be flavourless even at Black wall ; when not
even the nearest murmur of the stream whence it was
drawn can give savour to Scotland's trout, and the efful-
gence of Italy's sunshine fails to gild Neapolitan mac-
caroni with a relish ; even then the world holds still one
charm untried, and it cannot be said that all life's plea-
sures are exhausted while a voyage to Cuba may secure,
in the fragrant bowers of the " lone star of the sea," the
yet unknown felicity of tasting a perfect pine !

Should dull imagination be able but faintly to conceive
the bliss, it may be aided by that unsurpassable descrip-
tion of one of our early voyagers, which caused poor
Evelyn such woeful disappointment, when not even the
touch of royal fingers could impart to the morsel vouch-
safed him of a long-kept sea-spoiled import more than
the mere ghost of a flavour thus glowingly depicted. An
old writer had already observed that the Ananas was " a
fruit of such excellence that the gods might luxuriate upon
it, and which should only be gathered by the hand of a
Venus ; " but this is mere vague panegyric. The worthy
Captain Ligon tries to tell in what this excellence consists,
and not quite in vain, for surely if words can convey the
idea of a taste these do so. " Now," says he, " to close up
all that can be said of fruits, I must name the pine, for in
that single name all that is excellent in a superlative de-
gree for beauty and taste is totally and summarily in-
cluded. When it comes to be eaten, nothing of rare taste
can be thought on that is not there, nor is it imaginable
that so full a harmony of tastes can be raised out of so
many parts, and all distinguishable. When you bite a
piece of the fruit it is so violently sharp as you would
think it would fetch all the skin off your mouth, but
before your tongue have made a second tryal, upon your
palate you shall perceive such a sweetnesse to follow as
perfectly to cure that vigorous sharpness ; and between
these two extremes of sharp and sweet lies the relish and
flavour of all fruits that are excellent : and those tastes
will change and flow so fast upon your palate as your
fancy can hardly keep way with them, to distinguish the

NUTS. 265

one from the other, and this at least to a tenth examina-
tion, for so long the echo will last." Not ambrosia itself
could more than merit such poetry of the palate as this,
and if the object which inspired can indeed realize it,
then surely the fabled land of the Lotos-eaters could have
been no other than a place of pine-apples.

CHAPTER XXI.

NUTS. .

PLEASANT are the fresh fruits that deck our Christmas
dessert : the golden-juiced orange, the late lingering pear,
and sturdy apple with its glowing cheek. Pleasant, too,
are those of which Art has preserved the flavour, though
she has failed to retain the beauty — the dried fig, the
raisin, or the date. But who would not forego them all,
rather than spare the standard but ever-welcome dish of
Nuts ? — welcome at all seasons, but most of all at this.
The former are procured so easily, and disposed of so
quickly, that they afford but a momentary pleasure ; but
these cost time and trouble to obtain, must be wooed ere
they are won and earned ere they are eaten ; and there-
fore, when, in Homer's favourite phrase, " the rage of
hunger is appeased," and only something is wanted as a
pretext for protracting a little longer the rites of hospi-
tality, is their aid so gladly evoked to fill up the pauses
of conversation, to cover the silence of the dull, and en-
hance the merriment of the lively, as they crack their
jokes and their nuts together. Genial nuts ! whether it
be the husk-hid Filbert or bare brown Barcelona; the
eye-shaped Almond, enshrined in yellow walls of soft
porous sandstone, or the sterner Brazil in its granite
fortress ; the kingly Walnut in its coat of mail, or the

266 OUR COMMON FEFITS.

X

glossy Chestnut in smooth shining suit ; we love ye allr
and gladly address ourselves to gather up some fragments
of your history.

Eirst and foremost, because commonest and most po-
pular, attention is claimed by what are usually called
" Nuts " par eminence ; i.e., the various members of the
Hazel tribe, rejoicing together in the gentle name of
Avelana, or Avelan, which, as Evelyn informs us, was the
ancient orthography of his name also, and was originally
derived from Avellano, a city of Naples, where this fruit
was very largely cultivated. The primitive Northern mind
devised a more descriptive name, the word hossil in Anglo-
Saxon signifying a head-dress, in allusion to the covering
with which all of the family are more or less capped ; such
of them as have a short calyx being generally called Nuts,
while those with long enveloping husks are termed Eil-
berts. To the former class, of course, belong those wild-
ings of the wood connected with so many tender remini-
scences of youthful years, when the most delightful of all
holidays was that which was spent in " going a nutting."
Does not the very naming of them recall the setting forth
on some joyous autumn morning — girls with baskets on
their arms, boys with bags slung round their necks ; the
preliminary search for fit branches to afford hooked sticks,
and the careful cutting and preparing of these by the
way ; and then, on arriving at the scene of action, the
glad shout of some open-hearted boy on coming first to a
well-laden bush, or the cunning silence of the selfish one,
who only gathered on all the more quickly in order to
secure as many as possible before his comrades arrived to
share the spoil. And what perilous stretching was there
over deep ditches to reach an opposite hedge ; and what
an anxious upward strain after those particularly fine
clusters, growing so very high up as to be almost beyond
even the hook's attainment ! We little thought, by the
way, with what magic might we were trifling when using
such a hooked stick merely as a means to get at our nuts
more easily; all ignorant how, in other days, it was
deemed, " by its spontaneous bending from a horizontal
position, to discover not only mines and subterraneous

NUTS. 267

treasure and springs of water, but criminals guilty of
murder, &c., made out so solemnly, and the effects thereof,
by the attestation of magistrates and divers other learned
and credible persons who have critically examined matters
of fact." Well may the author of Sylva, who tells us all
this, add, that it is " next to a miracle, and requires a
strong faith," yet it seems to have been very generally
believed in his day. Possibly the extraordinary result
said to have been attained by the patriarch Jacob, by
means of the use of hazel rods, may have tended to invest
the twigs of this tree, in the popular opinion, with special
and mysterious virtues. Sometimes, however, a reason
could be assigned for their producing more effect than
the similar branches of other trees, as, for instance, when
Parkinson informs us that " if a snake be struck with an
hazel wand it doth sooner stun it than with any other
strike; because it is so pliant that it will wind closer
about it, so that, being deprived of their motion, they
must needs die with pain and want ; and it is no hard
matter in like manner, saith Tragus, to kill a mad dog
that shall be struck with a hazel stick, such as men use
to walk or ride withal." So then, though it be pro-
verbially easy to "find a stick to strike a dog with," it
seems that the stick for the purpose may yet be matter of
selection.

However disputed may be their special adaptation for
some of their assigned uses, rods of hazel are unquestion-
ably handsomer and more durable than those of any other
wood for such purposes as the construction of rustic
houses, garden-seats, &c., and, when dyed and well ar-
ranged, may be formed into very varied patterns ; a Berk-
shire carpenter having even so combined them as to form
a landscape in a sort of mosaic, the effect of which was very
striking. In Staffordshire they are used to make crates
for the potters, and in Durham they form the "corves"
or large baskets used in the coal-pits. They produce also
a very light charcoal, specially excellent for gunpowder,
and when charred in closed iron tubes, furnish the artist
with crayons for sketching his first inspirations.

