No. 574] 



VARIATION IN THE APPLE 



621 



The elongation of the fruit is usually accompanied by 

 a constriction of the apex resulting in a conical form. 

 This may be due to the greater development of the basal 

 portion, which is adjacent to the point where the sap 

 enters the fruit and may therefore be better supplied, 

 though the physiology of fruit development is in need of 

 further study. In the Grimes, however, an oblong form 

 results. The Mcintosh, as grown at Pullman, is often 

 decidedly obovate, a variation which the writer ascribes 

 to the same influences that produce the elongated conic 

 form of the Ben Davis and other varieties, though in this 

 . variety the response is somewhat different. The Rhode 

 Island Greening, Willow and Wagener, as a rule, fail to 

 assume an elongated form in localities where it is well 

 marked in some other varieties. Also in certain varie- 

 ties which are naturally conic in form and considerably 

 elongated, as Delicious and Yellow Bellflower, this effect 

 is not evident. The larger number of varieties, when 

 grown in this state, have a more ribbed form than the 

 same varieties in the east. This seems to be due to a lack 

 of balance in adaptation, though the particular factor 

 which gives rise to the variation has not been determined. 

 Some varieties, like the York Imperial and the Yellow 

 Newtown, are compressed in form, that is elliptical in 



environments. These characters seem to be in some way 

 related to the better development of the fruit, as they are 

 less evident in fruit from the elevated and unfavorable 

 sections of the state. Beach has noted in the " Apples of 

 New York" a similar difference between the Newtowns 

 of western New York and those of the Hudson Valley, the 

 latter having a more oblique axis and elliptical form. 



Stem. — The stem is one of the most variable structures 

 of the apple, and, owing to the fact that stems of different 

 lengths, diameters and shapes are commonly found in 

 any lot of apples grown under practically uniform con- 

 ditions, it is difficult to associate such variations with the 

 environment. The writer has noted, however, in the case 

 of some short-stemmed varieties, like the York Imperial, 



