The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1875-01-07
The Ripening of Fruit.

lHc hlpeniuS VI FrulL.
What we call the ripening of fruits is
really but the beginning to decay. 1t is a
chemical, not vital act in the economy of
plant life. In the case of the apple or pear,
as soon as the seeds are black, the plant
has completed its mission, and all that is
left for it to care for is the dispersion of
the seeds. 1t is one of the greatest proofs
of a Divine Providence that these fruits
have heshy covering fit for animals to
eat. Materialism takes it for granted that
there is in each living thing an innate power
working for the individ ual's own good.
The good of other individuals, or amy good
other than its own self, is inconsistent with
a materlalistic idea of innate action. But
we see in many cases laws working with
out any regard to the good of the indivi-
dual indeed, often against the individual
good, and for the good Of the race, for and
which can only be accounted for on the
theory that it is guided by an external, as
well as an innate power. The ripening of
fruits will illustrate this. The little black
seed inside the apple and the pear is all the
plant need care for. These are for the
continuation of its species. The juicy,
luscious flesh around the seeds are no man
ner of use to the plants or the seeds. They
could mature just as well in dry capsule
as in the apple or the pear. Thousands Of
seeds ripen in dry pods, and SO could these.
For what purpose then is the pulp about
them? OF late years it has been discovered
that there are III nature innumerable con-
trivances for dispensing seeds 1t is part
Of the ordinance Of nature that organic be-
ing shall not only increase and multiply,
but also inhabit the earth. The means
given to seeds which make them spread
over the earth are very varied and extreme
ly interesting. The feshy constitute one
Of these designs. When we see bird at
a cherry, we are apt to think that the
cherry WAS created for a bird 1t is in one
sense. 1t was for the bird to eat, not that
nature in this instance had the birds good
so mu;h at heart as to provide means for
the dispersion Of the cherry seed. While
wol king for the flesh, to stone is carried to
lorg distance, and in this way the cherry
is dispersed. In like manner with the APP
pie and pear. 1t is made good for us to eat;
not the seed, but the fruit. We take away
the fruit to distant places, eat the pulp,
and throw away the seed, and thus the dis
tribution in these cases is Effected
But the singular part of this process
and this is the point we wish just now to make
is, that the plant does not ripen Its fruit
so as to render it catabIe, and 50 can scar
cely be party to the distributing scheme
As soon as the vital power ceases, chemi-
cal action begins, and it is chemical action
which is the great power in ripcning.
Ripening is, indeed, onlya phase of rotting.
4 persimmon is not food to eat till it has
been frozen. The frost is not a vital power.
Quite the reverse. 1t is u disorganizing
instead of constructive force, as life is
The ripening generally goes on as well off
as on the tree, and tree life has nothing to
do with it. Hence We see that though
fruits are made eatable in order to have
the seeds dispersed, it is not by any innate
power of the plant that they are made so,
but rather by another separate and distinct
from it-a power which has not the good
of the plant bearing the fruit at heart-a
destructive power that would rather de-
stroy than build up, and yet power which
in mysterious way is really working for
the good Of another, and yet quite unknown
to itself
We often think that when excellent,
scientific men like Tyndall declare that
matter contains within stself the prepotency
for its own development, there is not the
slightest cause for fear that, even though
proved to be true, any great strength to
materialistic thought will result. There
still remains the fact that all things are
working together for good, and with a pre-
potency that is not always in favor Of the
individual.
These matters have, perhaps, little rela
ton to practical agriculture, but we love to
think that a farmers life is not wholly for
the grain that he raises or the meat that
he eats He has mind as well us other
men, and he has advantages such as no
other class has Of living in the midst of
voices which he can always hear, and which
tell him in plain language Of secrets and
mysteries which even some of the gifted in
other walks of would gladly give all they
have to known. Thomas Meehan.
A Slight Mistake.