ECONOMIC OR USEFUL PLANTS 407 



(from the Latin word pomum, a fruit or apple). They are all 

 remarkable for the beautiful flowers in early spring as well as 

 for the fruit (see paragraph 328 for structure of the fruit). 

 Apples were derived from wild species of Pirus, occurring in 

 Europe and southwestern Asia, by improvement in cultivation. 

 From one of these species came the many varieties of our com- 

 mon apples, and from the other came the varieties of crab apples. 

 North America now leads the world in the production of apples. 

 It is our most valuable fruit because of the great number of 

 varieties ripening from June to October, with a great variety in 

 flavor and keeping qualities, some varieties keeping nearly a year 

 after maturity, when properly stored. They are now more 

 extensively used than any other fruit both in the fresh condition 

 and as evaporated fruits, though formerly they were chiefly 

 prized for the making of cider and vinegar. Apples are generally 

 grown over the country, but the most favorable regions are the 

 States east and southeast of Lake Michigan as far as Nova 

 Scotia and Virginia, the region about Arkansas, and the foothills 

 of the Pacific coast. Pears are also chiefly derived from a native 

 European species of Pirus. The trees are not so hardy as the 

 apple tree, the flowers, twigs, and branches being more subject to 

 blight, a bacterial disease, which kills and blackens the affected 

 parts, though the apple tree is sometimes seriously affected. In 

 some sections of the country, especially in the Middle West, the 

 disease is more serious than in others, and successful pear culture 

 is more limited than that of apples. Quinces are chiefly used as 

 preserves and to flavor other fruits, as the flavor is too rich and 

 strong for relish when eaten raw. They are extensively grown in 

 western New York, and are subject to a serious disease, the leaf 

 and fruit spot (F^iomosporium maculatum). 



576. The plum family (Drupaceae) .These include the 

 drupes or stone fruits (paragraph 323). The principal "stone 

 fruits " cultivated in this country are peaches, plums, apricots 

 and cherries. Peaches have been cultivated from time immemo- 

 rial in China where they were native, but they came to New 

 York by way of Persia. The species name (Prunus persica) 



