RELAJ?ION OP WATER TO SUCCDLBNCB. 16? 



by a copious supply of water to the earth, its flavour is, in 

 proportion, diminished ; for, in consequence of the rapidity with 

 which the Strawberry ripens, and, perhaps, the obstruction of 

 light by its leaves, the excess of aqueous matter taken into the 

 system cannot be all decomposed, and formed into those 

 products which give flavour to fruit ; but it must necessarily 

 remain in part in an unaltered condition. 



It is for the reason just given that the quantity of water in 

 the son should be diminished when succulent fruit is ripening; 

 we see this happen in nature, all over the world, and there can 

 be no doubt of its being of great importance. Not only is the 

 quality of such fruit impaired by a wet soil, as has just been 

 shown, but, because of its low, perspiratory power, the fruit 

 win burst from excess of moisture, as occurs to the Plum and 

 Grape in wet seasons. 



Some fruits are much more subject to this bursting or cracking than 

 others, as is seen in the Stanwiek Fectariiie, the Chasselas musquS 

 grape, &c. In such cases it is clear that the dryness of the soil is of 

 more than ordinary importance. 



It is also to be observed that bursting may arise from mere skin 

 disease ; as happens with mildewed or rusty grapes, in which, by one 

 cause or other, the power of the skin to distend as the berries fill with 

 fluid is destroyed — ^in the one case by the action of a mUdew-plant, in 

 the other by greasy fingers or currents of cold air, or impurities of the 

 atmosphere caused by bad fumigation, sulphuring, &c. 



The Melon, although an apparent exception to this rule, is 

 not reaUy so; that fruit acquires its highest excellence in 

 countries where its roots are always immersed in water, as in 

 the floating islands of Cashmere, the irrigated fields of Persia, 

 and the springy river-beds of India. But it is to be remem- 

 bered that the leaves of this plant have an enormous perspira- 

 tory power, arising partly from their large surface, and partly 

 from the thinness and consequent permeability of their tissue, 

 so that they require a greater supply of fluid than most others ; 

 and, in the next place, the heat and bright light of such 

 countries are capable of decomposing and altering the fluids of 

 the fruit with a degree of rapidity and force to which we here 

 have no parallel. In this country the Melon does not succeed 



