MICHIGAN STATE POMOLOQICAL SOCIETY. 65 



a good degree of intelligence, sound skill, observation, and 

 experience must be combined to achieve excellence or to insure 

 success. 



In prosecuting fruit culture, men must have reference to the 

 elemental condition of the proximate natural world. They 

 must not ignore the immutable laws which govern locality and 

 latitude. They must ascertain and recognize the normal con- 

 dition and aptitudes of soil and climate; the appropriate 

 degree of heat and moisture, and the length and general 

 adaptability of the seasons requisite for the proper development 

 and maturity of any given variety of fruit 



Our observation and human experience alike confirm the 

 fact, that by the economy of natural law, a zone has been 

 assigned to different species of fowls, fish, and animals. To 

 each, in its appropriate sphere, all the appliances are at hand 

 for its highest development. 



But, as in the animal, so in the vegetable and fruit king- 

 doms, many varieties of the latter are susceptible of being 

 transplanted and reared to fair perfection in zones and cli- 

 mates, and even soils, where they are not indigenous. This 

 process, however, demands additional care, skill, and knowl- 

 edge of all their peculiar properties and requirements, on the 

 part of the grower. 



In glancing over the map of earth's indigenous productions, 

 we readily discover that ours is not a favorable portion of the 

 globe for ravishing displays of nature in the floral kingdom, 

 and that we are also debarred the pleasure of witnessing the 

 expanding loveliness or maturing richness of the spices and 

 luscious fruits of the lower latitudes. Our conception of equa- 

 torial landscapes, where nature is draped in her heaviest ver- 

 dure and her most gorgeous floral attire, must fall almost infin- 

 itely short of the beautiful reality. So also of the fruits, of 

 plants, shrubs, and trees of those regions, exotics here, and 

 never reaching us without being denuded of their freshness 

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