THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



227 



itB very nature it is health-giving and 

 pleasurable. It is mainly composed of 

 diluted sugars and acids in delightful ad- 

 mixture held together by fine vegetable 

 tissues, and in this diluted form is found 

 not only pleasurable, but essentially 

 necessary for the well being of the ani- 

 mal economy, It will be well for us to 

 understand here that whenever fruit is 

 mentioned in this connection, matured 

 and well ripened fruit must be under- 

 stood. Fruit in that beautiful tempting 

 condition, when the internal acids are 

 largely changed to sugars, and the whole 

 mass is of that inviting toothsome color 

 that engages at once the sense of sight, 

 and is in that yielding, state of softness 

 to the touch, that gives assurance to the 

 eater. 



The influences of such food upon the 

 human constitution is doubtless very 

 great and definitely marked. This to 

 us is the embrosia and nectar that v/cre 

 formerly thought becoming for the Die- 

 ties only to use as food and never for 

 ordinary mortals. The keen observer 

 of human nature can almost readily 

 descern at a glance the difierence be- 

 tween the man who is in the habitual 

 use of fruits and vegetables largely in 

 his diet and the man who has a large 

 dose only of animal ingredients in his 

 constitution. In the first case the food 

 being select, congenial and mild, the 

 nature manifests the benign influence 

 of such congeniality. How different is 

 this beautiful influence to that of the 

 mere animal or flesh eater. By this we 

 would not be undei-stood to discard in 

 to to, animal diet, on the contrary we 

 practice and most devotedly believe in 

 a mixed diet as best and most suitable 

 to the urgent necessities of our present 

 economy. What we do mean is simply 

 this, that we most firaily believe that 

 we, as a people use too much animal 

 diet, and if fruit more and more entered 

 into our daily diet, it would, in our 

 humble opinion be better for us intel- 



lectually, physically and morally. Fur- 

 ther, we believe and would teach the 

 use of fruit at all seasons, and at all 

 times. We believe in fresh fruit, in 

 canned fruit, in evaporated fruit, and in 

 preserved fruit, in jellies, in marmalades, 

 in beverages, in cider and in wine. We 

 believe in its use further, in the autumn 

 and in the spring, in the summer and 

 in the winter and on all days and oc- 

 casions in company and out of company. 

 In short, we firmly believe in the wis- 

 dom of its use thoroughly, wholly and 

 completely. We believe furthermore 

 in all fruits that are by our experience 

 known to be good for food, and pleasant 

 to the eye, and to be desired to make 

 us better. In this connection we believe 

 in stiTiwberries of all sorts although 

 connoisseurs would fain have us believe 

 that some varieties are better than 

 others. But to us they are all good and 

 equally to be taken with equal amounts 

 of rich and well prepared fixings. We 

 believe also in raspberries and black- 

 berries and can take them in equal 

 doses. With our present facilities for 

 preserving and canning these fine sum- 

 mer fruits we believe it is our duty to 

 have them at all seasons of the year, 

 and in greatest abundance. We believe 

 also in currants and gooseberries and in 

 all varieties but not so firmly as we do 

 those of strawberries. Our reasons for 

 this are private, but nevertheless we 

 believe in them. However, we most 

 firmly believe in the free and untram- 

 melled use of the whole of the following 

 list of superb native fruits, viz. : Apples 

 and gi'apes, and these in all their endless 

 variety of sorts and kinds. In* these 

 fine fruits is an almost endless divei-sity 

 of quality, as hard and soft, as sour and 

 sweet, as woody and melting, as strong 

 flavored and insipid, as buttery and as 

 sugary, but still we believe in tjbem. 

 We believe they all have an appointed 

 place to fill, a work to do and a use to 

 exert and a character to sustain. 



