32 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY. 



Stem. — This is sometimes a constant mark, but is often variable. 

 When reaching to tlie general curvature of tlie fruit it is medium; 

 when Ijolow this outline, short; wlien extending out be)'ond, long. 

 It may Ijc stout or slender; straight or curved, rarely fleslij- or knobbed. 

 The color is usually green or brown, alone or in combination, some- 

 times yellow and somewhat red; as means of identification the color 

 of the stem is not reliable. 



Cavity. — This is the depression in which the stem i,s inserted, and 

 may be wide, deep, shallow, regular, irregular, wavy, uneven, or folded. 

 In a few varieties the cavitj^ is nearly or cjuite filled up, and is then 

 termed flat. It is obtuse when blunt or rounded at bottom ; acute when 

 ending in a sharp point; acuminate or funnel-shaped, vrhen terminat- 

 ing in a long-drawn-out taper, wliich usually crowds closely the 

 lower ])art of the stem; the stem is then sometimes termed deeply 

 inserted. 



When lipped, part of the flesh crowds up against the stem as in 

 Roman Stem, Swaar, and Pryor Red. The color may be green or 

 russeted. Wlien the russet extends out in ray-like lines it is termed 

 stellate or radiating russet. 



Basin. — This is the depression at the apex, crown, or "blossom- 

 end." It should be carefully distinguished from the base, which 

 means tlie stem-end, carrying out the thought that the foundation or 

 source of the fruit is at the stem. Descriptions generally should read 

 from the stem outward from base to apex. The basin may be flat, 

 very shallow, shallow, medium or deeper, narrow or wide; abrupt when 

 the slope is steep; smooth, regular, or even when not furrowed, and so 

 regular and symmetrical that tlie form could be turned in a lathe; 

 eup-shapcd when the slope is nearly perpendicular; angular, with 

 several corners; ivnvij, with gentle and irregular undulations; fur- 

 rowed, with more regular undulations; wrinkled, with small irregular 

 undulations; corrugated, with larger irregular ridges; plaited, with small, 

 straight, regular ridges; ribbed, with larger obtuse or rounded ridges: 

 the bottom may have small isolated prominences. The rim of the 

 basin may be sharp or rounded liroatUy, or may be smootli or ribbed. 

 Core. — When an apple is cut in halves crosswise the core is seen 

 in the centre, consisting normally of five cells of tough parchment-like 

 texture containing the seeds and surrounded by flesh. Oiitside of this 

 is the core-outline or boundary, consisting of ten fibro-vascular bun- 

 dles, which, carrying the nutriment, emerge from the stem and branch 