It was not the branches alone of the Hazel that were

268 OUR COMMON ERUITS.

supposed, during the reign of superstition, to be endowed
with mystical powers ; for a belief was once prevalent
that the ashes of the burned nut-shells applied to the
back of a child's head would turn its eyes irom grey to
black. Many, too, were the nuts that were committed to
the flames in the course of incantations, especially on All
Hallows-eve, sometimes called " Nut-crack night," from
the general custom of setting fire to the fruit in couples
on that evening, in order to divine the destiny of human
pairs. The mode of augury is well described in some
verses by Charles Gray don, in a collection of poems pub-
lished at Dublin in 1801 :

"These glowing nuts are emblems true
Of what in human life we view:
The ill- matched couples fret and fume,
And thus in strife themselves consume;
Or from each other wildly start,
And with a noise for ever part.
But see the happy, happy pair,
In genuine love and truth sincere,
"With mutual fondness while they burn
Still to each other kindly turn,
And as the vital sparks decay,
Together gently sink away,
Till, life's fierce ordeal being past,
Their mingled ashes rest at last."

Could the momentous choice be in anywise influenced
by the sight of so lively an illustration of its importance,
we might be glad to see nut-burning revived, and become
as common a Christmas pastime as nut-cracking.

It is a beautiful plant, the nut-bush whence these rural
treasures are derived, and maintains its beauty, moreover,
for the greater part of the year, blushing rosy in earliest
spring with the crimson tufts of its female flowers, and
lingering in the golden glory of its autumnal array long
after most of its woodland brethren have lost their less
faithful leaves. The tree is indeed never quite bare, for
before the fall of the leaf the male catkins, in greyish
pendulous clusters, like groups of caterpillars hanging
loosely by their heads, have made their appearance on
the previous year's shoots, and coming into full bloom by
the end of October, remain thus throughout the winter,
in patient waiting for their rosy brides, for the female

NUTS. 269

flowers, all blushing with their crimson stigmas, emerging
from oval scaly buds,* do not come forth to meet their
mates until the beginning of February. Sometimes it
happens that Nature has not duly attended to the balance
of the sexes, and the spring flowers come out in all their
gay attire to find that no sober-suited partners have been
provided for them. In this case, as when nobler beings
are similarly situated, it is by immigration that the equi-
librium must be restored. The discovery of this expedient
is due to the Rev. GL Swayne, who, possessing a number
of Filbert-trees which for 20 years had borne scarcely any
fruit, at length suspected the reason of their unproduc-
tiveness, and gathering a number of male catkins from,
wild Hazel-trees, suspended them in the upper branches of
his trees, a plan which proved so effectual that he gathered
more fruit from them- in that one year than he had during
the whole 20 previous years, even though a few which had
been left untouched, in order to test the experiment, had
produced but their usual scanty harvest. This system
has been found to produce crops even from old stunted
trees which for many years had never borne a single
nut.

The Hazel is a native of all the temperate climates of
Europe and Asia. It develops but slowly, the germina-
tion of the seed not taking place until the second year
after it has been planted, and when its full growth is
attained, if left to Nature, is but a bush. Art, however,
has found means, by confining it to a single stem, to
elevate it into a tree ; but the force of example is needed
to induce this, for it does not take place unless the young
scion be planted among other trees of naturally taller
growth, when, thriving beneath the shade of its more
eminent companions, it is drawn up by them to emulate
their loftier proportions, and attains a height of even 30 ft.
with a trunk a foot in diameter. The fruit, though, in
such cases, is sacrificed to the timber. The spreading
habit of its roots was early noticed, and drew upon it the
ill-will of the Romans, manifested in a way which seems

* See Plate I., fig. la.

270 OUR COMMON FEUITS.

almost to savour of petty malice ; for believing that its
subterranean incursions made it injurious to vines, the
entrails of the goats which were sacrificed to Bacchus on
account of their vineyard depredations were always roasted
upon Hazel spits. If the jolly god had ever tried Filberts
with his Falernian, and they had harmonized but half as
well as they do with sherry, so far from countenancing
such an indignity being offered to the plant, he would
surely have

"Abhorred the sacrifice and cursed the priest."

The Hazel Nuts brought to our tables are mostly of
foreign growth, the common " Spanish," or superior " Bar-
celona." The latter, however, do not come exactly from
the place whose name they bear, but are mostly shipped
at Tarragona, a port a little to the south of it. An enor-
mous quantity are annually imported to this country, and
a still greater impetus having been given to the trade
some years ago by the reduction of the duty to only Is.
per bushel, in 1862 nuts were imported here to the
value of above £170,000. Nuts of this kind have some-
times been made into bread, and into puddings, little if
at all inferior to those composed of almonds, and a sort
of chocolate has also been prepared from them.

The home-grown fruit of the species which is in most
esteem is the long-calyxed Filbert, a name supposed by
some to have been derived from " full beard," in allusion
to that appendage ; while others incline to the more po-
etical etymology assigned by Grower in his Confessio
Amantis :

"Phillis

Was shape into a nutte-tree
That all men it might see,
And after 1'hillis, Philberd
This tree was cleped."

One variety, however, is called " Lambert Nut," a name
'Considered to be a corruption of the Grerman " Long-bart
Nuss," or long-bearded nut. The Filbert is a thoroughly
English fruit, and grows to greatest perfection about
Maidstone, where it is sometimes planted between rows
of fruit-trees in orchards ; but when grown for the sake

NUTS. 271

of the nuts it thrives best by itself. The fruit should not
be gathered until fully ripe and brown, quite late in the
autumn, when they can be preserved for some months by
keeping them on dry floors or in sand, the fruiterers re-
storing their colour, when the husks become dingy, by
fumigating them with sulphur. They cannot, however,
stop the ravages of one enemy, who has been beforehand
with them. " Bah ! a bad one ! " exclaims many an un-
lucky nut-seeker, hastily dropping the shells, as, instead
of the delicate kernel he had expected, a soft, fat, white
maggot rolls wriggling on the dessert-plate. The plump
fellow was deposited here by his mother in the form of a
single tiny egg, while the nut was so young and tender
that the wound soon healed, and the hole by which he
had entered became invisible. In about a fortnight he
emerged from the egg, and began to exercise his appetite
on the soft lining of the nut-shell; then with jaws grown
stronger attacked the kernel ; and had his abode been left
undisturbed until that was all dispatched, would by that
time have acquired sufficient strength to gnaw a little
hole through its hard shell, then, contracting as much as
his luxurious living would allow, would have squeezed
through this narrow portal and let himself out. leaving
his late home filled with the black powder of his excre-
mentitious matter. Having no feet wherewith to support
himself (for what should he have done with such appen-
dages when he had no room to travel, and nothing to do
but to eat ?) he would have fallen at once to the ground,
where, having already eaten enough to last for the rest
of his life, he would merely burrow a cell in the earth,
change into a pupa, and then soon after assume his final
and handsomest form, that of a brown beetle about i in.
long, and characterized by a long slender black beak with
a pair of elbowed antennae inserted near the middle, so
that the insect looks as though it had half swallowed
Britannia's trident, leaving the forked end sticking out
of its mouth. Such, when successful in life, is the bio-
graphy of a Balaninus nucum.

But could the intruding fialaninus and its progeny be
banished for ever from the Filbert, the claims of that nut

272 OTTB, COMMON FETJITS.

to be the best accompaniment for the decanter would
even then be rivalled, if not surpassed, by those of one
other; for "wine and Walnuts" are as harmoniously
wedded as ever was "music to sweet song."

