270 PRACTICAL COURSE IN BOTANY 
the relation between the color and size of fruits and their grouping. What 
advantage is it for sumac and bird haws to be gathered in large clusters ? 
2. Compare wild with cultivated fruits and notice in what respects man 
has altered the latter for his own benefit. Note, for instance, the differ- 
ence between cultivated apples and the wild crab, between the cultivated 
grains and wild grasses. Observe the great number of varieties of each 
kind in cultivation and try to account for it. 
3. Notice the situations in which different kinds of fruits grow, whether 
hot, dry, moist, windy, or sheltered, and how they are affected by their 
surroundings. For example, account for the difference between black- 
berries growing on a dry hillside, and those in moist land along the borders 
of astream. Give the conclusions drawn from your observations in each 
case. 
4. Notice what animals feed upon the different kinds, and whether their 
visits are harmful or beneficial. Consider in what respects the interests 
of the plant itself, the interests of man, and the interests of other animals 
may clash or coincide. Examine the vegetation along the hedgerows and 
borders of fields and old fences. Notice the kind of plants that compose 
it — sumac, sassafras, cedars, cat brier, etc. The list will be slightly 
different for different localities, but this will not alter the general conclu- 
sion. What kinds of fruits and seeds do these shrubs produce? What 
kinds of living creatures frequent hedgerows and feed upon the seeds of 
such plants? Do you see any relation between these facts and one of the 
modes of seed dispersal ? 
5. Classify all the fruits you have collected during your walk, under their 
proper heads, as fleshy or dry, dehiscent or indehiscent, simple, accessory, 
aggregate, collective. Be careful to distinguish between compact clusters, 
like the heads of clematis or buttonwood, and truly compound fruits. 
