38 



GENERAL PUmCIPLES. 



a dry season, when the supply of moisture at the roots 

 and in the atmosphere is very limited, fruits are invari- 

 ably smaller than in seasons of an opposite character. 

 Ntunher of fruits on the tree — ^This affects the size of the 

 fruit to a great extent in all seasons, soils, and climates, 

 and under all grades of culture. 



It is perfectly obvious, that the greater the number of 

 fruits a tree bears, the smaller they will be, for as they 

 derive their sustenance from the tree, a large number 

 cannot be so well supplied as a smaller number. We 

 cannot go into an orchard where there are many varieties 

 without seeing an illustration of this. Here is a prolific 

 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 matuiity. Age 

 of the trees — ^This influences the size of fraits 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 hind of stock has a 

 tenr-eiicy tv' modily 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 coinmon 



