May 11

Last week I was standing under the two trees I like to think of as an orchard, when an over-ripe peach fell onto my head. Perhaps Newton's thoughts would not have turned to gravity if he had been hit by a peach, instead of an apple. After I had wiped most of the mess from my hair I noticed that the stone of the peach, despite the deep ridges in it, had fallen completely clear of the fruit.

Unless one has struggled to get rid of the flsh clinging to a plum stone, which is smooth, this fact may not seem so strange, but when one tries to assign an explanation for this sort of thing it becomes difficult. Why did the peach develop the deep ridges on its stone and the plum stay smooth. If the ridges in the peach stone serve any purpose why hasn't someone explained it before now ?

What sort of emotional stress must the young nectarine undergo in trying to decide whether to have a smooth stone or a wrinkled one ? These are grave problems and an explanation of them would probably greatly ease the difficulties of the young fruit at an important stage of their lives.