528 THE GARDENER. [Nov. 



Pippin and Baldwin Apple, the Doyenne and Bartlett Pear, the Isabella, Catawba, 

 Concord, and Scuppernong Grape in our own time ! 



Who can estimate the importance and value of a new variety of fruit, which 

 shall be adapted to the wide range of our rapidly-extending cultivation ? He who 

 shall originate a new Apple, Pear, or Grape, which shall be worthy of being 

 handed down to posterity, should be held in remembrance as a benefactor of man- 

 kind, as well as a Franklin, Fulton, Morse, or Field. He who shall discover a 

 remedy for the Pear-blight and other diseases incident to vegetation which now 

 affect our trees, or an easy method for the destruction of the horde of insects so 

 alarmingly injurious to our fruit crops, shall have his name transmitted to future 

 time as second only to those who discover methods for the alleviation and cure 

 of diseases which affect the human system. What greater temporal comforts 

 can we leave to our heirs than the fruits of the orchard and garden] What 

 more valuable testimonials of a philanthropic life than the trees we plant for 

 future generations ? Trees are the best landmarks of a noble civilisation. Trees 

 are a rich legacy to our heirs. Trees are living monuments to our memories. 

 Fruits are perpetual mementoes to our praise. The man who plants a fruit-tree 

 is a benefactor of his race ; and when we shall have gone to our rest, when the 

 fragrance of vernal bloom shall no longer delight the senses, when the verdure 

 of leafy summer shall no longer inspire the soil, when the golden harvest of 

 mellow autumn shall no longer gladden the sight, the tree shall live to bless those 

 who shall follow us. And when, in after ages, posterity shall recline under the 

 shade of the trees planted by our hands, and gather from their bending branches 

 the luscious fruit, will not some grateful heart remember the giver, and ask, 

 " IFho planted that old Apple-tree ? ^^ How beautifully is this sentiment por- 

 trayed by our own poet By rant : — 



AVhat plant we in this Apple-tree ? 



Sweets for a hundred flowery springs, 



To load the May wind's restless wings, 



When from the orchard row he pours 



Its fragrance through our open doors. 

 What plant we in this Apple-tree ? 



Fruits that shall swell in sunny June, 



And redden in the August noon, 



And drop when gentle airs come by. 



That fan the blue September sky ; 



While children come with cries of glee. 

 And seek them where the fragrant grass 

 Betrays their bed to those who pass, 



At the foot of the Ai)ple-tree. 



And v^fhen the thousands who have enjoyed its fruits and shared its blessings 

 are buried, like its own roots, deep in the bosom of mother earth, 



The children of some distant day 

 Thus to some aged man shall say, 

 " Who planted this old Apple-tree ? " 



PROGRESS OF POMOLOGY. 



I have on a former occasion alluded to the wonderful progress of pomology in 

 our day, and I deem it proper, although at the risk of repeating previous state- 

 ments, to erect, as it were, some landmarks by which we and those who come 

 after us can measure its advancement. With all the boasted civilisation of 

 Greece and Rome, we are far in advance of their highest standard in all that 

 tends to the real comforts of life and the elevation of our race. The science of 

 pomology forms no exception to this remark; indeed, the improvement since 



