322 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



world ami thenceforth become merchandise. They are withont the pale of 

 pomology. 



It may be remarked tliat the fruit while in the hands of the groM'er may 

 n)idcrgo a process of preparation for market. Grapes may be converted into 

 wine, apples into cider. 



But, in the ])rocess of this conversion, the fruits of the vine and tree are des- 

 troyed — lose their identity completely, and the resultant olfspring of violence is 

 not "fruit" in the proper pomologic sense. The blood of the crushed fruit 

 becomes the production of a distinct art, assumes a character and supplies a 

 nse entirely foreign to the original. Unlike dried or canned preparations it be- 

 comes a new creation, a simple article of manufacture. 



Tlie orifMual fruit has verv little more to do with determining the character 

 of the alcoholic fluid, than the various kinds of wood in a mechanical struc- 

 ture. Indeed, very nearly the same tiling may be made witii material from 

 other sources. Not only is the art distinct from pomology, but to be followed 

 successfully requires expert workmen, educated in this special pursuit, as well as 

 large capital invested in buildings and appliances. In other words it is a busi- 

 ness by itself. 



The ordinary worm-juice of windfall apples, with wliich farmers reproach the 

 business of cider-making, and domestic wines worthy of some harder name than 

 wine, but for the untold evil of their insidious ways, would be hardly worthy 

 of mention. 



At sucli as these professiomxl makers turn away in disgust. They present the 

 imperfect results of dabbling in outside affairs not legitimate to agriculture nor 

 pomology. Indeed it would be quite as rational and practical for farmers to 

 undertake the manufacture of their surplus wheat and corn into higliwines 

 without the necessary ap])liances for that pur})ose. And if they did succeed 

 in this it would not be agriculture, nor liave any nearer relation to agriculture 

 than has the commerce that floats upon the high seas. 



Agriculture does not follow her productions through the mills nor over the 

 main, but works content within her own rural borders. She presides over the 

 garden, tiie orchard, the vineyard, the meadow, and tlie grain-land. Neither 

 the forge, nor the work-shop, nor the ship-yard, nor the mill, nor the distillery, 

 nor the wine nor cider press are hers. 



We love to personify the genius of agriculture as a beautiful, pure, liberally 

 endowed woman, u])on whom to bestow our admiration, — and who shall say tlie 

 figure is not an appropriate one? Her delight is in the sunshine and in the 

 rain, in the dew and in the meadow brook, in the distillations of the heavens 

 and the filtrations of the underlying sands. Her eyes are not bleared with wine, 

 nor her breatii polluted witli the disgusting odors of the still, nor her cheeks 

 reddened with the fire of alcohol. 



She rules in her own proper donuiin with a high consciousness of power. She 

 loves and tenderly cares for her own, and herein finds tlie full fruition of her 

 life and hopes. But to see what bounds may be sot to that part of agriculture 

 embraced in our pomology, let it be considered in the light of homogeneal con- 

 struction. There is a certain relation of form and quality in natural structures 

 by which every component part may be identified. 



Then where in i)omology is there a place for wine and cider? The life of the 

 l^omologist is necessarily one of active industry. Intoxicating drinks bring idle- 

 ness. Pomological pursuits incite the mind to many interesting inquiries. In- 

 toxicating drinks prostrate the mind unto sheer indifference. Pomology fills 



