48 



FRUIT. 



We find that nature has herself in some 

 measure provided agahist injury to plants by 

 excessive fecundity, in giving them a power of 

 tlirowing off flowers, the fruit of which cannot 

 be supported. 



The flavor of fruit depends upon the exist- 

 ence of certain secretions, especially of acid 

 and sugar ; flavor will, consequently, be regu- 

 lated by the circumstances under which fruit is 

 ripened. 



The ripening of fruit is the conversion of 

 acid and other substances into sugar. 



As the latter substance cannot be obtained at 

 all in the dark, is less abundant in fruit ripened 

 in diffused light, and most abundant in fruit ex- 

 posed to the direct rays of the sun, the conver- 

 sion of matter into sugar occurs under the same 

 circumstances as the decomposition of carbonic 

 acid. 



Therefore, if fruit be produced in situations 

 much exposed to the sun, its sweetness will be 

 augmented. 



And in proportion as it is deprived of the 

 sun's direct rays that quality will diminish. 



Fruit produced under circumstances of great 

 moisture and diminution of solar light, as in 

 seasons of continued rain where the sky is 



