CHARACTERS OF FRUITS. 357 



sider this kind of marking a reliable character, and apply 

 it as an element of our classification. We sometimes find 

 lines on self-colored fruits that are as distinctive as the 

 stripes, but entirely distinct from them. 



The skin itself may be either thick or thin, smooth 

 rough, or polished, and it is sometimes uneven / it may be 

 covered with a bloom, it may be russeted in whole or in 

 part, and this may be thickly or thinly spread over the 

 surface, or only net-veined. A sort of russeting occurs 

 about the stem only in some varieties, and. is never seen 

 in others, making a pretty good character, but in the same 

 variety it is often much increased or diminished. 



This character, russet on the skin, has been very puzzling 

 to young pomologists in the study of pears, owing to its lia- 

 bility to exaggeration in some varieties, under the influ- 

 ence of certain climatic conditions that have even pro- 

 duced it in varieties in which it had not been previously 

 suspected. Some pears are characterized by this russet- 

 ing of the skin, either generally spread over the surface 

 or confined to a limited area at either end of the fruit, 

 particularly about the insertion of the stem ; others have 

 never shown any disposition to put on this character, but, 

 under certain circumstances some varieties, which should 

 have been smooth and fair, become thickly spread with 

 this russeting, that seems even to thicken the skin and 

 which deteriorates the qualities of the fruit. In some 

 cases this appearance is local, occupying one end of the 

 fruit, or making a band around the middle and contract- 

 ing it like a cincture, as though its presence prevented the 

 proper growth and development of the sarcocarp or fleshy- 

 mass of the fruit. 



