890 VAN MONS UPON DECREPITUDE. 



ruin at the very moment when this hope ought to 

 be realized. Is there anything more discouraging 

 than the loss of the labor bestowed during the for- 

 mation of the tree, without hope of being rewarded 

 for its care in the future ] It is attacked during its 

 infancy by all the diseases to which old age is liable. 



" ' If disease results from decrepitude, it will be 

 persistent, and no remedy can apply to it. When 

 disease results from some foreign cause, which it is 

 in our power to avoid, it ceases when the influenc- 

 ing cause is withdrawn. An imperfect form, an 

 unseasonable pruning, a barren or too-wet soil, an 

 exposure which the air and light cannot reach freely, 

 are the causes of artificial diseases. 



" ' The age of the variety dates from the moment 

 when it is produced from the seed ; its first step 

 toward old age or decay dates from the time when 

 it produces its first fruit ; the good or bad quality 

 of the fruit, and the greater or less productiveness 

 of the tree, influence the length of its life. That 

 which bears fruit of excellent quality, abundantly 

 and annually, wastes itself sooner than that which 

 produces inferior fruit, and in small quantity.' 



" Old age announces itself by loss of vigor, and 

 inability to perform healthfully the functions of 

 nutrition and reproduction. Before its entire decay, 

 and during the time when the tree still produces 

 fruit, its approach is to be discerned by bursting 

 and cracking of the fruit, and that the flesh, without 



