204 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



the early spring. It is a small ovoid, pleas- 

 antly acid fruit, a trifle smaller than a guinea- 

 hen's egg. It shows the same tendency to 

 variation which has given origin to our nu- 

 merous varieties of strawberries and oranges, 

 but as yet this tendency has not been taken 

 advantage of for the establishment of distinct 

 sorts through bud propagation. 



The apricot stands nearly midway between 

 the peach and the plum, being, perhaps, a lit- 

 tle more like the former. It may be described 

 according to the same formula applied to 

 peaches ; and almost exactly the same range 

 of descriptive adjectives would be brought 

 into play. There are two or three different 

 species of trees which bear apricots, and the 

 varieties would naturally be classified first by 

 referring them to these parent species; or 

 the varieties could be arbitrarily classified, as 

 peaches sometimes are. 



The nectarine is the offspring of the peach, 

 and so closely related to it that peaches and 

 nectarines not infrequently grow on the same 

 tree (without being separately budded in). 

 In systematic pomology the nectarine is to be 

 treated exactly like the peach. 



Mulberries come from trees of several dif- 



