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P. TORMINA LIS. E.) Leaves heart-shaped, with seven angles: lowermost lobes divaricating: (flower-stalks corymbose, branched. E.)

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so justly celebrated for his researches into vegetable physiology, has published, among various other papers, a volume of very ingenious experiments on Apple and Pear Trees, and subsequently a work entitled the "Pomona of Herefordshire," in which will be found descriptions of both the old and improved fruits, together with highly finished representations of each kind. Mr. Knight is of opinion that all the varieties, (as in this instance from the parent stock of the Common Crab), are limited in their existence; hence, he infers, so many once valuable kinds are now apparantly worn out: and that the only permanent reproduction is that of species by seed. The Rev. Mr. Williamson has proved experimentally, in Kent, that trees raised from the kernels of the fruit are still liable to disease and premature decay, and is inclined to believe that the want of summer heat must be deemed a principal cause of this failure. He observes that a hot summer will produce a temporary revival; orchards apparently worn out, starting into fresh vigour, and bearing large quantities of fruit and that though in Russia and America the winters are more severe, the summers are hotter than with us, and therefore both moss and cankers are comparatively unknown on their Apple-trees. In confirmation of the above remark, and also in refutation of the fanciful theory, that the Golden Pippin, and some others of our very best apples, were degenerating, and rapidly disappearing, from mere sympathy with the parent stock, it should be recorded, that in consequence of the late genial summers, (1821, &c.) both in Covent Garden market, and the nurseries round London, there was as fine and as plentiful a crop of Golden Pippins as was ever known. The planters of orchards, therefore, need not despair of this favourite apple, whose cyder surpasses in richness" the gay champagne." The Golden Pippin is almost peculiar to England, and should be invariably grafted on a Crab stock to insure sound and piquant fruit; those trees raised on free stocks producing, though perhaps a larger, yet a mealy and degenerate fruit. It may be well to know that moss and insects, so seriously detrimental to neglected orchards, and equally infesting both Apple and Pear trees, may be most effectually removed by a wooden scraper, and afterwards so completely destroyed by a dressing of fresh made lime from the kiln, slacked in water and applied with a brush, that renewed vigour, and even a renewed outward bark, will sometimes supervene. Among numerous mischievous intruders, the American or White Blight, (Aphis lanata), which commits extensive ravages on Apple trees, from its curious habits merits the particular notice of the young Entomologist. (Vid. Journ. Nat. Pl. vi. 3.) It will be found covered and quite concealed by a peculiar secretion, which transpires through numerous pores in the skin, (forming a cradle for the viviparous creatures), so that the crevices in the bark which it inhabits look as if they were filled, not Nor is the fruit itself exempt from a peculiar pilferer, with animals, but with cotton. which fattens on its heart's core. The cross-bill, (Loxia curvirostra), attracted even from the pine forests of Germany, (for it rarely breeds in England), migrates to our orchards to feed upon the seeds of the Apple, and extensive is the mischief it does by cutting the fruit asunder with its well constructed mandibles, in order to obtain the kernels. The juice of appies is a menstruum for iron. A solution of iron in the juice of Golden Rennets evaporated to a thick consistence, proves an elegant chalybeate, which keeps well. Greatly as we "The custom of venerate ancient usages, and regret the departure of good old times, among the vestiges of superstition, more honoured in the breach than the observance," saluting the Apple trees at Christmas, with a view to another year, is still preserved both in Cornwall and Devonshire. In some parishes the parishioners walk in procession visiting the principal orchards in the parish. In each orchard one tree is selected as the representative of the rest; this is saluted by a certain form of words, which have in them an air of incantation. They then either sprinkle the tree with cyder, or dash a bowl of cyder against it, to ensure its bearing plentifully the ensuing year." Forster's Per. Cal. The delicately blended pink and white of the Crab blossom, renders it still more exquisitely beautiful, either collectively or individually, than that of the Apple: but every one not wholly lost to the vivifying influence of Spring, or insensible to the most lively parterre in the garden of nature, will acknowledge that the combined beauties and refreshing fragrance of the Apple or Pear orchards on the incense-breathing morn of rosy May, when the trees have assumed their most luxuriant verdure, and the very hedges teem with sweets, are unrivalled; and be ready to exclaim,

