342 Appendix. 



yielding perhaps to a strong wind which did not affect the solid one. But it 

 may not be known that when the sap goes down the tree, carrying food to all 

 lower parts, and especially to the young roots, that it is along the inner bark 

 that most of it passes. To speak scientifically, it is mainly down and througn 

 the "sieve-cells" it descends, and these lie just outside the "cambium layer." 

 or that layer which yearly adds to the growth of wood on one side and bark 

 on the other. How important is it then that this easily separable bark be 

 not injured in the spring by careless handling of horses, plow, or cultivator, to 

 say nothing of the entrance to spores of fungi this broken bark allows. I would 

 as soon have my workman break down the tree entirely, and thus allow me to 

 replant at once, as to skin the whole side by careless driving, and thus weaken 

 its circulation forever. 



I shall not touch upon high or low heading of trees, as this is a question 

 that depends entirely upon locality, climate, and winds, but there is one 

 important thing as respects branches that should not be omitted. If the young 

 stem of a fruit tree be examined, it will be found that in nearly all belonging 

 to our north temperate zone the branches are arranged in what the botanist 

 calls the "two-fifths .cycle." or that you will pass twice around the stem to 

 reach the fifth branch from which you started. In other words, if the limh 

 is straight, you will find every sixth limb just above the one from which you 

 begin to count. The places where these leaves or branches occur are called 

 the "nodes," the intervals between them the "internodes." Now it will ap- 

 pear to the inexperienced grower that these scattered branches are just about 

 far enough apart, ordinarily from two to three inches, and he will proceed 

 to trim off all the unnecessary limbs below, and leave the three to six he deems 

 sufficient just at the top. You have but to wait till your tree be fully 

 grown to find out your mistake. These limbs, possibly six inches in diameter, 

 are now crowded close together, and some of the top ones have formed that 

 miserable and to-be-avoided "crotch," two limbs of the same size appearing 

 to come out from exactly opposite sides of the stem, and which are almost 

 sure to split down under tlie stress of some severe storm. In selecting your 

 limbs select the best, not necessarily the highest, but with generous intervals 

 between them. Such limbs will never form crotches. 



The Floircr and Fruit. — And now in conclusion a few words as to the fruit, 

 which of course includes a consideration of the flower. In considering the 

 flower, it is hardly necessary to tell any one that it is usually composed of four 

 sets of organs, the outside the calyx, the next the corolla, then the Stamens., 

 and in the center pistil or pistils. Nor is it necessary to state that the pollen 

 from the stamens falls upon the summits of the pistils, or stigmas, there grows, 

 sends a tube down the style, and fertilizes the ovules or young seeds. It may 

 not however be known that in the majority of cases flowers abhor "self- 

 fertilization," or fertilization of the ovule by the pollen of its own flower, and 

 adopt every imaginable device to prevent tliis. The two main instruments 

 effecting cross-fertilization are wind and insects. Flowers fertilized by the 

 wind are for the most part inconspicuous, the calyx and corolla being reduced 

 to a minimum or entirely lacking, while the flower has no nectaries, nor does 

 it give forth fine perfumes. Of this class I may instance grasses, pines, oaks, 

 sedges, while a host of others might be mentioned. Such plants are called' 

 "Anemophilous." which means "Wind-fertilizable." The great majority of our 

 flowers, especially those of our fruits, depend upon insect or even bird visitation 

 to bring jibout cross-fertilization. Though such plans may often be rendered 

 fertile when pollinated with their own pollen, Darwin and many since his time 

 have shown that such self-fertilized plants rarely have the vigor of stem, pro- 

 ductiveness of seed, or lusciousness of fruit which is present when they are cross- 

 fertilized. It has also been proved that the pollen from certain varieties of fruit. 

 Ijarticularly in i)ears. apples, and .strawberries, is much more powerful than ia 

 others, and it has now become one of the great problems for the horticulturist to 

 find out what variety of fruit will best pollinate another of like kind. Such. 



