STATE HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. 183 



varieties of fruits, and plants have fared but little better; probably 

 ninety per cent, of the new ajiples, and very many of the smaller 

 fruits and tioweriug ])lants, are the result of accidental hybridization. 



Among those who have given this matter special attention, we 

 take pleasure in mentioning the names of Mr. J. G. Bubach, of 

 Princeton, TIL, Mr. B. C. Warfield, of Sandoval, and Mr. T. Huber, 

 of Illinois City, each of whom have already brought out new varie- 

 ties of great promise, especially is this the case with Mr. J. G. Bu- 

 bach whose No. 5 Strawberry is a signal success. Among our East- 

 ern brethren old ex])erimenters are quite numerous, and if it were 

 not in consequence of over-eagerness ior present ijrojifs, much more 

 good would be done by them. 



This morbid desire for (juick results, can probably be best obvi- 

 ated by the now talked of Experiment Stations. If our Statesmen 

 will only manifest the magnanimity and liberality to give us such a 

 law as will be practicable for this purpose. 



Individual efforts are necessarily too much confined to the small 

 fruits, or the products of the vegetable garden, as these produce the 

 (juickest results. The Experiment Stations may, and probably will, 

 obviate, in a great measure, the necessity for the individual sacrifice 

 of time and money, and produce better results. 



Un])rincipled experimenters have been, and probably will con- 

 tinue to be, a public nuisance, and their methods we should denounce 

 in the most unmeasured terms. Hundreds, 3^ea, thousands, of their 

 worse than useless new productions (so called) are still annually 

 bought up by the unsuspecting planters, only to find them entirely 

 worthless. 



An additional reason for the production of new varieties, grows 

 out of the fact that many of our old varieties have evidently degen- 

 erated, from what cause this is we do not pretend to say. Darwin 

 says "an occasional cross from a fresh stock is an actual necessitij^ in 

 order to increase the size or vigor of the production," and we add, its 

 fruitful ness also. 



While the apple is the king of fruits, it is of all the most neg- 

 lected, possibly this is in consequence of its slow maturing character; 

 and while we now have many hundreds of varieties, yet there is but 

 a very few of these that, even nearly, meet the wants of both i)ro- 

 ducer and consumer. The demand for one or more such apples is 

 still unabated, and to him that shall succeed best in this direction 

 there remains a fortune. 



Pardon, if you please, the digression; but, for the present, give 

 us the much-abused Ben Davis. How often and how much its 

 character has been traduced? — the culminating charge being that 

 " the tree lacks hardiness,'" that large numljers of them are already 

 dead or in a dying condition. 



This reminds us of the news that " the Dutch had taken Hol- 

 land." What else was there to die? Many of the orchards were 



