FORMS OF THE APPLE. 59 



the Early Strawberry. Diverging^ as in the Domine, or RIbston 

 Pippin. Spreading, as in Rhode Island Greening, Drooping, when 

 they fall below the horizontal, M'hich many spreadino^ trees do, as 

 they grow into the larger branches of older trees. Ascending, when 

 they curve upwards, as in Gravenstein. Irregular, as in black Gilli 

 flower. Straggling^ similar to preceding, but more slender and 

 curved, as in Jonathan. Straight, as in Northern Spy, Stout, as 

 in Red Astrachan. 



" The color of the shoots varies greatly in the same variety at dif- 

 ferent periods of the year, as well as with different degrees of expo- 

 sure to the sun, and with a change of soil, climate, and season. 

 When fresh, or very young, all have a greenish color, but gradually 

 assume various shades of yellow, olive, brown, red, purple, and 

 nearly black, as the season advances, and as they become bare, and 

 are exposed to the sun and weather. For this reason, in describing 

 the color, the terms must be relative, and can only be correctly ap- 

 plied by a comparison, at the time, with the color of other sorts. 

 During Winter, and early in the Spring, the shoots of most trees be- 

 come so much darker than at other times, that it is only practice and 

 by placing the different sorts side by side, that accuracy may be ob- 

 tained. Skillful culturists w^ill readily distinguish, by a glance at the 

 color of shoots, many of the kinds they cultivate ; but the peculiar 

 cast is hard to describe in words, in the same way that it is impos- 

 sible to describe the hand-writing of an individual, so as to be known 

 from fifty others, although many can, at a glance, know the penman- 

 ship of hundreds of different persons. A few of the most strongly 

 marked cases, however, present peculiarities of color which form use- 

 ful points of distinction. No one, for instance, could easily mistake 

 the yellow shoots of the Bartlett and Dix pears, for the dark brown, 

 or purple, of the Tyson and Forelle ; or the light greenish cast of 

 the Bough and Sine Qua Non apples, for the dark color of the 

 Northern Spy, or dark brown of the Baldwin ; nor the downy or 

 grayish appearance of the Ladies Sweeting and Esopus Spitzenburg, 

 for the clear, shining brown of the Gravenstein and Red Astra- 

 chan." 



The color of the leaves may sometimes assist in description, as light 

 green in the Yellow Bell-flower and Rarabo ; deep green, as in the 

 Rhode Island Greening; bluish green, as in Peck's Pleasant. 



Forms of the Apple. — In these we follow the general understand- 

 ing of terms by most horticulturists, and represented by Barry, from 

 whom we extract : 



Round or Roundish (fig. 29), when the outline is round, or nearly 

 so, the length being about equal to the breadth. 



Flat (fig. 30), when the ends are compressed, and the width con- 

 •iiderably greater than the length. 



