' THE CAUSES OF FBUIT-BIPEIflNa. 
That great traveller and observer of Nat¬ 
ure, Alexander von Humboldt, draws atten¬ 
tion to the fact that he found the most deli¬ 
cious fruits at Astraldiau, Tobolsk, and other 
places in the interior of the Asiatic conti¬ 
nent which have an average annual temper¬ 
ature of 48°. This he says is also the aver¬ 
age temperature of Ireland and the coast of 
Normandy, places where the summer barely 
suffices to bring Apples to maturity, though 
it permits the growth of so tender a tree as 
the Myrtle. 
To explain this difference Humboldt ad¬ 
mits that Ireland and Normandy have the 
cooler summers, as well as warmer winters, 
of a coast climate; but he would rather at¬ 
tribute the impeded ripening of fruit in those 
places to the absence, not of warmth, but of 
direct sunlight. Two climates may be equally 
warm, of which one, through prevalent 
cloudiness, will afford far le«s sunligltt to 
vegetation; and, he remarks in conclusion, 
direct sunlight plays a very important part 
in the matm-iug of fruits, as the future of 
agricultiu’e will show. 
Humboldt’s view is borne out by observa¬ 
tion. Some of the celebrated Californian 
fruit vallej'S have a summer temperature 
less intense than ours of New England: but 
the sunlight pours down from tlie cloudless 
sky with steady force, from !Nray to Octo¬ 
ber, losing not a day. I have passed a sea¬ 
son witliout one uncomfortabie hour of heat 
in such a valley, where the landscape showed 
endless orchards of ripening Peaches, Pears, 
Figs, Olives, Apricots, Almonds and Necta¬ 
rines. Other valleys are less temperate. 
The experience of wine-makers reveals a 
similar truth. . The ^^utage of "ih in France 
was poor in qualit}’’: yet in that year the 
average summer temperature stood high. 
But it was a season deficient in sunlight, as 
shown by the aetinoineter—an instrument 
for measuring the direct heat of the sun. 
Pasteur, the French scientist, who has 
successfully investigated the causes of cattle 
disease, was stnick by this fact, and at¬ 
tempted to explain it by exposing raw wine 
in glass jars to direct sunlight, keeping other 
similar jars in ordinary light for the i)nrpose 
of comparison. 'Ihe effect of the sunlight 
was very manifest. In the exposed jars the 
acids of the raw wine decreased by oxida¬ 
tion, rapidly improving tlie quality of the 
wine: while the other jars showed no change. 
It is a reasonable infereni;e from this, that 
the same process occurs in j-ipcning Grapes 
and other fruits expo.sed to sunshine. Tlie 
direct sunlight cau.ses the acids of tlie green 
fruit to combine with oxygen and so disap¬ 
pear, and the fruit thus lo.ses its acitlity, at 
the same time tliat it is being supplied with 
sugar from the general food-stores of the 
plant,—tlie wliole process constituting what 
we call “rijiening.’’ Whetiier tlie sunlight 
is as e.s.sential to the increase of sweetness 
as to the decrease of acidity, is imeertain; 
tlioiigh it has been shown that a detached 
bunch of Grapes will contain more sugar if 
expo.sed to the sun for some time. Pears, 
we know, rijien in a closet. 
'I'he above facts .show that two sturlles 
have great importance for agriculture: lirst, 
tiie study of the effect of direct sunlight on 
vegetation; second, the study of the distri¬ 
bution of sunlight in various climates, 'I’he 
last problem cannot be very 
“When the sun shines, it slimes, 
doesn’t, it doesn’t,” someone ®^‘da.inis. 
fortunately the question is not so simple. 
Not onlv do clouds intercept sunshine, but 
watery Vapor in the air-when to the ey 
the sun seems as bright as ever-caii absoi o 
a large quantity of the effective sun i ay , 
and so retard fruit ripening. Hence, an ap¬ 
parently sunny country which has much in¬ 
visible watery vapor in the air, owing pei 
haps to a near-lying ocean, will prove de¬ 
fective in fruilwipening qualities. 
'This is a further explanation of the fruit- 
ripening power of the Californian sumniei; 
for it is a summer characterized bj' very diy 
air. This presence of watery vapor can be 
revealed only by certain specially constructed 
instruments; and the French pvernment 
has thought the subject of sufficient impoi- 
tance to warrant establishing a station for 
experiments with these instruments. 
There is, indeed, one fact in the disti ibu- 
tion of sunshine over the earth s surface 
that seems paradoxical. The farther north 
we go the emre heat does a given area of 
laud receive in a snniiner's day from the sun. 
'This is because the summer day lasts 12 
hours at the eipiator, and longer and longer 
as we go north, until arriving at very high 
latitudes there is no sunset. Why then the 
colder northern climateV Because the win¬ 
ter day is as short as the summer day is 
long; and through the winter vast ma.sses 
of snow and ice accumulate and chill the 
whole, year. Yet the fact remains, that an 
acre of Wheat receives more of direct sun¬ 
light in a .summer's day in Ohio, than in 
Mexico, and more in Canada than in Ohio. 
