DRY FRUITS 69 



3. Name six of the most watery fruits that grow in your neighborhood. 



4. Under what conditions as to soil, heat, moisture, etc., does each 

 thrive best? 



5. Would a gardener act wisely to infer that because a fruit contains 

 a great deal of water it should be planted in a very wet place? 



6. Which contains most water, the fruit or the leaves of the apple? 



7. Why does the fruit not wither when separated from the tree, as 

 the leaves do? (76.) 



DRY FRUITS 



MATERIAL. Acorn or other nut ; a cotton boll or a pea or bean 

 pod ; various small, seedlike fruits, such as the so-called seeds of the 

 sunflower, carrot, parsley, clematis, grains of corn, etc. 



81. Importance of Dry Fruits. Dry fruits are not in 

 general so conspicuous or attractive as fleshy ones, but on 

 account of their greater number and variety they offer a 

 wide field for study. And when we consider that the 

 grains which furnish our breadstuffs, and the beans and 

 nuts that form so large a part of our food all belong to 

 this class we realize that they have an even greater claim 

 upon our attention than the most brilliant products of the 

 garden. 



82. Different Kinds of Dry Fruits. Compare an acorn, 

 a chestnut, or a hazelnut with a ripe cotton boll or a bean 

 pod. Try to open each with your fingers ; what difference 

 do you perceive ? 



This difference gives rise to the distinction of dry fruits 

 into 



83. Dehiscent : those that open at maturity in a regular 

 way for the discharge of their seed ; and 



84. Indehiscent : those that remain closed until the dry 

 carpels are worn away by decay, or burst by the germina- 

 tion of the contained seed. 



85. Why Some Fruits Dehisce. Open each of your 

 specimens ; how many seeds, or kernels, does the indehis- 

 cent one contain ? The dehiscent one ? Can you explain 



