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On the Cultivation and Improvement of Edible Fruits. 



There is nothing, perhaps, in the whole range of human exer- 

 tion which equals, or that exhibits the value and utility of the 

 horticultural art so conspicuously, as the improvements which 

 have been made in the melioration of our edible fruits. Not 

 one of the numerous kinds and varieties of fruit which our gar- 

 dens and orchards produce, are what they were in their aboriginal 

 state; and several there are, which appear to be absolutely 

 new creations : — the offspring of accident or skill, rather than 

 the spontaneous productions of nature. 



To present the reader with a general view of this curious and 

 interesting subject, is the object of this paper; and it is intended 

 to be, not only a theoretical display of the effects of cultivation, 

 but also a practical exposition of the means employed to obtain 

 such results, — marking the steps which have progressively led 

 to the completion of the present system of pomological im- 

 provement ; and, in order to make the detail as concise as 

 possible, it will be necessary to trace the efforts of the first cul- 

 tivators in the management of their favourite fruits, which will 

 lead to the consideration of all the expedients now practised for 

 the purposes of improvement. 



It may be naturally supposed that the native fruits of the 

 woods were first transplanted from their indigenous stations to 

 be, as it were, domesticated near the habitations of man : — here 

 they received protection, and a certain degree of cultivation ; 

 were free from the encroachment of other trees, and weeds, and 

 had other care bestowed upon them. — This treatment would 

 increase their growth, enlarge their fruit, and, perhaps, improve 

 its flavour: — ^thus repaying the first attention of the planter. 



We may next suppose, that the planter, finding the fruit 

 useful, or perhaps necessary to his existence, might imitate na- 

 ture in his desire to increase his primitive orchard, (if no suckers 

 rose from the roots,) by saving and sowing the seeds of his pro- 

 tegees. Among the produce, he might observe some individual 

 seedlings of stronger growth, and broader leaves than the rest ; 

 to such he would, very probably, give a preference, not from 

 previous experience that such would be superior sorts, but merely 



APRIL — JUNE, 1827. T 



