IMPROVEMENT OF FRUIT BY CROSS-BREEDING. 



amount of organised sap will also be deposited in the tissue of the wood, than if the tree 

 had borne fruit; this will give rise in the following spring, to vigorous branches and well 

 developed leaves; it will also contribute directly to the growth of the fruit. Early in 

 spring, the plants should be top-dressed with a compost as above. Numerous blossoms 

 will now be produced, all of which should be destroyed, excepting about four or six 

 bunches. By reducing the quantity of fruit, we increase the size and improve the quality 

 of that left; a fact well understood and turned to account by some cultivators, but not, I 

 fear, sufficently understood or practiced generally. When the fruit is set, if the weather 

 should prove dry, liquid manure may be applied with advantage; one part of pigeons' or 

 fowls' dung, with three or four parts of water, is a powerful and prompt fertiliser; after 

 being mixed it should be allowed to settle, and the clear liquid used. This watering 

 should be continued more or less, according to the nature of the season, till the fruit 

 shows signs of ripening — water should then be withheld, or the quality of the fruit may 

 be injured. Fruit of the best quality being always obtained when the latter part of the 

 summer is dry and sunny. The growing points of the young shoots may now be nipped 

 off, with a view to add still farther to the size and quality of the fruit- When the berries 

 are ripe, the seeds should be washed free from pulp in milk-warm water — dried on paper, 

 and suspended in cotton bags, in a dry room, till the time of sowing. 



As soon as all danger from frost is past, the seeds may be sown thinly in rows, in a 

 good light soil; when two years old, the trees may be transplanted to where they are to 

 bear fruit, and they should be planted at such a distance apart, as that the foliage of one 

 will not interfere with or shade that of another. If the branches are too crowded, some 

 of the weakest may be cut clean out. The aim should be to have as great a breadth of fo- 

 liage as possible to the light, with a view to hasten the period of fruit bearing. 



By this mode of cross-breeding, different varieties of the pear or other fruits may be 

 grown together, instead of a quarter of a mile apart. If trees are set out purposely for 

 cross-breeding, no blossoms should be allowed to perfect their pollen ; all should be early 

 destroyed, excepting those to be operated upon. It is not, however, absolutely necessarj'', 

 though advisable, to plant trees specially for this purpose. A healthy young tree, alreadjr 

 in full bearing, may be used; it should be suffered to bear only a very moderate crop of 

 fruit the year preceding the experiment. A branch may then be selected on the south side, 

 all the flowers on the branch to be destroyed, excepting those to be cross-fertilised; these 

 I would enclose in net or gause bags, to protect them from insects, and possibly from the 

 ingress of adventitious pollen. When the fruit is set, it should be again well thinned all 

 over the tree, and such other means resorted to as seem best calculated to add to the 

 size and quality of the fruit. 



There is a tendency in the seedlings of all highly improved fruits to revert to the origi- 

 nal condition of the species, which can only be prevented by judicious selection and cross- 

 ing, combined with high culture; comparatively few varieties deserving permanent cul- 

 ture will be obtained, even with the best management — but the chances will evidently be 

 much in his favor, who diligently avails himself of those means which the practice of the 

 most enlightened cultivators, founded on a knowledge of the functions of the various parts 

 of plants, has proved to be successful. 



I noticed that two correspondents were boasting of the number of good varieties of peach- 

 es and pears which had been raised in the states, compared with the quantity of seedlings 

 grown. I suspect that much of the credit of this is due to the climate, and that in our 

 endeavors to improve many kinds of fruit, we shall have an advantage over most European 

 nations, especially over England and Germany, where cross-breeding fruits has hitherto 



