THE FRUIT. 193 
bushes or asparagus plants in such localities as the forks of 
large trees, sometimes at a height of twenty, thirty or more 
feet above the ground. 
Careful observation of the neighborhood of peach, plum, 
cherry, or apple trees at the season when the fruit is ripe and 
again during the following spring, and an examination into 
the distribution of wild apple or pear trees in pastures where 
they occur, will help the student who can make such observa- 
tions to answer the preceding questions. So, too, would an 
examination of the habits of fruit-eating quadrupeds and of 
the crop and gizzard of fruit-eating birds during the season 
when the fruits upon which they feed are ripe. _ 
231. The Stone-Fruit.— In 
the peach, apricot, plum, and 
cherry, the pericarp or wall of 
the ovary, during the process 
of ripening, becomes converted 
into two kinds of tissue, the 
outer portion pulpy and edible, 
the inner portion of almost 
stony hardness. In common 
language the hardened inner 
layer of the pericarp, enclos- 
ing the seed, is called the aretha aie es 
x stone,” Fig. 180, hence the Longitudinal section of fruit. 
name stone-fruits. 
232. The Pome. — The fruit of the apple, pear, and quince 
is called a pome. It consists of a several-celled ovary — the 
seeds and the tough membrane surrounding them in the 
‘core,’ — enclosed by a fleshy, eatable portion which makes 
up the main bulk of the fruit and is formed from the much 
thickened calyx, with sometimes an enlarged receptacle. 
233. The Pepo or Gourd-Fruit. — In the squash, pumpkin, 
melon, and cucumber, the ripened ovary together with the 
