Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/637

 APPLES OF SODOM APPLETON 601 the borer has entered the stem it may he killed by thrusting a wire into the hole. The apple moth is destroyed by feeding all the fallen ap- ples to swine, thus preventing the larvae from entering the earth, where they undergo their transformations. The caterpillar comes from eggs laid in the fall on the smaller twigs, encir- cling them, and, as the whole community col- lects in the nest, may be burned by torches on poles thrust among the branches. The canker- worm is not so easily managed, from the vast number of its armies. As the females are wing- less, they may be prevented from ascending the stem to lay their eggs, when they issue from the chrysalis in the ground at the base of the tree, by tar or any viscid substance that will entrap them, and by digging around the trees in the fall and exposing the pupae to the weather. The varieties of apple suitable for growth in different parts of the United States have been made the subject of many experi- ments by the best pomologists ; and the national pomological society, founded in 1850 by the late A. J. Downing and others, has published the results. To these reports and to the pub- lications of local societies cultivators are re- ferred for the best kinds for orchards in their vicinity. For general cultivation, the Williams's favorite, a large red apple, the Porter, New- town pippin, early bough, red Astrakhan, and Gravenstein are recommended for fall use; while for winter the Baldwin, Rhode Island greening, Danvers winter-sweet, fameuse, Hub- bardston nonesuch, northern spy, Spitzenberg, minister, Vandevere, and Roxbury russet offer a variety both for cooking and dessert. Some of these, however, do not flourish hi New Eng- land ; others do not bear well in the western states. For exportation the Baldwin, Khode Island greening, Newtown pippin, Spitzenberg, and Swaar are most in demand. In the Bos- ton market native apples command a higher price than western ones, although the latter are usually larger and fairer. Apples are com- monly brought to market in barrels which weigh about 150 Ibs. ; and Pliny says that this was one of the two fruits known in his time that could be preserved in casks. On the western coast, however, apples are always marketed in boxes somewhat smaller than standard orange boxes, holding about a bushel. APPLES OF SODOM, a fruit supposed to grow near the Dead sea, fair to the sight, but when plucked dissolving into smoke and ashes. A general opinion, supported by Hasselquist, is that the " apples of Sodom " are to be found in the fruit of the solanum melongena (night- shade), which he describes as filled with dust or ashes; or at least, when punctured by a certain insect, as it frequently is, the whole interior of the fruit is converted into a fine dust, leaving the rind entire in form and color. Robinson, in his " Biblical Researches," iden- tifies the apple of Sodom with the asclepias gigantea vel procera. The Arabs call it osher. It is found on the shores of the Dead sea, and Robinson says that seeing the two (the osher and the nightshade) growing side by side, the former struck him at once from its agreement with the ancient story, while the latter did not. He describee the osher as from 10 to 15 feet high, having a grayish cork-like bark, oval leaves, fiowers similar to the silkweed of the northern United States, and as discharging like that plant a milky fluid when broken. The fruit resembles an orange in size and color, but, when even very carefully touched, explodes like a bladder or puff-ball, leaving in the hands only a rind and a few filaments by which the ulterior was traversed. APPLETON, a city of Wisconsin, capital of Outagamie county, situated on an eminence overlooking Fox river, 30 m. from its mouth, and 5 m. N. of Lake Winnebago, and on the Wisconsin division of the Chicago and North- western railroad, 214 m. from Chicago; pop. in 1870, 4,518. The rapids known as the Grand Chute have here a descent of about 30 feet in a distance of 1 m. The city is the seat of Lawrence university, a Methodist institution, established in 1847, which in 1871 had 9 in- structors, 185 male and 87 female students, and a library of 6,000 volumes. APPLETON, Daniel, the founder of the pub- lishing house of D. Appleton and company, in New York, born in Haverhill, Mass., Dec. 10, 1785, died March 27, 1849. He commenced business as a retail trader in his native place. He afterward removed to a larger business field in Boston, and subsequently to New York. In the latter place he commenced the importation of English books, and in the course of years, by his energy of character, established one of the largest importing and publishing houses in the United States, which is now continued by his sons. APPLETON, Jesse, D. D., president of Bow- doin college, born in New Ipswich, N. H., Nov. 17, 1772, died in Brunswick, Me., Nov. 12, 1819. He graduated at Dartmouth col- lege in 1792, was licensed to preach in 1795, and in February, 1797, was ordained the pastor of a church in Hampton, N. H., where he re- mained 10 years. From 1807 till his death he was president of Bowdoin college. In addi- tion to the duties appertaining to his office of president, he was often called upon to preach in the neighboring towns, besides which he preached before the Bible, missionary, and peace societies of Maine, the American board of foreign missions, the Massachusetts legisla- ture, and numerous other public bodies. He was the father-in-law of the late president Franklin Pierce. Two volumes of his sermons, lectures, and addresses have been published. APPLETON, Nathan, an American merchant and political economist, born in New Ipswich, N. H., Oct. 6, 1779, died in Boston, July 14, 1861. In 1813 he was associated with Francis C. Lowell and Patrick T. Jackson in establish- ing at Waltham near Boston a cotton mill, in which was set up the first power loom ever