20 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



peach, hardy only in Florida (which might 

 not be true) ; of the Spitzenberg apple, much 

 subject to canker ; of Milton plum, severely at- 

 tacked by pockets ; of Martha grape, subject to 

 mildew, etc. 



Vigor of growth should be recorded here. 

 Some trees are strong growing, some weak 

 growing. 



The color of the bark, or the color of the 

 young wood, is often characteristic, and such 

 peculiarities should be included in this part 

 of the description. 



The foliage as a whole should be described. 

 It is of value to know whether it is abundant, 

 sparse, healthy, dark green, or some other 

 color, subject to disease, or marked by other 

 characteristics. 



The individual leaf requires more critical 

 attention in certain cases. Among ordinary 

 varieties of apples and pears leaf distinctions 

 are seldom of enough importance to be worth 

 record ; but in certain groups of plums, and 

 in some peaches, the leaf characters are 

 strongly differentiated. There are a great 

 many different technical terms used in de- 

 scribing leaf characters, but these have been 

 so often repeated in the text-books of botany 



