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FRUITS IN THEIR SEASON. 101
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
* Xii. The Pi/Um. Fkom The Wave-Hollowed...
It emp sometimes loyer , in addi reproduces tion to the itself adjectiv from e , its denoting stones its the unusual planting color " of .
, which , however , have also given rise to numerous varieties , some colored like their parentwhile othersunder the name of red or
, , yellow " gages " have striven , vainly to rival their peerless verdant progenitor ; while one base counterfeit , strikingly like the
greengage in appearance , mocks the eater in being only remarkable , in point of flavorfor its utter insipidity . Vigorousbut never very
tallthe tree both , in France and England mostly , requires to be grown , against the wall ; and the fruit is always _sjDecially prone to
burst its tender skin and form splits , which , however , do not impair its quality any farther than that busy insects are ever found ready to
avail themselves of the opening , and soon consume the dainty when once thus laid bare to them .
But if , among all that are commonly called plums , the greengage be pre-eminentthere is one member of the JPrunus family
a distinct species , and , bearing in common parlance quite a distinct , namein which the plum seems to have risen above itself ; for in
the apricot , it seems as though Nature had " tried her ' prentice hand" before she formed the peach , as if wishing to see on a small
scale the effect of a velvet-like suit before assigning it as the livery of a new tribe . In spitehoweverof its woolly disguise , it is
recog-, , nised as really a plum by its white blossom and smooth stone , though the latter has the peculiarity of being pointed at but one
end , whereas in the rest of the race it is found sharp at each end . It is botanically distinguished as Prunus Armcniaca _, the latter title
derived from its having been supposed to have come originally from Armeniabut there is little authority for the notionsincethough
it covers , the slopes of the Caucasus almost to the , margin , of the snow , it has never yet been found growing wild there . A French
traveller , too , quoted by Mr . Phillips , says , "I was struck with its mode of growth in Egypt , where it was anciently brought from
latitudes still more south ; its leaves have scarcely fallen off before the blossoms appear again . The name of berikokkafirst given to it in
• Greece , approaches very near to its Arabian name , of berkach or _beri-JcacJi . The inhabitants of the fertile parts of the deserts , called oases ,
gather and dry large quantities of apricots , which they bring down to Egypt for sale . The result of every inquiry I made was , that the
apricottree grows there spontaneously , almost without cultivation ; and as it is not known to grow in the natural state in any part of Armeniawe
, anay very justly conclude that it is an Arabian fruit . " In Siberia one sort of apricot is found showing little affinity with that of Armenia , and
Allioria asserts that it grows naturally in the woods of Montserrat . It cannot be certainly identified with any of the fruits mentioned
by the ancients , though we may probably refer to it what is said by Pliny of an " early jprcecocia \\ land of peachripe in the summer "
which had only been introduced about thirty , years before he wrote , ,
and which was originally sold only at the price of a denarius ( 7 | c _£ . )
Fruits In Their Season. 101
FRUITS IN THEIR SEASON . 101
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Oct. 1, 1861, page 101, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01101861/page/29/
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