88 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



three to four thousand baskets of fruit. You could hardly 

 believe that the trees had made all their growth, and were most 

 of them raised from seed, since I came to California, February 

 1, 1854. The crop from this orchard is now (July 18, 1856) 

 going to market, and we expect will amount to between ten and 

 twenty thousand dollars." The proprietor of that crop has 

 called on me within a few days, confirms these statements, and 

 reports that the crop and prices fully realized all anticipations. 



Such is the zeal now manifested in the cause of pomology, 

 and such are the facilities fbv intOTcommunication, that we are 

 continually receiving valuable contributions from all parts of 

 the country and the world. , 



When we consider the progress of the grape culture in the 

 single State of Ohio, and its great increase in other States, 

 amounting now to more than two millions of dollars annually 

 — the immense quantities of peaches and strawberries brought 

 to our markets, the rapid multiplication of the apple, the pear, 

 and other fruits throughout our land, and the inillions of trees 

 annually sent out from the various nurseries, it is not easy to 

 calculate the future importance of fruit culture, whether viewed 

 as a means of furnishing luxuries for our table, or articles of 

 domestic and foreign commerce. ■ 



In my last address, I called your attention to the importance 

 of raising new and improved varieties from seed as the best 

 method of increasing and preserving our supply of choice fruits. 

 Whether the theory of the running out of varieties be true or 

 false, so thoroughly am I convinced of the great practical utility 

 of this recommendation, that I feel especially desirous, while I 

 have the opportunity, of encouraging you to perseverance, and 

 of guardmg your minds against exposure to failures. 



A false doctrine prevails among some, although founded on 

 the theory of Vans Mons, " that scions taken from seedlings, 

 and grafted into stocks, however strong and healthy, will not 

 yield fruit earlier than it may be obtained from the mother 

 plant." Adopting this theory as true, many cultivators have 

 been discouraged on account of the length of the process. 

 Whatever may have been the experience whidi called forth this 

 theory from its learned author, in the localities where it origi- 

 nated, or where it has been advocated, my reading ai,nd personal 



