318 



THE APPLE CULTURI8T. 



Fig. 129. 

 Apex, crown, or blossom end. 



Base or stem end of an a 



Fig. 130. 



white. (See Blossoms.) There are at the present day over three thousand vari- 

 eties of apples, and new varieties are being added to the list every year. The 

 timber of the apple-tree is very firm and heavy, and excellent for making planes 

 and handles for tools ; but it is not durable when exposed to the influences of 



wet and dry weather. Botanically speaking, 

 the fruit of the apple-tree is the seeds of the 

 apple. The names by which the principal 

 parts of an apple are designated may be 

 readily understood by the annexed diagram 

 of a part of an apple, in which A represents 

 the axis of an apple by a dotted line extend- 

 ing from the calyx, K, to the stem, O. B rep- 

 resents the basin of the apple. (See Basin.) 

 C shows the cavity of the fruit. (See Cavity.) 

 K designates the calyx ; F represents the ed- 

 ible portion of the apple, the flesh or pulp, 

 and sometimes improperly called the sarco- 

 carp, which.is only applicable to stone fruit. 

 (See Sarcocarp.) H shows the location of the 

 core, which embraces the seeds, S, and the 

 hulls, E, which separate the carpels, or cav- 

 ities, in which the apple-seeds are formed 

 the hulls, or membranaceous valves, which are tough, elastic shells, forming the 

 inside walls of the carpels. The number of seeds varies from one or noiie at all 

 to every intermediate number between one and twenty. 

 Some apples may have produced even a larger num- 

 ber than twenty seeds. A great many good apples 

 have only a small core, and not a single perfect seed. 

 The number of carpels, E, in an apple is five, which are 

 all arranged around the axis of the apple. All apple- 

 seeds are tunicated, or covered with an endocarp a num- 

 ber of concentric coats, which are sometimes so imper- 

 vious to water that seeds will lie in the damp ground a 

 year or more before a suflicient amount of moisture can 

 find its way to the germ to promote germination. The 

 diagram herewith given represents a transverse section 

 of an apple, showing the number of carpels, the seeds, 

 and the core. It may be perceived, by a glance at this section, that when an ap- 

 ple is cut in transverse slices there will appear a perfect representation of the 

 five petals of the apple-blossom. The five dark-colored spots represent the car- 

 pels. The black dot is the axis. The illustrations herewith given will enable 

 any intelligent person to describe any apple in an intelligible manner, by simply 

 comparing a specimen with the diagrams. When the 

 length and breadth of an apple are about equal, we 

 say it is round, or roundish, like Fig. 131. If the 

 width is greater than the length from stem to calyx, 

 the apple is of an oblate form, like Fig. 132, on the op- 

 posite page. Conical is employed to describe an ap- 

 ple that is tapering from the base towards the apex, 

 but which is not longer than the width, like Fiff. 133. 

 When the width is less than the length, like Fig. 134, 

 the fruit is said to be oblong. Kaighn's Spitzenberg 

 is a variety of this form. The Rhode Island Green- 

 ing (p. 164) is described as oblate-conical, like Fig. 135. 

 Hibbed apples are represented by Fig. 136. Fruit of 

 Roundish. an ovate form is shown by Fig. 137. The terms red, 



A section of an apple. 



Ffc. 131. 



