Tfl£ PEAB CONTROV£aSY. 



been obtained from two of our most roliable iinrscrvmen, tlie late Mr. Wilson, 

 of Albany, ami Mr. Win. Ilv'u], of Elizabeth City 1' And since, moreover, the 

 demonstration that they were trne to their character, was found in the fact that 

 the varieties known to be udaptcd to the quince had given vigorous growth ; — or 

 that other unwarranted assertion that they had been i»laiited with the (juince 

 stock from two to four inches above the surface of the ground, when not five in a 

 thousand will show the line of junction without searching for it below the surface. 

 iMjually unwarrantable was the inference on which was based the assertion that 

 "I complained that my trees blew down." 



If the conversation touching the " exce])tions," reported to Mr. F., and duly 

 credited to me by quotation marks, was faithfully and truly rejiorted to him, charity 

 demands (since I repudiate it altogether) that I regard the communication as made 

 through one of the mediums that abound in this spiritual age. I appeal to that 

 gentleman himself to say if such language as is there ascribed to me, is not irre- 

 concilable with my previously recorded testimony. 



Equally gratuitous was the remark that where I had success, it was on the much 

 abused quince stock ; for, by Air the largest quantity of pears I have grown, have 

 been on the pear stock. This is trne of the product this past, as well as of all 

 preceding years. The admission, however, of my success on the quince stock — of 

 luy having grown on that stock the largest pear ever known — the acknowledgment 

 of an unaccepted challenge for a comparison of fine fruit, the i)roduct of the quince 

 stock — is, in the hands of Mr. F., a two-edged sword, cutting more severely him 

 who wields than the one against whom it is directed ; for, in the paragraph above, 

 he says : "The doctor's treatment of his trees has violated all the laws governing 

 the growth of the pear on the quince." The admission of success, if not an un- 

 fortunate admission, to say the least, is in unfortunate proximity with the charge 

 of "violating, in the treatment of the trees, all the laws governing the growth of 

 the pear on the quince; for, if there be any one fact clearly established in nature 

 — as well iu art as in science — it is that success depends upon our obedience to 

 the laws governing that department of science or art. 



But the most unkind as well as unwarranted charge is that in which Mr. F. 

 attempts to arraign me against the nurserymen, by representing me as cherishing 

 a "suspicion of their exact truthfulness." Search the pages of the Horticulturist, 

 and there will not be found an expression that will make plausible such an imi)u- 

 tation. In a challenge for a comparison of fruit, published in the Country Gentle- 

 man, I named a nurseryman as chairman, with power to add two to the committee, 

 restricting him only to those not engaged in the nursery business. Is the challenge 

 oi s, juryman as to his right to occupy a seat in the juryman's box, because he has 

 expressed an opinion on the merits of the case, tantamount to a doubt of his 

 truthfulness ? 



Most truly unfortunate is it for the cause sought to be advanced, when tlie 

 views of an opponent are perverted — his fticts stated, misrepresented — his admis- 

 sions concealed — and his arguments obscured by engendering in the minds of 

 those who are to weigh them, a prejudice against him by arraigning him as " an 

 accuser of his brethren." 



And now, in conclusion, let me say, the facts embodied in the articles claimed 

 to be reviewed, viz : of the successful culture of certain varieties of the pear on 

 the quince, and the failure of others that had enjoyed equal culture on the same 

 plat of ground ; the successful culture of certain varieties that ordinarily do well 

 on the quince, that have done well in certain localities on my farm, and that have 

 ^ failed in all other positions — present phenomena that are still unexplained, unless 

 the causes of their success in one position, and their failure in another, is owing 



