  When the apple-trees are in bloom, stand under one and look up through the wonderful tent of flowers at the little bits of blue sky peeping down at you between the blossoms. Isn't it delightful to see so many, many apple-blossoms all at once? How beautiful they are and how sweet they smell! Now, pick one little blossom and examine it carefully. Count the pretty pink-and-white petals. Five petals? Yes. Look again, see how they grow from the centre and notice their shape. Be very particular, so that you will remember exactly how the blossom looks; make sure you know, for I am going to tell you about the flower you can find inside the big, ripe apple after all the other apple-blossoms are gone. Apple-Blossom in AppleCut the apple into thin slices from side to side through the core. Take one of the slices from near the middle of the apple and hold it up to the light, so that the light will shine through it, then look carefully and you will see in the centre a perfect pattern of the apple-blossom you gathered from the tree (Fig. 212). Apple-seeds form the centre of the flower. The petals, five in number, are of the flesh of the fruit. They are of the same shape and size as the real blossom. Isn't it wonderful?
Now, take the seeds from their hard, glossy cases, again hold the slice up to the light and lo, in the centre of the You can add to this and make a pretty, shining pattern in this way: Take a wooden toothpick, and with its pointed end pierce little holes all along the edge of the flower pattern; then make a loop of little holes above one of the petals (Q, Fig. 213), and still another above that one (R, Fig. 213). Pierce the edges of all the petals and make the same kind of double loops above them also, then the design will be like Fig. 214. Hold it up to the light, turn it this way and that and your slice of apple will look as if spangled with glittering diamonds. Fig. 215 shows a wheel design which you can make of another slice. Fig.215 - Another design on apple slice. Apple Candle in its CandlestickFig.216 - Apple candle ready for table. When I was a little girl I used to make apple candles that stood up in their own candlesticks. I always ate the First cut off a slice at the blossom end, so that the candle-stick will stand without tipping. The dotted line at the bottom of Fig. 217 indicates where this cut is to be made. Then run your knife around the apple without cutting all the way through to the core, where you see the middle dotted line on Fig. 217. After that, begin at the sides and gradually shave down the upper part little by little, being careful not to cut below the slit you have made around the apple. When the middle part standing up around the Fig.217 - Cut away apple leaving candle in candle-stick. A Roasted AppleAnother thing I used to love to do with my apple when I was a little girl was to tie a long string to the stem and hang it before an open fire to roast. I think you will enjoy it too. Tie one end of the string securely to the stem of your apple, and don't break the stem off in doing it (Fig. 218); then tie the other end to something heavy on the mantel-shelf that will hold it securely. The apple should hang in front of a grate of glowing coals, or near the red-hot coals of a wood-fire. Fig.218 - Roast your apple this way. As soon as cooking begins, twist the string and make the apple spin round and round so that it may be roasted evenly on all sides; it is fun to do that. When the juice begins to run and drop from the apple, set a saucer under to catch the hot, sweet syrup. It is good poured over the apple when that is thoroughly cooked. Add sugar to the juice while it is hot if it is not sweet enough. The Spice AppleIn New England, many years ago, there was always to be found in every household at least one spice apple. It sounds good to eat, doesn't it? But they were not made for eating, they were used for sweet-smelling ornaments, and for keeping away moths and other troublesome insects. Perhaps you will like to make a spice apple to give away; it will be a pretty and very sweet gift and will last for years. Choose a small, perfectly sound apple and have ready a lot of cloves. Stick the cloves into the apple as you would stick pins into a cushion, only the cloves must be put in very close together, touching each other and making the apple look like a large, prickly, brown nut. That is all, unless you want to hang the apple up. In that case run a wooden toothpick through one raised side at the top, across the little hollow where the stem grows, and out through the raised side opposite, after first breaking off the stem. Cross this toothpick with another pushed through the apple and also bridging the hollow. This will make a low handle in the form of a cross. At the middle, where the toothpicks touch, tie a bright ribbon, leaving a loop by which to hang it. Other Things to Make of an AppleWhen an apple is cut across into round slices, you can make a doll's table of the largest slice by using four wooden toothpicks for legs, pushing them into the apple at equal distances apart. Half of a slice, with halves of toothpicks for legs, makes a very suitable seat for this remarkable table. If you cut a thick flat slice from a small apple you can make it into a top that will spin by pushing a toothpick
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The book is illustrated in such a way that no mistake can be made; and the boy who gets a copy of this book will consider himself set up in business."—The Indianapolis Journal. CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Transcriber's Notes: Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Page 109, caption Fig.124, "Burdock-burs" changed to "Burdock-burrs" (house of Burdock-burrs) Page 111, caption Fig.132, "Burdock-burs" changed to "Burdock-burrs" (by Burdock-burrs) Page 114, caption Fig.137, same as above (Burdock-burr target.) Page 114, caption Fig.138, "bur" changed to "burr" (Hold the burr) Page 143, caption Fig.177, "ig" changed to "Fig" (Fig.177) Page 164, caption Fig.203, "pealed" changed to "peeled" (peeled forward) | ||||
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