28 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY., 



and saturated with juice. In the pear the core is not infre- 

 quently gritty — surrounded with hard granular cells. The core 

 is sessile when near the stem and distant when near the calyx. 

 The axis passing through the core from stem to eye may be 

 inclined or vertical, long or short. Wheti the walls of the core 

 extend quite to the axis the cells formed are said to be axile; 

 when the walls do not reach the axis, the cells are abaxile. 



Seeds and Pit. — The characters of seeds are often distinc- 

 tive and enable one to decide upon a variety when all other 

 attributes fail. In the pomes, color is a valuable marking and 

 while the seeds are always hrown, they may be -pale, or yellow- 

 ish, or greenish, dark and almost black. In the apple and pear 

 imperfect seeds may be a constant character. In pomes, berries, 

 and grapes, seeds may be feiu or numerous. Seeds of the pomes 

 are often loose and rattle when the fruits are shaken. In seeds 

 of all fruits form and size are worthy of note. Thus, they may 

 be long or short, round, angular, flat, plump, etc. ; in size they 

 are large, small or medium. In the drupes in addition to the 

 above qualities the pits may be smooth or furrowed, pointed or 

 blunt, pitted, grooved, or winged. The consistency of the shell, 

 hard or soft, is in some of the drupes a matter of importance. 

 Possibly the most valuable of all the characters connected with 

 the pit in the drupes is whether the flesh parts freely from the 

 stone or clings to it ; when the pit is free from the flesh a fruit 

 is a freestone; when the flesh clings, it is a clingstone, or a 

 semi-clingstone. 



Seeds of strawberries should always receive some attention 

 though they are relatively unimportant. They may be raised 

 or sunken, many or few, large or small, and of varying colors. 

 In some varieties they are clustered about the tip rather than 

 dotted evenly over the surface. The pomologist seldom takes 



