Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-10-17
Rlpening OF Fruits.

tomatoes. suffered TO lie IN their natural p,
,i,iou on the ground, riPened earlier than
iho.c trained TO any form OF trelli,. THIS
exactly accord, with our own observations.
And it j. IN pericc, unison with all that We
have taught s'ncc the organization Of the
Gdrs,aor'S M51ih'y not, indeed. in regard
20 tomato culture, but IN eouuecii0h With
the general ihcorY II rirenins frsit Yet,
there i, not more widely 'prcai error than
tte common belief THAI fruit, mus, have
"s.l the Sun and air possible to r'Pen them
early an4 properly"
Thus we sc everywhere around us, nun
ters Of eIcclleni practitioners stripping their
,inc, OF foliage 70 ''let in sun and air to n.
rsu tha fruit" aud II there !. one spot on
The ground more sunny and exposed "tl the
air than another, tha, spot they are 'urS
- select Toe .oue apr,eO, or choice fruit thai,
they particularly value
IL seems 10 bc i5rso;,on that lrui, ripen-
ius j. N ths main vital process. Chsmi.
ca action d. Of course essential TO IL but Il,
!. jspenden, on vegetable liis. Thi, vital
ty = maintained by well developed and
healthy foliage. and sh,. again IS dcPenten,
on the general health Of the plant.
All pruning b. more or les. detrimental TO
the general health oi the trcc. Winter Vru.
ming or summer pruning, the sd,c, /, the
sane. Pruning !. bu, q coupromiso.
To gam a great oh.~c,, va sacrifice small
advantages. 10 pruning, thai .acriacc Is
drawn iron general health. We break Of
strong shoe, while green or sueculent.
that 1t may not rob weaker Que below -
or. we shorten a weak shoot IN winter that
d, may push stronger mex, season. Here
we gam d,slrrI aIvantase-. bot the vital
force receive. shock The more severely
We pur.ue this course. the more Nc perceive
the shock. tlll. a. .. well known. We can
take "a leaves OF shoot. enough 70 utterly
destroy the life oI tree. We prune trees
at irAnsplAniinr. just a. We would cut OF
man. les not because the tree likes pru.
ning, or that ampuiAtion !, a peculiarly
pleasing operation. but as a part Of that
system 0t compensation which nature De.
mant. cor broken limbs and broken Laws.
We gain an advantage. bat with permanent
los.
Men like 70 deal with Aphori.ms. IL Is
F.Ff... . l.. tk.r. al
the reasoning; ~ Il Ne tell child to take
care Of the pence and the pounds w'!l take
care oi tbenselves,' twill DO more likely
70 Be economical lb.n We read i, long
Lomily as to the reasons therefor - we
shall perhaps. De more generally uniers,ooi
Il We reduce all We have sAil 10 this. take
eary oi the leaves and the fruits will take
care oi themselves ="
II 20 into a dense wood, where the
grapevine- never knew the gcrdener' knile.
and scc the vine IN ,is ma.,iycne-. oi foliage,
ramtlinr over bushes aud trees. IA ds!,s ~
Tatiuc-. and where the sua's dircc, light
never shines, our "sun AMI light" trend.
will expect 10 see green and uur,pe grars. :,
yet no ennpiurel poet ever dwelt With more
pleasure on the dark black orb-' Of his
fair angel, than the genuine lover u good
fruit may dssil on the dark back Orts hang.
Ins ia the wtldes, lu1urrance from ,hs,s eK-
tr,mely healthy, tut sun ior,aksn vines.
II We look INTO similar p!ace--noi. per.
haps, quite - shady, ior that j. not its na.
tgre-and ihers note the fns heallby leave.
OF the blackberry, with ,,s iru,t black a. ct
beneath the stll shadier foliage, and tue
bright .hrnius liiiIs pearl. sl,.;enins FROM
every PIP, % they no, ask YOU bIun,iy.
what Is sunlish, 10 them ! Aud Il you arr
not prepared - answer, 90 to the garden Of
some sun anl ar folks look at tie bot
board isnc-, facing due south, and tarrcd to
make Il hotter. and against it. with large
yellow leaves and rcd ripe ferries. .,c the
poor LAstOus lansuishiug tor their native
shade. Their owner CONSIDER, Law,on a
great humbus; aud the blackberry 10 bet
Ter than his own fence r0w. aGJrl. Friend
LAWsOu, forgive that nan-whiie thousands
bIy.. you. tia. unfortunate know. 10, what
BE does
When your goo.eberry leaves fall OF by
mhieW, the grape leaves by hail, or the
Isar I,ayes BY blight, dOyoa hav' :ooseber
re. grapgs or pssr.? We neod scarcely
Su.ser aud yet the same Per'on', ~ho
know they &, no, se; good fruit under ihes'
m,sloriuns,, by their very system, Of pru-
nins. which "leis in the Sun and air." are
really working 70 the same unsatisfactory
sni.
" Take care Of the leaves, aud the fruits
will take care Of themsslycs. Mr.. Baist
e!everly showed this. in an article he con.
iribotsd TO an early volume Of the Garden.
p's MOafhiy lie set a novice to shorten
IN some shoot. IA his winery. and before he
NV him again. had a few vines nearly strip
ped Of their foliage. These vines had badly
eolored grspes. They never bad before. nor
had the rest Of the srape- from the roin,
where the defoliatins operation ceased.
Take care Of the leaves. and the fruits
will take care OF themselves" Long before
Mr. Buist's article ever saw our pages, a
few acute gardeners were well Evare Of the
imporiAnee Of the maxim. II they wanted
grapes to eOlOr Every particularly" we'll.
they shaded the winery week before the
fruit ripened ''ior," said ,hey, 'ioo .uoD: