ng weeks some of the most interesting transformations take
place, and on the exact observance of them depends to a large extent
one's success in the rearing and saving of a good crop of apples.

Here is the flower of the apple-tree (Fig. 3). It is a comely
blossom, fragrant and pinky white, flatly spread to the sky, carrying
the spirit of the cool of the spring. What concerns us now, however,
is the cluster of stamens and pistils in the center, for these organs
are directly concerned in the production of the fruit. The petals soon
fall, but the remains of these interior organs persist, even unto the
ripening of the fruit.

The anther is attached at the back of its base or middle to the top of
the filament in the suture separating the two large cells. These
anther-cells split along the outer margins, releasing the
pollen-grains.

[Illustration: 4. Longitudinal section of the flower.]

In the center of the ring of stamens are the five style-branches,
which are united at the base into a short hairy column; the column is
borne on the ovary, which is sunken deep into the receptacle or stem
(Fig. 4). It is down these style-branches that the pollen-tube passes
on its way to the ovules or embryo seeds. The top of the style is
expanded into a cupped stigma on which are many glutinous points. One
can observe the browning and ripening of the stigma after pollen has
been deposited by wind, bees or other agencies. When the ovules are
fertilized, the forming fruit enlarges regularly unless it meets with
misfortune or is crowded out for lack of room and nourishment.

If one cuts across the ovary or embryo fruit below the recurving
sepals, one will see under a lens that it is neatly five-celled (Fig.
5). In each cell are two ovules; these, if all goes well, will ripen
into ten seeds. These five cells comprise most of the diameter in the
cross-section: but as the ovary enlarges and the young fruit grows,
one may see that the inner part comprising the cells begins to have a
character of its own and to be differentiated from the surrounding
flesh.

[Illustration: 5. Cross-section of the ovary.]

The "blossom" falls. In reality only the petals fall. What is left is
well shown in Fig. 6. Here remain the upstanding stamens with the
empty anthers, and in the center one could see the five styles if the
specimen were in hand. Here also are the calyx-lobes, widely spreading
and even recurved. The photograph for Fig. 6 was taken May 3. On