1869.] HORTICULTURE IN AMERICA. 62t 



country so varied in soil and climate, capable of producing almost all the fruits of 

 the globe, constantly opening up to us new resources and demands, we Lave occa- 

 sion for new, constant, and untiring energy and enterprise. 



DETERIORATION OF VARIETIES. 



"We have also another difficulty to encounter — namely, the deterioration of 

 varieties. However we may theorise in regard to this matter, it must be admitted, 

 from the practical point of view, that some fruits have so declined as to render it 

 absolutely necessary to replace them with new varieties. And what has been 

 true in the past will be so in the future. Witness certain kinds of Pears in our 

 own day ; the St Germain, Crassanne, Brown Beurre, White Doyenne, and others, 

 once so excellent, where are they now ? Some of these are occasionally to be 

 seen on the virgin soils of the West and South, yet for the great majority of 

 locations they will continue to be worthless. And even on these new soils, where 

 they now flourish in their pristine excellence, we have reason, judging of the 

 future from the past, to anticipate that no long time will elapse before this decline 

 will reach these now favoured regions. Within less than a generation the Pears 

 alluded to flourished throughout Western New York as well as, in their early his- 

 tory, on the propitious soils of France. And even among the more modern Pears 

 we notice — as, for instance, in the Beurre Diel and Flemish Beauty — signs of the 

 same decadence. 



And so with the Grape. Where the Catawba and Isabella Grapes once suc- 

 ceeded perfectly, they seem now to be failing, and, in many sections of our coun- 

 try, are no more to be relied on. Even the Concord, now so popular, indicates 

 that in time it may follow in the same degenerate strain. AVhile we indulge in 

 these forebodings, we cannot but express the deep regret we feel for the loss of 

 such fine fruits. Other fine fruits are following in the same course. This should 

 not discourage us, but rather increase our enterprise for the production of new 

 sorts, to keep up with the deterioration which seems incident to cultivation. 



The mission of our society is to learn not only what varieties succeed in certain 

 States and districts, but throughout the country. Already we have ascertained 

 that some kinds flourish throughout a wide range of territory. For instance, the 

 Red Astracan Apple and Bartlett Pear seem to prosper everywhere. When we 

 reflect on the wide expanse of territory daily becoming susceptible of cultivation, 

 and that our fruits must ultimately be spread over these vast fields, it becomes a 

 matter of great importance to increase our native fruits, some of which may be 

 suited to these regions, and thus replace those which may decline. We therefore 

 give a hearty welcome to the efi'orts of all who are labouring in this praiseworthy 

 cause. 



We rejoice that we enroll among our members so many who are engaged in the 

 benevolent enterprise of producing new varieties of fruits. Especially would we 

 recognise the eminent services of those associates who are devoting their lives to 

 the study of vegetable physiology and of the insect tribes, and on whose patient 

 investigation we so much depend for the discovery and cure of diseases, and the 

 destruction of insects injurious to o\ir fruits. Nor can we too highly appreciate 

 the lives and services of those pioneers in pomology, by whose intelligence and 

 zeal most of our fine fruits have been originated or disseminated — of Van Mons 

 and Esperen of Belgium, of Duhamel and Poiteau of France, of Knight and Lind- 

 ley of England, of Cox, Prince, Dearborn, Lowell, Manning, and Downing of the 

 United States, and of ochers, now living, whose praise is in the mouths of all. 

 What millions have rejoiced in the fruitage of the Summer Bon Chretien and 

 Autumn Bergamot Pear, coeval in history with the Roman Empire ; the Newton 



