There is no fruit, in temperate climates, so universally esteemed, and so extensively cultivated, nor is there any which is so closely identified with the social habits of the human species as the apple. Apart from the many domestic purposes to which it is applicable, the facility of its cultivation, and its adaptation to almost every latitude, have rendered it, in all ages, an object of special attention and regard. There is no part of our island where one or other of its numerous varieties is not cultivated, and few localities where the finest cannot be brought to perfection.

The apple is a native of this, as well as almost every other country in Europe. Its normal form is the Common Wild Crab, the Pyrus Malus of LinnÆus, and the numerous varieties with which our gardens and orchards abound, are the result either of the natural tendency of that tree to variation, or by its varieties being hybridized with the original species, or with each other. It belongs to the natural order RosaceÆ, section PomeÆ, and is, by botanists, included in the same genus as the pear. The principal difference between apples and pears, when considered botanically, consists in their stamens and styles; the stamens of the apple have their filaments straight, united together at the base, and forming a bundle round the styles, of which they conceal the inferior part. All the filaments of the pear on the contrary are divergent, disposed almost like the radii of a wheel, and leave the bases of the styles entirely naked and exposed. The styles in the apple are united at their base into one body, and are generally villous in that part where they adhere to each other: in the pear, however, they are separate at their base. But although the apple and pear very much resemble each other in their botanical characters, they differ very materially in their form, cellular tissue, and specific gravity. Apples have always the base umbellicate, or hollowed with a deep cavity, in which the stalk is inserted, and are generally spherical. The pear, on the other hand, is elongated towards the stalk, and is generally of a pyramidal shape, or nearly so. The cellular tissue of the apple, according to the microscopical observations of Turpin, is composed of a great number of agglomerated, distinct vesicles, each existing independent of the other, varying in size in the same fruit, and, in general, larger, as the apple is large and light. These vesicles are colorless and transparent, and vary in their form according to the want of space requisite for their individual development. They contain in greater or less abundance, a sugary, acid, or bitter juice, which is perceivable in the different varieties. The cellular tissue of the apple possesses no stony concretions, and its specific gravity is greater than that of the pear; so much so, that by taking a cube of each, of equal size, and throwing them into a vessel of water, that of the apple will float, while that of the pear will sink. In its natural or wild state the apple tree is of a small size, attaining generally about twenty feet in height, of a crooked habit of growth, with small, harsh, and austere fruit, and small thin leaves. But when improved by cultivation, it loses much of its original form, assumes a more free and luxuriant growth, with larger, thicker, and more downy leaves, and produces fruit distinguished for its size, color, and richness of flavor.

Some authors have ascribed the introduction of the apple into this country to the Romans, and others to the Normans; in both cases, however, without any evidence or well grounded authority. Mr. Loudon says, “The apple was, in all probability, introduced into Britain by the Romans, as well as the pear; and like that fruit, perhaps, re-introduced by the heads of religious houses on their establishment, after the introduction of christianity.”[A] It is more probable that it has existed as an indigenous tree throughout all ages, and that the most ancient varieties were accidental variations of the original species, with which the forests abounded. These being cultivated, and subjected to the art and industry of man, would give rise to other varieties, and thus a gradual amelioration of the fruit would be obtained. The earliest records make mention of the apple in the most familiar terms. That it was known to the ancient Britons, before the arrival of the Romans is evident from their language. In Celtic, it is called Abhall, or Abhal; in Welch, Avall; in Armoric, Afall and Avall; in Cornish, Aval and Avel. The word is derived from the pure Celtic, ball, signifying any round body.[B] The ancient Glastonbury was called by the Britons Ynys AvallaÇ, and Ynys Avallon, which signify an apple orchard,[C] and from this its Roman name Avallonia was derived. The apple must therefore have been known in Britain before the arrival of the Romans; and that it continued to exist after they left the island, and before the Norman conquest, is certified by William of Malmesbury, who says, that King Edgar in 973, while hunting in a wood was left alone by his associates; in this situation he was overcome by an irresistable desire to sleep, and alighting from his horse he lay down under the shade of a wild apple tree.[D] Shortly after the Norman conquest, the same author writes with reference to Gloucestershire. “Cernas tramites publicos vestitos pomiferis arboribus, non insitiva manus industria, sed ipsius solius humi natura.” Some writers[E] entertain the popular error that the cultivation of apples was not a branch of rural economy in England before Richard Harris planted orchards in several parts of Kent, in the reign of Henry the Eighth; but there is evidence to the contrary. In a bull of Pope Alexander the Third, in the year 1175, confirming the property belonging to the monastery of Winchcombe, in Gloucestershire, is mentioned, “The town of Twining with all the lands, orchards, meadows, &c.;”[F] and in a charter of King John, granting property to the priory of Lanthony, near Gloucester, is mentioned “the church of Herdesley, with twelve acres of land, and an orchard.”[G] But its cultivation was not confined to the southern counties, for we find there was an extensive manufacture of cider as far north as Richmond, in Yorkshire, in the early part of the thirteenth century. It would be too much to say that all the varieties cultivated at an early period, were indigenous to this country; many no doubt, were introduced at the Norman conquest, and it is probable that in the middle ages some varieties were introduced from the continent, by members of the different religious houses which then existed, who not unfrequently had personal intercourse with France, and who devoted considerable attention to horticulture; but there is every reason to believe that the earliest varieties were native productions. The oldest works which treat on the cultivation of fruits, afford little or no information as to these early varieties. In some ancient documents of the twelfth century, we find the Pearmain[H] and Costard mentioned, but the horticultural works of the period are too much occupied with the fallacies and nonsense which distinguish those of the Roman agricultural writers, to convey to us any knowledge of the early pomology of this country. Turner in his Herbal, has no record of any of the varieties, and simply states, in reference to the apple, “I nede not to descrybe thys tre, because it is knowen well inoughe in all countres.” Barnaby Googe mentions as, “Chiefe in price, the Pippin, the Romet, the Pomeroyall, the Marigold, with a great number of others that were too long to speake of.” Leonarde Mascal gives instruction how “to graffe the Quyne Apple;” but that is the only variety he mentions. In a note book in the possession of Sir John Trevelyan, of Nettlecombe, near Taunton, which was kept by one of his ancestors, from the year 1580 to 1584, is an entry of “The names of Apelles, which I had their graffes from Brentmarch, from one Mr. Pace—Item, the Appell out of Essex; Lethercott, or Russet Apell; Lounden Peppen; Kew Goneling, or the Croke; Glass Appell or Pearmeane; Red Stear; Nemes Appell, or Grenlinge; Bellabone; Appell out of Dorsettsher; Domine quo Vadis.” In “The Husbandman’s Fruitfull Orchard,” we have Pippins, Pearemains, John Apples, Winter Russetings, and Leather Coats. Gerard enumerates and figures “The Pome Water, the Baker’s Ditch, the King of Apples, the Quining or Queene of Apples, the Sommer Pearemaine,” and “the Winter Pearemaine;” and he says, “I have seene in the pastures and hedgerowes about the grounds of a worshippfull gentleman, dwelling two miles from Hereford, called M. Roger Bednome, so many trees of all sortes, that the seruants drinke for the most part no other drinke, but that which is made of Apples. The quantitie is such, that by the report of the gentleman himselfe, the parson hath for tithe many hogsheads of Syder.”

