262 TERMS USED IX DESCRIBING FRUITS. 



in size at all periods, as the Northern Spy ; while others of 

 feeble growth when small, never attain much magnitude, as 

 the Early Joe and Sine Qua Non. 



2. The color of the shoots varies greatly in the same variety 

 at different periods of the year, as well as with different de- 

 grees of exposure to the sun, and with a change of soil, cli- 

 mate, and season. When fresh or very young, all have a 

 greenish color, but gradually assume various shades of yel- 

 low, 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 applied by 

 a comparison at the time with the color of other sorts. Dur- 

 ing winter, and early in the spring, the shoots of most trees 

 become so much darker than at other times, that it is only 

 by practice and by placing the different sorts side by side, that 

 accuracy may be attained. Skilful culturists will readily dis- 

 tinguish, by a glance at the color of the shoots, many of the 

 kinds they cultivate ; but the peculiar cast is hard to describe 

 in words, in the same way that it is impossible to describe the 

 handwriting of an individual, so as to be known from fifty 

 others, although many can, at a glance, know the penmanship 

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

 marked cases, however, present peculiarities of color, which 

 form useful 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 Spitzenburgh, for the clear shining 

 brown of the Gravenstein and Red Astrachan. Nearly all 

 shoots are more or less downy at first, but the down disap- 

 pears as they grow older. Hence the term must be used 

 relatively. In plums, the smooth or downy shoots afford in 

 most cases good distinctive points. 



3. The Buds sometimes afford distinct characteristics. As 

 examples, the large, compact, and projecting buds of the 

 Summer Bonchretien always contrast strongly with the 

 smaller, more rounded, and softer buds of the Madeleine. 