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Jacq. Austr. 443-Fl. Dan. 798-Hunt. Evel. 182. i. 176. Ed. 2d.-E. Bot. 298-Matth. 263-Clus. i. 10. 2—Dod. 803. 2-Lob. Obs. 614. 2-Ger. Em. 1471. 2-Ger. 1287. 2-Trag. 1010-Park. 1420. 2—J. B. i. a. 63 -Cam. Epit. 162-Lonic. i. 50. 2.

(A middle sized tree with hard wood, and smooth bark. Leaves on long stalks, serrated, smooth. Corymb terminal, branched, woolly, many flowered. Fl. Brit. E.) Blossoms white, numerous. Fruit reddish brown, austere, small.

WILD SERVICE TREE, OF SORB. (Irish: Keora Cuh'ra. Welsh: Cerddinen wyllt. P. torminalis. Willd. Sm. Crataegus torminalis. Linn. Huds.

"Oh! who that has an eye to see,
A heart to feel,—a tongue to bless,
Can ever undelighted be

By Nature's magic loveliness!".

No where may the admirers of such scenery be more completely gratified, than on contemplating at such a season, the boundless and richly diversified prospect from the summit of Malvern Hill, (an elevation of one thousand feet above the vale), whence all the nearer landscape, within distinct observation, comprehending on one side the Peartrees of Worcestershire, on the other, the Apple-trees of Herefordshire, will be found to display

"One boundless blush, one white-empurpled shower

Of mingled blossoms.

Such a prospect must excite sentiments not merely of admiration, but of gratitude : "Soft roll your incense herbs and fruits and flowers,

In mingled clouds, to HIM whose sun exalts,

Whose breath perfumes you, and whose pencil paints."

This gorgeous show is succeeded from the end of July to October, by the gradual ripening of the different kinds, for the dessert, the kitchen use, or the cyder making; most of which improve in perfection after being gathered, and several of the winter kinds, in particular, keep good for many months, even till the arrival of apples on the following summer. Mr. Salisbury asserts that no less than 50,000l. was paid for apples, from the northern provinces of France, to supply the London market, in the season of 1816 only.-An ingenious Frenchman has prepared an agreeable kind of bread with one third of boiled apples to two thirds of flour. Apples carefully gathered, laid awhile to mellow, then crushed in a mill, pressed till all their juice is extracted, and afterwards fermented, become cyder. The same process with pears, perry. The richest and strongest sorts are distributed for sale over the whole country; the inferior serve as common drink in the districts where they are produced, to the exclusion of malt liquor.

"Autumn paints

Ausonian hills with grapes, whilst English plains

Blush with pomaceous harvests, breathing sweets.
O let me now, when the kind early dew

Unlocks the unbosom'd odours, walk among

The well-rang'd files of trees, whose full-aged stores

Diffuse ambrosial steams.

Now, now's the time, ere hasty suns forbid

To work, disburthen thou the sapless wood
Of its rich progeny; the turgid fruit
Abounds with mellow liquor." Philips.

Thus are the charms of the one season succeeded by the more solid gratifications of another; delicious fruits have replaced the faded flowers. The mellow apple whose golden brilliancy is heightened by rich streaks of carmine, weighs down the branch which bears it; the luscious pears, and plums, whose juice is sweeter than honey, display their tempting beauties, and invite us to piuck them. How inexcusable at the sight of such blessings, never to sanctify the pleasure these rich gifts afford, by reflecting on the bountiful kindness of Providence! E.)

