143 STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 



especially on the Piicific Slope, the cliniate seems ;ii;l:vpted to the growth 

 of vinifera, which was introduced there by the Spanish during their occu- 

 pancy of the country. For many years the labors of our would-be vineyardists 

 were confined to efforts for the acclimatization of the European grape, in futile 

 efforts to accomplish which largo sums of money were expended. After 

 repeating the trial again and again, attention began to turn to the Catawba 

 and Isabella — natives — whose introduction to the public occurred about 1818 

 to 1820, and through them to the idea that a supply of this want might be 

 found through the improvement of our native varieties. Little was, however, 

 accomplished in this direction till the introduction of the Diana, Delaware, 

 Hartford Prolific, and Concord conspired to give increased assurance of the 

 success upon which we are now able to look back and wonder at the reluctance 

 or tardiness which characterized its inception. 



SPECIES AND HARDINESS. 



Of the improved natural varieties of to-day, a few only are referable to cor- 

 difolia or riparia, of which Clinton and Janesville are examples; a few also 

 are referred to Aestivalis, among which we name Eumelan and Cynthiana; 

 none, if we except Scuppernong, are referable to Vulpina. A few, of which 

 the Arnold Hybrids are examples, arise from a combination of cordifolia with 

 vinifera. A very considerable number, of which the Rogers Hybrids are 

 examples, result from the combination of Labrusca with vinifera. A yet 

 more recent set of Hybrids, among which are several of those originated by 

 Mr. Kicketts, results, ostensibly, from combinations of certain native species 

 with each other. Among these improvements, one of the earliest introduc- 

 tions — the Delaware — is of unknown parantage; and botanical experts seem, 

 even yet, to bo undecided, to what species or combination of species to refer 

 it. Tlie great mass of our improved varieties, and among them, especially, 

 those that stand highest in popular favor, are of purely Labrusca parentage; 

 of these Concord and Ives are prominent examples. 



The fatal objection to the cultivation of the European varieties in this 

 country is tlieir liability to mildew, a liability which they seem to impart to 

 their progeny, even when produced by hybridization with our natives. So far 

 as hardiness is concerned, the fact that cordifolia, and perhaps Labrusca, are 

 indigenous as far north as Quebec (about lat. 47°), may be accepted as conclu- 

 sive of their hardiness in Michigan, and that failure in their cultivation in our 

 climate should probably be attributed to some cause other than temperature. 



PROPAGATION — ITS OBJECT. 



Nature's mode of propagation is, of course, mainly by seed, and her processes 

 tend solely to the reproduction of tlie original plant; but with the least possible 

 regard for the gratification of human preferences, so far as quality and llavor of 

 juice and pulp are concerned. Amelioration proper, estimated from the stand- 

 point of Pomology, is usually, if not always, secured at the expense of some 

 other quality of either plant or fruit; often that of vigor, or even health ; and 

 it is rarely secured, except as the result of artificial treatment, continued through 

 a lengthened period, with the result of breaking up tlie fixity of habit and 

 begetting a tendency to sport into what wo usually designate as varieties, 

 when grown from the seed. 



In many varieties of peaches this tendency is yet so much a fixity that 

 they usually reproduce themselves, with the llavor, and other qualities of the 

 fruit, nearly or quite unchanged; wiiile with most other fruits the tendency 



