Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 2.djvu/226

Rh 212 A P P A P P characteristics. The apple is successfully cultivated in higher latitudes than any other fruit tree, growing up to 65 N., but notwithstanding this, its blossoms are more susceptible of injury from frost than the flowers of the peach or apricot. It comes into flower much later than these trees, and so avoids the night frost which would be fatal to its fruit bearing. The apples which are grown in northern regions are, however, small, hard, and crabbed, the best fruit being produced in hot summer climates, such as Canada and the United States. Besides in Europe and America, the fruit is now cultivated at the Cape of Good Hope, in Northern India and China, and in Australia and New Zealand. Apples have been cultivated in Great Britain probably since the period of the Roman occupation, but the names of many varieties indicate a French or Dutch origin of much later date. In 1 688 Ray enumerated 78 varieties in cultiva tion in the neighbourhood of London, and now it is calculated that about 2000 kinds can be distinguished. According to the purposes for which they are suitable, they can be classed as 1st, dessert; 2d, culinary; and 3d, cider apples. The principal dessert apples are the Pippins (pepins, seedlings), of which there are numerous varieties. The most esteemed of all apples is the American Newtown Pippin, a globular, juicy, sweet, and highly aromatic fruit ; other American varieties of note are Williams s Favourite, Astrakhan, and Graveustein, and for winter use the Baldwin, Spitzenberg, and Roxbury Russet. As culinary apples, besides Rennets and other dessert kinds, Codlins, and Biffins are cultivated. In England, Herefordshire and Devonshire are famous for the cultivation of apples, and in these counties the manufacture of cider is an important industry. Cider is also extensively prepared in Normandy and in Holland. Verjuice is the fermented juice of crab apples. Apples for table use should have a sweet juicy pulp and rich aromatic flavour, while those suitable for cooking should possess the property of forming a uniform soft pulpy mass when boiled or baked. In their uncooked state they are not very digestible, but when cooked they form a very safe and useful food, exercising a gentle laxative influence. According to Fresenius their composition is as follows : Apple. English Rennets, White Dessert, .. Water. Sugar. Free acid. 82-04 85-04 6-83 7-58 Albuminous substances. &c. 0-85 7-92 1-04 2-94 Salts 0-36 0-44 0-48 5-11 English Golden Tippin, 81 87 10 36 A large trade in the importation of apples is carried on in Britain, the amount of which is not, however, separately stated in the Board of Trade returns. Our imports come chiefly from French, Belgian, and Dutch growers, and from the United States and British North America. Dried and pressed apples are imported from France for stewing, under the name of Normandy Pippins, and similarly prepared fruits come also from America. Many exotic fruits, having nothing in common with the apple, are known by that name, e.g., the Balsam apple, Momordica balsamina ; the Custard apple, Anona reticu- lata ; the Egg apple, Solatium esculentum ; the Rose apple, various species of Eugenia; the Pine apple, Anan- assa saliva ; the Star apple, Chrysophyllum Cainito ; and the apples of Sodom, Solanum sodomeum. APPLEBY, a market and borough town of England, capital of Westmoreland, situated on the Eden, 13 miles S.E. of Penrith. The greater part of Appleby, consisting of a broad, irregularly built street, from which smaller ones branch off, occupies the slope of a hill on the left bank of the river, in the parish of Appleby St Lawrence ; but on the opposite bank, in the parish of Appleby St Michael, is the suburb of Bongate, which is connected with the rest of the town by a fine old stone bridge. Appleby contains an Seal and Anns. ancient castle, two parish churches, as well as Wesleyan places of worship, a town and a county hall, a jail, an hospital for thirteen poor women, and a grammar school. There is a municipal corporation, and previous to the Reform Act of 1832 the town returned two members to parliament. It has for a long time been a place of small importance, with little trade, and hardly any manufactures. Population of the Improvement Commissioners District in 1871, 1989. APPRAISER (from ad and pretium, value), one who sets a value upon property, real or personal. By 46 George III. c. 43, appraisers must possess a license, the duty pay able for which is at present 2 annually. By a statute of William and Mary, two sworn appraisers must be employed by the sheriff to value any goods taken under distress for rent. The business of appraiser is usually combined with that of auctioneer. APPRENTICE APPRENTICESHIP. Apprentice ship (from apprendre, to learn) is a contract whereby one person, called the master, binds himself to teach, and another, called the apprentice, undertakes to learn some trade or profession, and to serve his master for a certain time. The contract is generally created by indenture, but any writing properly expressed and attested will suffice. The Civilians are silent on the subject of this contract, nor does it seem to have had any connection with the division of the Roman citizens into tribes or colleges. So far as can be seen it arose in the Middle Ages, and formed an integral part of the system of guilds and corporations by which skilled labourers of all kinds sought protection against the feudal lords, and the maintenance of those exclusive privileges with which in the interests of the public they were favoured. In those times it was believed that the arts and sciences would not flourish unless such only were allowed to practise them as had given proofs of reason able proficiency and were formed into bodies corporate, with certain powers of self-government and the exclusive monopoly of their respective arts within certain localities. It has sometimes been supposed that these mediaeval corporations were confined to such occupations as are now followed by artisans. This, however, is a mistake. The word universitas is the correct Latin name for any corpora tion whatsoever ; and in mediaeval parlance it was just as proper to speak of the university of smiths or tailors, as of the university of Paris or Oxford. It is, indeed, very probable that, at the dawn of returning civilisation, the humbler arts first received the attention and the fostering care of the state ; but it is certain that as each lost art or science was recovered, its professors were formed into a university or corporation, composed of such as were entitled to practise and teach, and such as were in course of learning. The former were the masters, the latter the apprentices. Hence the term Apprentice was applied indifferently to such as were being taught a trade or a learned profession, and even to undergraduates or scholars who were qualifying themselves for the degree of doctor or master in the liberal