With. to Ed. 7. Sorbus torminalis. Ger. Matth. Cam. E.) Woods and hedges. Bath Hills, near Bungay. Mr. Woodward. Pendeford, Staffordshire, in hedges. Mr. Pitt. (On the rocks at Knot's-hole, near Liverpool, in a situation quite exposed to the salt water, and where it must occasionally be washed by the spray of the sea. Dr. Bostock. On the side of the foot-path to Alcester Park. Purton. On Trefarthen demesne, Anglesey. Welsh Bot. Hare Down, near Bodmin. Rev. J. Pike Jones. E.) T. May."

(P. DOMESTICA.

Leaves winged: leafits uniform, downy beneath, serrated towards the point: flowers panicled: fruit obovate. Sm. E.)

Jacq. Austr. 447-(E. Bot. 350. E.)-Crantz. ii. 2. 3—Nash. i. at p. 10. f. 1. 3-Matth. 261-Clus. i. 10. 3-Dod. 803. 1-Lob. Obs. 544. 1-Ger. Em. 1471. 1-Park. 1420. 1-Blackw. 174-Fuchs. 576-Trag. 1012J. B. i. a. 59-Lonic. i. 50. 1-(Gært. 2. 87. E.) (A middle sized tree of slow growth and hard wood. Leaves unequally winged. Leafits seven to nine pair, with an odd one, sessile, oblong, equal, serrated from the middle to the point, about an inch long. Panicles terminal, downy, repeatedly forked. Flowers half an inch over, cream-coloured. Calyx woolly. Styles always five. Fruit obovate, an inch long, reddish. Seeds two in each cell, according to Gartner, though one only attains perfection. Sm. E.)

TRUE SERVICE-TREE, OF SORB. (P.domestica. Sm. E.) P.Sorbus. Gært. Sorbus domestica. Linn. Huds. With. to Ed. 7. Willd. E.) Mountainous forests. Mountainous parts of Cornwall, and the Moorlands of Staffordshire. Ray. In the middle of a thick wood in the Forest of Wire, near Bewdley, one mile from Mopson's Cross, between that and Dowles Brook, (undoubtedly wild. E.) T. April-May.t

(P. AUCUPA'RIA. Leaves winged: smooth: leafits uniform, serrated: flowers corymbose: styles about three: fruit globular. E.)

Mill. Ill.-Hunt. Evel. 218. i. p. 211. Ed. 2d.-Fl. Dan. 1034-(E. Bot. 337. E.)-Blackw. 173-Matth. 262-Dod. 834-Ger. Em. 1473-Lob. Obs. 544. 2-J. B. i. a. 62— Ger. 1290-Park. 1419. 2-Trag. 1009— Crantz. ii. 1. 4.

(A highly ornamental tree, though of rather formal contour, of slow growth, and rarely attaining great size. Bark smooth. E.) Leafits seven or eight pair, sessile, spear-shaped, serrated, the intermediate ones the longest. Corymb terminal. Berry round, of a pleasant red or scarlet.

(The fruit, when a little frosted, becomes agreeably acid and wholesome, and sometimes appears in the London market: nevertheless, (with all due respect for so high an authority as Evelyn), we cannot altogether concur in his interpretation of the specific name," so called for its effects against gripings in the bowels." E.)

The fruit is mealy and austere, not much unlike the Medlar. Chermes Sorbi and Coccinella bipustulata live upon this and P. aucuparia. Linn. The wood is valuable for making mathematical rulers and excisemen's gauging sticks. Nash. (If not a primary argument, the inference is legitimate, and favourable to the study of nature, that amidst the general corruption of morals attendant on wealth and luxury among the Romans, none but their prince of naturalists, (except perhaps the unamiable satyrist), possessed a mind sufficiently unsophisticated to expose the various artifices then practised. Of the prevalence of fraud and cheating, Pliny unreservedly admits innumerable instances, and among them states, (b. xxiii. c. 7), that for the adulteration of Cinnabar, (an article of considerable importance to the limner), was employed "Sorbis tritis," the triturated fruit of the Service

tree.

