60 GENERAL PRINCIPLES. 



variety, loaded in every part ; the fruits are small, cer- 

 tainly not over medium size. There is a moderate bearer; 

 its fruits are thinly and evenly distributed over the tree ; 

 its fruits are, consequently, large. So in the case of fruits 

 that have been thinned; that is, a certain portion removed 

 while young, either by accidental circumstances, or by 

 design ; every specimen is twice as large, as if the whole 

 crop had been allowed to mature. The English goose- 

 berry growers, in preparing their prize specimens, leave 

 but a few on each bush not over a twentieth, or perhaps 

 a fiftieth part of the entire crop. So in peaches, grapes, 

 etc., grown carefully in houses. Where the size and 

 beauty of the fruit, and the health and vigor of the trees 

 are kept in view, a large portion of the crops, from one- 

 half to two-thirds, is thinned out before maturity. Age 

 of the trees. This influences the size of fruits to a great 

 extent ; we see fruit so large on young trees, as to be 

 entirely out of character. As trees grow older, the vigor 

 decreases, and the number of fruits increase, and they are 

 consequently diminished in size. The kind of stock has a 

 tendency to modify the size ; thus we find many pears 

 much larger on the quince stock than on the pear, and 

 many apples larger on the Paradise than on the common 

 apple stock. The reason of this is, no doubt, that on the 

 quince and Paradise the juices of the tree are better pre- 

 pared, richer, and better suited to the growth of the fruit. 

 In the common pear and apple stocks, the sap is taken up 

 in greater quantities, is watery, and better adapted to 

 form wood than fruit. 



CLASSIFICATION OP SIZE. 



The terms qualifying the sizes of fruits are always given 

 comparatively, in regard to the two extremes, the largest 

 and the smallest of the species ; for instance in apples, 

 we may consider the Gloria Mundi and Twenty Ounce as 

 extremely large, and the Lady Apple as extremely small. 



