The Cultivation of Vegetables 
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As the season advances, and truss after truss of flowers 
appear, an estimate must be formed of how much fruit the 
plant can ripen, and, when this quantity has grown, the 
growing point should be cut out, thus throwing all the 
strength into the branches of fruit already formed. 
Defoliation should be done very sparingly. If the 
plants are properly grown, in soil that is not too rich to 
start with, it should not be necessary to cut much of the 
foliage away. When we consider that it is in the green 
leaves of plants that all the plant food is manufactured 
for producing new growth, and also fruit, we see at once 
how unscientific this practice is. But of course it is quite 
a different matter when the bunches of fruit begin to ripen. 
Leaves may then be removed so that the fruit may be 
exposed to the sun, which will mature the substances that 
were manufactured by the green leaves and are now 
stored up in the fruit. 
Towards the end of the season, if the crop is long in 
ripening, those which are partially coloured may be taken 
off and ripened under glass, thus hastening the maturing 
of the fruit left on the plants. This, of course, should 
not be done until it is ascertained that the plant cannot 
mature its full crop in a natural way, as the fruit ripened 
under glass cannot be of such good quality as that ripened 
on the plant. 
For diseases, see Chapter XVI. 
Varieties — 
Lister Prolific. 
Horne’s Supreme. 
Comet. 
Frogmore Selected. 
Golden Jubilee. 
Golden Perfection. 
Chiswick Peach. 
Dobbie’s Golden Drop (for open air). 