Seeds three, four, five, reddish. Relh. Flowers whitish, (numerous, of an agreeable scent. Berries in beautiful bunches, highly ornamental through the latter part of the summer and autumn. Leaves when young slightly pubescent beneath. E.) MOUNTAIN ASH. QUICKEN-TREE.

ROAN-TREE, in Scotland.

Irish:

Keora Cahran. Welsh: Pren criafal. Gaelic: Craobh chaorain. P. aucuparia. Gært. Sm. Hook. Grev. Sorbus aucuparia. Linn. Huds. With. to Ed. 7. Willd. E.) Woods and hedges in mountainous and boggy situations in Wales, Scotland, and the north of England.

("How clung the Rowan to the rock,

And through the foliage shewed his head,

With narrow leaves and berries red." Marmion. E.)

T. April.*

This tree grows either in woods or open fields, but best on the sides of hills and in fertile soil. It will not bear lopping. Plants grow well in its shade. The wood is soft, tough, and solid, (excellent for hoops, and for bows next to Yew; also considered lasting for posts. E.) It is converted into tables, spokes for wheels, shafts, chairs, &c. (The tall straight rods are well adapted and used for making hurdles. Bree, in Part. The roots are formed into handles for knives and wooden spoons. The berries dried and reduced to powder, make wholesome bread; and an ardent spirit may be distilled from them, which has a fine flavour, but it is small in quantity. The berries too, infused in water, make an acid liquor, (called Diod Griafol, E.), somewhet like perry, which is drank by the poorer people in Wales. (In Jura the juice is used as an acid for punch. E.) In Germany the fowlers use the berries to entice Redwings and Fieldfares into nooses of hair suspended in the woods; whence its trivial name; (to which attraction alludes the Mantuan's lay:

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Sanguineisque inculta rubent aviaria baccis."

Twelve pounds of berries yield two quarts of spirit; the pulp, after distillation, affords excellent nourishment for cattle. The bark when collected in autumn, (according to experiments made in Germany), is better adapted to the tanning of leather than even that of Oak. This tree appears to have been highly esteemed by the Druids, and is still found more frequently than any other in the neighbourhood of Druidical circles in the Scotch Highlands. Even in these more enlightened times, natives of the North may be found, who profess to believe in the efficacy of a small branch carried about them as a charm against witchcraft and enchantment. In one part of Scotland, at Strathspey, the sheep and lambs are on May Day made to pass through a hoop of Roan wood; (and the Scotch dairy-maid will drive her cattle to the shealings, or summer pastures, with no other rod than that of the Roan-tree. Evelyn assures us that "ale and beer brewed with these herries, being ripe, is an incomparable drink, familiar in Wales, where this tree is reputed so sacred, that there is not a church-yard without one of them planted in it, (as among us the Yew), so, on a certain day in the year, every body religiously wears a cross made of the wood: and the tree is by some authors called Fraxinus Cambro-Britannica, reputed to be a preservative against fascinations and evil spirits; whence perhaps we call it Witchen, the boughs being stuck about the house, or the wood used for walking-staves." These vestiges of ancient superstitions, here either altogether exploded, or reduced to unmeaning customs, remind us of the amulets we have observed still so frequently suspended round the necks of cattle, or worn, with implicit faith, by the ignorant peasantry, in the South of Europe. Allusion is made to such property, as Dr. Hunter remarks, in a very ancient song, called the Laidley Worm of Spindleston Heughs:

"Their speils were vain: The bags returned
To the queen in sorrowful mood,

Crying, that witches have no power,

Where there is Rown-tree wood."

And this leads, as some commentators imagine, to the true reading of a passage in Shakspeare's Macbeth, substituting (Act 1. s. 3.) “ A rown-tree, witch!" for the usual reading "Aroint thee, witch!"-but this we deny; the latter being a genuine adverb of expulsion or avoidance, used by the bard with a like meaning in other passages, (as Edgar in Lear, &c.) though since become obsolete. "In September and October few trees add

(P. HY'BRIDA.

