FRUIT GROWING 61 



should be picked by hand and placed in baskets by the 

 pickers. Apples should be kept in a cool, well ventilated 

 place until freezing weather before storing in the winter 

 cellar. Winter apples will keep much longer and in bet- 

 ter condition if each fruit is wrapped in thin paper of 

 some sort. Apples for the market are carefully graded 

 and packed in attractive packages, either in barrels or 

 bushel boxes, and shipped to all parts of the country 

 and to foreign lands. 



Practical Exercises 

 1. Types of Fruit 



1. Let each pupil take an apple and a pear and ob- 

 serve the blossom end, opposite the stem. Here is a 

 depression called the basin. This was the base of the 

 apple and pear blossom. Compare with the blossom 

 end of the peach or plum. Explain the difference. 



2. Let each pupil cut the fruits through the center 

 in a plane perpendicular to the main stem. Examine 

 the core, the cells and the seeds. How many cells are 

 there? How are they arranged? Observe the parch- 

 ment-like walls of the cells. How many seeds in each 

 cell? Make a drawing of the cross section of the pear 

 or apple. 



3. Compare the structure of the plum or peach pits 

 with the apple seeds. Note the hard shell-like covering 

 of the pits. Crack the shell and observe the seed. In 

 this meaty portion lies the embyro, which will grow into 

 a new plant under proper conditions of air, heat, and 

 moisture. Draw cross section of the peach. 