It is also known that Wheat matures in 
fewer days in Canada than in Ohio, and in 
Ohio than in Mexico. This shows the inllu- 
of sunlight in ripening grain and 
ence 
fruits. 
XlCXOS C'L.MiK. 
REVIEW OF THE BERRY MARKET, 
Out-door grown Strawberries arc offered 
in the Xew York markets for about eight 
months in the year, and during the greater 
part of this |)eriod, in almost unlimited sup¬ 
ply. The aggregate (piantity received this 
.season was not as large as that of some 
former years, nor was the, average (piality 
iis good !Ls usual, caused by the extreme 
.«cverity of last winter, whi(di injured many 
plantations, iind also by the severe drouth 
whitdi previiiled over a large !ire!i, tit a time 
when moistui’c was most needed. 
Mf)st of the berries from south of Virginia 
are forwarded in r(!rrigerid.or.s, which adds 
latgely to their cost. Th(! lirst Strawberries 
shijiped in the ordinary way of transporta¬ 
tion are generally reee.iveil from Virginiti, 
hut this ytair .Maryland berries wm-e (iTst in 
them.'irket, ami sold for a few dtiys at from 
25 to .Wets. p(U'(piart wholeside. With the 
arrival of largta- (piantith^s prices dropped 
soon to the. ave.rage standanl of ,s l,o lo ,,t8. 
perqiiiirt lor berries of good (pi.allty. 
witi.stimdiiig the, shorl.mtsH of the ..rop prices 
rnied mtifonr.ly low, which a temporarv 
.scarcity for a. lay or two fa.I to improve 
M.iiiy hue berries are now raised onStalen 
Island and in I’Xsex Co., N. .).. 
to New York enabling the growers to 
their fruit to tin 
iring 
, , , '"‘"'‘“‘I' I'lie same day it Is 
picked, and, eonseipiently, to receive 
n;- 
,„uncrative prices. The crops from the Hud¬ 
son River counties, although a light one- 
with the exception of the Catskijl district- 
ild not bring as high prices as the small 
sunoly should have led to suppose. Western 
Vy berries were of good, medium size, 
inn and bright, and as a whole sold better 
fchtin. njiV ofclici • 
'The experiment to ship Strawberries from 
'Tennessee to New York, in ref rigerator cars, 
which was tried this year for the flr8ttime,did 
not prove a success. 'The transit required four 
days and many of the berries presented a 
sin- ular appearance upon arrival. Berries 
that had been bruised or otherwise injured 
iu'the picking and handling had evidently 
commenced and continued to decay until 
the intense cold in the car arrested decom¬ 
position. Thus the other part of the berry 
remained perfectly sound and almost corn- 
iiletely separated from the decayed portion, 
but the appearance it did not iinjirove much. 
With the introduction of theShaipless afew 
yea rs ago there sprang up a sudden demand for 
verj' large berries; this season, however, a 
decided reaction from this prefeience made 
itself felt, and growers will find that the 
coming demand will be, not for monstrosi¬ 
ties, but for medium-sized, firm, bright ber¬ 
ries of fair (piality. Extra fine quality- 
strange as it may appear—adds but little to 
the market value of a berry. 
Not less than two-thirds of all the berries 
that came to the market were below medium, 
and most of them veiy far below, too. 
Tliese liave generally to be sacrificed at any 
price the purchaser may offer, to the serious 
injury of bettor grades. 
HARDINESS OF FRUITS. 
I am considerably interested in the hardi¬ 
ness of fruits. 'Therefore 1 often ask my¬ 
self by what process does a varietj’’ become 
liardy and how is it that we exiiect hardiness 
in a variety originated north, and do not ex¬ 
pect it in a variety originated south. I gain 
an insight into this subject by considering 
tlie similarity between plants and animals. 
.Sliould 1 iisk you to specify the distinctive 
difference between the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms, you would doubtless be puzzled in 
answering, for there are no functions of ani¬ 
mal life dilh'ring from the functions of the 
idaiit life sufiiciently to define definitely the 
dividing line. 
The (piestion of a digestive apparatus does 
not distinguish animals from plants, as some 
animals appear to have no digestive appara¬ 
tus while plants and trees may in a certain 
sensi! h(! said to digest that which nourishes 
them; neither can the. difference between 
animals and jilants be established on thc 
grouiids that plants, vines and trees only 
can b(! propagated by cuttings, buds and 
scions, for tliere are animals that ean be cut 
in pieces, eaidi of wliieh develops Into aper- 
leetly formed animal. It lias been thought 
tliat the distinguishing feature is instinct, 
it may he that plants and trees are not pos¬ 
sessed with instinct, but if they are not, what 
shall we say of the impulse tliat leads the 
vine 1.0 throw out its tendrils in tlie direction 
of a support, and twine itself about it with 
llie greatest tenacity 'i Or what shall we-say 
ol the. roots of a vine that pushes out a long 
dlstaiuu! in l.he direction of a supply of food 
in the sliape of a manure heap, or foi‘ ** 
