FRUITS AND THEIR USES 



63 



Cross section of a cucumber, a 

 pepo. Note the number of 

 locules or spaces in the ovary. 

 How and where are the seeds 

 attached ? 



Garden Fruits. Green plants and especially vegetables have 



come to play an important part in the dietary of man. The dis- 

 eases known as scurvy and beri-beri, 



the latter the curse of the far Eastern 



navies, have been largely prevented by 



adding vegetables and fruit juices to 



the dietar} r of the sailors. People in 



this country are beginning to find that 



more vegetables and less meat are 



better than the meat diet so often used. 



Market gardening forms the lucrative 



business of many thousands of people 



near our great cities. Some of the 



most important fleshy fruits squash, 



cucumbers, pumpkins, and melons 



are examples of the pepo type of fruit ; tomatoes and peppers are 



types of berries in botanical language (for a berry is any soft 



( or juicy fruit containing small seeds). 



The berries strawberries, raspberries, 

 and blackberries of our gardens bring 

 in an annual income of $2o,000,000 to 

 our fruit raisers. Beans and peas are 

 important as foods because of their 

 relatively large amount of proteid. 

 Peanuts, rather curiously, are true leg- 

 umes, like peas and beans, but develop 

 underground. Canning green corn, 

 peas, beans, and tomatoes has become an 

 important business. 



Orchard and Other 

 Fruits. In the United 



Cross section of a green pepper, 

 a berry. How many locules 

 has the ovary? Note the 

 arrangement of the seeds. 



States over one hundred and seventy-five million 



bushels of apples are grown every year. Pears, 



plums, apricots, peaches, and nectarines also form 



large orchards, especially in California. Nuts The blackberry, 



form one of our important articles of food, largely 



* J 



a 



fruit made " p . of 



, many separate npe 



because of the large amount of proteid contained carpels. 

 in them. 



