Why is it that the wild _flowers_ of England have attracted so much
attention of late years, whilst the wild _fruits_ have been passed
over in silence, and allowed to bud and bloom, to ripen their fruit,
and to perish, inglorious and unnoticed? It would be difficult to give
a reply to this question; I will therefore not attempt it, but rather
invite you, my friends, to assist me in removing this reproach from
the wild-fruits of our land, and give me a little of your attention
whilst we inquire what these are, and where they grow, and examine a
little into their structure and uses, as well as into their
classification. In doing so, I think we shall find that, though
England does not indigenously afford so many or such rich fruits as
those which are the products of some other lands, yet that she
possesses several kinds which, even in their uncultivated state, are
edible, and pleasant to the taste, and some of which form the stocks
on which, by budding or grafting, many of the most valuable
productions of our gardens and orchards are established. I think that
many will be surprised to find, that the list I shall give them of
fruits indigenous in England is so long and so respectable. The plum,
the cherry, the apple and pear tribes--the raspberry, with its
allies--the gooseberry, and currant, red and black--the service-tree,
with its pleasant subacid fruit, and the abounding whortleberry and
cranberry tribes, which cover immense tracts of our hills with their
myrtle-like foliage and pretty heath-like bloom, and produce such
harvests of useful fruit freely to whoever will take the trouble of
gathering it--are surely treasures not to be despised!
It is true that in the present day, when the constantly increasing
importation both of fruit and fruit-trees, together with the wonderful
horticultural improvements which are daily taking place, have brought
richer and better kinds of fruit more or less within the reach even of
our poorest cottagers--when every little valley among the hills is
enriched with its beautiful orchards, and every farmhouse and cottage
may boast its luscious plum or cherry trees, and its row of bright
fruited raspberry or strawberry plants--when all thrifty housewives
may, at small expense, have their little store of pleasant jams and
jellies made from fruits which used to be beyond the reach of even our
island kings, and the 'sedulous bees' located on every homestead
present us with their amber sweets--we can perhaps scarcely
appreciate the real importance which must have attached to these now
comparatively worthless fruits at a time when the land on which our
most populous cities stand was covered by woods and brakes, nay, in
many places by thick, tangled forests, or wild and deep morasses. But,
even now, these fruits are treasures to the cotter and the child, as
we shall see in the course of our discussion; and even to persons of
more luxurious habits, several of those that I have named are of value
and importance. Let us first look at those which rank under the
natural order _Rosaceæ_, under which head we shall find the greatest
number of our English fruit-bearing plants. We will give a little
botanical sketch of the general characteristics of this order, as
elucidatory of what we may hereafter have to say before we proceed to
the details of any of its members. The chief of these characteristics
are, that in the order _Rosaceæ_ the calyx is in most cases formed of
five lobes, _with the petals and stamens rising from it_, the latter
being generally numerous; the ovaries are several, or solitary, each
of one cell, including, in most cases, one ovule or incipient seed--in
some cases many--the style being lateral or terminal. Most flowers
thus formed produce edible and harmless fruits. Loudon says: 'The
ligneous species, which constitute this order, include the finest
flowering shrub in the world--the rose--and trees which produce the
most useful and agreeable fruit of temperate climates--namely, the
apple, pear, plum, cherry, apricot, peach, and nectarine;' and he
might have included the medlar and service trees. Now, this vast order
is subdivided into several sub-orders or sections, under the first of
which are classed all whose fruit is a drupe, of which the plum and
cherry are examples. We will then take them first into our
consideration, and begin by giving an account of what is the structure
of a drupe.
That part of the carpel called the ovary, which encloses the seed,
thickens, and changes into a fleshy substance, which, as the fruit
matures, softens, and becomes a juicy, and often delicious pulp; this
is the part which we eat in the plum, cherry, apricot, peach, and all
which we call stone-fruits. The lining of the ovary at the same time
extends, and hardens into the stony case which encloses the kernel,
which kernel is the young seed enlarged and perfected. All fruits of
this formation are called drupes, as those of the apple and pear form
are called pomes, and those of the bramble, and some other tribes,
berries. Our woods supply us with two sorts of plum, both edible--the
sloe, or blackthorn (_Prunus spinosa_), and the wild bullace (_P.
