Respecting this apple, a correspondent in the Gardener’s Chronicle, for 1845, has the following remark, “When at Reval many years ago, I made particular inquiries as to the mode of cultivation of the Transparent Apple; I learned that the soil of the apple orchards there, is almost a pure sand, but that it is customary to add to it so much stable manure, that half the bulk of ground may be said to consist of manure. The friend with whom I was staying, had some of these apples at dessert; they were transparent, not in blotches, but throughout, so that held to the light, the pips may be seen from every part; these apples were juicy as a peach, about the size of a large one, and of a very agreeable flavor and texture.”
380. WHITE PARADISE.—Hort.
- Identification.—[Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 3, n. 520.
- Synonymes.—Lady’s Finger, [Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 1. 533. Long May, Ibid. 565. May, acc. Ibid. Egg, [Ron. Cat.] Eve, [Ron. Pyr. Mal.] 4. Paradise Pippin, acc. [Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 3.
- Figure.—[Ron. Pyr. Mal.] pl. ii. f. 5.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and a half wide, and three inches high; oblong, broader at the base than the apex. Skin, smooth, thick and tough, of a fine rich yellow, thinly and faintly freckled with red on the shaded side, but covered with broken streaks and dots of darker red, interspersed with dark brown russety dots, on the side exposed to the sun. Eye, open, set in a shallow basin. Stalk, an inch long, fleshy at the insertion; and inserted in an even, round, cavity. Flesh, yellowish, tender, crisp, juicy, sugary, and pleasantly flavored.
A second-rate, but beautiful and handsome dessert apple; in perfection the beginning of October, but towards the end of the month, becomes dry and mealy. It is, I believe, a Scotch apple, and much grown in some districts, particularly in Clydesdale, where it is known by the name of Egg Apple, and where the fruit lasts longer, than when grown in the warmer climate of the South.
The Lady’s Finger of Dittrich, vol. i. p. 505, is a flat apple of a Calville shape, and must be incorrect.
381. WHITE VIRGIN.—H.
- Synonyme.—Scotch Virgin.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and three quarters wide, and two inches high; oblate. Skin, smooth and shining, pale yellow, on the shaded size; but thin orange red, streaked with deep red, on the side next the sun, and strewed with dark dots and a few veins of russet. Eye, large and closed, with broad ovate segments, set in a wide, shallow, and plaited basin. Stalk, a quarter of an inch long, inserted in a narrow, and shallow cavity. Flesh, white, soft, tender, juicy, and briskly acid.
An excellent culinary apple; in use from October to February.