324 The Principles of Fruit-growing. 



they are here reproduced, natural 

 size. A normal, uninjured flower 

 is shown in Fig. 55. Inside the 

 five white petals or leaves are seen 

 the numerous sprawling stamens 

 or so-called male organs, each one 

 bearing an enlargement or anther 

 on the end, inside which the 

 pollen is borne. In the center 

 of the flower is the head or 

 cluster of pistils or so-called fe- 

 male organs, each of which ripens into one of the 

 Httle grains which go to make up the blackberry. 



The frost killed these 

 organs, so that the 

 center of the flower- 

 bore only a small 

 black column of dead 

 pistils (see Fig. 56). 

 Now and then, one 

 or more of these 

 pistils in the head 

 escaped, and developed into a 

 fruit-grain, so that the berry 

 became a nubbin. Fig. 57 shows 

 the dead and aborted fruits at 

 picking time. At the top of the 

 picture are some fruits (N, N,) 

 in which one or two grains or 

 drupes are full grown, whilst the 



Fig. 57. Blackberry fruits 



ruined by frost rest of the berry failed to develop. 



