History of the Apple

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jun 17, 1875

History of the Apple.

The apple which is valued above all other fruits of Northern climates, is the descendent of the wild crab-tree, which is found very generally in the temperate zone of both hemispheres. It is mentioned in the Bible, by Herodotus, and by Pliny, the latter of whom enumerates twenty varieties that were cultivated in his time. It was in extensive use by the Romans, and was probably introduced by them into England. After the establishment of Christianity we find that the monks planted large orchards, rendering the fruit common throughout the island. It was brought to New England by the early settlers, and the Indians in all the original States. The apple is now one of the most widely diffused of fruit-trees, but it succeeds best in cooler parts of the temperate zone. It occurs in Arabia, Persia, and the West Indies; but in these countries the fruit is small and inferior. It reaches its greatest perfection in the United States where more than a million of acres are occupied with this kind of orchards. The value of the crop in 1870 was over $47,000,000. Large quantities of apples are exported from this country to England, China, and the East Indies.