We have all become so accustomed to hearing the term “A-1” used to designate a thing as perfect that it does not occur to many of us to wonder how it originally came to be used in that connection. Its first use was as a symbol in the code by which vessels were graded in the register of shipping kept by Lloyd’s, the originators of marine insurance. “A-1” was the best rating given to the highest class vessels, “A” standing for perfect condition of the hull of the ship and “1” meaning that the rigging and whole equipment was complete and in good order. How has Man Helped Nature Give Us Apples? The original of all the varieties of the cultivated apple is the wild crab, which is a small and extremely sour fruit, and is native of most of the countries of Europe. We use the crab-apple for preserving even now, although man’s ingenuity has succeeded in inducing nature to give us many better tasting kinds. The amazingly large number of different varieties which we have today have all been brought into existence through the discovery of the process of “grafting.” There are a half a dozen or more different methods of grafting. The method most commonly practiced in working with apple trees is called “bud-grafting,” and consists of transferring a plate of bark, with one or more buds attached, from one tree to another. The wood of apple trees is hard, close-grained and often richly colored, and is suitable for turning or cabinet work. Apple-growers classify apples into three different kinds, each consisting of a great many separate varieties. The three general divisions are--table apples, which are characterized by a firm, juicy pulp, a sweetish acid flavor, regular form and beautiful coloring; cooking apples, which possess the quality of forming by the aid of heat into a pulpy mass of equal consistency, and also by their large size and keeping properties; and cider apples, which have a considerable astringency and a richness of juice. [Illustration: IN THE LAND OF THE APPLE The Rogue River Valley, Oregon, in one section of which this photograph was taken, is known all over America for its wonderful apples. One apple-raiser in this district gathered two hundred bushels of apples per acre from his six-year-old trees.] What Kind of a Crab Climbs Trees? Besides the water-crabs that we are most of us used to seeing and eating, there are several different kinds of land-crabs. Probably the most interesting of them all is the great Robber-crab, which is found on certain islands of the Pacific. He is a creature of immense strength and climbs palm trees in order to pick, and break open, the cocoanuts. He lives in a den which he digs for himself in the ground.