in a rather irregularly formed narrow basin, surrounded by a few small plaits. Stalk half an inch long, slender, about one half within the base, in a narrow cavity, and occasionally pressed towards one side, by a protuberance on the opposite one. Skin, when clear, of a bright yellow, but mostly covered with a grey netted russet, rendering the skin scabrous. Flesh greenish yellow, firm, crisp, and tender. Juice saccharine, highly aromatic, and of a most excellent flavour. A dessert apple from November till February. This neat and very valuable little apple was introduced into notice about thirty years ago by the late Mr. Andrew Siely, of Norwich, who had it growing in his garden on the Castle Ditches, and being a favourite with him, he always called it the Pride of the Ditches. The tree is a weak grower, and somewhat tender. It is, therefore, advisable to graft it upon the Doucin stock, and train it either as a dwarf, or as an espalier in the garden. Its name of Siely's Mignonne was first published in my Nursery Catalogue of 1805. 189. SWEENEY NONPAREIL. Hort. Trans. Vol. iv. p. 526. Fruit somewhat of the form of the old Nonpareil, but more irregular in its outline, and larger, about two inches and a half deep, and three inches in diameter. Eye small, perfectly closed by the short segments of the calyx, seated in a narrow and shallow depression, surrounded by a few wrinkled plaits. Stalk an inch long, slender, inserted in a wide but shallow cavity; and, like the old Nonpareil, it protrudes considerably beyond the base. Skin green, with white spots, which become oval round the stalk, and patches of russet all over it, having sometimes the brilliant colour of a fine Nonpareil. Flesh firm and crisp, with abundance of juice, in which a powerful acid is combined with much sugar. A dessert apple from the middle of November till March. This very fine apple was raised by J. N. Parker, Esq. in 1807, at Sweeney, in Shropshire. The tree is an abundant bearer, and the fruit sometimes grows to a large size; the largest it ever produced was in 1818, measuring eleven inches and a quarter in circumference, and weighing nine ounces and a quarter. Twenty of its fruit, exhibited at the Horticultural Society in 1820, weighed seven pounds thirteen ounces avoirdupoise. 190. SYKEHOUSE RUSSET. Hooker, Pom. Lond. t. 40. Pom. Mag. t. 81. Prager, of some Dutch Collections, according to the Pom. Mag. Fruit flat, middle-sized, of a roundish figure, and much flattened at both extremities, nearly three inches in diameter, and two inches and a quarter deep. Eye open, deeply sunk in an open even basin. Stalk variable in length, and not deeply inserted. Skin greenish yellow, more or less covered with a thin grey russet, which in some seasons almost entirely disappears; on the sunny side, of a deep rich brown, interspersed with small russetty patches. Flesh greenish white, approaching to yellow when fully matured, firm, juicy, with a fine subacid flavour. A dessert apple from December till March. This most excellent apple derives its name from the village of Sykehouse, in Yorkshire. Its young wood is somewhat long-jointed, very straight and erect, and grows to a greater length in one season than any other apple I have ever propagated. It is a hardy tree, and a good bearer, but best grafted on the Doucin stock, and trained in the garden as an espalier. 191. WHEELER'S RUSSET. Miller, Ed. 8. No. 16. Fruit middle-sized, irregularly shaped and somewhat flat, from two inches and a half to two inches and three H quarters in diameter, and two to two inches and a quarter deep. Eye rather small, with a closed calyx, placed in a rather shallow, uneven, broad-plaited basin. Stalk short, inserted in a narrow funnel-shaped cavity, seldom protruding beyond the base. Skin pale yellowish grey russet quite round the fruit, and on the sunny side of a lively brown, sprinkled with russetty specks. Flesh firm, greenish white. Juice not plentiful, but of a brisk, saccharine, aromatic flavour, charged with acid. A dessert and culinary apple from November till May. This is a very excellent winter apple; and when highly ripened and beginning to shrivel, is one of the best russets of its season. The tree is very hardy, grows handsomely, and is an excellent bearer. 