Tree Study 



779 



The apple originally came from southwestern Asia and the neighboring 

 parts of Europe, but it has been cultivated so long that we have no accounts 

 of how it began. The prehistoric lake-dwellers of Switzerland ate this 

 fruit. In this country the apple thrives best on clay loam, although it 

 grows on a great variety of soils; where wheat and corn grow, there will the 

 apple also grow. In general, the shape of the apple tree head is rounded or 

 broadly pyramidal; however, this differs somewhat with varieties. The 

 trunk is short and rather stocky, the bark is a beautiful soft gray and is 

 decidedly scaly, flaking off in pieces which are more or less quadrangular. 

 The wood is very fine-grained and heavy. On this account for many years 

 it was used for wood-engraving and is also a favorite wood for wood- 

 carving; it makes a most excellent fuel. The spray is fine, and while at the 

 tips of the limbs it may be drooping or horizontal, it often grows erect along 

 the upper sides of the limbs, each shoot looking as if it were determined to 

 be a tree in itself. The leaves are oval, with toothed edges and long 

 petioles. When the leaves first appear each has two stipules at its base. 

 The shape of the apple leaves depends to' some extent upon the variety of 

 the apple. 



It has long been the practice not to depend upon the seeds for reproduc- 

 ing a variety; for, since the bees do such a large work in pollenating the 

 apple flowers, it would be quite difficult to be sure that a seed would not be 

 a result of a cross between two varieties. Therefore, the matter is made 

 certain by the process of grafting or budding. There are several modes of 

 grafting, but perhaps the one in most common use is the cleft-graft. A 



Cleft-craft. 

 One-half natural size. 



Zcion for cleft- 

 grafting. 



One-half natural 

 size. 



The graft ivaxed. 