Leaves deeply pinnatifid, or half pinnate, downy beneath: flowers corymbose: styles about three. E.)

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Fl. Dan. 301-(E. Bot. 2331. E.)-Linn. Fil. Fasc. i. 6. (A moderate sized tree, with smooth grey branches, hoary when young. Leaves alternate, crowded about the extremities, stalked, oblong, acute, serrated, lobed towards the base, often deeply pinnatifid; smooth above, white (or rather greyish, E.) and finely cottony beneath. Stipulas smooth, awl-shaped, attached to the foot-stalks, but deciduous. Flowers cymose, cream-coloured. Styles three or four; cells of the fruit soft and pliant like those of P. aucuparia, agreeing with them in number. It is regularly propagated by seed. Sm. E.)

Linnæus considered it as a mule plant, produced between P. Aria and P. aucuparia, having the flowers and pistils of the latter, with the foliage of the former, the leaves being rather winged at the base, but confluent upwards.

(It would appear that P. hybrida seems to vary from P. Aria, and to obtain the wing-cleft or pinnatifid character by growth in gardens and shrubberies; vid. Note, p. 171. Bot. Guide. E.)

(BASTARD MOUNTAIN ASH. P. hybrida. Fl. Brit. not of Willd. P. pinnatifida. Ehrh. Sm. Sorbus hybrida. Linn. With. to Ed. 7. On mountains. In rocky places on Cairn na Callich, and other mountains at the north end of the Isle of Arran. Mr. J. Mackay. Fl. Brit. E.) T. May.* (P. A'RIA. Leaves simple, elliptical, cut, serrated, scored; white and downy beneath: flowers corymbose: styles about two. E.)

Fl. Dan. 302-(E. Bot. 1858. E.)—Crantz. ii. 2. 2— Mill. Ill.—Hunt. Evel. 181. i. p. 175. Ed. 2d.-J. B. i. a. 65—Lob. Adv. 435. 1—Ger. Em. 1327. 2-Park. 1421-Ger. 1146. 2.

(A small tree, conspicuous for the white mealiness or close tomentose appearance of the under surface of the leaves, likewise investing the flowerstalks and calyx. Parallel ribs prominent on both sides of the leaves. Flowers white, in large bunches. Styles often three or four. Fruit with as many cells, globular, scarlet, dotted, mealy, acid, astringent. Seeds two in each cell. E.)

(Var. 2. P. aria ß. Eng. Fl. P. intermedia. Ehrh. Willd. Cratœgus Aria B. Linn. Sorbus hybrida. Huds. With. to Ed. 7. Leaves with five to seven marginal lobes on each side, slightly pinnatifid, but not so

more to the gaiety of picturesque scenery, when the glowing vermillion fruit decorates the boughs so superbly by its pendent pomes; for botanical language will scarcely allow us to say berries, because the seeds are disposed like those of the apple in a fleshy pulp, and divided into cells." Phillips. A variety with yellow-striped leaves is sometimes admitted into shrubberies. Ecidium cornutum, Grev. Scot. Crypt. 180: "Peridia very long, curved, pale brown, bursting from an orange-coloured thickened spot; sporidia sub-globose;" on the inferior surface of the leaves in summer and autumn very frequent and on both sides of the leaves may be occasionally observed Erineum Sorbi, Grev. Scot. Crypt. 23. "Distinct, or somewhat effused, superficial, lax, at first reddish, at length brown ferruginous; peridia cylindrical, obtuse, and somewhat incurved at the summits." The new vegetable acid, named Sorbic Acid, is found most abundantly to pervade the Mountain Ash. It differs materially from the Malic acid, but its peculiar properties are not yet thoroughly ascertained. New Month. Mag. 1819. The rare insect Apion (Attelabus) Sorbi is said to haunt this tree. E.)

(It is not considered unworthy of introduction into modern pleasure grounds. E.)

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