Apple (Pyrus Malus), is the fruit of a well-known tree of the natural order Rosaceae, or the tree itself. The apple belongs to the temperate regions of the globe, over which it is almost universally spread and cultivated. The tree attains a moderate height, with spreading branches; the leaf is ovate; and the flowers are produced from the wood of the former year, but more generally from very short shoots or spurs from wood of two years' growth. The original of all the varieties of the cultivated apple is the wild crab, which has a small and extremely sour fruit, and is a native of most of the countries of Europe. The apple was probably introduced into Britain by the Romans, and there are now six thousand recorded varieties of English apple, divided into three categories: eating, cooking and cider.
To the facility of multiplying varieties by grafting is to be ascribed the amazing extension of the sorts of apples. Many of the more marked varieties are known by general names, as pippins, codlins, rennets, etc. Apples for the table are characterized by a firm juicy pulp, a sweetish acid flavour, regular form, and beautiful colouring; those for cooking by the property of forming by the aid of heat into a pulpy mass of equal consistency, as also by their large size and keeping properties; apples for cider must have a considerable degree of astringency, with richness of juice. The propagation of apple-trees is accomplished by seeds, cuttings, suckers, layers, budding, or grafting, the last being almost the universal practice. The tree thrives best in a rich deep loam or marshy clay, but will thrive in any soil provided it is not too wet or too dry. The wood of the apple-tree or the common crab is hard, close-grained, and often richly coloured, and is suitable for turning and cabinet work. The fermented juice (verjuice) of the crab is employed in cookery and medicine. Apples are largely imported into Great Britain from the Continent and the United States and Canada. The designation apple, with various modifying words, is applied to a number of fruits having nothing in common with the apple proper, as alligator-apple, love-apple, etc Research Apple
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Nature
Research Apple