GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF POMOL OGY. 317 



CHAPTER X. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF POMOLOGY. 



Tall branches stand waving their plumes to the sky, 

 To kiss the fleet summer clouds as they pass by ; 

 And frequent they shower a roseate wreath 

 On innocent children while playing beneath. EDWARDS. 



AN abbreviated Pomological GLOSSARY is here present- 

 ed, embracing such words and phrases as are employed in 

 describing the apple, and in the propagation and manage- 

 ment of apple-trees : 



Acuminate, ending in a produced tapering point, having it curved towards one 

 edge of the leaf. (See Leaf.) 



Albumen, nutritive organic matter, of great value as an article of food, and also 

 a valuable ingredient in manures. The white of eggs is almost pure albumen. 

 It constitutes the chief bulk of wheat, rye, and other monocotyledonous seeds. 



Alburnum, the sap-wood of any tree, or the white portion between the inner bark 

 and the duramen, or heart-wood. Also the soft, semi-fluid substance the cambi- 

 um between the liber, or inner bark, and the concentric circle of wood that was 

 formed the preceding year, after it has solidified. 



Analogue, an organ or body resembling another organ of body, substituted for 

 or equivalent to it. 



Analysis, comparing the various parts of a plant, tree, etc., with written de- 

 scriptions of a given specimen. 



Annual, living or enduring but one year. 



Annular, in the form of a ring. 



Anther, that part of the stamen of a flower or apple-blossom which contains the 

 pollen. (See Stamen.) 



Apetalous, destitute of petals ; not having a corolla. 



Apex, the crown, summit, or upper end, as the flower-end of an apple. 



Apple. The scientific name of the common apple, including all known varieties, 

 is Pyrus malus. The pear belongs to the same genus as the apple, but is of a differ- 

 ent species. Hence the pear is denominated Pyrus communis. Mrs. Lincoln, in her 

 "Botany," says the name of the apple. is Malus communis, which is only one of 

 the mistakes of a great woman. The following is a brief botanical description of 

 the apple-tree: Stem, in open ground, ten to thirty feet high ; in thickets, forty 

 to sixty feet high ; branches rigid, crooked, and spreading ; bark blackish and 

 rough ; leaves two to four inches long, and two-thirds as wide as the length ; 

 ovate, or oblong-ovate, serrate, acute, or short-acuminate, pubescent above, 

 tomentose beneath, petiolate ; corymbs sub-umbellate ; pedicels and calyx villose- 

 tomentose ; pome (fruit) globose ; petioles one-half or one inch long ; flowers ex- 

 panding with the leaves, large, fragrant, and, when in full bloom, often clothing 

 the tree in a light, roseate hue. The blossoms of some trees, however, are nearly 



