154 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



towards a move ameliorated one, so that occasionally we obtain a 

 better fruit than the parent, and it is from these instances that we 

 have our best varieties. 



When it is desired to obtain new varieties two methods may be 

 employed. First, by selecting and sowing the seeds from tlie best 

 grown specimens of the finest sorts, to be planted out for fruiting; 

 selecting for this purpose such as exhibit in their foliage and gen- 

 eral appearance the greatest remove from the wild type. This 

 appearance may not be more readily described than tlie counte- 

 nance or liandwriting of an individual, but is easily' recognized by 

 a practised eye, just as a good nurseryman or orchardist can dis- 

 tinguish many known vai'ieties by their peculiarity of appearance 

 in habit, wood or leaf, and name each of them accurately without 

 either label or fruit upon them. Such as bear fruit unworthy of 

 cultivation may be grafted. It is well, however, if the first fruit 

 be only toleiabl}^ good, to allow the tree to bear several years be- 

 fore grafting, because the fruit of seedling trees often greatly 

 improves as the trees approach maturity. The other method is by 

 artificial hybridization. This is performed by fertilizing the pistil 

 of one species or variety with pollen from the stamens of anc^ther. 

 The seed so impregnated will produce a cross or hybrid between 

 the two parents. This process is now well understood by horticul- 

 turists, and has been extensively practised bj^ florists fur the 

 production of flowers; — our finest Roses, Dulilias, Camelias, Fuch- 

 sias, and many other flowbrs, have been originated in this way. 

 Some fine fruits also have been produced by this method, and a 

 great deal more undoubtedly might be done by thus combining the 

 size, productiveness and hardihood of one variety, with the deli- 

 cacy of flavor and texture of another^ Hybridizing is a delicate 

 operation, and requires care and many precautions to ensure suc- 

 cess. Of the fruits directly obtained by cross breeding may be 

 named Coe's Golden Drop plum, which combines in a considerable 

 degree the flavor of the Green Gage with the size and vigor of the 

 Magnum Bonum, its other parent. The Elton cherry was the 

 result of a cross between the Bizarreau and the White Ileiirt. By 

 far the greater number of our cultivated fruits have, however, been 

 accidentally cross bred; — that is, the product of seeds from good 

 fruit where the pollen was conveyed to the pistil by the wind or by 

 bees or some such mode. 



It is the practice iu nearly all the fruit-growing sections of this 