192. WHITE RUSSET. Hort. Trans. Vol. iii. p. 454. Fruit rather large, angular on its sides, about three inches in diameter, and two inches and three quarters deep. Eye wrinkled. Stalk short. Stalk short. Skin yellowish russetty green, intermixed with white, and having a little light red on the sunny side. Flesh firm, and highly flavoured when in perfection, but apt to grow mealy when too ripe. An Irish dessert apple, and in use there in November and December. SECT. VIII.- Cider Apples. 193. BENNET APPLE. Pom. Heref. t. 21. Fruit somewhat long, irregularly shaped, broad at its base, and narrowing to the crown; but sometimes broader in the middle than at either of its extremities. A few obtuse angles terminate at the eye, which is small, with very short segments of the nearly closed Skin, on the shady side, a dull, dingy-coloured, russetty grey, shaded on the sunny side with numerous streaks and patches of orange colour and muddy red. calyx. Stalk half an inch long, very slender. Specific gravity of its Juice 1073. This apple has been chiefly cultivated in the deep and strong soils of the south-west part of Herefordshire. It affords excellent cider, when mixed with other varieties. Many of the trees are of great bulk, which prove it to have been known in the seventeenth century. Its name has, no doubt, been derived from the person who first raised it from seed. 194. BEST BACHE. Pom. Heref. t. 16. Bache's Kernel. Ib. Fruit middle-sized, of an oblong shape, with two or three obtuse angles, terminating at the crown. Eye small; segments of the calyx short and flat. Stalk short, very stiff, so that the fruit is always in the direction of the bud from which it sprang. Skin yellow, shaded and streaked with light and deeper red, with now and then a few black specks: these, however, are more to be attributed to a crowded state of old trees, than a natural appearance of healthy fruit from young trees in a state of vigour, and in a kind season. This observation may be understood to hold good in every description of our orchard fruit. Specific gravity of its Juice 1073. The origin of its name cannot be ascertained; but as it has sometimes been called Bache's Kernel, it probably has originated from the name of the person who first raised it from seed. It is principally cultivated in the south-east part of Herefordshire. 195. COCCAGEE. Hort. Soc. Cat. 167. Fruit middle-sized, conical, two inches and a half deep, and two inches and three quarters in diameter, a little angular on its sides, which terminate irregularly in the crown. Eye small, with a closed calyx, rather deeply sunk in an uneven, irregularly plaited basin. Stalk short, inserted in a narrow, shallow cavity, not protruded beyond the base. Skin smooth, pale lemon colour quite round the fruit, with a few greenish specks interspersed. Flesh rather soft, yellowish white. Juice sharp acid, with an unpleasant astringency. This apple produces the well known, and by some highly esteemed, Coccagee Cider. Mr. Forsyth describes it as of a red colour next the sun; but those which were given me by Mr. Kirke were perfectly free from red in every part. I had no means of ascertaining the specific gravity of its juice. 196. COWARNE RED. Pom. Heref. t. 28. Fruit of a pretty good size, a little more long than broad, but narrow at the crown, in which appear a few obtuse and undefined plaits. Eye small, with very short converging segments of the calyx. Stalk hardly half an inch long, very stiff and straight. Skin, a small part of it pale gold on the shady side and round the base, but of a bright red over a great part, and where fully exposed to the sun of an intense deep purplish crimson there are numerous short streaks which mark the shady side of the fruit. Specific gravity of its Juice 1069. The trees of this sort grow to a large size, and are great bearers. Its name arises from the parish of Cowarne, near Bromyard, in Herefordshire, where it was first raised something more than a century ago. This name does not occur in the old catalogues. -DOWNTON PIPPIN. See No. 50. This apple sprang like the Grange Apple, and in the same year, from a seed of the Orange Pippin, and the pollen of the Golden Pippin. The original tree, with that of the Grange Apple, is growing at Wormsley |