"The fruit which we a nut, the gods an acorn call;
Jove's acorn,"

says Cowley, for the generic name of the Walnut, Jug-
lans has been supposed to mean Jove's glans, or acorn ;
the Greeks, too, dignified it with the name of Basilicon,
or the Royal Nut ; while the learned Dr. Sickler has even
tried to prove that the golden apples of the Hesperides
were no other than this same Walnut. This fruit, says
he, in his Gesckichte der Olst-cultur, was a gift brought
by the Earth to Juno, on the occasion of her marriage
with Jupiter, and by her order planted in the garden of
the gods, not far from Mount Atlas, a place which seems
to have been to the Greek poets something like what
Paradise was to the Hebrews. The daughters of King
Atlas, called collectively the Hesperides, were appointed
to take charge of it ; but, seeing the abundance of the
fruit, they neglected to cultivate it, till Nature, thus left
to herself, became less productive, whereon they were
punished for their unfaithfulness by the angry divinities
sending a hundred-headed dragon to drive them out of
this Eden, and prevent them from re-entering it. At last,
however, Hercules came to the garden, killed the dragon,
and triumphantly bore away the golden apples. This
fable may be translated thus: viz., that one of the de-
scendants of the Hesperidean exiles, who had settled in
Greece, but still preserved a tradition of the fruitful land
whence he had emigrated, undertook to seek this happy
soil, and bring away some of its delicious growth to their
adopted country. After long travel he discovered the
place he sought. The convulsion of the earth, typified
by the dragon, which had driven away the original inha-
bitants, was either over, or else the obstacle was overcome
by his daring, and the fruit was successfully transplanted.
We find too that this hero travelled towards the west,
and returned eastward to his native land. But what was
the fruit thus obtained ? Various indeed have been the

NUTS. 273

conjectures, some considering it to have been the orange
or lemon, others the pomegranate, and some even de-
ciding finally on the quince ; but all these guesses have
been determined by fixing"on the appellation "golden,"
and connecting it with the idea of a yellow colour in the
fruit, without considering that the ancients (like the
modern Germans) applied this poetical term to whatever
was excellent of its kind, Venus even being called by
Homer, " Golden Venus ; " so that in fact the word is only
used to express that Hercules brought to Greece some
very superior kind of fruit. Being regarded as the patron
of agriculture, and more particularly of fruit culture, it
was the custom to offer to this divinity the tenth of all
fruits, but the white poplar, the quince, and a certain kind
of acorn, were peculiarly consecrated to him. Now, in all
probability this acorn, so specially devoted to him, was
merely a fruit with a hard shell — a nut, in fact ; for we
learn from Theophrastus that the Greeks classed nuts
and acorns together as of one family, from their similar
nature, each having a kernel within a shell. One of the
best of this family bore the name of Jupiter's Acorn, and
was also termed the Nut of Hercules, a conjunction which
fairly leads the German scholar to the supposition that
the former name may have been bestowed because it was
brought to Greece from the garden of the gods, and the
latter because Hercules was the bringer ; while the de-
scription given of it by Theophrastus and other ancient
writers sufficiently, he thinks, identifies it with our modern
Walnut. The notion of its being the same fruit which had
been presented as a marriage gift to Juno, is certainly
countenanced by the universal classical custom of strew-
ing the nuts at weddings, though this use for them is
thought by some to have been derived from the fact of
the tree itself being dedicated to Diana, the nut-strewing
therefore having been an allusion to the bride's taking
her leave of the vestal goddess. The opinion entertained
of the tree fully justified its being consecrated to celibacy,
for it seems to have been considered only fit to grow by
itself, since, according to Pliny, nothing else could thrive
near it, its shade being as baneful to man as to vegetation,

18

274 OTJE COMMON FETJITS.

causing headache and other ill effects. This, however,
is flatly contradicted by Evelyn, who held the Walnut in
peculiar honour, and after asserting that it was doubtless
looked on as a symbol consecrated to marriage, for the
amiable reason that it protected its offspring in such
manifold ways — alluding to the coverings of the nut — de-
clares further that so far. from causing headache, it is
rather a specific against it ; while to show the fallacy of
the other part of the libel, he adduces Burgundy as an
instance where these trees may be seen standing amid
thriving crops of wheat. Noisette, on the other hand,
says that " everybody knows one cannot long bear the
influence of its leaves without headache, if at all nervous
or delicate," and that "vegetation never prospers near
it ; " admitting though that this may be due to its large
leaves shutting out the light, instead of to any peculiar
emanation from it. Other later writers seem also rather
to side with the classical authority upon the subject as to
the influence of the tree being noxious, but qualify the
verdict by agreeing that whatever injurious effects may
be produced by it, arise, in all probability, chiefly from
the decaying leaves, and that if these be carefully removed
as they fall, no harm will then ensue. Travellers on the
Continent, especially in Germany, have many opportu-
nities of testing whether its shade ought to be shunned,
though it would sometimes be no easy matter to avoid it,
since it is often found bordering the road for many miles ;
and in the neighbourhood of Frankfort it was held in
such special esteem that the young farmers there were
formerly not allowed to marry until they could produce
a certificate showing that they had planted a certain
number of these trees. They are doubly valuable on
account of the timber, the wood being noted both for
beauty and durability, and combining so many good qua-
lities— softness, flexibility, easiness to work, fine colour,
and elegant veining, that from the humblest sabotier to
the most artistic wood-carver there is no workman who
does not gladly use it ; and also for the nuts, the latter
perhaps chiefly on account of the oil expressed from them,
which for the special purposes of the painter and copper-

NUTS. 275

plate engraver is of peculiar worth, while it is so much
employed abroad for culinary and domestic purposes, that
nearly half the people in France use no other kind, whe-
ther for food or for burning in lamps, it having been com-
puted that three times as much of it is consumed in that
country as there is of olive oil. Yet a recent writer,
M. G-asparin, laments that the Walnut is disappearing
from France, no fresh trees being ever planted, while
many are yearly cut down. Not till after 20 years does
the "Walnut afford a tolerable gathering, not till after
60 does it yield a full crop — a delay which discourages
planting, while the value of the wood often proves an irre-
sistible temptation to fell existing trees ; for 20 fine
"Walnut-trees represent a value of 3,000 francs, often
more than that of the land on which they grow, and the
prospect of being put in immediate possession of such
a sum sometimes makes men forget that the same trees
bring in a safe revenue of 500 francs per annum, and
leads them too hastily to sacrifice the growth of cen-
turies, not easily to be replaced, even were every effort
made to do so.

The shells of the larger kinds of nuts make pretty trin-
ket-cases, and in Limerick, the delicate kid gloves for
which that place is famous are often thus enclosed, in
order to give a pleasant surprise to the opener. A far
more wonderful deposit was that once effected by one
Peter Eccles, an Englishman and a clerk in Chancery,
who, as recorded in the Harleian MSS., wrote out the
whole Bible within so small a compass that, when finished,
he enclosed it complete " in a large English walnut, no
bigger than a hen's egg : the nut holdeth the book, as
was seen by many thousands." To the durable stain
afforded by the green outer husk many a fugitive has been
indebted for the very effectual disguise of a changed com-
plexion, while for dyeing the hair it has been employed
ever since the days of the E/omans. "When it is wished
to remove the discoloration from the skin, this may be
partially effected by the application of moistened salt, but
time alone can entirely efface it.

