VI 
WINTER 
i 93 
inside as in the gooseberry. Raspberries and 
blackberries are again slightly different, as in 
them each seed has a soft pulp round it, and 
the collection of these produces the fruit that is 
eaten. The fig is a very puzzling fruit till it 
is explained. Has it ever struck you that it is 
funny that although there may be a good crop 
of figs, the fig tree was apparently never 
covered with blossom like 
an apple, pear, or plum tree ? 
The reason is that the fig 
is really like a bag contain¬ 
ing flowers, which develop 
into seeds. If a green fig is 
cut open the inside is seen 
to be crowded with tiny, im¬ 
perfect flowers, some having 
a pistil only, others stamens, 
and when a fig is ripe 
enough to eat these flowers 
have died, and seeds en¬ 
closed in a soft pulp have taken their place. 
These are only a very few of the various forms 
in which seeds are arranged; to describe col¬ 
lections of seeds like cones of a fir tree, or 
winged seeds like the “keys” on an ash, or 
spikes of grain like an ear of wheat, would 
take many pages, and does not much concern 
practical gardening. Before we leave the 
