INDUEATION. 485 



" 111 some cases, no sooner has the fruit arrived at 

 that condition which renders it available for the 

 uses of man, than a further change takes place. 

 The cell walls and their contents pass into a state of 

 incipient decomposition, acquiring the brown tint 

 so frequent where decay takes place in vegetables. 

 The peculiar aroma vanishes, and the whole be- 

 comes a soft, vapid, tasteless mass, devoid of every 

 useful quality. Some varieties of pears so rapidly 

 pass into this condition that they are scarcely worth 

 cultivation, though some of them are of first-rate 

 quality when in perfection. The change generally 

 takes place in a centrifugal direction. This distin- 

 guishes its condition from many forms of putres- 

 cence" [Berkelei/). 



This disease, if constitutional, condemns the 

 variety. Yet very many of our best pears are 

 subject to undergo this change so slowly as not 

 to materially injure them for table use. 



2. Induration — Sclerogenia. This disease is more 

 common with the pear than with any other fruit. 

 The vascular tissue becomes a tough, woody mass, 

 which, of course, lessens the amount of sugar, and 

 destroys the fruit for use. Although it is often 

 accidental, depending upon soil or climate, yet 

 some varieties are more liable to it than others, 

 as the Easter Beurre upon cold soils; but in the 

 rich, warm lands of the West, or California, it is 

 41* 



