THE FEU IT 73 



and apex may have a prolonged Up; or they may be pointed, 

 hlunt, or miwronate. Or, rarely in peaches, plums, and apricots, 

 the stones are oblique, usually a mark sufficient to distinguish 

 the variety. Apricots are divided into two great groups as to 

 whether the dorsal suture is pervious or impervious. The two 

 surfaces of the stones are variously marked; they may be more 

 or less smooth, or they may be pitted or grooved, or the last two 

 characters may be combined. The stones vary in color from red 

 to brown and when red often tinge the adjoining flesh with 

 their color. 



A grand division of peaches is made in accordance with the 

 adhesion of the flesh to the stone. Peaches in which the flesh 

 clings to the stone are clingstones; those in which it is free, 

 freestones. These characters depend somewhat on environment 

 and season, however, and in some varieties it is always doubtful, 

 in which case the stone is said to be half-free. There are free- 

 stones and clingstones among plums and cherries also, but these 

 characters are not as marked as in the peach. In some peaches 

 the stone is usually cracked in ripe fruits, as in Belle of Georgia. 

 There are so-called seedless drupes, as Burbank's Miracle plum, 

 in which the stone is but a soft scale or shell, with or without a 

 kernel. 



A study of seeds would probably show that they vary greatly 

 in quality in all of the drupes as they do in apricots in which 

 fruit there are two great groups, one with sweet and the other 

 with bitter kernels. In some varieties many of the kernels are 

 abortive; in some sorts, many have two kernels in which case 

 they are donihle meated. 



112. Season. — As with the pomes, the time of ripening of 

 drupe-fruits is very important in classifying and of course is of 

 prime significance to the fruit-grower. Three terms, with vari- 

 ous modifiers, are used in giving the season of drupes ; these are 

 early ^ midseason, and late. 



Fruits of the Brambles 



The fruits of brambles are aggregations of drupelets. That 

 these drupelets have the same structure as a drupe is easily 

 seen if a comparison is made between a drupelet of a bramble 

 and a peach, plum, or cherry. Each of these fruits contains 



