IMPROVEMENT OF FRUITS. 235 



are able to adapt themselves to almost any altitude or latitude 

 or temperature without material change, while others are con- 

 fined to a narrow limit, and will not prosper elsewhere ; or 

 why a fruit may succeed in one location, and a few miles 

 distant fail entirely, are mysteries which mankind has not yet 

 been able to solve. The human constitution will frequently 

 endure the change of countrj^ and climate, but the extent to 

 which plants can bear these changes is fixed by an immutable 

 law ; therefore, all attempts to acclimate such as are not 

 naturally congenial will fail in the end, except it be within 

 very narrow limits, — not, however, that a tree or plant may 

 not sometimes endure greater degrees of cold or heat than it 

 is subject to in its native climate ; but no one should suppose 

 that time will produce a physiological or constitutional change 

 in them. 



It is, however, sufficient for us to know, that we can pro- 

 duce from seed, fruits, which, by their constitution and habits, 

 are capable of enduring the cold and heat, the drought and 

 moisture, and other vicissitudes of the region we inhabit; but 

 the idea that we can accustom a tree or plant to conditions 

 not consistent with its laws of beinor, is a chimera of the 

 imagination. The only acclimation that we can rely on for 

 obtaining trees and plants of stronger constitution is the pro- 

 duction of new varieties from seed hybridized by the hand 

 of man, or naturally cross-fertilized by insects or the air. 

 Whatever opinions may have been entertained, to this we 

 must come at last : that, for the acquisition of hardy, valuable 

 fruits, adapted to our various locations, ice must depend 

 mainly on the production from seed. 



These are the only means placed in our hands by Provi- 

 dence, and on these we must ever depend, if we except proper 

 location and treatment, for the improvement of our fruits. 



Much has already been accomplished by the production of 

 new varieties of American fruits from seed ; but how little, 

 compared with the results ol)tained in other lands by the art 

 of hybridization in the vegetable kingdom. To this art we 

 are mainly indebted for the numerous fine varieties of grains, 

 vegetables and flowers introduced in our own time, and the 

 same success will reward similar efforts to produce new and 

 valuable fruits suited to our own clime. Says Prof. Gray, 



