of cells, wliicli arc of diffiTcnt kinds, nncl disposed, in various ways, to build up 

 the jreneral structure, that tlirougli this multitude of variety the fluids and gases 

 ])erineatc, to support the waste and enlarjjreinent of the iiitcjjcral parts, and that 

 the periodical action is kept up by the influence of heat, liglit, and moisture, so 

 loner ns the vital ]irinciple is present with the individual. The first burst of 

 growth after the period of rest, is nothing more than the development of these 

 cells or structural embryo, which were formed the season previously, and accord- 

 ingly as the centralization was more or less favorably constituted, or, in other 

 words, well, evenly, and perfectly ripened heretofore, so will the expansion be 

 vigorous, or not, and the show for blossom be abundant and fine, or sparse and 

 deformed. This centralization can only be ol)taincd complete when the plant is 

 under the most genial influences, and has the advantage of favoraI)le circumstances. 

 According to the constitution of each individual species, so will these require- 

 ments differ. One, for instance, would do with more steady heat than we generally 

 possess, while another is better suited in a cooler climate ; and taking these differ- 

 ences, we must readily conclude, that in neither of these two examples will there 

 be an uninterrupted and equal formation of the required peculiar organism for 

 another season's fruitfulness. In the former, there is a want of concentration, 

 and, consequently, a deficiency of fruit, but abundance of leaves ; and, in the 

 latter, the cells will be too hastily formed to properly act the part for which they 

 were destined, and the cell walls too indurated to allow the juices to flow freely, 

 producing stunted growth, depauperated and few flowers, and small fruit, deficient 

 in quality, having a tendency to dryness and austerity. 



It is from the free and healthy action of the leaves that we must look for all 

 success in fruit growing ; they are the great chemical laboratories ; the crude juices 

 which are absorbed by the roots are here elaborated and changed, by the com- 

 bination of gases from the atmosphere, when pure structural cells are formed. In 

 a natural state, we find that, in fruits generally, there is more of woody fibre than 

 in those which are cultivated ; they are also situated in the climate which is adapted 

 to their peculiarities. Here is the more hardy constitution unimpaired, and a less 

 tendency to disease or premature decay ; but, in the cultivated, we have compara- 

 tively more of the cellular, a gorged body (if the expression may be used), which 

 has become constitutional and hereditary ; consequently, there is less hardihood 

 to resist any unfavorable influences — hence the necessity of careful attention. In 

 cultivated fruits, generally, we have larger and more robust leaves, which, if they 

 be favored with uninterrupted action during their natural period, will do their 

 full share of work in storing up the extra demand for true sap that is needed for 

 the larger and more numerous cells, or those of a character which are suitable 

 for the after development of fine fruit, and, in a plant of permanency, of also 

 adding to solid bulbs. An equipoise of root and leaf is necessary to support life, 

 but, as the latter is the great store for maturity, it is more essential to our pur- 

 pose than the encouragement of extreme extension of the roots. The pear or quince 

 stock is an example in proof of this assertion ; the roots of the quince do not 

 extend so far away from the tree as do those of the pear ; the spongioles are 

 comparatively more numerous, but they are not capable of absorbing so much 

 crude matter from their smaller proportions, yet they are sufficiently so to keep in 

 health the more robust varieties for many years. In this case, the leaves are forced, 

 as it were, to deposit the carbonized juices in the body of the tree in a more fluid 

 state, and the downward current is arrested ; and hence is composed the shorter 

 but more plethoric growth, with an increase in fleshiness and size of the fruit. 



The same causes that affect the leaf will affect the fruit also, for they are co-exist- 

 ing parts of the same organism, the latter being different only in having arrived 



