THE FRUIT 67 



cone-shaped the broad upper part is called the limb; the narrow 

 lower part, the cylinder. In varieties in which the remnants of 

 the styles are fleshy, as in the Gano apple, they form a point 

 called the pistil-point which projects into the calyx-tube. The 

 calyx-tube in some varieties of pomes is long, in others short; in 

 some sorts wide, in others, narrow (Fig. 37). 



Hogg, an eminent British pomologist, about 1860 based a 

 system of classification of apples on the characters of the sta- 

 mens, calyx-tube, carpels, and sepals. This system is now no- 

 where in general use, as the characters of these structures are 

 not plainly seen, not as constant, and not as easily described as 

 the external characters and those of flesh and flavor in most 

 varieties of apples. 



101. Date of ripening and season. — All classifications of 

 pome-fruits take into account ripening dates and the season 

 when ready to eat out of hand. A fruit is truly ripe only 

 when its seeds are mature, but many if not most pome-fruits 

 are picked when more or less green that they may carry to 

 market in suitable condition. The usual rule is to pick pomes 

 when the stem parts readily from twig or branch. Pomologists 

 very generally put this as the ripening date. A fruit is in sea- 

 son when it is ready to serve as dessert or to be used in culinary 

 preparations. The criteria are color, taste, aroma, and mellow- 

 ness of flesh. Season is exceedingly variable and depends on 

 the condition in which the fruit has been picked and whether 

 kept in common- or cold-storage. Apples and pears are classed 

 as summer, fall, and winter varieties and under these headings 

 form important divisions in all classifications of these fruits. 

 Both ripening dates and season vary greatly in accordance with 

 climate, soil, care, and age of tree. 



The Drupe 



A drupe is a single ripened carpel containing one or rarely 

 two seeds. The walls of the ripened ovary in this and other 

 fruits are called the pericarp (Fig. 38). In the pericarp of a 

 drupe there are three layers; the thin skin, called the exocarp 

 or epicarp; the thick soft succulent middle layer, the mesocarp; 

 and a hard bony layer, the endocarp, pit, or stone. The seed, 



