The apple is a very wholesome fruit. In its raw state it is highly esteemed in the dessert, and when either roasted, boiled, or in pies, it forms an excellent and nutritious food. Dr. Johnson says he knew a clergyman, of small income, who brought up a family very reputably, which he chiefly fed on apple dumplings! Administered to invalids it is cooling, refreshing, and laxative. It is well known as furnishing an excellent sauce; and apple jelly forms one of the finest preserves. Norfolk Beefings are that variety of apple baked in ovens, after the bread is drawn, and flattened to the form in which they are sold in the shops of the confectioners and fruiterers. In Normandy and America, apples are to a considerable extent dried in the sun, in which state they may be preserved for a long period and used at pleasure, when they form an excellent dish stewed with sugar, cloves, and other spices. Those dried in America are cut into quarters, while those of Normandy are preserved whole. There is a drink with which our ancestors were wont to regale themselves called _Lambs-wool_, or more properly _Lamasool_, a word derived from _La maes Abhal_, which signifies the day of apple fruit. This drink was composed of ale and the pulp of roasted apples, with sugar and spice. It is mentioned by Gerard, and in an old song, called “The King and the Miller,” we find it referred to “A cup of _Lambs-wool_ they drank to him there.” Besides these, and many other uses to which the apple is applied, its juice produces cider, which forms, in many parts of this country, in Normandy, and the United States, an indispensable beverage. The juice of the wild species, called crab vinegar, or verjuice, when applied externally is good for strains, spasms, and cramps. The chemical composition of the apple is, chlorophylle, sugar, gum, vegetable fibre, albumen, malic acid, tannin and gallic acid, lime, and a great quantity of water. The apple may be grown on almost any description of soil, provided it is not absolutely wet. That on which it succeeds best is a humid sandy loam, or a well-drained strong clay, which if it possesses a calcareous, or gravelly subsoil, will be still more advantageous. It is not requisite that it should be of so great depth as for pears, as the apple, having no tap-root, does not penetrate so far into the soil. From eighteen inches to two feet will be found a good depth; but where the soil is good, and the subsoil sufficiently humid without being literally wet, even a foot to eighteen inches will answer every purpose. CLASSIFICATION OF APPLES.