160. _The MEDLAR_ (Mespilus germanica) _is usually considered a native
English fruit, having been remarked, more than a century ago, to grow
wild in hedges about Minshull in Cheshire. It is distinguished by being
depressed and concave at the top, the leaves of the calyx continuing upon
it; and by its containing several hard, compressed, and angular nuts._
It is the property of the medlar, which is cultivated in most large
gardens, to be hard, and remarkably austere and disagreeable to the taste,
until it has, in part, undergone the putrefactive fermentation, when it
becomes a soft, mellow, and, to many palates, a pleasant fruit. Medlars are
usually gathered from the trees about the end of October, or beginning of
November. To facilitate their becoming fit for the table, they may be
placed in moist bran; but such as require to be kept for subsequent use
should be deposited on dry straw. In a fortnight or three weeks those in
the bran will be eatable, and the others will more gradually ripen. After
they are perfectly ripe, they, however, soon become mouldy and decay.
The _wood_ of the medlar-tree somewhat resembles that of the pear-tree, but
is of no great value.
161. _The COMMON PEAR is a well-known garden fruit, derived from an
English stock, the wild pear-tree_ (Pyrus communis), _which grows in
hedges and thickets in Somersetshire and Sussex._
It would be an endless task to describe the different known varieties of
the cultivated pear. Some of these are very large, and others extremely
small; some have a rich and luscious flavour, and others, as the iron pear,
are so hard and disagreeable to the taste, as to be absolutely unfit to
eat. Pears are chiefly used in desserts; and one or two of the kinds are
stewed with sugar, baked, or preserved in syrup.
The fermented _juice_ of pears is called _perry_, and is prepared nearly in
the same manner as that of apples (162) is for cider. The greatest
quantities of perry are made in Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The
_Squash_, the _Oldfield_, and the _Barland perry_ are esteemed the best.
Many of the dealers in Champaigne wine are said to use perry in the
adulteration of it; and, indeed, really good perry is little inferior,
either in flavour or quality, to Champaigne.
Of the _wood_ of the pear-tree, which is light, smooth, compact, and of
yellowish colour, carpenters' and joiners' tools are usually made, as well
as the common kinds of flat rulers, and measuring scales. It is also used
for picture frames that are to be stained black. The _leaves_ impart a
yellow dye, and are sometimes employed to communicate a green colour to
blue cloth.
162. _The APPLE, in all its numerous varieties, has been derived from
the_ Crab-tree (Pyrus malus), _which grows wild in almost every thicket,
and in hedges of all parts of the kingdom._
The uses of apples are very extensive, and even the _crab-tree_ is not
without its use. The _fruit_ is indeed small, and bad to the taste; but its
fermented juice, which is called _verjuice_, is sometimes employed in
cookery, occasionally in medicine, and frequently by wax-chandlers, for the
purifying of wax. Dr. Withering conceives that, with a proper addition of
sugar, a grateful liquor might be made from the juice of crabs, little
inferior to hock. Hogs and deer are particularly partial to this fruit. The
_wood_ is tolerably hard, and, when made into the cogs of wheels, acquires
a polish, and is very durable.
Apple-trees are all produced in an artificial manner, by a process termed
_grafting_. This is performed by inserting young shoots of such trees as
bear valuable fruit, on stocks that have been raised from the seeds of
crabs. Thus the shoot of an apple-tree, inserted into a crab stock,
occasions the crab-tree, from that time, to produce apples of nearly the
same kind and quality with those of the tree from which the shoot was
taken. Other stocks might be used, but those of the crab are considered the
best. The same process is adopted in the propagation of nearly every kind
of fruit-tree; since, by experience, it has been ascertained that such as
are produced from seed all partake of the nature of wild fruits, and have
little resemblance to the fruit from which they spring.
There are several kinds of apples, and the varieties are every day
increasing, through the attention that is paid, by different individuals,
to the culture of this valuable fruit. Those best known as eating apples
are the American apple called _Newtown pippin_, the _non-pareil_, _golden
pippin_, _ribstone pippin_, _golden rennet_, and _lemon pippin_; for the
kitchen, the _codlin_ and _russet_; and for cider, the _golden pippin_,
_coccagee_, and _red streak_. Of these the non-pareil and golden pippin,
from some unaccountable causes, are beginning to fail; the trees of late
production not affording fruit of excellence equal to what has formerly
been produced in this country.
It would be impossible in this place to enumerate all the uses of apples.
They are employed in culinary preparations of several kinds, particularly
in puddings and pies: they are a constant article in desserts; and are
dried, baked, and made into jelly and marmalade. But by far the most
important application of them is for the making of _cider_. The mode in
which this is done in Herefordshire is very simple. After the apples have
been gathered, they are sorted according to their different degrees of
ripeness, and laid together, for a little while, to heat, by which those
which are not perfectly ripe are greatly improved in flavour. The fruit is
then ground in a mill, till even the kernels and rind are well bruised. It
is allowed to stand, for a day or two, exposed in a large open vessel;
after which it is pressed between several hair cloths. The liquor that
issues from it is received into a vat, to be fermented; it is subsequently
removed into casks till it becomes fine; it is then racked off into other
vessels, leaving the lees behind. As soon as the fermentation has ceased,
the casks are filled up with other cider, and the bung-holes are closed.
Cider is a more acid liquor than perry, and, generally speaking, is a
wholesome and pleasant drink during the heats of summer; but the harsher
kinds, or those which are prepared in leaden vessels, if freely drunk, are
the cause of colics and other painful complaints. By distillation from
cider an ardent spirit may be obtained. This has an unpleasant flavour, of
which, however, it may be deprived by a certain process with charcoal. By
boiling the fresh juice of apples, and afterwards fermenting it, a _wine_
may be made, which, when three or four years old, is said to acquire both
the colour and flavour of Rhenish wine.
163. _The QUINCE is a somewhat pear-shaped fruit, which is supposed to
have been originally imported into this country from the island of
Crete._
_The quince-tree_ (Pyrus cydonia), _is low and bushy. Its leaves are
oval, entire, and whitish beneath. The flowers are large, of pale red or
white colour, and do not grow in bunches, but each on a separate stalk._
Though quinces have an austere taste, and are not eatable when raw, they
lose a considerable portion of their harshness if prepared in any manner by
heat; and, when mixed with other fruit in cookery, they communicate a very
pleasant flavour. Hence it is that they are often mixed with apples in
pies. Quinces are also boiled and eaten with sugar; made into marmalade,
and preserved in syrup either whole or in halves. The _juice_ of quinces,
boiled with sugar, was formerly used as a medicine, but of late years it
has been nearly discontinued. A proportion of one quart of the juice, mixed
with a pound of sugar, and fermented, yields a delicious wine. On the
Continent, a celebrated liqueur is prepared from this juice, in combination
with sugar and brandy. A mucilage of the _seeds_ is kept by apothecaries,
and used in medicine, as more pleasant, but it is not so efficacious, as
that of the simple gums.
Quince-trees grow wild on the banks of the Danube, but, with much less
luxuriance than in a state of cultivation.