As an article of diet, the nuts are considered wholesome

18 — 2

276 OUE COMMON FRUITS.

so long as the skin can be easily detached, but when, as
they dry, this ceases to be the case, they become indi-
gestible, and, from their acridity, are also injurious to the
gums. The home-born ones are in England esteemed the
"best, and as our walnut wood is now mostly imported*
from abroad, the tree is generally grown here for the sake
of the fruit ; but, as the supply of natives is by no means
sufficient for our appetite, it is supplemented by large
quantities of foreigners : more than 100,000 bushels were
admitted in 1862, chiefly brought from France, Spain, and
Belgium, and valued at over £36,000.

Hickory Nuts (Gary a alba), sometimes seen in London,
and the " Butternut" (Juglans cincrea), often alluded to
in American works, are both species of the Walnut tribe
of Transatlantic growth, many varieties of the family
being native to America. These kinds are common in
the forests of the New World, and are mostly charac-
terized by a very hard shell and a very small kernel ; but
accidental varieties are sometimes found in the woods
which are much larger than the ordinary sort and of finer
flavour, being thought by some even to surpass in this
respect the European Walnut. It has been suggested
that such would be highly worthy of culture, as, no doubt,
by a little care in reproducing them by seed, they might
be trebled in size and rendered still more agreeable to
the taste.

The Walnut traces its noble genealogy back to classic
times, but the ancestors of the Almond were well known
as far back as in the days of the patriarchs. This fruit
formed part of the offering with which his brethren
sought to propitiate the unrecognized Joseph, when their
father bade them " carry down the man a present." It
afforded a model for one of the earliest works of art, for
the bowls of the golden candlestick in the Tabernacle
was fashioned after its form, and a branch of the tree
had the honour of being the subject of a miracle, when

* During the Peninsular War we too improvidently cut down more "Wal-
nut-trees than were ever replaced, in order to supply the great demand for
musket-stocks, which are made of this wood. The timber of a single tree
would at this time often sell for £600 when cut into gun-stocks.

NUTS. 277

Aaron's dry and sapless stick was made to blossom and
bear. The Romans do not appear to have been very in-
timate with the fruit, Cato only mentioning them as
" Greek nuts," and some believe that even this supposed
allusion refers rather to Walnuts. The tree is indigenous
to Barbary, where it grows so abundantly that its delicate
fruit is not even reserved exclusively for the human palate,
the Moors, it is said, being accustomed to drive their goats
under the trees as they gather it, when the animals care-
fully nibble off the skins as it falls, and then greedily
feed. In that, its native land, it furnishes the first fruits
of the year, the blossoms appearing in January and the
produce being matured by April. Its generic name, Amyg-
dalus, is derived from a Hebrew word signifying vigilance,
because its early blossoms announce the coming of spring,
preceding even its own leaves, a fact which the fanciful
Greeks invented a myth to account for. "Phillis," said
they, " the beautiful Queen of Thrace, had not long been
the bride of Demophoon, son of Theseus, who had been
cast upon her shores when returning from the siege of
Troy, and whom she had kindly received and at last mar-
ried, when the newly- wedded husband, hearing of the death
of his father at Athens, left her to proceed thither, pro-
mising, however, to return in a month. Happening to be
detained beyond this time, his disconsolate wife wandered
daily by the sea to watch for his return, braving even the
coldest blasts of winter, until at length grief and expo-
sure so wrought upon her that she one day fell dead upon
the shore, when the pitying gods, admiring her constancy,
saved her from corruption by changing her into an almond-
tree. Not long after, Demophoon at last arrived, and,
overcome with grief on hearing the mournful fate of his
lately blooming bride, rushed wildly to the lifeless-look-
ing tree and clasped it in his arms. The soul of his Phil-
lis, changed as was her form, responded to him still, and,
quickened by his warm embrace, the tree burst forth into
a joyous flush of blossoms, though even the time of leaf-
ing had not yet arrived." Surely it would be little less
than impious to suppose that a bloom thus born of love
could possibly have ripened into deadly poison; yet so

278 OTJK COMMON FRUITS.

little respect do the botanists pay to the memory of the
gentle Queen Phillis, that they decline to determine be-
tween the Sweet and the Bitter Almond as to which is the
original type and which the variety, since both are found
growing wild ; and even the same individual plant, it is
said, will bear the one or the other kind of fruit, accord-
ing to variation of culture. Had our Attic friends noticed
this circumstance they would probably have added a chap-
ter to the history of Demophoon, and traced the change
in the fruit to his forgetting his first faithful love and
contracting some second marriage. The difference between
the two trees is very trifling, and even the kernels are
exactly similar in appearance, but in the case of the Bitter
Almond the nut is strongly impregnated with prussic acid,
of which there is no trace in those of the Sweet kind,
although it is found in the bark, leaves, and flowers of
both. Efficacious as a medicine, or pleasant as a flavour-
ing when employed in minute quantities, very injurious
effects sometimes result from inadvertently using in ex-
cess so powerful an ingredient ; but these would probably
occur far more frequently if any credence were still given
to the singular virtues once attributed to it, for Bitter Al-
monds might, perhaps, be as regularly taken by one class
of indulgers as dinner pills are by another, were the tale
believed as told by Pliny, that if five of them be taken by
a person before sitting down to drink, he will be proof
against inebriation ; in confirmation of which is cited the
account given by Plutarch of Drusus, the brother of Ti-
berius, and one of the greatest drinkers of his time, who
used them effectually for this purpose. Whether it may
have been that the jollity-loving monks of old put any
faith in this notion, or for some less cogent reason, it is
at least known that Almonds were held in special favour
by them ; almond milk, too, something very similar to
our modern custard, having been always a standing dish
at their festivals.

There is a pretty allusion to the blossoming of the Al-
mond in one of Moore's verses :

" The hope of a future happier hour
That alights on misery's brow

NUTS. 279

Springs out of the silvery almond flower,
That blooms on a leafless bough."

But why the epithet " silvery" should have been selected
seems hard to tell, since white flowers are scarcely charac-
teristic of the species, the blossoms being generally more
or less tinged with pink. The same objection might apply
to the metaphor of Solomon, when, as illustrating one
sign of old age, he says, " And the almond- tree shall
nourish " (Eccles., xii. 5) ; but that there is one variety,
the Orientalis, or Eastern Almond-tree, which is noted
for the peculiarly white and glistening or silvery appear-
ance of the leaves, and which, therefore, the sage may very
probably have had in his mind when he selected this tree
to symbolize the hoary hairs of eld.

