Development of a Cherry 



279 



JAPANESE APRICOT BLOSSOMS 



The conspicuous parts of the blossoms — petals and stamens — have no direct part in the formation 

 of the fruit that is eaten, the function of the stamens being to furnish pollen, and that of the 

 petals to advertise the existence of nectar, and attract bees who will distribute the pollen. 

 Photograph bv Fairchild. (Fig. 8.) 



the most important ones. By the 

 time the seed is fully mature and 

 capable of gernimation when placed in 

 a suitable environment, the ovary sur- 

 rounding it has become the bulky 

 structure which we know as the cherry. 

 Presumably the advantage to the 

 tree in thus surrounding its hard seed 

 with a succulent mass of flesh is that 

 birds are led to eat it, and thus carry it 

 to considerable distances. The seed 



coat is hard enough so that it passes 

 through the intestinal tract of the bird 

 without damage, and is finally excreted 

 to lodge in some new locality and take 

 root. The devices which Nature has 

 developed for seed dispersal are varied, 

 and some of them are, to man, of a 

 disagreeable character. It is, to say 

 the least, fortunate that some of them 

 on the other hand are of such an agree- 

 able character as our edible fruits. 



Mendelism in Melons 



Mendelian inheritance in melons has been worked out to some extent at the 

 New Hampshire agricultural experiment station, through crosses of muskmelons 

 with canteloupes. In the hybrid generation blending was found to be the rule, 

 but the following generation revealed the segregation of six pairs of contrasted 

 characters, or allelomorphs. Advantage can be taken of these results in scientific 

 breeding of melons. 



