May
17 another cluster was photographed from the same tree (Fig. 7). Three
of the flowers have produced sturdy young apples. The stems or
pedicels have become stouter, and they begin to spread. Note that the
calyx now is closed, the old stamens protruding, a circumstance that
will have special significance when we become acquainted with the
codlin-moth. Note also that one flower has failed, and remains as it
was two weeks earlier; it will soon fall. The young apples begin to
take shape. They show a glow of red on the cheek. They are fuzzy all
over. One of them is already injured on one side, having been stung by
a curculio or other insect: there are keen senses about the
apple-tree.

[Illustration: 6. May 3--When the petals have fallen]

[Illustration: 7. May 17--When the young fruits begin to show]

Two weeks later (May 31) still another cluster was taken from the same
tree (Fig. 8). Here are three fruits erect on their stems; one of them
is more than an inch in diameter either way, sturdy and unblemished;
another shows deformity due to insect puncture; the third remains
small and presently will drop. A scar in the leaf-axil marks the
failure of another flower. Four blossoms were in this cluster, but
only one fruit now has a chance to come to uninjured maturity, and two
have already failed. The big apple has now lost most of its fuzziness
and begins to assume a delicate "bloom" on its surface; the smallest
one--the one that soon will perish--still holds some of its fuzz. A
section of this smallest fruit discloses empty cells; apparently it
was not fertilized.

[Illustration: 8. May 31--The success and failure]

[Illustration: 9. June 14--The one big apple]

Another two weeks have passed. It is June 14th. From the same tree is
taken the photograph, Fig. 9. Here is a big apple, 1-1/2 inch in
diameter; and there is a dead shrivelled fruit that dropped when I
touched it. Of the several flowers in the cluster, all have failed but
one. This one fruit has now passed the danger of the blossom-end
infection by the codlin-moth and it has no blemishes. The many whitish
spots characteristic of the variety are now conspicuous all over the
surface. The ribs begin to show. There is a faint blush on the upper
side. The fuzz has disappeared and the bloom is becoming evident. The
calyx is tightly closed, although the tips of the sepals are spread
widely. The stem is stout. The weight of the apple inclines it nearly
to the horiz