institia_.) Every one knows the sloe, at least every one who has spent
any part of his youth amidst woodland scenes; but as there are some
who, having been 'all their life in populous cities pent,' know but
little of country delights, for their benefit we will describe the
growth and appearance of our plants, as well as their qualities,
obvious or hidden. The sloe is more frequently seen as a spiny shrub
than as a tree; but when the suckers are removed, and the strength of
the plant is all allowed to go into one stem, it forms a highly
characteristic small tree. In hedges, it seldom exceeds twenty feet in
height, but in woods and parks, it often attains to thirty. The wood
is hard, and takes a fine polish, but is apt to crack, and is
therefore seldom used, except for the handles of tools, and other such
purposes. It throws up very long upright shoots, which make excellent
walking-sticks; indeed, more are made from this tree throughout Europe
than from any other. The dry branches are valuable in forming hedges,
and protection for young trees, as well as for other agricultural
purposes. The bark is black, whence its name of blackthorn; the
blossoms appear before the leaves, and beautify our hedges with their
delicate whiteness during the cold month of March, when few other
shrubs send forth their blossoms; and this season is therefore called
by country-people 'blackthorn winter.' The leaves form a better
substitute for tea than any other European plant; and they have been,
and are abundantly used in the adulteration of that commodity. The
fruit is a plum about the size of a small filbert, of a dark purple
hue, coated with a most exquisite blue bloom. The flesh is of a sharp,
bitter acid, yet not unpleasant even when raw; when fully ripe, it
makes a tolerable preserve, or pudding, and the juice, when well
fermented, makes a wine not unlike new port. The sloe, as well as the
cherry, and all other plants of its tribe, contains in it a portion of
prussic acid; but the quantity is so minute, that there can be no
injury derived from the use of either the leaves or fruit of most
species. The common laurel (_Cerasus laurocerasus_) contains it in
greater quantity than any other kind, but even of this the berries may
be eaten with impunity, and are freely used by gipsies, who both eat
them raw and make them into puddings.
The other plum of our wilds is the bullace (_P. institia_), the fruit
of which differs from that of the sloe in being larger and less
bitter. It is sometimes black, but oftener yellowish and waxy,
beautifully tinted with red, and makes better pies and puddings than
the sloe, for which purposes it is often sold in the markets. In
Provence, where, as in other parts of France, this plum abounds, it is
called 'Prune sibanelle,' because, from its sourness, it is impossible
to whistle after eating it! The entire plant is used for much the same
purposes as the sloe. Old Gerard says, that its leaves are 'good
against the swelling of the uvula, the throat, gums, and kernels under
the ears, throat, and jaws.' How far modern physicians might agree in
this is doubtful; possibly they might class the prescription, as he
does some of those of his predecessors, under the head of 'old wives'
fables.' Both the plum and cherry send out from their bark a sort of
gum, which exudes freely, particularly in old and diseased trees. It
was formerly supposed to be sovereign against some diseases. The
number of varieties which have been grafted on these wild stocks is
very great. So long ago as 1597, Gerard recounts: 'I have threescore
sorts in my garden (at Holborn), all strange and rare: there be in
other places many more common, and yet yeerely commeth to our hands
others not knowne before.' The bark of both kinds of wild plum was
formerly much used in medicine, and considered equal to the Peruvian
bark in cases of intermittent fever. But we must not forget, in
recounting the _uses_ of these and other fruits, to take into our
consideration the important additions that their free growth affords
to the sources of enjoyment and amusement of our youthful population
in country districts. 'Snagging' (for sloes are called _snags_ in some
counties), nutting, blackberry picking, cherry hunting--all in their
turn form attractions to the boys and girls in our villages; and many
a merry party sallies forth into the woods on a half or whole holiday,
with satchel, bag, and basket, to enjoy the fresh air and bright
sunshine, and to leap, and jump, and rejoice in all the wild vagaries
of youth among the fresh uplands and hills, scrambling over all
obstruction--the elder climbing the old trees, and rifling them of
their spoil--the younger and less adventurous hooking down the
branches, and claiming the right of all they can collect 'by hook or
by crook.' But wo to the poor mothers who have to mend the garments in
which the onslaught has been made!--wo to the little boy or girl whose
mother has not the good sense to discern, in her child's rosy cheeks
and bright eyes, a compensation for the rags in the frock or trousers,
which is sure to be the consequence of a day spent in harrying the
shrubs and briers! But many centuries must our youth have thus
'imbibed both sweet and smart' from yielding to these woodland
attractions. May not we fancy whole herds of our little British or
Anglo-Saxon ancestors rushing forth into the almost inaccessible woods
which in those days clothed our island, their long sunny hair hanging
to the waist--for 'no man was allowed to cut his hair until he had
slaine an enemy of his country in the field, or at least taken his
armes from him'--clothed in linen, their fair skins disfigured by the
blue woad with which they were accustomed to paint themselves, and
armed with cross-bows, all as merry, as idle, and as reckless as the
children of the present century? We may fancy these little Leowulphs
and Siegfrieds, with their admiring little Edgithas and Edithas
looking on, whilst they climbed the tall trees with the agility of
wild-cats and squirrels, most proud when they could attain the richest
and ripest fruit, and but spurred on to greater enthusiasm by the
knowledge that wolves and bears were by no means rare visitors in
those pristine forests. Or we may picture to ourselves their parents
and elders, after a long summer-day spent in hunting the wild-boar,
the bear, or the more timid deer, rejoicing to slake their thirst, and
refresh themselves with the cool and pleasant, though somewhat crude
fruit, of the plum and bullace trees; and in doing so, we may perhaps
come nearer to having some just idea of their real worth, and be led
to see how graciously God adapts his gifts to the wants and
circumstances of his creatures.