Although it will ripen in England, as the fruit never
attains perfection here, the tree is only cultivated for
the sake of its appearance, and the unproductive kinds
are generally preferred, since their flowers are more
showy than those of the fruit-bearers. When grafted on
a plum-stock, the usual mode of treatment, the Almond
will grow to a height of 20 or 30 ft., but it attains far
loftier proportions in the S. of Europe, where it bears
freely, though probably never subjected to the singular
dressing recommended by Pliny, who informs us that if a
hole be made in the tree and a stone introduced, its fer-
tility is much increased^ — a statement which a modern
manure-monger might take advantage of to insist that
this philosopher's stone must have been a coprolite ! It
is very closely related to the peach, resembling it not
only in growth, blossom, and foliage, but even in being
attacked by the same insects and liable to the same
diseases, and they were accordingly ranked in the same
genus by Linnaeus, but have been separated in the JN atural
System on account of the difference in the fruit, the stone
in the one case being surrounded by a juicy pulp, in the
other by a dry hairy covering, though both are really
drupes. There is, however, scarcely any other difference
between the trees, and even this may be only owing to
variation of soil or circumstances, since some have been
found quite in a transition state, with almonds upon them

280 OUE COMMON FKTJITS.

that were almost peaches, and Mr. Knight produced a
tolerable fruit by introducing the pollen from peach
anthers into an almond blossom, so it is believed a deeper
insight into fructal physiology will one day reunite the
divided genera. As Mr. Loudon expresses it, " We have
little doubt in our own mind that the Almond, the Peach,
and the Nectarine are as much varieties of one species as
the different varieties of cabbages are of the wild plant
JBrassica oleracea" They all belong to the natural order
Hosacece (or Linnaean Icosandria), the blossoms being
formed upon the same model as that of the queen of
flowers ; therein differing most widely from all our other
nut-blooms, every variety of Hazel, Walnut, or Chestnut
appearing in the catkin form, with the male and female
flowers distinctly apart ; so that the Almond appears to
form a sort of link between a nut and a stone-fruit. Prac-
tically, however, it is to all intents and purposes a nut,
since it appears at our tables in that form, the kernel
alone being eaten ; and therefore, however classed by
botanists, is likely to retain popularly the name which
usage has bestowed, and to justify its being treated of
here under that head.

In 1862 our imports of Almonds amounted to 44,645
cwt., valued at £117,940, the best kind, the Jordan as
they are called, coming really from Malaga in Spain ; but
at the last French International Exhibition no less than
50 different varieties of Sweet Almonds were shown. The
oil of almonds is largely used for toilet purposes and in
medicine. It requires to be purified by fire, being set in
a flame, which is suffered to die away of itself, the most
greasy particles being thus consumed and its arid qualities
wholly destroyed. According to De Candolle it yields 46
per cent, of its weight in oil ; the Walnut affording 50
and the Hazel 60 per cent. The caked kernels, after the
oil has been expressed, are used for washing the skin,
which they are considered to soften and beautify — indeed,
various preparations of the Almond have been in use as
cosmetics from the days of theEomans. The Bitter Almond
yields also an essential oil, in which indeed its poisonous
principle consists rather than in its hydrocyanic acid; but

NTJTS. 281

this is only developed when water is added to the bruised
kernel, being generated by the contact of water with the
vegetable albumen.

But if the various nuts already mentioned are held in
high esteem for furnishing a mere adjunct to a meal, how
much more consideration may be claimed bj one — viz.,
the Chestnut, which provides the sole daily food of
thousands ! Though in this country ranking only as a
luxury, it is yet one accessible to almost the poorest, being
sold at a cheaper rate than any of its brethren even here,
where it is a foreign import ; for though the Chestnut-
tree is common enough in England, the nuts it bears are
usually almost worthless. It does not, indeed, bring its
fruit to perfection in any climate except where the grape
also will ripen freely in the open air. Notwithstanding
the great similarity of the fruits, this tree is no relation
to the Horse Chestnut, there being no other point of re-
semblance between them, and they belong to quite dis-
tinct botanical orders, their blossoms even being singu-
larly unlike, considering that they develop into a fruit
almost exactly identical in appearance, both as regards
the prickly outer husk, the brown leathery inner one, and
the white solid substance of the nut within ; the yellow
pendulous catkins almost as long as the leaves, with many
anthered fertile flowers arranged here and there in tufts
upon the twigs of the Sweet Chestnut, offering no indi-
cation of an issue having anything in common with that of
the spring glory of Bushey Park, those stately pyramids
of delicate petals, lighting up the dusky foliage amid
which they gleam so fairly, like a feast of lanterns of
Nature's own devising. The fruit, however, is not so
similar as it appears, botanists considering the prickly
part of the fruit of the Sweet Chestnut as an involucre,
analagous to the cup of the acorn or beard of the Filbert,
while that of theHorse Chestnut is a pericarp, containing
real seeds, the corresponding part in the former being
actually seed-vessels.

The generic name of the chestnut, Castanea, is derived
from its native place, a city of Pontus, whence it was
brought to Greece, and first planted there, in the classic

282 OTJK COMMON FRUITS.

vale of Tempe; Mount Olympus, too, being at one time
nearly covered by it. It was familiar to the Romans,
among whom the nuts were made into bread for the poor,
but nevertheless seems to have been but little esteemed,
if we may judge by the very uncomplimentary remark
made upon it by Pliny, who, speaking of the multiplied
coverings, observes, " It is really surprising that Nature
should have taken such pains to conceal an object of so
little value ; " but perhaps the opinion had not arisen
in his time which was entertained afterwards as to this
bread being a diet which tended to improve the com-
plexion. In our own country the fruit appears to have
been formerly much more largely employed than at the
present day, or, at least, in more various ways : one use
is recorded by Ben Jonson, when he alludes to "the
chestnut which hath larded many a swine ; " and Evelyn
speaks of their being made into fritters, pies, and stews,
which he calls "the very best use for them; " but our
modern cookery-books contain no information respecting
such preparations. The finest we get come from Spain,
where they are the common food of the peasantry, and
where, too, a special sanctity. attaches to them, for in Ca-
talonia the people go from house to house on All Saints'
Eve to partake of them, believing that for every chestnut
they eat in a different house at that festival they will free
a soul from Purgatory. But it is in the S. of Prance and
in the JST. of Italy that they are of most importance as an
article of consumption, for here they are the principal food
of the lower classes. Professor Simmonds informs us that
about 2,000,000 hectolitres are annually consumed in
Prance, a portion of the rural population in some of the
departments living entirely upon them for half the year.
They undergo the preparation of being unhusked, dried
with smoke, ground into flour, and then mixed with milk,
and made into "gaieties" a kind of pancake baked on
an iron plate ; or into "polenta" a species of porridge.
When thoroughly dried for two or three days on the
floor of a kind of kiln, pierced with holes, having a
smouldering fire beneath fed with their own husks, they
will keep good for several years, and this is the process

NUTS. 283

followed at Limousin and Perigord. It is usual to collect
the nuts when ripe as they fall from the tree ; but if bad
weather should set in, the remainder are beaten off at
once with long poles, and the husks are trodden off by
sabot-shod peasants ; but when thus gathered they are
fit only for immediate use.

Though employed only for food in Europe, a beverage
is prepared from them in Africa, Thunberg affirming that
the Hottentots employ the Wild Chestnuts growing in
their country in a similar manner to what we do coffee,
the nuts being first steeped in water, then boiled, and
afterwards roasted, ground, and made into drink.