But it is to Parkinson we are indebted for the best account of the early English varieties, of which he enumerates no less than fifty-nine, with “tweenty sorts of sweetings and none good;” and from him may be dated the dawn of British Pomology. Hartlib mentions one who had 200 sorts of apples, and was of opinion that 500 sorts existed. Rea, in his Pomona, enumerates twenty varieties, sixteen of which are not mentioned by Parkinson; and Meager gives a list of eighty-three, which were cultivated in the Brompton Park, and some other nurseries round London, of which fifty-one are not found in the lists of either Parkinson or Rea. Worlidge mentions ninety-two, which are chiefly cider fruits. The seventy-seven varieties of Ray are much the same as those enumerated by Worlidge. During the last century, the writings of Switzer, Langley, Hitt, Miller, and Abercrombie, added little to what have already been noticed, except that Switzer first mentions the Nonpareil; and it is to Forsyth that we are indebted for a more extended knowledge of the different varieties, then known to exist in this country. With Thomas Andrew Knight, Esq., the first President of the London Horticultural Society, a new era in the history of pomology commenced, and during his lifetime there was more attention devoted to this study, than had been since the days of Evelyn and De Quintinye. It was with this zealous horticulturist, that a practical application of the discovery of the sexes of plants, was first systematically carried into operation; and the success which attended his labors in hybridization, is evinced by the many valuable varieties of fruits which he was the means of producing. Through the exertions of this gentleman, and his illustrious cotemporaries, Sabine, Williams, and Braddick, the gardens of the Horticultural Society, became a depository for all the varieties which could be gathered together from all parts of Europe and America, and the result has been, that in the last edition of the Society’s Catalogue, Mr. Thompson has enumerated upwards of 1400 varieties of the apple alone, the greater portion of which, however, are proved to be unworthy of cultivation for any purpose whatever.

The apple is a very wholesome fruit. In its raw state it is highly esteemed in the dessert, and when either roasted, boiled, or in pies, it forms an excellent and nutritious food. Dr. Johnson says he knew a clergyman, of small income, who brought up a family very reputably, which he chiefly fed on apple dumplings! Administered to invalids it is cooling, refreshing, and laxative. It is well known as furnishing an excellent sauce; and apple jelly forms one of the finest preserves. Norfolk Beefings are that variety of apple baked in ovens, after the bread is drawn, and flattened to the form in which they are sold in the shops of the confectioners and fruiterers. In Normandy and America, apples are to a considerable extent dried in the sun, in which state they may be preserved for a long period and used at pleasure, when they form an excellent dish stewed with sugar, cloves, and other spices. Those dried in America are cut into quarters, while those of Normandy are preserved whole. There is a drink with which our ancestors were wont to regale themselves called Lambs-wool, or more properly Lamasool, a word derived from La maes Abhal, which signifies the day of apple fruit. This drink was composed of ale and the pulp of roasted apples, with sugar and spice. It is mentioned by Gerard, and in an old song, called “The King and the Miller,” we find it referred to

Besides these, and many other uses to which the apple is applied, its juice produces cider, which forms, in many parts of this country, in Normandy, and the United States, an indispensable beverage. The juice of the wild species, called crab vinegar, or verjuice, when applied externally is good for strains, spasms, and cramps.

The chemical composition of the apple is, chlorophylle, sugar, gum, vegetable fibre, albumen, malic acid, tannin and gallic acid, lime, and a great quantity of water.

The apple may be grown on almost any description of soil, provided it is not absolutely wet. That on which it succeeds best is a humid sandy loam, or a well-drained strong clay, which if it possesses a calcareous, or gravelly subsoil, will be still more advantageous. It is not requisite that it should be of so great depth as for pears, as the apple, having no tap-root, does not penetrate so far into the soil. From eighteen inches to two feet will be found a good depth; but where the soil is good, and the subsoil sufficiently humid without being literally wet, even a foot to eighteen inches will answer every purpose.