By the Greeks and Romans almost every part of the pomegranate tree (the root, leaves, flowers, and fruit) was considered to possess medical properties of a very remarkable and even marvellous description; and the country then chiefly celebrated for the production of it was that adjacent to the city of Carthage. The pomegranate is now, however, in little esteem, except on account of its fruit; the pulp or juice of which is pleasant to the palate, and, in common with other summer fruits, allays heat and mitigates thirst, but has a slightly astringent flavour. This pulp is red, is contained in transparent membranes, and included in nine distinct cells. The tough rind of the fruit, which is of a bitter and astringent nature, was employed by the ancients in the dressing of leather; and it is still used in some parts of Germany, together with the bark of the tree, in the preparation and dyeing of red leather in imitation of what is called Morocco leather.
Pomegranates were first cultivated in England about the year 1596; but the fruit grown in this country seldom attains a delicacy of flavour equal to that which is imported from Spain, Italy, and other warm climates.
155. The CHERRY is a fruit of the prune or plum tribe, the original stock of which is the wild cherry (Prunus cerasus) of our woods.
The gradual effects of cultivation, as they regard the cherry, have been the production of several kinds, which, both in size and flavour, infinitely exceed the fruit of the parent stock, or wild cherry of the woods. The kinds that are best known are the May Duke, Early Kentish Cherry, White Heart, and Black Heart Cherries. The trees are propagated by grafting (see p. 147) them usually upon the stocks of wild black and red cherry trees, which are reared for that purpose.
This agreeable fruit is eaten either fresh or dried. It is sometimes preserved with sugar as a sweetmeat; is made into jam; used in preparations of the liqueur called cherry-brandy: and made into wine. From wild black cherries the Swiss distil an ardent spirit, by the sale of which to the French and Germans they derive considerable profit.
The wood of the cherry-tree, which is hard and tough, is much used, particularly by turners and cabinet-makers on the Continent, for the manufacture of chairs and other furniture. The gum that exudes from the bark is, in many respects, equal to gum arabic ([273]); and is considered very nutritive. Hasselquist informs us that, during a siege, more than 100 men were kept alive for nearly two months, without any other sustenance than a little of this gum, which they occasionally took into their mouths and suffered gradually to dissolve.
156. The APRICOT (Prunus Armeniaca) is a fruit of the plum tribe, which grows wild in several parts of Armenia and was first introduced into this country about the middle of the sixteenth century.
Some persons are inclined to consider the apricot as the most delicate of all our hardy fruits. For pastry certainly none is more excellent. It is used for tarts, both green and when ripe; it is also preserved with sugar in both these states, and is sometimes dried as a sweetmeat. Care, however, should be taken to gather it before it becomes soft and mealy. The kernels of apricots have a pleasantly bitter flavour, and answer much better for several purposes in confectionary than bitter almonds, which are usually applied. They likewise contain a sweet oil, which, like that of almonds, was formerly used in emulsions.
The gum that issues from the apricot tree is nearly similar to that of the cherry ([152]). The wood is coarse-grained and soft, and consequently is seldom used in carpentry.
Apricot trees are chiefly grown against walls, and are propagated by grafting upon plum-tree stocks.