POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC BOTANY, 207 



SOME OF THE POSSIBILITIES OF ECONOMIC 

 BOTANY.* 



By GEOEGE LINCOLN GOODALE. 

 [Concluded.^ 



m Fruits. — Botanically sjjeaking, the cereal grains of 

 • which we have spoken are true fruits, that is to say, 

 are ripened ovaries, but for all practical purposes they may be 

 regarded as seeds. The fruits, of which mention is now to be 

 made, are those commonly spoken of in our markets as fruits. 



First of all, attention must be called to the extraordinary 

 changes in the commercial relations of fruits by two direct causes : 



(1) The canning industry, and — 



(2) Swift transportation by steamers and railroads. 



The effects of these two agencies are too well known to require 

 more than this passing mention. By them the fruits of the best 

 fruit-growing countries are carried to distant lands in quantities 

 which surprise all who see the statistics for the first time. The 

 ratio of increase is very startling. Take, for instance, the figures 

 given by Mr. Morris at the time of the great Colonial and Indian 

 Exhibition in London. Compare double decades of years : 



1845, £886,888. 



1865, £3,185,984. 



1885, £7,587,523 



In the Colonial Exhibition at London, in 1S8G, fruits from the 

 remote colonies were exhibited under conditions which proved 

 that, before long, it may be possible to place such delicacies as the 

 cherimoyer, the sweet-cup, sweet-sop, rambutan, mango, and 

 mangosteen at even our most northern seaports. Furthermore, it 

 seems to me likely that, with an increase in our knowledge with 

 regard to the microbes which produce decay, we may be able to 

 protect the delicate fruits from injury for any reasonable period. 

 Methods which will supplement refrigeration are sure to come in 

 the very near future, so that, even in a country so vast as our 

 own, the most perishable fruits will be transported through its 

 length and breadth without harm. 



The canning industry and swift transportation are likely to 

 diminish zeal in searching for new fruits, since, as we have seen 

 in the case of the cereals, we are prone to move in lines of least 

 resistance and leave well enough alone. 



To what extent are our present fruits likely to be improved ? 

 Even those who have watched the improvement in the quality of 



* Presidential address delivered before the American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, at Washington, August, 18E1. 