The fruit constitutes the chief commercial value of the
tree, for the wood is of very little use as timber, though
at one time a contrary opinion was entertained, founded
on an erroneous belief that it had been used for the roofs
of many old cathedrals in France, of the Louvre, and of
our own "Westminster Hall. About the end of last cen-
tury the Society of Arts, under the influence of this mis-
take, strongly recommended the Chestnut for cultivation,
even offering rewards for planting it, until the error was
discovered, the great Buffon demonstrating that oak wood,
after the lapse of many years, assumes the appearance of
chestnut, and Daubenton afterwards proving that in most
of the cases mentioned that was the timber that had ac-
tually been used. As regards Westminster Hall, a paper
was laid before the Institute of Architects in 1858 which
satisfactorily proved that chestnut timber was not among
the materials of that building, the wood which had been
mistaken for it being really oak. For some purposes,
however, it is really preferred to even that type of British
toughness, and in America, where, too, the nuts are con-
sidered to be sweeter than those of Europe, it is looked
<on as among the most useful wood in the forest, being
largely used for posts and rails.

This wood has the singular property of being best
when young, for after 50 or 60 years, and often much
sooner, it begins to decay at the heart, and the corrup-
tion then spreads outwards until the whole trunk is con-
sumed and perishes. In the Cevennes this process is

284 OUR COMMON FRUITS.

stayed by means of burning heath in the hollow of the
tree (for the wood, which is therefore little esteemed as
fuel, smoulders instead of blazing) until the interior sur-
face is charred, when it will survive many years, if the
operation has been carefully performed. The huge Chest-
nut on Mount Etna, said to be the largest tree in Europe,
has but a mere shell of the trunk remaining, the heart-
wood having long since completely decayed. This liabi-
lity to internal disease drew on it the animadversion of
Evelyn, who quaintly says, " I cannot celebrate this tree
for its sincerity, it being found that, contrary to the oaky
it will make a fair show outwardly when it is all decayed
and rotten within ; but this is in some sort recompensed,
if it be true that the beams made of chestnut-tree have
this property, that being somewhat brittle, they give
warning and premonish the danger by a certain crackling,
so as, it is said, to have frightened those out of the baths
of Antandro, whose roof was laid with this material."
Another and a better compensation for this early rotting
of the living tree is that the timber, if cut while sound,
will never become worm-eaten, and scarcely any insect
will touch the leaves, though the nut is very liable to the
attack of a kind of weevil, the eggs of. which are depo-
sited in the young fruit, involving the need of careful
inspection when selecting them to plant. Twice were
some Chestnuts sent to Mr. Loudon as seed-nuts from
the celebrated tree at Yermont planted by "Washington,
but both times they were found on arrival to have been
insect pierced, and consequently never vegetated.

In its choice of soils this tree seems particularly judi-
cious in fixing on the localities where it is most likely to
be welcome. "Wherever I have seen Chestnut-trees,"
says Bosc, " and I have seen them in a great many different
localities, they were never in soils or on surfaces fit for
the production of corn. On mountains in Prance, Swit-
zerland, and Italy, wherever Chesnut begins, corn leaves
off"." Forming a striking feature in wild scenery, the
Chestnut-tree was specially dear to Salvator Rosa, reap-
pearing constantly in his pictures ; and the poet's famous
" leaves in Yallombrosa" consist, too, mostly of its foliage.

NUTS. 285

In England it is chiefly grown in hop counties, or around
orchards, especially in Devonshire. The deeply serrated
pale green shining leaves are on old trees only from 4 to
6 in. in length, but on young shoots they are often nearly
a foot long, and 3 or 4 in. broad, and it is a singular fact
that in both wild and cultivated varieties they always
grow broader in English as compared with French trees,
a peculiarity which has been noticed also in the leaves of
some other kinds of trees. In France there are two very
distinct varieties of the Chestnut, les Chataignes and les
Marrons, the former being to the latter about what the
crab is to the apple, so vastly inferior are they in flavour
as well as in size, three of these Cnataignes being usually
found in one common envelope, whereas the Marrons ordi-
narily sit in solitary dignity, one in each husk. The city
of Lyons being the chief entrepot for the latter, they are
commonly called Marrons de Lyons. At Tortworth, in
Gloucestershire, there is a Chestnut reckoned to be both
the largest and oldest tree in England, tradition carrying
back its origin to the heptarchic days of Saxon Egbert,
while its trunk measures 45 ft. in circumference.

A similar position to that which the Chestnut occupies
in particular localities in Europe is held in some parts of
the 2sTew World by the Juvia-tree, which furnishes what
are called Brazil Nuts, sometimes also prettily termed
the " Almonds of the Amazon." The gathering of these
nuts is celebrated among the Indians by a festival called
la fiesta de las juvias, something similar to our harvest-
home, but signalized by great excesses — feasting on
roasted monkeys, dancing and drinking, forming the chief
amusements, and the men being commonly in a state of
complete intoxication throughout the two days of the
fete. The tree, baptized by Humboldt with the name of
Bertliollia excelsa, may almost be said to have been dis-
covered by that eminent traveller, so meagre was the
information concerning it before his description was made
public ; for though the triangular seeds were early known
in Europe, and had even been an article of commerce *

* Our present import of these nuts was recently reckoned to amount to
11,700 bushels per annum.

286 OUE COMMON FBTJITS.

for above a century, there was so little acquaintance witl
the manner of their growth that it was generally sup
posed they grew each one on a separate stalk. As the
name imports, they are natives of Brazil, flourishing
chiefly in mighty forests on the banks of the Amazon anc
Orinoco, the tree being one of the most majestic in th<
New World, growing rapidly and attaining the height o:
about 120 ft., though the trunk rarely exceeds a yard ii
diameter. The branches bend downwards, like palm
fronds, the leaves, which are more than 2 ft. in length
growing chiefly at the extremities. Humboldt was not ii
the country during the blossoming season, and the natives
varied in their statements as to even the colour of th<
flowers, some saying that they were violet, others affirm
ing them to be yellow. The fruit, which does not mak(
its appearance before the tree has attained its 15th year
is a drupe as large, sometimes, as a child's head, and ex
ternally not unlike a Cocoa Nut,* the woody part ripening
in about two months after its development into a peri
carp or shell half an inch thick, and so hard that th<
sharpest saw can hardly penetrate it. To the centra
partition are attached the seeds or nuts, from 15 to 21
being the general number in each ; and as these become
loosened in time, their rattle, when the fruit falls fron
the tree, is a most tantalizing sound to the poor mon
keys, who, passionately fond of the nuts, are quite unabl<
to break open the strong box in which Nature has trea
sured them, and must therefore wait until the process o:
decay accomplishes this for them, when they too hole
their juvia festival, joined in by squirrels, parrots, anc
most other small denizens of the forest, for the shells o:
the individual seeds offer no insuperable obstacle. The
continual falling of such large bodies from so great j
height, hard and heavy as they are, renders it rather dan
gerous to pass under these trees when the fruit is fullj
ripe ; and it used to be said that in some places tht
savages were accustomed to carry wooden shields ove]
their heads when they entered the forest at this season

See Plate I., fig. 5.

NUTS. 287

but Humboldt did not find that the people among whom
he travelled availed themselves of any such precaution.

