crabapples have thorns. The apple tree is a very near cousin of the rose, nearer, very likely, than the strawberry. There are many varieties of wild apples in different countries—the Siberian crab-apple is a useful fruit in its wild state. Like the rose, the wild apple has been trained, fed, sheltered, transplanted, cross-pollinated and grafted, until there are now dozens of varieties of big juicy apples in our orchards. The pear and the quince are near cousins of the rose, too.
The wild plums and cherries are not so near. They have a single nut-like seed in a stony case. They grew, perhaps, in a roundabout way, from the almond, and so did the peach and the apricot. A peach stone is pitted like the paper shell of the almond, and the peach seed is often mistaken for the nut of the bitter almond.
It is the rose that gave the name to the family. Rosaceae is the name. Isn't it pretty? It ought to be, for every member of the family makes the earth fragrant and cheerful with their bouquets of blossoms. The rose is so sweet, so innocent and beautiful that we borrow its name for little girls, as we do of the blossoms of the violet and the lily. In Japan, where they grow orchard trees for the flowers, they often call little girls plum blossom and cherry blossom.
Every member of the rose family is like the bonny briar bush in disliking the smoky air of cities. They grow best in the open country, under the wide, blue, sunny sky, in clean earth free from weeds, where birds build their nests and there is a pleasant hum of bees. And here is a secret very few people know. You can find the wild rose blossom in winter. Find a beautiful rosy apple. Cut it across the middle. Then cut a thin slice from one half and hold it up to the light. You will find the five rose petals there, very plainly marked, in the heart of the apple. (See Rose, Strawberry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Apple, Pear, Quince, Almond, Plum, Cherry, Peach, Grafting. Plate, Volume II, page 686. Pollination).