The cherry is the next wild fruit which claims our attention, and of
this we find two varieties. The first, the gean-tree (_Cerasus
sylvestris_), called by the peasants in Suffolk and Cheshire,
'Merny-tree,' from the French word _merisier_, is found in most parts
of England in woods and coppices. This fruit is also called in some
countries coroon, from _corone_, a crow. Its flowers are in nearly
sessile umbels of the purest white; its leaves broadly lance-shaped
and downy beneath, pointed and serrated, with two unequal glands at
the base. The fruit is a drupe, globose, fleshy, and devoid of bloom.
Several varieties occur in this species, differing chiefly in the
colour of the fruit, which is, however, usually black. The wood is
firm, strong, and heavy. Evelyn includes it in his list of
forest-trees, and describes it as rising to a height of eighty feet,
and producing valuable timber: he says, 'if sown in proper soil, they
will thrive into stately trees, beautified with blossoms of surpassing
whiteness, greatly relieving the sedulous bees and attracting birds.'
The wood is useful for many purposes, and polishes well. Though the
cherry is now classed among the fruits native to this isle, authors
inform us that it was introduced by the Romans. Evelyn says: 'It was
680 years after the foundation of Rome ere Italy had tasted a cherry
of their own, which being then brought thither out of Pontus, did,
after 120 years, travel _ad ultimos Britannos_.' Its name is derived
from Kerasoon, the city whence it was first brought into Europe by
Lucullus; and so valuable did he consider the acquisition, that he
gave it a most conspicuous place among the royal treasures which he
brought home from the sacking of the capital of Armenia. The fruit of
the gean-tree is rather harsh till fully ripe, and then becomes
somewhat vapid and watery, yet it is very grateful to the palate after
a day's rambling in the woods; and, moreover, this wild stock is the
source whence we have, by culture, obtained the rich varieties which
now grace our gardens. The cherry is a very prolific tree. We have
heard of one, the fruit of which sold for L.5 per annum for seven
successive years; but it requires care in pruning, as it produces its
fruit generally at the points of the branches, which should therefore
never be shortened. Phillips says: 'Cherries bear the knife worse than
any other sort of fruit-trees, and we would therefore impress on the
pruner, that though the fruit was won by the sword, it may be lost by
the knife!' The other species of cherry is the bird-cherry (_Cerasus
padus_), a pretty little smooth-branched tree, with doubly-serrate,
acute leaves, and beautiful white blossoms, which grow in long-shaped
racemes, hanging in pendulous clusters, and forming an elegant
ornament to the hedges and woods in May. It grows chiefly in Scotland
and the north of England, where the peasants call the fruit, which is
small, black, and harsh, 'hagberries.' This fruit can scarcely be
called edible, but it gives an agreeable flavour to brandy; and in
Sweden and other northern countries is sometimes added to home-made
wines. There is, or was, a feast celebrated in Hamburg, called the
Feast of Cherries, in which troops of children parade the streets with
green boughs ornamented with cherries, to commemorate a triumph
obtained in the following manner:--'In 1432, the Hussites threatened
the city of Hamburg with immediate destruction, when one of the
citizens, named Wolf, proposed that all the children in the city, from
seven to fourteen years of age, should be clad in mourning, and sent
as suppliants to the enemy. Procopius Nasus, chief of the Hussites,
was so touched with this spectacle, that he received the young
suppliants, regaled them with cherries and other fruits, and promised
them to spare the city. The children returned crowned with leaves,
holding cherries, and crying "Victory!"'