The juvia-tree has been assigned to the natural order
Myrtacce, but since the leaves, set alternately like those
of the myrtle, are yet not characterized like them by being
marked with pellucid dots, it is separated by Lindley into
a distinct family termed Lecythidce, including also its near
ally the LecytJiis ollaria or ^#wm/0,atreenumbered among
the most gigantic of the ancient forests of Brazil, and the
seeds of which are the Sapucai Nuts, which during the last
few years have occasionally made their appearance in
London fruit shops. Resembling the Brazil Nut in size,
colour, and general form, they are more elegant in appear-
ance, owing to the surface of the shell being channelled
lengthwise into regular flutings ; while the woody case in
which they are inclosed is also more elaborately modelled
than the mere globular outer shell of the juvia, it being
an urn-shaped vessel,* the upper part of which forms a
lid, which opens after the fruit is ripe, scattering abroad
the nuts. The flowers of the LecytUdce tribe have six
petals and numerous stamens, a portion of which are in
botanical language " collected into a petaloid body," one
petal, quite distinct from the surrounding corolla, rising
in the midst and turning over, forming a hood-like shelter
to the central stamens. The fruit of every species of Le-
cytliis is eatable, though it is said by the natives that those
who partake too freely of the nuts of one variety are apt
to lose their hair ; and the bark of one kind, said by some
to be this very ollaria which bears the Sapucai Nuts, is
much used by the natives of Brazil as wrappers for cigars,
being easily separated by beating into a number of fine
distinct layers, which divide so neatly from each other that
they have the appearance of sheets of thin satiny paper.

There are two or three other kinds of nuts which,
though rarely forming a portion of our dessert in this
country, are yet well known, by name at least, to most
people, and whose general exclusion from the company of
their more favoured brethren is due, perhaps, to the capri-

See Plate I. fig. 6.

288 OTJE COMMON FRUITS.

cious frown of fashion rather than to their being really
deficient in merit. The green-kernelled Pistachio Nut,
for instance, in Sicily, where it is largely cultivated, is
preferred by many to the Hazel or even the Almond ; and
though hardly considered wholesome when raw, is much
eaten on the Continent, either roasted or in comfits and
confectionery. It is also used in ragouts and to make
ratafias ; and most readers of the Arabian Nights will re-
member that a kid stuffed with Pistachios seems to have
possessed great attractions for an Oriental palate. The
tree is recorded to have been introduced into Rome by
Vitellius, a fact which of itself may almost be taken as a
gastronomic certificate.

The male and female blossoms of the Pistachio grow not
only separately, but on distinct trees, so that in forming
a plantation care must be taken to select a proper pro-
portion of both ; and to ensure fertilization, the Sicilian
cultivators usually gather the male blossoms and suspend
them on the female plants. The nuts grow in clusters of
little dry oval drupes,* of a green hue, but tinged with red,
with a thin rind, and brittle two-valved shell containing a
single green seed or kernel covered with a violet coloured
pellicle. This tree abounds in Syria, and thrives generally
in the same soil and climate as the olive, but, naturalized
in the south of Prance, will bear fruit even as far north
as Paris.

It is another member of the same family which produces
the kidney-shaped Cashew Nut, a native of the West In-
dies. This tree, the Anacardium Occidentale, bears sweet-
scented blossoms, followed by what looks like a fruit of
the apple kind,t but which is, in reality, simply the pe-
duncle, or flower-stalk, swollen and become succulent.
Hed or yellow in colour, and of a very agreeable sub-acid
flavour, this is not only eaten, but its fermented juice is
made into a kind of spirit. Prom the end of this quasi fruit
protrudes the rightful owner of thefructal title, our Cashew
Nut, which is of the size and shape of a hare's kidney, but
larger at the end by which it is attached to its apple-like

* See Plate I., fig. 3. t See Plate I., fig. 4.

NUTS, 289

stalk. Between the two layers of the pericarp is a quan-
tity of oil, of so acrid a nature that it often blisters the
lips or fingers of those who crack the nut incautiously, and
which has been used successfully to remove ringworm,
corns, &c., but needs to be applied with great care. The
kernel, which is much esteemed in Jamaica, abounds with
milky juice, and is eaten raw when fresh, but after having
been gathered some time requires to be roasted, a process
which frees it from the oil. Dried and broken, they are
often put into Madeira wine, being thought greatly to
improve its flavour. The trunk of the tree when tapped
sends forth a milky fluid, which is a natural marking-ink,
staining linen a deep and indelible black.

Last in this notice of the nutty tribe, though certainly
by no means least, being, indeed, in point of size, the
monarch of them all, we reach at length the Cocoa Nut,
which, though seldom brought to table, is yet so universal
a favourite with the juvenile portion of the community,
that there is, perhaps, hardly a schoolboy to be found (or
schoolgirl either, it might be added) who has not saved
his half-pence for its sake, and deemed that day a memo-
rable one when the wholesale expenditure of a Qd. made
him the envied possessor of a whole nut. This fruit, grow-
ing singly as it does, is one of a class of. botanical mys-
teries,for the ovary of the blossom consists of three carpels
or divisions, and as a natural consequence three ovules,
or embryo seeds, in due time make their appearance ; yet
instead of developing in a threefold fruit, as according to
all rules it ought to do, two of these ovules are invariably
absorbed, or in some way disappear, and only a single nut
comes to perfection ; the sole eventual trace of its triple
promise being the schoolboy's " monkey face," the three
indentations at the end of the shell. The fruit, however,
being but one to all intents and purposes, has but a single
germ to put forth, and thus requires but a single outlet,
and therefore is it that two of these indentations are found
to be but mere surface marks, while the third is a real
doorway in the hard shell through which the sprout
emerges which is to form the future plant. As the nut
becomes old, the milk which it had contained disappears,

19

290 OUE COMMON FBTTITS.

and the hollow is filled with a spongy mass, which is, in
fact, the germinating organ. When deposited in the
ground, the germ in a few days makes its way through the
hole provided for its exit : one end of the shoot strikes into
the ground to form the root, the other sends up three pale
green feathery leaves, which soon unfold ; the young plant
then grows rapidly, in the course of four or five years
begins to bear, and continues to do so without intermis-
sion during the rest of its life, which is protracted for
nearly a century, and so luxuriantly that often as many
as 200 nuts in all stages, besides innumerable white blos-
soms, may be seen upon it at one time.

The Cocoa-palm flourishes best near the sea-side, the
principal nourishment it craves being silex and soda ; and
in Brazil, where the supply of these is naturally deficient,
they even supply salt to the soil where it is planted, in
quantities as large as half a bushel to a single tree ; and
so essential is this considered to its prosperity that it is
not neglected even when salt costs 2s. per Ib. It is also
found to thrive near human habitations better than in
solitude, which causes the natives to say that the tree
" loves conversation ; " though more matter-of-fact Euro-
peans assign as the probable reason for this choice of
locality, that it may derive benefit from the ashes thrown
out where fires have been made. The fact itself seems
unquestionable, for it is equally observed in other palm-
growing countries, Sir Emerson Tennent remarking that
in Ceylon it is only on the coast, or near towns or
villages, that the Cocoa is found in perfection ; adding that
" In the deepest jungle the sight of a single cocoa-nut
towering above the other foliage is in Ceylon a never-
failing landmark to intimate to the traveller his approach
to a village. The natives have a superstition that the
cocoa-nut will not grow out of the sound of a human voice,
and will die if the village where it had previously thriven
become deserted." In that country, too, the tree is
found to fulfil one singular and important use beyond the
many which have been ascribed to it in other places,
Sir Emerson stating further that these tall palms, when
drenched with rain, serve as lightning-conductors, and

NUTS. 291

their abundance is one reason why the electric flashes, so
unusually prevalent in Ceylon, so rarely cause accident.
No less ornamental than useful, they form a beautiful
feature of tropical scenery ; and Humboldt speaks in
glowing terms of the natural charms of those S. American
river-banks, " the windings of which are marked by Cocoa-
trees, as the rivers of Europe are sometimes bordered by
poplars and willows." As the nuts grow at the summit
of the lofty stem, the palm tribes being unbranched, the
best means of gathering them is by passing a hoop round
the tree, enclosing also the body of the climber, whose
feet are likewise connected by a ligature enabling him to
clasp the trunk. The slovenly Malays, however, merely
cut notches in the wood to assist them to ascend— a plan
which is not only dangerous to themselves, but also in-
jurious to the tree.

