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Handbook of Nature-Study 



12. How far apart should apple trees be set? How may the land be 

 utilized while the trees are growing? How old must the apple tree be to 

 come into bearing? 



13. Is the practice now to allow an apple tree to grow tall ? Why is an 

 apple tree with a short trunk better? 



14. What does it do to a tree to prune its roots? What does it do to a 

 tree to prune its branches ? 



1 5 . How does it affect a tree to prune the buds at the tips of the twigs ? 



1 6. How does it affect a tree to thin the branches? Describe how a 

 limb should be pruned and how the wound thus made should be treated 

 Why? 



HOW AN APPLE GROWS 



Teacher's Story 



An apple tree in full blossom is a beauti- 

 ful sight. If we try to analyze its beauty we 

 find that on the tip of each twig there is a 

 cluster of blossoms, and set around them, as 

 in a conventional bouquet, are the pale, soft, 

 downy leaves. These leaves and blossoms 

 come from the terminal winter buds, which 

 are protected during winter by little scales 

 which are more or less downy. With the 

 bursting of the bud, these scales fall off, each 

 one leaving its mark crosswise on the twig, 

 marking the end of the year's growth; these 

 little ridges close together and in groups mark 

 the winters which the twig has experienced, and thus reveal its age. 



There is a difference in varieties of apples and in the season as to whether 

 the blossoms or the leaves push out first. The white, downy leaves at first 

 have two narrow stipules at the base of their petioles. They are soft, 

 whitish and fuzzy, as are also the flower stem and the calyx, which holds 

 fast in its slender, pointed lobes the globular flower bud. We speak of the 

 lobes of the calyx because they are joined at the base, and are not entirely 

 separate as are sepals. The basal part of the calyx is cup-shaped, and upon 

 its rim are set the large, oval petals, each narrowing to a slender stem at its 

 base. The petals are set between the sepals or lobes of the calyx, the latter 

 appearing as a beautiful, pale green, five-pointed star at the bottom of the 

 flower. The petals are pink on the outside and white on the inside, and are 

 veined from base to edge like a leaf ; they are crumpled more than are the 

 cherry petals. 



The many pale, greenish white stamens of different lengths and heights 

 stand up like a column at the center of the flower. They are tipped with 

 pale yellow anthers, and are attached to the rim of the calyx-cup. They 

 are really attached in ten different groups but this is not easy to see. 



The five pale green styles are very silky and downy and are tipped with 

 green stigmas. The pistils all unite at their bases making a five-lobed, 

 compound ovary. The upper part of this ovary may be seen above the 

 calyx-cup, but the lower portion is grown fast to it and is hidden within it. 

 The calyx-cup is what develops into the pulp of the apple, and each of these 



