10 0( 



191'; 



Apple Culture in Victoria. 



587 



we better understand the botanical construction of tie apple flower and 

 tbe essential functional operation of its sexual organs iu order that an 

 apple may develop, it would seem that the phenomenon necessary to 

 bring about tlie change, is probably outside the realm of possibility. 

 Nevertheless, as we know not what treasures Nature has in store for 

 us, it is inadvisable to make a dogmatic statement in this regard. 



It is not generally known that an :i])plc may come to maturity when 

 its ovules are fertilized, but will witlier up as the finiit commences to 

 develop. Such fruits, however, when they appear, are usually pro- 

 duced from late blossoms, and are rather more elongated in shape than 

 seasonable specimens of the same variety, which invariably contain 

 their pips. 



Plate 139 illustrates two apples of the Shoreland Queen variety. 

 Fig. 1 was cut vertically through the centre of tbe ovary to shovi' its 

 condition and the little withered ovules in its lowest extremity. Com- 

 pare the shape of this apple with the typical one of the same variety 





^:.^ 



a b ^ c d 



Plate liO. — Various features of apple tree blossoms and fruits. 



in plajte 131, Fig. 1. Fig. 2 sbows transverse sections of another apple 

 picked from the same tree giving this aspect of the ovary. These 

 apiples were produced from late blooms. They were picked and photo- 

 graphed on 24th May, 1917, wien tliey were fully matured, but tad 

 not reached the ripe stage. 



So far, the pips have been dispensed with, but the ovaries are some- 

 what larger than those found in normal specimens. The membraneous 

 substance which constitutes their ovary walls is also thicker and tougher 

 than that of apples which ripen in season. Then comes, what might 

 appear to the less observant horticulturist, the possibility of rendering 

 the core in the apple non-existent, by reducing the number of pistil 

 divisions, and consequently the ovary chambers, to vanishing point. 

 Some varieties, the G-ravenstein in particular, often produce flowers 

 with ovaries below the normal size. Flowers with pistils made up of 