A singular variety of the common nut is the once fa-
mous Cocos de Mer, or Double Cocoa Nut, which presents
an appearance as though two of the ordinary kind had
grown together, leaving only a furrow to mark the junc-
tion. These huge and strangely-shaped objects used some-
times to be found floating on the waves of the Indian
Ocean, and as none knew with certainty what was their
nature or whence they came, much controversy was ex-
cited respecting them, some guessing them to be only the
produce of some unknown land, fallen into the water,
others far more confidently affirming them to be marine
productions, or in the language of one of these old writers
" a fruit growing itself in the sea, whose tree has hitherto
been concealed from the eye of man." The superstitious
Malays added to the mystification by inventing strange
stories respecting its natural, or rather, according to them,
its imnatural history, affirming that the submarine palm-
tree which bore it sometimes became visible beneath the
waves, but always vanished immediately if any one dived
near it ; while its branches were reported to be the abode
of a gigantic griffin, which had the power of attracting
ships towards its dwelling-place, the crews of which it
then devoured. Invested with the charm of so much
mystery, these rare sea waifs were highly valued and com-

19—2

292 OUB COMMON FUTJITS.

manded an almost fabulous price, Rochou affirming that
it was not uncommon at one time to see them sold for
upwards of £400 each, and the Emperor Eodolph, it is
said, having failed to procure one, though he offered a
sum of 4,000 florins for a single specimen. In the Mai-
dive Islands it was a capital crime to appropriate one, all
that were found belonging as of royal right to the king,
who disposed of his treasure-trove as the most costly of
gifts, or sold them at enormous prices. Their rarity,
however, and their supposed almost supernatural origin,
were not the sole cause of the inordinate value set upon
them, for they were further imagined to be endowed with
strange and powerful virtues, the kernel being reckoned
not only a preventive against and cure for a variety oi
diseases, but also, when duly prepared in a mixture with
pounded coral and ebony, was thought to be a sure anti-
dote against all poison ; while the shell was made into
drinking-cups, on which wealthy Indians lavished golden
settings and jewelled decorations ; for even a slice of this
precious substance used as a lid to a cup of other material
would suffice to neutralize any poison that might be poured
into it. In 1734, however, all the romance connected
with the Cocos de Mer came to a very commonplace termi-
nation by the discovery of the Seychelle Islands (situate
in the Indian Ocean, N.E. of Madagascar) where these
mystical marvels were found growing abundantly in very
ordinary fashion upon trees differing but little from the
common Cocoa-palm, though, singularly enough, they were
not found upon all the islands of this group, but only on
three, not more than half a mile distant from each other.
Supplied in far greater plenty, and no longer regarded as
the produce of a griffin-guarded submarine prodigy, of
course their value greatly diminished, but Malte Brun
says that it " was found profitable to cultivate them in
the Isle of France ; " and it has been found that the tree
begins to bear in five or six years after planting, and
continues to do so for 50 or 60 years, often blossoming
every four or five weeks, so as to present a continual
succession both of fresh flowers and ripe nuts, from 80 to
100 of the latter being produced annually. The shells

NUTS. 293

which were once eagerly pressed by royal lips are now
commonly used in Ceylon by beggars to collect the food
which is given them in alms.

The derivation of the name of the Cocoa .Nut is uncer-
tain, some imagining it to be from the Greek Jcokos, a
seed or berry, others from the Portuguese macoco, a
monkey, either from the three spots at the germ end
bearing no inapt resemblance to a monkey's face, or for
the rather far-fetched reason that when air is blown into
the pierced hole the sound produced is like the cry of an
ape. Eroin whatever cause, the nut at least is called by
the Portuguese coquo, and as the native appellations for
it in the regions where it grows are nothing like this
word, it is certainly probable that we gained our name
for it from those early navigators.

The Cocoa Nut furnishes at once both food and drink,
the milk, as it is called, being a peculiarly refreshing and
innocuous beverage in a warm climate, while from the
palm-stem is drawn a liquid which distillation convert
into more potent "toddy." Of the kernel, Dr. Davey
says, "In composition, I believe it to be very like the
ripe Almond. The emulsion it makes is equal to that of
the Almond, and is an excellent substitute for milk for
tea." Eaten as it is gathered, without any kind of pre-
paration, it is, in its native regions, sufficiently substantial
to enable a working man to subsist upon it without any
other diet. It can, however, be prepared in various ways,
and forms, when rasped, one ingredient in the real Indian
curry, as it renders the dish not only more agreeable but
also more digestible than when ghee or oil is employed,
it being sufficiently oleaginous for these to be dispensed
with when it can be obtained; while a cake, delicious
beyond all other cakes, is sometimes made from it in
England by mixing the grated nut with white of egg and
sugar. The oil when extracted remains tasteless for 24
hours, and could any means be devised to preserve it so,
might compete with any oil for table use ; but it soon
acquires a rancid flavour, and becomes unfit for culinary
purposes, though largely employed in many other ways.
The fibrous covering of the outer shell, too, used by the

294 OTJE COMMON TBTJITS.

Indians from time immemorial for matting, cordage, &c.,
has of late years been thus employed in England also,
and is now in great demand ; indeed, in 1862 our imports
amounted to no less than 3.138,346 Cocoa Nuts, valued
at £21,716. Wherever it may grow, every part of the
tree is turned to some account, and a favourite subject
with the Cinghalese when conversing with a stranger is
to enumerate the hundred uses to which, as they say,
this inestimable tree is applied. It is thus, as a whole,
so valuable that it has been remarked that a man who
drops one of these nuts into the ground in a land where
they will grow, confers a greater and more certain benefit
upon himself and upon posterity than does many a life-
long toil in less genial climes ; while another writer asserts
that he who has in his garden 12 Cocoas and two jack-
trees, need make no further exertion, but is provided for
for the rest of his days. If, however, not content with this
modest competence, any enterprising individual should
wish to adventure something more largely in nut-grow-
ing, Professor Simmonds, in his Commercial Products of
the Vegetable Kingdom, calculates that an outlay of £960
in forming a plantation would secure a net income of at
least £1,200 per annum for at least 50 years. Whether
the prospect of such profits might not make it worth
while to establish a Limited Liability Cocoa Nut Plant-
ing Company, is left as a nut for speculators to crack.

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REC'D LD

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AUG 10 19a7 <.

EC. CIR. APR 3

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DEC 41976^

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HOV 1 0 1978

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LD 21-100m-6,'56
(B9311slO)476

General Library
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