134 AmericcDi Horticultural Society. 



of cross-bred seeds, wliich should be planted by tens :ind by hundreds and 

 by thousands, and the work repeated again anil again ; for along that road 

 lies tiie city of our refuge — a race of liarily apples adapted to the northwest. 

 For till' other fruits, except pears, the way is still ejisier. With plums the 

 problem is already near solution. With cherries let us hope to .see our own 

 wild black cherries and our choke-cherries crossed and re-crossed with th«! 

 European forms. Success lies at the end of the road. With grapes and all 

 small fruits the problem is comparatively simple, and results much sooner 

 reacheil. 



In these pleasant fields are labors worthy the ambition of any man who 

 loves his fellowmen and his native land. Does anyone ask what shall we do 

 while the new race is breeding? I say plant the best old sorts where there 

 is any hope of success. Top with the best winter .sorts on hardy stocks and 

 plant iliem. Plant Russians if they will succeed where others fail. Plant 

 anything that promises fruit to eat till something better can be bred. 



COMBINED AGRICULTURE AND IIOKTICULTUKE. 



BY PROF. GEOKOE W. CURTIS, OF TE.XAS. 



This is an age of specialties — a time when cluce applied science is mak- 

 ing itself heard in every quarter of the globe. The old time versatile genius 

 vu'garly known as "Jack at all trades, master of none," has gradually been 

 pushed farther and still farther back upon the shelf, while the ilust of ages, 

 started by the vigorous hand of spruce young "specialty," settles slowly o'er 

 him. The time was — so the ancient mile-posts along the pith of progress 

 may tell you — when every man was a host in himself, and every good wife 

 performed her simple duties of the household in addition to those regular 

 tasks of spinning, weaving, fitting, and a score of other modern ''specialties," 

 each one of which involves at present millions of dollars capital, and is dig- 

 nified or disgraced (we can not assume to decide) by the peritxlical strikes 

 of some labor union machine. Some, perhaps, will mourn the j>a.<sing of the 

 " good old times,' but to such we would say, not .so, and, to change somewhat 

 the old truism, " In union there is strength, in division, progress." 



Life is too short and the world too large for a man to attempt every- 

 thing. Let him, rather, devote what energy and patience he may have to 

 the mastery of une thing — broad enough in itself to bring out the best with 

 which nature has endowed him — and the world gains, while he lo.sses noth- 

 ing. Then, is it wise to advocate, as we presently shall do, the mixing of 

 two such specialties as agriculture and horticulture ? To this we answer, 

 yes. Horticulture is only a branch of agriculture, so that no principle of 

 the division of labor is strained. In fact, the exact boundary whore the 

 field of horticulture merges into its containing parent can never be located ; 

 the two are so intimately and firmly associated that a thorough knowledge 

 of agriculture almost implies, and certainly demands, at least a primary 

 knowledge of horticulture. 



